I love this image!  It is one of my favorite from Britt and Kyle’s wedding shots.  Actually, it is one of my favorite wedding images of all time, and I’ve taken thousands.  I thought since we are coming into wedding season, it might be fun to highlight a few that have stuck out to me over the years.

A sidebar here is that I was in the midst of cancer recovery and excited that I had a purpose that day other than just seeing my doctors!  Plus, Britt and her family have been great friends for a lot of years.  We don’t see or talk to each other much anymore, but that doesn’t change the way you feel about people you’ve shared so many years of your life with.

Just this past week I learned of another friend (Gabe Lamog) that is off for treatment for the entire summer.  Gabe plays bass at church and has an incredible attitude!  Thank the Lord they caught it early, plus it is a very treatable form of prostate cancer.  I will pray for him every day that it goes well and he is encouraged to stay strong in the fight.  I’m asking all of you to pray for him too, would you do that?  I told him this morning that next year we are walking this together, he told me to count on it!

On your mark...

Cue up, "I Will Survive!" (I know it shows my age, but that's OK)

Several of our neighbors here at Del Webb were there either as “survivors” or working to serve a fantastic meal that was provided!  We are really enjoying our new community with so much to do no matter what your interests are!  This was an enjoyable and emotional night for all of us.  The survivor lap and the lap with our caregivers were the first two.  I’ve got to tell you, walking around that lap with Marlene…it was difficult for either one of us to talk.  She was so incredible during the months of my treatment and recovery.  I want to take this opportunity to one more time thank her for all she did and continues to do for me on a daily basis.

I’m already looking forward to next years event and have some ideas of cool things we can do to participate and raise money for the cause of defeating this disease.  If you worked here or anywhere on this event, I just want to say “thank you” for whatever you did.

These are remote controlled sailboats and this is a very serious competition called “The Geezer Gatta” you just gotta love that!

This will help you with the scale of the boats.  Let me tell you this is a serious 3 day competition!

I am shooting with the new Nikon D7000 camera.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my very favorite lens because I  sold it.  Yep, I am waiting on my brand new 70-200 2.8 VR II to arrive from Nikon!  I hope to get it any day now.  My first time without a long lens in decades, and I really miss it.  So, the longest lens I had was a Tamron 90mm on the crop sensor it worked out OK, but I sure did miss the compression I would have had with the zoom.  As you can see, I didn’t give up any sharpness or saturation by using this lens.  I think it is an incredible value and a versatile lens that is probably underrated by most people.

Looks a little more interesting after Nik Viveza and Color Efex filters are applied

July 5th, 2007 Bud Warner and I took off for a few days riding some of the most beautiful roads and scenery I’ve ever been on.  As you can tell this was before I discovered that I was carrying around some cancer cells.  I loved this Gold Wing, all 950 pounds of her!  But, I was a little larger then and able to hold up that much weight.

This old mill was a beautiful place to stop on a hot July afternoon.  We had ridden all day to get there, and this was on day two of our trip.  There just aren’t many more relaxing times I’ve spent than on an extended bike trip or relaxing by the ocean with my wife and family.

This may not be a fantastic shot, but it is a fantastic memory for me that I will carry forever.  Thank you Karl Warner for taking me along!  Looking forward to making this trip again hopefully this summer with a group of great friends from Ohio.

There are so many “symbols” we readily recognize as being located in Washington.  For me this monument has always been one of those that sticks out in my mind.  It was unseasonably warm and beautiful our first day there.  Robert Parks, Johnnie Spears, Richard Suter and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and do some sightseeing.  We were close enough that we could walk to many sights from our hotel.  On our stroll, I witnessed this scene:

Lunch time

What a contrast in the two men; both are eating lunch but one of them working as a street vendor and the other on a cart that holds all of his earthly possessions.  We couldn’t believe the amount of homeless people we saw.  Right in the center of our Nation’s governing body, are many men, women and children living on the streets.  It was sad and sobering.  If you have a home to live in, food to eat and a job you are better off than so many people that are living day to day, doing whatever they can do to just get by.

Dr. Martin Luther King

The high point of the trip was the day we were coming back home.  We were very privileged to witness the arrival of an “Honor Flight” from St. Louis.

A big shout out to Southwest Airlines, they do this deal right.  Our WWII Veterans are dying at the rate of 1,000 per day.  For many of them, this will be their first and only visit to the beautiful memorial honoring their service and sacrifice.  On a very personal note, my dad Staff Sergeant Louis Coury was one of the many proud servicemen that served our nation in these battles.

My dad, Louis J. Coury

As you can see, dad was able to make this trip a few years ago before he passed.  My brother Tony was able to take him and his father-in-law on the Honor Flight.  I wasn’t able to be there for my dads visit.  But, I was privileged to be there for some other folks dads.  It was very emotional.  There is a group of people that live around Washington that serve as the “ground crew” for these flights.  They represent some of the best cheerleaders I’ve ever witnessed.  Clapping, cheering and calling each man out by name, they are not just “going through the motions,” they are doing it up big time!  I was able to talk to a few of them and tell them the story of dad’s visit and how much it meant to him that they were there.  If by chance you are one of those individuals, again I say a very heartfelt thank you for what you do!

