Happy Birthday, Melba

We are in Arizona for Christmas week staying with Peggy's cousins, Melba and Dick Callender. Peg's mom is with us. Melba's birthday is on Christmas day so we have been celebrating that while here in Scottsdale. Happy Birthday, Melba!

Christmas Greetings

(This is Nuggets, a cat we took care of for some friends.)

Merry Christmas From Perky

She was actually this small last year (in June).

I'm on Vacation!

Woo-hoo.

Christmas in Arizona is coming.

Peg Some Better, Still Has Pneumonia

It's been a long stretch. Peggy got the results of her CT scan today. Her lung has recovered. She still has pneumonia though. She's feeling a little better but she's definitely ready to be well.

White Christmas

It's snowing in Springfield. Starting to accumulate a little. So it's sort of a white Christmas for Peggy and me as we are spending the day on getting Christmas stuff sent out. Peggy had an early CT scan as she continues to have breathing problems. Monday we'll know if the pneumonia and/or her partially collapsed lung have gotten worse. She's discouraged, as this has lasted so long.

Perky is in the Christmas spirit, attacking the tree and repeatedly removing the lights.

"Tower of Belem" Wins Award

My shot of the Tower of Belem, which guards the harbor of Lisbon, Portugal, took first place for this week in the We Travel the World contest, a Flickr photo group with 6,669 members. I was invited to submit it. It was my introduction to online photo groups and my first photo submitted.

Click on the photo to go to my Flickr site. There you can view a larger version of the shot. There are lots of shots of this but few from this angle, from a ship leaving Lisbon harbor. I also benefited by shooting at golden time, late afternoon with the sun low on the horizon.

From Alaska in July

This week's TPE carries my Alaska story, plus we have TPExtras, a podcast here, and a slideshow here.

Posing Pakistani Mechanics

I shot this three and a half years ago in a small town in Pakistan.

Niger: A Look Back

My trip to Niger from a few years ago.

Ice

An AP report titled, "Deadly Ice Storm Grips Heartland," said, "Powerful system blacks out 600,000 homes, grounds flights, closes schools, blamed for 18 deaths." But the worst of it has bypassed our little piece of the Midwest. Although my friend Col. Scott McChrystal had his Delta flight delayed a full day because Delta was unprepared for deicing their planes.

It's still drizzly this morning, but not nearly as cold. All of our ice has melted.

Slideshow of last week's ethnicity commission

Here is a larger format slideshow with some highlights from last week. Click here.

Ice storm hit north of us much worse than here.

MO Governor Proclaims State of Emergency

Ice is still lurking in our part of the state as an ice storm warning continues. It has already hit upstate, knocking out power in some locales. Most rural schools in the area have been closed in anticipation of what is supposed to hit tonight. At least one church canceled service tonight. It will be interesting to see what's awaiting when my alarm goes off at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Peggy is still not doing too well. Still going through her second course of antibiotics and using an inhaler to help her breathing.

We appreciate those of you who have let us know you have been praying for her. Pray for those without power tonight. We well remember that from last winter. It's no fun.

Burkina Faso 2004 Missions

Here is a slide show I did long ago but just recently uploaded. It's of one of my favorite international trips ... to Burkina Faso in 2004 for a World Missions Edition story. Got to do some ministry as well. It was a photographer's dream.

Winter Storm Warning

Well, we are under a winter storm warning. Some are saying it could usher in an ice storm as severe as last year. Hope not. Here are some shots from last year's ice storm. The first one is a juniper in our front yard.

Move of God in Ethnicity Commission

Here I am with my friend Samuel Asiedu, president of the African Fellowship of the AG, after the landmark Ethnicity Commission meeting that took place yesterday. I will be blogging about this on the TPE Blog and also doing an article in the magazine. It was a powerful day. More later.

Please continue praying for Peggy. She received results today from her tests yesterday. She still has pneumonia and she also has a partially collapsed lung. She's a very sick little girl and we really need the Lord to touch her.

Cormorant With Ducks

Took this on a rare day in Oct. 2004 when a cormorant showed up to hang out with the ducks at Drummond Lake.

Other Cameras

On the cruise, all four of us had cameras. Remember when there would be only one camera in a group of vacationers? All the previous shots were on my camera. Here are a few from the other three photographers.

Peggy:

This is a great camel train shot.

Jim:



Sherryl:

Persistent

Peggy is still fighting this bug we caught on the cruise, as are Jim & Sherryl. Peggy has viral pneumonia. I have started coughing again and am fighting symptoms now again. Jim had been over it, then got it again. Never really had anything this persistent before.

Looking forward to tomorrow. I will be interviewing the Navy Chief of Chaplains for our TPE podcast.

Cruise on Slideshow

All the shots I currently have on Flickr in a slideshow. Click "fast" to see them more quickly. Click the bottom black bar for captions.