Fall Cleaning Up North

Once again it's time for fall clean up at the cottage.  The amount of leaves we {I mean John} has to rake up is unbelievable.  The trees are so pretty all summer and fall and then when they drop to the ground they become not so pretty.  John pretty much had to do all the raking this year because my arm is finally feeing better and I didn't want to go back to the painful nights so I walked around with my camera, put wood in the fire and stayed warm inside the cottage.   

I did a little painting in the living room a while ago, it looks really good and much more welcoming than the paneling.  

We also used an old door for a headboard.  Now I just have to wait for this arm to get lots better for me to start painting the other rooms.  We got time.

Leaves are done, outside is winterized and the fireplaces are throwing heat.  I kinda like this time of year up north.  Brisk air, warm campfire, beautiful views and a cozy cottage to enjoy.  

October Photo Club

For October we've had it planned since February to go to the cemetery and the time finally came.  It sounded so good then but the closer it got the colder it got and the sooner it got dark.  Cemetery, Halloween, Dark, Spooks, Cold..... oh yeah what fun it was going to be.  

Gayle and I went a bit early and placed spooks around for some interesting Halloween photos and then we walked down by Mom and had a glass of wine to warm up and get our nerve on for later when it got dark.  Well Gayle says "hey Mom we're taking pictures tonight wanna come out and play?"...... I said "what are you doing?, are you crazy?, do you remember how she played pranks on us?"  Oh well it was too late, she said it and we had to deal with whatever mom had planned.

The other girls got there and the night started out great, it was actually warmer than what I thought it would be and the sky was great for photos.  

Here's one of our spooks guarding a metal cross.

A few loose heads.....

and rats.....

and crows.....

And one very scary monster

I'm okay with all that since it's still light out.  There are a lot of interesting photos to take in the cemetery during the daylight hours.

The skeleton man and I had a little photo shoot session, he did very well.  No complaining, no wiggling, but very few smiles.

It quickly got dark so we placed a spot light and shined it into the graveyard.

One spooky star shinning in the sky.

Love how the light shined through the cross stones.

Here is a shot of the truck with the spotlight shining.  It lights up the stones with the spider (far right) and the skeleton man with the felt hat (far left) and the crow (close left)

Okay now here's where it got weird.  We didn't know it at the time so that helped a ton not to be freaked out.  We stayed there for a long time in the dark and thought it was really fun.  A bunch of girls in the dark in the cemetery close to Halloween with my mother invited.   AHHHHHHHHHH

So when I got home I uploaded my photos and started culling through them and when I flipped past this one it caught my attention and quickly scrolled back to it.  WHAT is that?  Do you see the human like figure leaning over the skeleton man?  That was not there, we were all in the same area and no one was in front of us.  The figure appears to be wearing big alien type boots that you can see through and a power ranger like mask/helmet.  

It was a great night, every month it just keeps getting better and better and we have so much fun.  I'm so grateful for this great group of girls to spend one night a month with even if we are in the company of spirits.  (liquid and transparent)  :)

Rebka Family Addition

The girls are now both big sisters to a beautiful baby boy.  The girls came in all jumpy and excited but once we had the talk and placed Jack onto them they settled right down and did awesome.  Jack was sleeping so well at this point.

We did the stack up and the girls were so still and careful but Jack was a bit tippy way up there so don't worry mom is off camera holding onto him.  

I just love this one, it reminds me of Christmas morning vintage style.

Jack woke up for his naked shots and his eyes are so bright.

So tired.....

I love the way he is looking at dad.

Dad's a bit proud of this little man

After Jack was done the girls got one more shot with their little brother.  Everyone wants to hold his head.  :)

The Bohn Family

This little man is so adorable.  He just turned 6 months so photos are needed.

I've heard tin is in so why not put a tippy baby into a tin bowl.  

This family is so darn cute.

I love his little hand on Tyler head but what you don't know is that fistfall's of hair were happening just seconds before this.  One thing I do know is that these boys are very close and just touching him made Sias happy.

Pretty momma and her baby boy.

Sias was a bit cranky so dad tried to get some quick smiles after playing.  

Halloween was just around the corner so the boys brought along their costumes.  Tyler liked chopping off the rats head.

I love Halloween pictures

Large Family Sneak Peak

I knew I was behind in blogging but didn't realize I was that far behind.  I'll try to catch up for those that haven't seen them on facebook.  

When you get a call to take large family photos it's a challenge for location and weather.  Getting multiple families together on the same date and at the same time is a bit of a miracle in scheduling.  This family is experiencing a difficult challenge that no matter the weather this needed to happen.  And wouldn't you know it we had rain all day, not just a light rain but downpouring rain.  So when life hands you challenges you all stick together and do what needs to happen.  This family did just that, pictures were needed and location didn't matter.  The family room served as location #1.

All the grandchildren and great grandchildren

Add Grandma and Grandpa

Then add everyone into the group.  

Crazyness does happen when you have a large group and why not just embrace it.  These are my favorite ones.

Location #2 was the garage where the family hangs out for football games and just hanging out.  I love it, when a family can be surrounded by all their love in a location that means something to them it's perfect.  

A sweet couple, it's amazing their hearts fit into this frame.  

My thoughts and prayers are with both of you.