Family photo adventure...

It was time to update our family photo for a prayer card.  The whole process was a test of patience as I finished setting up the equipment outside on a hot day, then the weather changed.  I had to shelf my initial posing idea (until next time...) and we quickly hauled light stands, bags, etc. to the top floor attic room in Kilchzimmer.  Not the best pose/positioning but it'll do, considering the situation.  We survived despite one daughter turning white and got sick from the heat, and all of us being entertained with the swelling and color shift of another daughter's hand due to the heat and prolonged sitting (...she was recovering from a shoulder injury).  The heat and long session also made everyone's hair to go limp (except mine!).  They all handled it very well as you can see from the smiles. :-) 

I suspended a white bed sheet behind us then inserted a different background later in Photoshop.

Graduation Party

Heather and her friend Anne (from church) had a graduation party this past Sunday in Basel. It was a special afternoon where they could say farewell to friends here at home before leaving to attend college in the States. Heather will be studying International Business (minor in German) at Bob Jones University. Anne will study Elementary Education at Lancaster Bible College.

Heather has officially started her own Blog this week!
Today is also Heather's 18th Birthday!

[note: Sue made the graduation cap and tassel out of 100% white chocolate! tinted black. Yummm! Sue's cakes taste as good as they look.]

Holderbank

Since I included a panoramic view of the Rhein River in Basel, I thought it would be good to include a 180 degree view of our home town of Holderbank. We enjoy hiking on both sides of the valley. This photo was taken last week so the leaves are just beginning to appear on the trees.
This is a series of images stitched together to make a wide 180 degree photo.

Spring in Basel

(click photos to enlarge)
Warm weather has finally arrived and we enjoyed a warm sunny Sunday afternoon in Basel. Sue and I took a packed lunch by the Rhein River (below the Münster Church) while the girls spent the afternoon in the city park with young people from church.
The coastline photo (above) is a series of photos taken vertically and stitched together. Sorry I can't include it in full resolution as it would span approx. 19 computer screens long (seriously)! The boat in the foreground is a small ferry attached to a cable across the river.
That's Sue in the other photo (lit by an off-camera flash juggled in my extended left hand).