The service was held outdoors surrounded by nature and the gardens that Larry was so devoted to.

 
Today we celebrated the life of Jeanine’s dad, Larry Roche, during a memorial service at his home on Lake Holiday in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He died rather suddenly after complications from surgery on June 1, but not before his three daughters reached his bedside. Tomorrow is Bastille Day and the date for his service was picked for this reason. Larry was half French and grew up speaking the language. This was a holiday near and dear to his heart.

 
Today was spent preparing Larry’s home for the memorial service. I was assigned the task of cleaning up and organizing the basement. It was an all day job and we had a fire going for the better part of it. Over the years Larry and Euince had acquired, salvaged or built a number of tables and bookshelves. Unfortuantely the damp basement and untreated wood made for ideal mold conditions and the only option was to burn these items off.

 
Sister Lauren and Jean.

 
We enjoyed dinner with Jeanine’s two sisters (Susan pictured here) and close friend Jean Cass before indulging in an ice cream splurge at Culver’s.

 
Kyle and I flew to Indianapolis this afternoon to join Maya, Nico and Jeanine for her father’s memorial service. The Indy skyline has been enhanced by the addition of a new basketball stadium (right hand side) since we moved away five years ago.

 
Our field is being harvested again and I always enjoy this as a photographic subject. I was in a rush to leave for work and did little to think about exposure of this image (or composition, or framing come to think of it). None the less it is my photo for the day.

 
I was dead tired after work this evening and took a little snooze after dinner. Now that the soccer season is over I went in to have my right knee, which has been bothering me, looked at. I almost walked out of the doctors office after waiting an hour and a half to be seen. I almost wish I had. The initial diagnosis is arthritis which is pretty dissappointing since there is little that can be done to address it, short of giving up soccer (which is not an option). I am scheduled for an MRI to confirm the initial assessment.

 
We celebrated Nico’s 14th birthday this evening. He celebrated with his friends earlier this summer before they left for vacation. For dinner he requested a rotisserie chicken on the grill. This time we did not incinerate it and it was very yummy. It has been quite a year for Nicolai and during the traditional birthday video he reflected on his Kilimanjaro and all the unexpected follow on noteriety.

 
Last night when I returned from work Maya told me that she had designed a trap for a wild cat that has taken up residence in her horse riding instructor’s basement. When I saw the plans I was amazed by both their detail and the practicality of the design. Because we used a cardboard box for the primary structure, construction went very quickly and we were able to work and see inside with the box open. I have no doubt this trap will work and Maya could not be more pleased seeing her concept turned into a working device. I think there is still hope for one engineer in the family. Click on the photo for a more detailed view.

 
Jeanine sporting a new hair fashion accessory.

 
Apparantly there were more than butterflies at the exhibit.

 
Nice work Jeanine. I love the composition.

 
Jeanine’s photographic skills have really become quite excellent. While Nico and I were kayaking on Sunday, Jeanine took Maya, Kyle and Johnnie to a butterfly exhibit.