Fire! Fire! Call the MDN!

Who would YOU call if there were a fire? Would the MDN be on your list? They sure can take good pictures of fires. And they jump through them well too ("well" enough that no one got burned - that counts, right?). Check it out:

"Yep, that's a purty fire - get a picture of that, lowly intern."




"Lookit the christmas tree burn. . .hee hee!"



Then the fun starts. Brett, of course, starts it. Ryan captures it for posterity. And proof, in case anything goes wrong.




A nice shot of half of the group: Amy, Ryan, Brett and Jason.



The jumps got more intricate (and Michael-Jackson-esque) as the night wore on. Nice. Check for alternate views of this photo on Ryan and Jason's sites.




Gotta check and see if we need to "do it again" after each attempt. Is that "setting up" a shot??




Kevin's 2nd version of the jump, nylon suit and all.




Finally, Brett demonstrates his strength in holding an axe. Ryan documents.

Friday Night Lights

Friday I called Jason to see if he wanted to get some Great Lakes Ice Cream before leaving town. Amy and I had tentative plans to get together and have dinner, heckle Kevin at the soccer fields and then do some work.It was a fun night.

Jason liked Great Lakes Ice Cream Co. - both the ice cream and the chance to be creative with words.







"Hey, Kevin, we're here to heckle you. . ."




"Nice legs, ref!" Nice poses too. Maybe someone should capture that.






My favorite photo of the night. Jason looks on as the game goes on.

Busy weekend. . .

It was a busy weekend, with Prom, Cinco de Mayo and the Derby all fighting for attention. . .

Ithink this is as beautiful as the township hall gets.

Amy and I had fun as prom "dates" - even if the lack of boy turnout was disappointing for some of the teenage girls. . .guess we've gotten used to that status quo!


Gotta have roses for the derby. . .or so Kay insisted. After buying them (a dozen roses really isn't as expensive as I thought), I have to agree. I only wish that I had taken a picture of Brett's Derby Pie. . .or that at least MY horse had won!

Missing the track.

It's so incredibly cool to see my nephew in his first track season. But also bittersweet. I miss it.

The nerves before the race.


The focus. Being in the moment as you work to move through those hurdles.


Going the distance. Together with your teammates, yet alone with your race.


Right now I've put myself in the position of "watcher" but maybe I should get back in the game and try to be a hurdle coach somewhere next year. Hmmm.

Alma Family. . .and Biological Family. . .

Kay and I met at Alma friday night and relived our Alma days. . .well, at least we stayed on campus for a night! Here, we jockey for room getting ready in the morning.


All of campus is beautiful, but the chapel is a focal point.


Some of the great Alma people. . .Hilary ('07 - congrats!), me, Dr. John Davis, Kay, Dr. Charlie Gray.


On to Hudsonville for a family get-together. . .mom and dad's return from Texas (they claim that they brought the beautiful weather with them) and Renee's birthday.

Here, a pre-church cuddle and photo opp. on the stairs with Kelsy and Kayla:


Something about church makes dad and Kevin want to bond over head-shaving. . .last time was after Renee and Darrin's wedding.

Beach excursion. . .

Amy's first visit to Caseville was 75 and sunny. I'm sure it won't be the last!


My nephew Tyler and his friend Eric on the pier. They wanted to walk down on the rocks that hold the pier up. Even though we have 20 years on them, we did. Sometimes you've just got to let go. . .




Tyler's looking larger-than-life at 13 and a half. He has his first track meet today, and is following in my footsteps by running hurdles. How cool is that?


Back at our beach, Amy and I went on my 3 mile walking route and found these beautiful. . .zebra mussels?



As the sun set. . .I'm looking relaxed, but a bit pink.


Amy's self-portrait at the end of the day. Yep, I'm sure she'll be back!

Getting Loony

Saturday was my iniation to Looniness. . .

I competed in the Loon Pennant Race in the morning - and won the 5k walk(!), and then attended the FIRST WINNING HOME GAME in Dow Diamond Saturday night. It's a great thing to have a minor league team in town!


The beautiful new Dow Diamond.

Amy gazing in wonder at the stadium (Ok, just staring because she knew I was taking a picture and didn't want to look).

Getting the field ready. . .great work, guys!


Other ways of getting ready. . .


It's a great place for everyone, even if you don't want to watch the game.


People-watching, and getting surreptitious photos, is also fun.


Some photo-taking is harder to camoflage than others. . .