A grand time in Seattle

Friends David and Laura Shepherd went with us to on an excursion trip to Seattle. We had planned for quite some time that the ladies would have some quality shopping time (and boy can they shop!) while the guys would hang out and do some quality guy stuff... like hang out in flight museums.

We ended up going in late March. It turns out it was a well needed break for all of us, and we had a blast. Whilst in Seattle, we stayed at the beautiful and antique Marqueen Hotel at a great rate thanks to Priceline. (Our stay was very enjoyable and the staff were excellent.)

I don't have too many photos of Karen and Laura's shopping experience (though from what I hear, they did try to outshop each other and they certainly filled up the car), but Davey, Erich and I did get some cool photos in. We decided we would visit not just the Children's Museum and Museum of Flight as Erich and I had done in the past, but also the Boeing Future of Flight museum in Everett. Although the museum itself wasn't as impressive as the Museum of Flight, Erich enjoyed being able to walk right up to certain components of the airplane. He also enjoyed watching the 3D films as evident in this photo.

I also got to experiment with off camera remote lighting....and ended up with this cool looking photo. Only problem was trying to get a rather bulky and odd looking radio triggered flash into the wheel well of an airplane without getting suspicious looks from onlookers.

Erich gets his glasses

Bittersweet day today. Erich got his first pair of glasses. Of course, it's an exciting time for Erich because he now looks "just like mommy and daddy" (plus it's a new, novel thing...). For us, who have been through the hassle of glasses, we remember what it's like when you lose them and are trying to find them half-blind. And then there are names you get called when you're a kid.

Unfortunately, seeing as both Karen and I require them, this was probably inevitable. Because Karen suffers from "lazy eye" syndrome, Karen's doctors had recommended early on that Erich be checked regularly. With early checking also comes early diagnosis, and so early glasses.

Well, at least back in the day "glasses" meant you were smart... :-)

Congratulations Tai and Tanya!

How often do you wish you could relive the best day of your life when you married your spouse? That's exactly what good friends Tai and Tanya Lee did on Valentine's Day. We were privileged to be invited, and I had the honour of photographing their ceremony!

One thing that really struck me about this ceremony was the great sense of community. Weddings are so often centred around the million and a half things that need to be done. Getting the chance to do it again meant Tanya and Tai were able to focus on what really mattered - a renewing of a covenant made before God in front of his people and their community.

Friends, family from past and present showed up to witness this incredible event.

Congratulations Tai and Tanya on your vow renewal!

-- * -- * --

Here are a sampling of the photos (and some of my thoughts) that I took during the ceremony:

I really like this photo above. A good photojournalistic photo shows context. As Tanya and Lucas (her son) walk down the aisle, family and friends are delighted to see her evident in the MANY digital cameras pointed at her... including mine! In case you're wondering how I took this photo whilst taking another one, I had a camera with a wide angle lens mounted on a tripod at the back of the sanctuary. It was triggered via PocketWizard from that camera I was holding at the front. I chose a slow shutter speed to show the motion of Tanya.



Loved the BIG open diffused windows in the sanctuary. I had to persuade the ushers to keep these open, but it provided the wonderful contrast you see here.


A shot of Tanya's extended family. This vow renewal ceremony was a reunion of sorts for them.

Old "Treasures" -- Paper

In our quest to purge our house of stuff, we have recently gone through our file cabinet. My wife was quite amazed at the amount of junk err "important" documents that I keep around. You know, things like telephone bills from back when I studied in Ottawa as a first year university student. Hey, you just NEVER know when that might come in handy! I had dutifully filed these bills for years, moved them with me when I got married, and of course never thought to purge them.

Enter in the new rules. Tax related documents, keep for 7 years max. Other important documents - 2 years. All else - 1 year max.

So with that in mind, I went through the laborious task of sorting out all that was older than 7 years, older than 2 years and older than 1 year.... *THAT* was relatively easy. The hard part was shredding the 4 foot pile of paper afterward.

Luckily we still have the half-broken industrial shredder that my employer gave away when they upgraded. After lubricating it full of mineral oil, we went about shredding over the next week. The photo above was the result. Yes, those two garbage bags that are already tied also contain shredded paper.

Of course when I showed up at the recycling depot with all this shredded paper, they must have thought I worked for Enron or something.

