summertime 2012

I thought that my life would slow down after school ended... but no. Boy was I wrong! It's gotten busier and busier. Clara started a new job - she is now a cashier at a farmers market, the same place where I (Ellie) work. Melissa and I have been teaching swim lessons at the city pool all summer, and we've had several house sitting jobs too.
My sisters and I visited the Dallas Farmers Market one weekend - we rode the DART rail down there, walked about a mile, and explored the produce stands and toffee shops and flower carts. It was an adventure! We all had fun.

For 4th of July we had some friends over and we ate delicious grilled food and all kinds of other things, and we saw fireworks at a neighborhood in our city. No photos were taken of the fireworks this year, just enjoying them with my family :)

These photos are of my and my family being wacky!

Happy rest of your summer :)

Ellie Graduated!

Today I graduated from high school! It's very exciting and a little scary, because everything will be so new.
Here are a few pictures from the graduation ceremony.

 Hey guess what! I graduated :)

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.)