Cross Country Meet

 Tonight I was invited to a cross country meet to take photos for the Colby-Abby team.  I have never been to a CC meet and had no idea what to expect.  I give lots of credit to these kids.... I cannot run 50 feet let alone 2 1/2 miles. 

 The girls started out on the bottom of a hill and when they came over the top all those colors were gorgeous.   Then the went into the woods and I had to run to the next photo op site.... then run again...... and again....... and again...... remember I said I couldn't run, so at the end we stayed put and waited for the girls to come back around.

It was a beautiful night and I have lots more photos to share just no time to post them tonight so here's one to hold you over till the weekend. 

The sunset on the way home was blinding but worth a stop on the side road to take a picture.

Miss El 2nd Grade Pictures

Miss El came over tonight for some school pictures.  Shan has been disappointed for the last 2 years and decided to not have them taken at school.    I still have her Kindergarden picture in the frame and she's grown a lot since then.

Check out this cute little 2nd grader, of course Grandma would think that even if her face was covered in chocolate pudding.

Sneak Peak + Family Pics

A gorgeous day, fabulous fall colors, along with a great family makes for a fun afternoon.  I loved this family and their only request to make them look natural.  They did not want the stuffy studio look they wanted who they are and that is a nature loving family. 

This is the one picture mom wanted, this is what they love to do as a family.

I can't resist photos of families walking and with the fall colors it makes it that much better.

Sneak Peak + Senior

My fun started on Saturday morning with this Senior girl, she rocked the camera with her country flair.  BTW I'm very jealous of your boots :) 

Water, water and more water

How much rain can this earth take?  Tonight on my drive home the neighbors yard is flooded, the creek is overflowing, the culverts are to their max, the ponds no longer have banks, there are rivers where rivers shouldn't be, and the windshield wipers keeping perfect rhythm with the song on the raaaadiioooooo (bring back memories Julie and Patty?).  The rain water is up to the doors, the driveways are flooded, the horses and cows are standing in water.  As I got closer I wondered how our yard looked. 

It was fine no flooding but as I entered the front door I hear a humming that does not stop and the sound of running water.  Our yard isn't flooded because it's all in the basement..... gotta love these old houses.

The reported rain fall for today is 4" and it's still coming. 

Two thousand ten the year of the duck.... quack, quack

First day of Fall

Grandparents Day

Today was grandparents day at school so we got to join Elly for a program and lunch.  Then of course she begs to come home with us, and we let her.  

First let me tell you about school lunch.... they started a new program this year, the food is not cooked by the school, it is suppose to be healthier for the kids.  I've heard lots of complaints about the food so being able to experience it myself was interesting.  My first glimpse of the food is chicken, broccoli, cheese and I'm not sure what else all mixed together and they served it with an ice cream scoop.  Okay so I try not to show my "oh my gosh what are they thinking" face.... next it's apple something, I think they thought it was like a crisp without the good stuff like oatmeal and brown sugar.  Again served with an ice cream scoop.  You can take as much lettuce, snap peas, tomatoes, orange slice and pineapple as you want.  Yummy stuff here.  Okay so I picked at the chicken stuff and managed to eat all the broccoli and chicken and spread out the rest of the "I'm not sure what it was" around my plate to make it look to Elly like I ate it.  It didn't have much flavor but the taste was okay.  Lettuce with vegetables was.... well lettuce.  Apple surprise was horrible it was cooked apples in cinnamon, lots and lots of cinnamon.  Okay so 1 bite of that was more than enough and I couldn't fake that one.  Pineapple was from a can so that was good and the orange slice was like rubber.  Elly didn't complain about the food at all but she hardly ate a thing, she picked the tiny peas out of the pods and a few bites of chicken and broccoli.  The two kids sitting with us complained the whole time and their mom said they complain every day about the food.  It's only been about 14 days of school and this is all new so maybe it will get better.

Okay so here's the girl of the day.  Her program was so stinkin' cute and even though I didn't think much of the lunch it's so much fun to enjoy that time with her.  We've been through this already and know what we're suppose to do but we still ask her to show us, she loves that.

And GarMan did come visit too.  Some day he will grow into those eyes :)

By 2:30 I was starving and needed a snack!!

Fall Colors

During our up north trip we stopped a "few" times.  John and I had such a good time, I think we'll do it again real soon.

John always wants to take my picture,I don't like that side of the camera, but since we were having such a good time I gave in. 

