family heritage, book talks, and the atomic bomb

We just returned from visiting family in New Mexico! Our main reason was to celebrate my  Grandma's 85th birthday, but one thing we also got to do while we were there was attend a book talk. This wasn't just any book talk, but one close to the family.
My maternal grandfather photographed the creation of the atomic bomb in Los Alamos during World War II. I am proud to say that I am following in his path as a photographer :)
My Aunt Toni collected a lot of Grandpa's photos, and together with my Uncle Jon wrote an Arcadia book about Los Alamos during the war. This first Los Alamos book came out in 2005, just a week before my Grandpa passed away. His dream of publishing his photographs had been realized.
(Read about the history of Los Alamos told through photographs.)
Last year, my aunt and Los Alamos author Sharon Snyder (and the Los Alamos Historical Society) compiled a complete history of Los Alamos, also publishing the book through Arcadia. The book talk my family and I attended was for this second Los Alamos book. Authors Toni Michnovicz Gibson (my aunt) and Sharon Snyder talked about the book and the history of Los Alamos...

 And Mema, my grandmother, talked about what it was like to live in Los Alamos during the war and about meeting my grandpa.

I'm so glad that we were able to be part of it.

back from the road!

We just got back from a quick trip to New Mexico. Basically we were just there for the weekend, specifically for my Grandma's 85th birthday celebration.

The drive took just 11 hours each time, which was a record for us. It was nice to not be driving for so long! We were just in Albuquerque for two whole days, driving in on Friday and driving home on Monday. And I don't know how it happens, but just sitting in a car all day turns out to be exhausting. Maybe we'll get to bed early tonight.

Pictures will come soon!

Forgotten Christmas

Back in January, my sister Clara and I helped plan for Gospel for Asia’s Forgotten Christmas video. This is the second year GFA has done this project – and its purpose is to challenge the way we think about Christmas. This 2 minute video forces us to think, to look at Christmas differently.


Have we lost the meaning of Christmas? Have we covered it up with “stuff?” Has Christmas become about the decorations, the gifts, and the celebrations, rather than JESUS? We’ve let these things steal our focus. It’s not the way it should be.


As Christians, we are to be in the world, not of it. It’s hard to fix our focus on the one thing that does matter – Jesus. It’s hard to tear ourselves away from this world, and to look at Christmas differently.


Put Christ first this Christmas.

GFA's Christmas Catalog is a way that we can help people who are lost and without hope. The Dalit people group in Asia is the Forgotten people (go to this link to learn more.) We can remember them this Christmas, and share with them the love and hope of Christ. Not only can we tell them of the God who loves them, but we can help them in practical ways as well. With a goat, a sewing machine, a cow, some chickens – these people can make a new life for themselves and learn of the One who died to save their sins. www.gfa.org/gift

New Family Photo!

When we were all home for Thanksgiving, we had a new family photo taken!

Mom teaching sewing

Not only does Mom enjoy teaching sewing to the girls in her class, but she's been able to teach several other people how to sew. They've started with these 9-patch pillows, which are simple to make, but look pretty awesome. (We made them in class- they're really nice pillows to have on roadtrips, too.)

Camping at Cooper Lake

With fall being here and the temperatures being cooler... we went camping, at the Cooper Lake State Park. Because of the drought, the lake was dried up some, but we still enjoyed the nice lake view from our campsite. We "roughed it" in our tent and with our cooking and eating outdoors, but had some comfortable things too, like air mattresses, water, and electricity. There was a fire ban, so we improvised and made smores over the camp stove.

We forgot our broom, to sweep off the campsite and inside the tent, so Clara made one from locally available materials.

Ellie had fun wearing Dad's fishing vest like it was a photographer's vest.

Clara and Ellie did some themed photoshoots in the woods. Here, Clara is about to wake up in a strange place.

We played cards in the evening by the light of the lantern, after the sun had set.

We saw lots of armadillos that were alive.

The lake view from our campsite

In the cold mornings, we enjoyed warm beverages like this hot chocolate.

Delicious burritos for breakfast.

Migrating birds

And our family!

Talent Show

The GFA talent show was last Friday night. It was lots of fun! Crazy friends being Elvis, and Nacho Libre, and Ellie and Clara were in the Prayer Skit.