Erich's 3rd Birthday Party

Scheduling birthday parties for a child born on or near Christmas is always difficult. For the past two years, we have opted to do Erich's birthday party in mid-January instead of late December so as to avoid conflict with all the Christmas get togethers.

This year, we decided to host the party at our house. I experimented with sewing (by sewing each attendee an personalized apron) while all of Erich's friends from Erich's daycare and also from church came over and learned how to bake sugar cookies. Really yummy for the kids, and really messy for the parents to cleanup afterward.

Anyhow, they had a blast as you can see. Here they are in an attempted group photo. Notice Erich with his own camera too :-)


It's really funny how three year olds don't quite "get" birthdays yet though. Almost as if "bringing out the birthday cake" was synonomous with "blowing out the candles", one of Erich's friends tried to "blow the candles" when the cake came out instead of Erich! :-)

Old Treasures -- Roses

Roses are red, Violets are blue, these roses remind me of you!

Up first in our "old treasures series" is this wonderful vase of dried roses. They were given to my wife by yours truly, and she has been keeping all of them in this vase ever since she and I were dating. (That's a lot of roses!) They remind us of our courtship together, but lately they have also been accumulating a lot dust and perpetuating our allergies, so unfortunately they have to go.

Two interesting memories come to mind when I think of these roses:

The first was my practice to give her thirteen roses instead of the traditional dozen. Having started dating on Friday, October the 13th, thirteen was our "lucky" number.

The second is the most memorable time I have ever given roses to my wife: It was the day I proposed to her (May 30, 2001). On that day, I arranged for a scavenger hunt throughout the city. Along with several strategically placed friends, I handed her various clues and momentos as she criss-crossed across the city. I had the privilege of handing her a dozen roses at the site of our first date (GM Place). At that point in the scavenger hunt, there were still many places to go, but how exciting it was to hand her thirteen roses knowing that in a couple of hours I would be atop Burnaby Mountain asking for her hand in marriage!

Christmas Thoughts

I had the privilege of telling my son the full story of the birth of Christ for the first time this Christmas. At three years old, he's beginning to understand a bit more about Christmas and what it is about. How encouraging it is to hear "Christmas is Jesus' birthday" when asked the question "What's Christmas about?". (Of course he still wonders where the birthday cake is...)

I had been reading to him from the gospel of Luke this past Christmas. I like this particular account of the gospel because Luke provides a very colourful narrative of the nativity events - it is a storytelling gospel.

I am never ceased to be amazed how I manage to pick up something new every time I reread an account of the gospel. This particular time, I was really struck by the character of Simeon in Luke 2:25-35. It says:

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."

The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

Can you imagine this old fellow waiting all of his life for the yet unseen Messiah... and then suddenly meeting him? Wouldn't that be an enormously moving moment? Simeon knew that the Lord was God and what God said would come to pass was truth - and that it would happen in his lifetime. That is faith. Then I think of how so often I, (or we collectively!) are so caught up with our lives that we miss out on times when God might be telling us what He is going to do. We miss out on experiencing God. What's even more - we have the benefit of hindsight and knowing the Messiah (Jesus!) and yet we still so often choose to ignore Him.

I want a faith like Simeon's. I want to know Jesus not only in my mind, but also in my heart. I want to recognize who He is, and I want to worship Him. He is, afterall, the long awaited Messiah. He is Emmanuel; He is God with us.

New Year, Old Treasures

I've been reading a book lately (part of the advantage of working right above a Chapters bookstore) called "It's all too much" by Peter Walsh. It is a book about decluttering your home, but also a bit about decluttering your life. I've been reading the book because over the years my house has been slowly accumulating clutter - so much so that just the weekly maintenance of my home is becoming stressful. I've found the book fascinating because it doesn't talk about the latest organizational fad, but rather attacks the root causes of why we end with the clutter we have.

Call it a New Years resolution, or just frustrated - I've been on a decluttering mission over the past few weeks, and will be continuing throughout this coming year. As I've slowly begun this process, I've noticed that one of the hardest types of things to get rid of (I have found) is stuff with sentimental value (but are otherwise junk). To this, author Peter offers a suggestion in his book: photograph the item, have a ceremony (paying tribute), then get rid of it. So, over the next year, I will be starting a series of posts. Each will be on an item of sentimental value. I will pay tribute to it here on the blog, then it will be on its way to the recyclers, the Salvation Army, or the rubbish bin.