Suzanna standing in front of Judge Roy Moore’s Ten Commandments display.

12/01/2006 (Suzanna & Richard) - Merry Christmas! We’re back after a two week trip to Israel and Jordan.

It was an interesting flight both to and from Israel.  Since Israir is an Israeli airline, the pilots and attendants spoke Hebrew; and nearly all the passengers were Jewish, including a sizable number of Hassidic Jews.

Our flight arrived in Tel Aviv; and from there we traveled north along the coast to Haifa, then inland to the Sea of Galilee. then south to the Dead Sea, then west to Jerusalem, before heading south to the Red Sea and back north again into Jordan.  Finally we flew back to Tel Aviv to catch our international flight home.

In case you are interested in what is the fast food of Israel and what we frequently had for lunch, it was Falafel (fried chickpeas or garbanzo beans).   The bread was always pita.  However you could get schnitzel instead of falafel.   Instead of lettuce and mayonnaise, it was filled with hummus.

To see current pictures of our trip to Israel, click here.

10/21/2006 (Richard) - Happy Fall! We’re back after a 10 day trip to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.

At the end of September our Sunday School class held an Italian dinner.  Such a wonderful variety of home-cooked Italian foods.  In addition we celebrated the birthday of one of our class members (Sue Ranier).

During the weekend of Oct 6th, we visted with our son Pete and our two grandsons (Marshall and Mason).  Saturday was a busy day.  In the morning, Marshall had a soccer game and Mason had a football game. In the afternoon we went to Marshall's 9th birthday party at a local roller rink. Next month Mason will be turning 8.  Sunday was more relaxing, starting with everyone attending church together and spending time together as a family.

During the week, Suzanna and I stayed at our friend's home near Mannford, OK.  They were visiting family in Nebraska, so we had the place to ourselves.  Well, almost to ourselves - we had seven horses, five dogs, one cat, three ducks, one guinea pig and lots of goldfish to feed.  During the day we enjoyed trips to the Gilcrease Museum and Will Rogers Museum in the Tulsa area, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.   After our busy lives back in Kentucky, it was good to have some relaxing time.

Thursday evening we arrived at the home of our daughter Renee and her husband Michael. Friday night was Renee's graduation from Redlands College, where she has been finishing up her RN requirements. Renee had been working as a LPN, but with her graduation from nursing school, the hospital in Norman, OK hired her into their RN program to work in the Pediatrics Department.  The weather was wonderful, and we were able to enjoy a picnic at Lake Hefner.

While we were at Renee's home, Pete bought a new Toyota Tacoma truck from an Oklahoma City dealer, so he also came to Renee's home while picking up his new truck.  We decided to buy Pete's Toyota Tacoma; so it ended up that we returned home in a different truck.   Our beloved red Ford Ranger is now looking for a new owner in Ft Smith, AR.

Monday night we were blessed among 3000 people to hear Dr. Dobson, Gary Baur, Tony Perkins and other speakers at a "Stand Up for the Family" rally in Nashville, TN.  How we wish for all Christians to vote for Christian values candidates and to pray for our leaders!

To see other additional pictures, click here.