Bet you didn't know I could balance on the edge of a raging river without a scared shit-less look on my face.  Must be all those morning exercise classes that keep my leg muscles strong.  Speaking of those early morning classes, I never thought I would last this long.... with the weather getting cold I'm not sure how much longer I can make it, my bed is really warm and it's very hard to crawl out of it at that god-awful early morning hour.  I'm also not sure if I see any results from all that hard work.  Sure I feel different, I'm no longer sore with every move I make, I can walk for miles without getting winded, but that dang scale is stuck and has been stuck for quite some time.  (between you and me I think it's broken, that's what I'm going with)    I know, I know they say muscle weighs more than fat but I still feel my fat content is more than the muscle so this morning I upped my weights in class..... yeah baby let's move that scale!!

Sneak Peak + Senior

On our way home from up north we stopped along the way to meet up with Patrick and his mom to take some of Patrick's Senior Photos.  It was another beautiful fall day and the drive was gorgeous.  This location is special to Patrick.... it's where he shot his first buck.  The whole time we were taking photos John and Patrick's mom were swatting mosquito's.  I turned around and both of them were wearing their hoods bundled up so just their eyes were sticking out.  At that point I realized it must be time to go.

Sneak Peek + Steve and Kelly

Kelly and Steve dreamed of a beautiful sunny day surrounded by family and friends and the crisp bright colors of fall.  And that is what they got!! 

Wait stop the wedding....... my little ring bearer is crying I have to comfort him and dry those tears.  This is the kind of girl Kelly is.

View from the balcony...... well when you lie on the floor :)

Need to change things up

Is anyone else thinking that this is it for nice weather?  I'm feeling like summer is over and we better start preparing for fall cold rainy weather.  I know I really hate to say this but come on Mother Nature I need a little more sunshine and nice days to help me make it through the long winter.  My house is painted in fall colors which I really love but for the summer I jazz it up a bit with bright blues, apple greens and aqua just to get that pop of color that screams warm sunshine summer.  I'm thinking those colors need to be put away for awhile but I'm NOT READY. 

I need another Jeep ride with the top down, I need another shorts day, I need another warm morning, I need dry soil to cut down the garden, I need another pool day........ okay I'll survive without it, but if you really want to see me happy just one of those needs will do.

Cute Family + Sneak Peek

What a cute family.  These kids were so fun to follow and chat with.  They were naturals in front of the camera.  Hammin' it up and then serious faces without even asking.  I think mom must put them in front of her lens pretty often, and with these looks who wouldn't!!

Good clothing choice mom.  Love the hat!!

The camera loves layers, and shiny details like the buttons on her vest and hat. 

Senior + Sneak Peek

Daniel nervous in the beginning but soon became a natural behind the camera.  He's also a natural musician and the world outside becomes invisible when he's behind his guitars.  His older sisters tried to help him pick out the clothes he should wear but in the end Daniel did fine all on his own.

Large Family Photo + Sneak Peek

It's a good thing I come from a family of 6 brothers and 4 sisters so this group didn't scare me.  I love large families and having all those grandkids running around is music to my ears.  

When my family gets together I know we all have lots to talk about and it would be impossible for all of us to look at the camera at the same time so sometimes it's easier to tell everyone not to look. 

This photo shows what big families are all about.

Mom and Dad are sure proud of all thier kids and during the short time I was there I'm thinking there is a little spoiling of the grandkids happening at this family farm.

Brown Eyes

Brown Eyed Susans.

Kiss Me

For those of you that came over this spring and dug up some "Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate" I hope you are enjoying it.  Mine are about 10' tall and swaying in the 100mph winds we are having here.   For those that have gotten this stuff to grow and it just won't stop and you hate me for giving it to you, the stalks are the size of small trees and there are 50 thousand of them..... remember I refused to dig this for you, if you got it and it's over growing in your gardens it's all because you bent over and pulled them out all on your own.  And remember I warned you.

It's offical and I can't stop it.....

No matter how hard I try it's going to happen..... I baked a cake, I made apple crisp, I bought mums, I wore jeans with socks and shoes, I got a severe allergies, I dumped my patio pots, I cut down a trailer full of flowers, I ate chicken dumpling soup, I begged for the pellet stove to be turned on.....fall is coming!!

Senior - Sneak Peek

Who caught the winning throw in OT Friday night?

He did!!

Muddin'

We took the Jeep for a mudding trip this weekend.  This is the Jeep when we got there.

Here is the mud that was found, for the record this is minor.  The really big mud holes and creeks I couldn't find a dry spot to get out and go up ahead with the camera.

Here is the Jeep after......

ha ha ha ha ha...... for all of you that know John and could figured out this isn't the same jeep, the only photo that is John's jeep is the first one.  Jesse is the muddin' Jeeper.  This was after a couple of pressure washings to actually be able to see out the windows. 

When we got to the campground there were a couple muddy Trucks, Jeeps, Hummers that had so much mud on them you can't see what color they are, they are lining the driveway and we come up to this mud puddle in the driveway and John says as he slows down "I guess I shouldn't go around it".  He did drive right through it and I think that's the first time the Jeep had mud on it.