Perry is flying the Predator on a simulated mission. He has found an enemy tank (the orange object in the middle of the upper screen). Note that his left hand is on the throttle control that will fire the Hellfire Missile.
Kevin is quite tickled with himself. Together, he and Perry have just popped the top off of the enemy tank. On the Predator simulator, Kevin controlled the cameras and pinpointed where the Hellfire Missile should penetrate the tank. Perry, the pilot, actually fired the missile.
This is the drapery in Perry's office. It is a safety drape that will protect from glass shards in case of an attack.
Perry is showing us the Predator he flies to defend our country. Thank you, Perry!
The Predator has a Hellfire Missile on each wing. The Predator wing was lengthened about 36" to accommodate this extra weight.
This is the set of cameras the Predator uses for reconnaissance. This is a key reason the Predator is in such high demand in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Luxor hotel in Las Vegas is shaped like a pyramid. Rumor has it that the light on top of it can be seen from space. This picture of me by the palm tree shows the Luxor going up to a single peak. Really balmy after leaving subzero temperatures in South Dakota.
We are experiencing a December blizzard today. The winds are gusting at 51 mph. It is -9 degrees with a wind chill of -39. We will not be able to get out through our garage. 
Great day for hot chocolate and a cozy home.
Kristin and Michael David examine Michael's first Christmas tree. They live in Kaisterslautern, Germany.
Ryan and Michael David are playing with sound.
Ryan and Kristin are going out for their third wedding anniversary. Nana and Bompa (Sharon & Kevin) get to watch their 10 month old Michael David.
Is this a pig filet? Available to you from Aldi's grocery store in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
At Aldi's grocery store, the bratwurst grob looked appetizing in spite of the name.
Kristin and I enjoyed walking downtown in Kaiserslautern, Germany. We would enjoy a "light" lunch at one of Germany's Barbarosa bakeries. Pictured is Kristin's favorite pastry. Barbarosa's creamy cheesecake provided a well-balanced meal for my palate.
This is a picture of the wardrobe in Ryan and Kristin's bedroom. In Germany, taxes increase by the number of closets in your home. Two of their 3 bedrooms do not have closets.
This is a view of the side of a typical interior door in Ryan and Kristin's German home. Note that it has a "lip" on the edge of the door, unlike our flat edged doors. 
A German radiator _ how exciting! 
This is the menu at the Chaos Cafe in Darmstadt, Germany. We did not know how to read it. The waitress helped us with suggestions; thankfully, she was bilingual.
Finding a parking place in Darmstadt is almost impossible. Public transportation is the norm. We finally found a place to park in densely populated Darmstadt. After an hour in the Cafe Chaos across the street, we returned to our car. We were going to continue walking over to the church in the left rear background of this photo. However, a German woman caught our attention and pointed to this sign, saying, "Much money!" We then saw this sign and recognized it as a Handicapped Parking area. We Melius descendents left the area quickly!
Germany's Hornbach store is very similar to Home Depot. However, the home improvement store has many variations:
Michael David gets his love of rhythm, singing, and dancing from his mother. Kristin is preparing for a Christmas concert. While dating Ryan, Kristin studied at Notre Dame under a music scholarship. Kristin's father is on the music faculty of Eastern Illinois University. Kristin's mother teaches music to young children.
Kevin & Sharon at Ryan and Kristin's church for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. We travelled across the Atlantic Ocean for this celebration.
Today, Ryan, Kristin, Michael David, Kevin, and I (Sharon) went to northern Germany to visit Buchenwald. Ryan drove us on Germany's famous Autobahn - which has no speed limit. 
How can I explain this one? A victim from the Buchenwald Concentration Camp enters into a sterile medical area with an eye chart, human anatomy chart, personnel with white bands and a red cross on their sleeves. The Holocaust victim stands up against this measuring stick to "have his height measured." He is shot in the spine by a gunman on the other side of the wall. This murdurer shoots the bullet through the little slot on the measuring stick
Kristin by the crematorium at Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Numerous corpses were incinerated simultaneously, until the liberation on April 11, 1945. When Kevin's Dad Willard entered Buchenwald that day, stench filled the air as the crematorium was in active use. Those American soldiers never forget that stench.
