In Memory of Robert 9/1/1958 - 12/27/2005

We love and will miss Robert. With Phyllis's Mom being Robert's guardian, we felt more like he was a brother than an uncle.

Our heart goes out to the rest of the family and everyone whose lives he touched.

In sympathy and sorrow, Ben & Phyllis

PS: More photos of Robert are available at http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2115595863 and you are welcome to add photos if you desire.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year!!!!!

We were blessed to spend Christmas day with Ben's family: Mama, Mark, Carla, Teresa, and Mark's girlfriend Ayesha. We even took a group photo, but unfortunately it didn't come out well - so you're stuck with yet another one of us. We wish you all the best!

Merry Christmas!!!

Two more holiday pictures from our last Longwood Gardens trip (one taken by each of us). We wish you a merry Christmas!

Mom the missionary returns from Haiti

Welcome home, Mom!

Phyllis' Mom just returned from a mission trip to Haiti. She went with the organization His Hands for Haiti.

Christmas Cat

Isn't she cute? We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanza!

Ben & Phyllis 12/18/05

Took this today. Ben set the photo up (timer).

We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, Happy Hannukah, and a Happy New Year!!!

Some favorite links

Some of our favorite links:
Bible Gateway- http://www.biblegateway.com/
Our Daily Bread- http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml
Our nephews- http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/angelababy2/
Joshua's blog- http://www.eucatastrophe101.blogspot.com/
Washington Times Weekly- http://www.americasnewspaper.com/
National Review- http://www.nationalreview.com/
Economist- http://economist.com/index.html
Smithsonian Institution- http://www.si.edu/
Yahoo Games- http://games.yahoo.com
Freecycle- http://www.freecycle.org
Refund Cents- http://www.refundcents.com
Sony Imagestation- http://www.imagestation.com
Ritz Camera- http://www.ritzpics.com
The Daily Motivator- http://www.greatday.com
Samaritan's Purse- http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
Discovery- http://www.discovery.com/
Breakpoint- http://www.breakpoint.org

Anti-Paparazzi Cat

Old grouchy was admiring those photos and it looked so cute we had to take a picture. But she saw the camera and stopped her photo gazing (as you can see!). Ben thought of the title for this post and Phyllis took the pictures. We hope you have a wonderful day!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!!

We thought this was a neat Christmas tree. It was one of the many on display at Longwood Gardens. We wish you a blessed, blissful, and joyous holiday season!

Favorite Picture

We haven't taken any great new pictures this week so here's an old favorite of Phyllis (from her first attempt at self photography!).

We wish you a happy and blessed holiday season!!!

The Cross

From today's Our Daily Bread at: http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml

Confronted By The Cross

Read:
Luke 23:33-43

When they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified [Jesus]. —Luke 23:33

World-famous Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was sent to a Siberian prison because he criticized communism. Languishing there under intolerable conditions year after year, he decided to end his life. But suicide, he firmly believed, would be against God's will. He thought it would be better for a guard to shoot him.

So at a public assembly of the prisoners, he sat in a front row, planning to get up and walk toward an exit, compelling a guard to kill him. But to his surprise, another prisoner sat down, blocking his exit. That unknown man leaned over and, to Solzhenitsyn's astonishment, drew a cross on the dirt floor.

The cross! Wondering if that fellow prisoner might be a messenger from God, Solzhenitsyn resolved to endure his imprisonment. There in prison he became a Christian and was eventually set free to bear witness to the world.

Are you in the grip of difficult circumstances? Have you wondered if life is worth living? Focus your heart on the cross—it is the message of God's love, forgiveness, and saving grace for you. Invite the Christ of Calvary with His transforming power into your life. Discover for yourself that the Christ of the cross can change you. —Vernon Grounds

The cross is my hope for eternity—
No merit have I of my own;
The shed blood of Christ my only plea—
My trust is in Jesus alone. —Christiansen
© Renewal 1949 by Singspiration Inc.

Calvary's cross is the only bridge to eternal life.

Nephews

Here are Dominik and Mitchell, our nephews, and sons of Phyllis' brother John and his wife Angela. Tried to get the pictures the same size but we're still learning this blog thing. We think they're adorable, of course!

Phyllis' Cat

Here's a better picture of my cat. Ben took this one. She only weighs 6 lbs and is fully grown! Ben's cat weighs 12 lbs (in case you wondered).

Our Cats

The first picture is of my cat. She's pretty active and extremely loyal. Her name varies by our mood. The second picture is of Ben's cat. We generally refer to her as "old grouchy" because it fits her disposition in the morning. Other than that she's a very loving cat.

Adopt an Angel Tree Volunteering

I took this picture of Cheryl and me yesterday (downloaded today) while we were volunteering at the Angel Tree. The Angel Tree is like many angel programs except this one is dedicated to military families who experienced financial hardship or extraordinary personal circumstances this year and would have been unable to provide holiday gifts for their children. The community has been generous with our angels! Thank you to everyone who supported the program!

Dolphin Kiss

This is from my graduation celebration trip ... I think January 2003. Posting because someone asked to see it. Hope you enjoy!