board games.

My favorite board game right now is, yep you guessed it.. Settlers of Catan. Yeah this game has changed my life. I had heard about it a while ago and that people had been playing it, but I was not really interested.. All I have to say it that you really need to play it before you pass judgment on it.

I love it, it is fun and addictive.. and I think that we are going to try and play at least once a week, so let me know if you want to play, I am sure there will be a game going on, if not two, somewhere..

our trip to Ohio.

So as some of you know, we took a trip to Ohio last week and spent some time with my family.. It was cold and wet, but it was a lot of fun.. I took a lot of pictures.. I like to tell a story with pictures rather than words..

The first leg of our trip was to the the airport.. We flew out of San Francisco into Cleveland, and then down to Dayton.. We then drove to Cincinnati.. [click on the photo to see more]

After we got off the plane we really hungry and so we stopped at Steak n' Shake.. The food is really good, the shakes are better, but the portions and prices are awful.. [click on the photo to see more]

The next night we went to one of the best pizza places in Cincinnati, LaRosa's.. It is so good.. They have a deep dish or pan pizza that is amazing.. [click on the photo to see more]

After pizza we hung out at my grandma's place.. She has this ceramic leopard statue that Josiah really loved.. [click on the photo to see more]

In the morning we headed to the Union Terminal.. It is an old train station that has been turned into a museum, and it also has an Onimax theater in it (sort of like an iMax).. [click on the photo to see more]

Later that day I had a chance to hang out with some good friends (Jeff, and Darren) we played some music talked a bit, and just plan had a good time together. That night we went to seriously one of my favorite restaurants in Cincinnati, OH. Skyline.. I mean I love this place, it is chili like you have never had chili.. Here in Redding, CA we have some of the seasoning packets, and we try and make it as close as we can, but it is just not the same.. (If you would like to try the Redding-Hardy's version, give us a call sometime).. [click on the photo to see more]

The next morning we had a chance to go to my old church and see what changes have been made, the biggest change is that they now have a healing center, it is not what you would think of when you hear it.. What they do is help people who need help, single moms, kids, and so on.. They collect donations and give away services like oil changes and what not.. They also have, in the same building a Jr. High school.. Good stuff!

After the service we went to a place called Kabuto. This place had a hibachi grill as well as a sushi bar.. What the heck! It was really good and really good priced.. [click on the photo to see more]

After lunch we had a small get together with my family, and it was also my grandma's birthday. Josiah was, of course, the center of attention, but he had some competition with my cousin's little boy Carson (named after the famous Carson Palmer).. [click on the photo to see more]

Later in the week we went to the Cincinnati Art Museum it was a lot of fun and a lot of art.. [click on the photo to see more]
One of the last stops on our trip was to my brother Chris' house.. Josiah met his cousin Jacob and had a blast destroying the house together.. [click on the photo to see more]

All in all it was a good time and it was great getting to show Bethany and Josiah a little more of where I grew up.. It was really cold though and I am kind of glad to be back in California..

the Stirring.

Like I said I have some catching up to do here.. This group of photos is just me playing with my camera trying to get the lighting right.

I love my church family. I love what God is doing at the Stirring and I am glad that I am here.. Here are some photos of one of the nights. [click on the photo to see more]

I love taking pictures of Josiah, he is super photogenic.. Here are some photos of us just hanging around the house.. [click on the photo to see more]

game night.

So it has been a while since I have written anything on here, well I am about to remedy that with like 3 or 4 posts in a row.. So here we go.

Well I bought a new lens and a flash for my camera a while back and so I have been taking a lot of pictures [which can be seen on my flickr page].. A little bit ago we had a friend from the recent past stop by and stay the night.. I took some pictures. [click on the photo to see more]

Also that same night we had a game night and invited a few people over to play, I want to start doing this more often.. Not only is it super entertaining to watch people make fools of themselves, but it is great to just hang with good friends. [click on the photo to see more]

P.S.
A few of us have been getting together and playing this really addictive game called Settlers of Catan, it is sort of like Risk, except a lot easier to play and more fun I think.. If you want to get in on this, just let me know.