There was a full range of emotions running through the concourse.  Sons and daughters are pushing their fathers, drying tears simply overcome with the emotions of the moment.  Proud of their dad’s accomplishments, and proud to call them dad.  The gate announcement alerts anyone in earshot what’s happening and encourages everyone to come over and welcome them.  American flags are passed out among the people waiting, and for one of the few times I’ve witnessed, time seems to stand still.  No one is complaining about the delay in boarding because most of the men are in wheelchairs and it is taking a long time to get them off the plane.  It’s OK.  They are heroes.  We will wait…gladly.

I’ll add pictures after we get moved in.  Hopefully we will have enough help tomorrow to make the move go quickly and smoothly.  If all goes well, we’ll be in there tomorrow night.    Just in time to lose and hour of sleep as we “Spring forward.”  It doesn’t really make any difference, we are sleeping less and less these days.  Just another sign that we are getting older I guess.  But God has been so very good to us, and we have the energy to do what needs to get done.  For that we are extremely thankful.

New neighbors, new community, another new start.  Pretty exciting!

Jade had a great time playing with some of the toys that Aaron grew up with.  Yes, the “Weeble’s are that old!”  The van he has is one that he painted when he was really young, it was the “A Team” van.  Neither one cared that they are near antique, or maybe more accurately described as vintage. 

There is a recurring theme of Aaron holding his nephews with his “sleeve” in primary view.  I wonder if this is a sign?

It’s great to have an Uncle to play with!  Mommy doesn’t even make me pick up the toys, and Grandma could care less!

It was so much fun spending a few days together.  We took the kids to show them our new home that we are moving into and got to take them to our church home and introduce them to many of our friends there.  They stopped by the Faith Riders Sunday School class and were treated like family…because we all are!

One of the many things I’ve learned from Aaron is the need for “community” in our lives.  Just as we have prayed for him for many years, it was his prayer for us that we would find a community to plug into.  He saw that as the missing link since we moved from Ohio, and now that it is complete, we feel complete too!  We are so very blessed to have an awesome family that loves and serves the Lord Jesus Christ!  We learn from and encourage each other, and life is so very good.  It was awesome going to church together and discussing Poly’s message at lunch, just like we used to do when they were kids.  The difference now is that they are adults and have great ideas and insights that they share with us, and we are the better for it.

Yep, I’m so blessed to be healed from cancer and alive to enjoy the stage of life we are at now!  Praise the Lord!

I offered to document this for Mel so she will have some images to remember this night long after the music fades.  I felt honored just to be there.  The music was easily the best music I’ve heard since I’ve been in Nashville.  I think it was because the players weren’t just playing…they were paying tribute to a dear friend!  Tom was a part of “The Alternator’s,” they were just too much fun to listen to.  They made we want to jump up and play along!  They acted as the house band for many of the solo artist’s that “needed” back up.  The truth is that they didn’t really need back up, but it sure made their performances that much better.  Ricky Skaggs was a close personal friend of Tom and Mel’s, his presence there was very special.  Phil Keaggy (a fellow Buckeye) was there too, and he was nothing short of amazing.  Many others I wish I knew their names, but you see that wasn’t important to them.  They were there for Mel and to pay tribute to Tom.  I had only met him one time, I planned to take some percussion lessons from him  But, Almighty God had other plans.  Although difficult for those of us left, I’m sure it’s fine with Tom.

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Tom owned a ton of percussion instruments.  Many of them are one of a kind and all are now for sale, just click here to see the list and for instructions on how to by them.  I’ve already bought the coolest rain stick I’ve ever heard!  I have my sights set on a set of bongo’s next.  All the money goes to Mel, so it is a great cause.

We became huge fans of Cafe Du Monde for their “breakfast of champions” well probably not, but very delicious cafe au lait and beignet.  (Just think calories and sugar, you’ll understand)  One morning it was dreary and overcast, but that didn’t stop us.  While we were there I decided to take a quick little photo using the available light I had and am really glad I did.  This image has hung in our kitchen by our “coffee station” since we got back.  It has moved from Ohio, to our current house and will still be displayed when we move into our new place in March.  Here’s proof that the best camera is the one you have with you.  In this case a Fuji Fine Pix that gave me about a 2 MG file that we printed to about a 10″x20″ print, custom mat and framed and it looks fantastic!

This road trip we will miss our good friend and brother Terry Wyatt.  He has been faithfully standing by his mama that has been on a respirator for the last few days.  This story would take too long to tell in a way that would give Terry props for all he has done as a son and caregiver for his mom for decades.  I would like to ask you to join me in praying for them, that they will be strengthened and encouraged and find their peace and hope in Christ alone during this time.  We’ll miss having you with us Terry, but will be praying for you without ceasing.