Epic Sword Battle

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Troy

Elements of the 1st Spaz Battalion launched a surprise attack on an unsuspecting victim. The assault was carried out by mounted cavalry, and both light and heavy infantry, who attacked with ferocity, swinging their foam swords like wild, crazed people.

The heavy infantry in the midst of the assault.

The cavalry mounted on heavy war broomstick horses.

The defenders were able to use foam defensive weapons and tickles to drive the attackers back to their bedrooms where they barricaded themselves. While the battle field is quiet now, hostilities could resume at any time.

Hiking in Ya Ha Tinda

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Troy

We finally got the kids out for a decent hike. We had been wanting to try and take the kids to Ya Ha Tinda to check out the waterfall there for awhile, but didn’t think they would be ready. Or at least Ethan wouldn’t be ready to hike it. Or at least we wanted to wait until we didn’t have to carry the little man. He is heavy.

The munchkins three did really, really well. They were asked to carry their own “pack packs” that had their water bottles and a few other light snacks in them. We had to go up some steep trails and scramble over lots of rocks and ledges by the river. We were very impressed as we heard no complaining about all the work, even though it was warm. I have renewed faith in my kids!

We wanted to get in and see Bighorn Falls on the Red Deer river, and took both the high trail to get the overview and the low trail to go right to the falls. We stopped part way and had a picnic lunch and skipped some rocks. It was a wonderful day together enjoying God’s amazing creation.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

Psalms 121:1-3

Ministry Update :: July 11, 2012

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Troy

Our family is enjoying the warmer weather that summer is finally bringing. Lots of projects around the house are getting done, the kids are wearing holes in the lawn under the swings through much use, and the garden is growing. The kids are done school for the summer with Adelaine having graduated from kindergarten, and Naomi has finished her first year of homeschool teaching with Ellie! It was a lot of work for Naomi, and they are both excited for the summer break.

Meanwhile, at the office, I have some help in the video department! Ken has joined our GoodSeed team and is serving as an intern as a Video Production Assistant. He is helping move a couple old projects ahead, and will be freeing me up to work more on the “By this Name – Interactive Edition“.

Recently, Naomi and I were given a trip to Phoenix, Arizona to do real estate photography for some friends. We had a really good time together, and we saw this as a trip away to celebrate our tenth anniversary(!). Our actual anniversary was just a few days after I had returned from India, and I unfortunately spent most of that day on the couch with a fever.

While on our trip to Arizona we took a day to see some sights, including a big hole (the 1,200 m, 4000 ft Meteor Crater near Flagstaff), and a big ditch (a.k.a. the Grand Canyon). Thank you very much for the trip (you know who you are) and to Grandma and Papa for babysitting the kids!

Meteor Crater:

Grand Canyon:

Don’t drop the camera! Hanging the camera out over the precipice while watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon.

God bless,

Troy & Naomi

Kindergarten Grad

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Troy

Recently my little girl, Adelaine, graduated from kindergarten. There was only Adelaine and one boy in the class (who once stated that there were way to many girls in his class after Adelaine teased him about being cute). They also had end of year ceremonies for the whole school where awards were handed out for Honour Roll, Scripture Memorization, etc.

Adelaine was the youngest recipient of the Art Award. Her love of crafts and creating stuff blossomed at school. Apparently, the older kids would come along to see how Adelaine was doing it, and sometimes be frustrated that they couldn’t do it quite as well.

They had a full day of activities and a BBQ before the ceremonies, and afterwards, all the kids were given squirt guns! It was quite a fun day for the munchkins three!

Transit of Venus

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Troy

I had been waiting since the last transit of Venus back in 2004 to see this rare sight again, and it looked like I was going to miss it entirely. A transit of Venus, superseded by a transit of clouds.

This was beginning to look a lot like the eclipse of the sun that was almost clouded out just a few weeks earlier.

Ellie was quite interested in hearing about what was happening and was disappointed that she was likely going to miss it. She wanted to do some reading up on Venus so she would know more about what was happening.

Reading my Peterson’s Field Guide: Stars and Planets

Just as we were sitting down for supper, I realized that there was a beam of light coming in the window, so I jumped up, grabbed my camera and solar filter and ran out the door. It was only a small “sucker hole” in the clouds, but I was thankful for at least a glimpse of Venus crossing the disk of the sun.

I set up the telescope and tripod for the camera and prayed for some more clearings so that the family and I could get a good look. After wolfing down my food, I headed back outside, and was treated again to some thinning clouds now and then. Naomi and the kids took turns looking through my pieces of welding glass and telescope.

Thick clouds move back in…

This was a longer exposure (1.6 seconds) taken through my solar filter. The reflections bouncing around off the glass and inside of the filter created an interesting image.

Finally, the sky opened up for a few brief moments and we even saw some blue sky, giving us a long look at this rare event. I don’t plan to be here for the next viewing in 2117.

“The last transit occurred in June 2004, and the next one won’t be until December 2117. Transits of Venus follow a peculiar pattern — two transits 8 years apart, then 105.5 years with no transits, then two transits 8 years apart, then 121.5 years with no transits, for a total cycle of 243 years” www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/Some-Details-About-Transits-of-Venus.html

When we had a truly clear shot of the sun, you could easily see the sunspots along with the spot of Venus.

Thank you, Lord, for an answered prayer for a glimpse of your marvelous creation.