@ The Arch

Here's a few other photos from the early morning shoot.

Pre-Rush Rush

I headed out to the Arch one chilly morning last week to catch the sunrise for some pictures. Ironically, this was my favorite.

I Love Korean Tradition

We recently went to a birthday party for a friend whose daughter turned 1. Since our friends happen to be Korean, it was a good opportunity for us to break out the girls' traditional Korean hanboks. It is a huge custom for celebrate a child's first birthday in Korea (traditional Koreans consider this day as their 2nd birthday...the first is when they are born).

The birthday celebration includes getting dressed up in traditional clothing, and choosing an item from a table, which represents their path through life (I guess). Articles to choose from include money, food, red thread, things relating to jobs... Our kids chose the cash! Since Lydia's parents are both physicians, it seemed natural she picked the stethoscope...one parent was pleased, the other not so much. I personally think she chose it out of default. It was close, and she couldn't get her feet moving because of her hanbok. Nonetheless, I love the tradition. We have beautiful hanbok's for the kids because of their foster parents in Seoul.

I also love the Guatemalan "tradition" we have instilled with Benny... the ol' pinata and stick! What does it have to do with Guatemala, you ask? Nothing...just our tradition, that's all.

It's nice to have family traditions, and suspect it will serve as an extra dab of glue, keeping our family in love with each other for years to come.

I've created a new website to compliment this blog.

http://focusonthejourney.com/

My plan is to post articles, surveys, thoughts, photos...and have a contest or 2 along the way. If life is a journey...and we are all on this journey together...why not share things to help us all along the way?

Craftsmanship is not dead

I had never been in a woodworking store until my friend Eric (also known as #2 by my wife...only because of the name, though) invited me along. By day he is a doctor. By night, he's an American craftsman in the making. Now, woodworking isn't my cup of tea, but photography is. Observing Eric in his element presented quite a few photo opps. It's funny, but I see him more as a woodworker than a doctor. Not because he is a marginal doctor...hardly the case. He is incredibly humble and doesn't flaunt his MD...he also works hard enough to want to talk about something else when he's away from the hospital. He's the classic case of someone not making his identity what he does. If you want to talk philosophy, books, family, religion, woodshop...#2 is your man.

Getting back to the woodworking store. The employees were attentive to his questions, but they thought I was the goofy sidekick with the camera. All in all, I took @ 150 pictures in the store. Most were deleted, but I found the place fascinating. Here are a few of the remaining pics that I liked.

If you ever run across a museum-quality chair made by Eric, you better snap it up. Anyone that willingly reads a book called "Dust Collection Basics" must be serious..or in need of a good book :)

Simply stated, I love our kids. When people find out they are adopted, they always tell me how lucky they are. I think the opposite. Geri and I are blessed. I figured that God had this planned from the beginning. It was just our job to bring them home.

Speaking of this, we have a good friend that is pregnant...when we broke the news a month or so ago, Benny was somewhat confused...he understands that somehow babies come from bellies, but is still figuring out what an airplane has to do with the process (since his sisters came on airplanes). When he's old enough, I'll just refer to the first paragraph to explain our family.