Visiting friends in St. Joseph

I went to St. Joseph, MO on Sunday for a small photo job. My friend Crystal was with me and we stopped off to visit my friends from college. I have known Joe and Amanda Pontius for close to 10 years now. They are such great friends. I actually got to see Amanda come to know the Lord and Joe has always been a great spiritual mentor and friend. They have four kids now and their oldest, James, has autism (click here to learn more about autism). He is a lot of fun to play with but definitely a hand-full. I am just so humbled and encouraged when I am around them because of the way that they love each other, their kids, and everyone around them. They don't get a lot of time away because they have four kids and there is demanding time of raising a child with autism so I cherish every moment I get to spend with them. We always share stories from college and it is a good laugh to remember some of the things that we did back then.

Below is a photo of them with two of their children, James and Elizabeth. The wall they are sitting on is a wall that Joe just built in his front yard and I call it the Alpha Omega Wall. See, Joe is an architect and there is a funny story where he was taking me around town to show me the projects he had worked on. There was a nice stone wall that he was taking me to but by the time we got there I found out that he designed a concept but the one that was actually built he had nothing to do with. So we have this running joke about Joe designing a lot of buildings and walls that never get built. This wall is unarguably the Alpha Omega Wall because Joe designed and built it all by himself. He was the 'beginning' and the 'end' of this project. I am proud of you Joe:) By the way, Joe is great at what he does and he is one of the few licensed architects in his firm. I love you guys!

The Alpha Omega Wall...

Crystal and me on the Alpha Omega Wall...