The ONE and ONLY Thomas Family

The next stop on our New England trip was the Thomas family's home.

Michael, a very kind hearted man, offers bread to the weary travelers.

After a long, boring supper with almost no conversation between all the socially awkward homeschoolers, we decided to play a game of Four on a Couch in hopes of breaking the ice. (You know I'm kidding, right?)

Matthew copes with having his name changed to Monica.
(BTW, nice hair.)

Agent Micaiah

The boys team scores a victory! Hooah!

The girls team scores a major victory! Way to go!

Melanie does the photographer's routine...

Snap the Picture

Review the Results


(BTW, don't you love how the first picture came out? I do.)

Yes Harrises, the Thomases loved the flowers you sent!

Sometimes when computer techs visit other people's homes, they have to fix computers to pay for their room and board. I think next time I'll stay in a hotel.

Ever wonder who visits this blog?

Ryan

Friend, filmmaker, Life Through a Viewfinder blog visitor, expert chair stacker, and many other skills I don't even know about yet. Check him out online at http://ry-animation.blogspot.com

Sharing the Joy

After the church service on Sunday, I managed to capture two pictures which illustrate well one of the reasons why digital cameras are so popular. :-)

Sunday Afternoon Walk

In which we set out on an invigorating walk in the New England countryside.

Conversation

Mr. Thomas looking epic.

Visit with the Flynn Family

I don't remember what we were talking about, but it could've easily been about the "fish that got away". :-)

A common Thomas family activity: One smiling sweetly for the camera while another snaps a picture. You just usually don't see it from this angle.

What are they looking at? Let's see...

How 'bout that? A picture from when my sisters first met the Thomases and Flynns all the way back in 2004.

Time for an updated picture.

Final Stop: Hammer family in NJ

Self Portrait
(L to R: Mark Hammer, yours truly, Matthew Hammer)

A fellow photographer.

New Jersey Art

Simple Beauty

Power

Springtime

Victory!

And now, a special message from the NJ DOT...

Yes, it's really that simple. :-)

~~~

Well, that concludes my coverage of our trip to New England. If you want even more New England trip coverage, you can visit my sister Abigail's blog or Michael Thomas's blog (scroll down).

Thank you Harrises, Thomases, and Flynns for your wonderful hospitality to my sisters and I during our recent trip to New England. It was time of great encouragement and blessing to us!

And thank you everyone for visiting the Life Through a Viewfinder blog. May you have a blessed and Christ honoring week!

Benjamin E.

The Week of serious catch-up

Hello All,

This is Josiah here, Ben deserted me and ran off to New England so I am left to take care of our blog all by myself.. We have a lot of interesting stuff for you this week, with Jon coming home from the hospital, me getting my learner's permit, and a long overdue update about my new job we have plenty to keep us busy.

Right now Ben and my two sisters are in New England visiting friends, I, unfortunately had to stay home because of work. :-( Oh well maybe next time!

Now to the pictures! Enjoy...

A Visit with Jon in the Hospital

While Jon was in the hospital our family visited him every day at least once and he got many other visits from church members, family, and friends. This is a series of pictures from just one visit.

The outside and inside view of his room.

"So are you feeling any better today, son?"

It is hard work but some people can find art anywhere.

(I decided to let Ben have the camera for most of this ;-)

Jon

Can you do this?

We sincerely hope that you can not! If you could that would probably mean you had Bell's Palsy which by all accounts isn't much fun.

Checking out the gifts.
"He doesn't really need all of these does he?"

"Well you know Jon, my wife had Bell's palsy three times in a row. One time is rare, two times they look at you strange, three times and they want to do a feature on you! She recovered every time so don't loose hope!"

So which is it, a hospital visit or a social gathering?

No we didn't forget about the reason for visit ;-)

Like I said some people can find art anywhere!

Telling jokes, sharing stories, and generally having a good time characterized all hospital visits.

Yes we did leave before they booted us out!
I mean really what is a few minutes after closing time anyways?

What more can be said?

Home from the Hospital

Saturday morning Jon was released from the hospital after they put in a Picc line so he could be given intravenous at home. The Picc line is a tube that goes up a major vein in the arm almost to the heart, they use this line so the the antibiotics can be given in undiluted form at home. He has been on antibiotics for a week since he came home from the hospital and today they are planning to remove the line and put him on oral antibiotics.

First you flush the line...

connect the antibiotic...

Wait about half an hour for it to pump in...

flush it again and inject a blood thinner

and then double check to make sure something wasn't missed and you are good to go until the next one in six hours.

My New Job

On March 10th, I started a full-time job as Customer Service Representative for Denver Wholesale Foods.
So far I have been enjoying it a lot, especially the time that I spend on the phone with customers, plus all of my co-workers are great Christian people!

Josiah, CSR.

Talk about a sweet machine! This thing faxes, photocopies, and does photo quality prints.

No this is not my normal posture, but it is after hours. ;-)

Learner's permit

Yes, that is a drivers manual, some of us actually study before taking a test!

"Now Josiah, how far away from a fire hydrant are you supposed to park?"

So can anybody answer that without looking at a book?

Driving!

Oh yeah!

"Josiah, watch out for the car!"

"Dude, I have everything under control!"

Apparently that was what he was afraid of. ;-)

Yes I am very happy to have my drivers permit!

~~~

That's all for now, have a great week and God Bless!

Josiah (hopefully with Ben's approval)

Update on Jonathan

Hi everyone,

Jonathan is making progress and they released him from the hospital today. However, he still needs intravenous antibiotics so they have put a "pic line" in his left arm so that antibiotics can be given to him at home for the next seven days. A nurse came today and trained us how give him to antibiotics, which have to be given to him every 6 hours.

Please continue to pray for the healing of the infection and the Bell's palsy condition on the left side of his face.

Thank you all for your prayers, calls, and hospital visits.

Update On Jonathan

Hi everyone,

Jonathan still very much needs our prayers. On Tuesday night, he was admitted to the hospital because both of his ears are infected and this infection has spread to his mastoid bone, causing mastoiditis. Also, because this infection has affected one of his facial nerves, he has developed Bell's Palsy as well. This palsy has caused him to loose control of the left side of his face, making it hard to for him to talk and eat. He is on intravenous antibiotics right now and is scheduled to have a surgical procedure tomorrow to insert a tube into his left ear.

We'd greatly appreciate if you'd remember Jonathan in your prayers. Please pray for his complete healing and that there would be no long term effects from this infection.

In Christ,
Benjamin