A conversation about old Russian architecture the other night led me to recover this aging photo from when I was living in Russia years ago. This church is located in Nizhny Novgorod, a gorgeous city with countless examples of stunning architecture. This church is one of them – perhaps not as grand as the Romanov palaces – but this church has an interesting history and an interesting structure. No nails or glue were used in building this church. It is held together by notches and grooves in the wood slats and tiles – sort of like Lincoln Logs but on a huge, Russian scale. Imagine a building that hasn’t a single nail but can withstand harsh Russian weather for well over 100 years.

Thanks to our friends, N&P and C&J, we had a good time on the 4th of July, and we got some awesome photos of the fireworks! Here are some more – 15 out of over 100 shots.

Codi and I went to the annual Lake Oswego 4th of July parade today. It was the BEST weather ever – the coolest July 4th in at least 3 or 4 years! Codi took lots of fun photos, and I got this cool video clip. Had I run out into the street in time, I could have gotten a better angle. Still, it’s a pretty cool shot. The fighter jets must have been less than 100 feet off the ground! We could feel them from over a mile away!