Beautiful Sunset

Thursday night's sunset was beautiful.

Long Weekend Up North

Our first long weekend up north.  We got there Thursday and settled in with an Ol' Fashion.  My sister Gayle spent the night with us too.  

Friday morning Gayle and I headed to the garage sales and John stayed back and fixed some plumbing.  Gayle and I filled the truck with treasures at one sale.   

I didn't take my camera out too much this weekend but here is some of what I did get.  My branch I normally take pictures of I still can't get to so this is the best I can do for now.  I wanted a 4 season picture in the same spot but spring isn't going to happen.  

Ron and Rondi came to visit and I happen to have my camera in my lap, not sure why I did but this random duck flew by and I just aimed and fired at him.  Got him :)

I'm not sure what John is telling Ron but I guess Ron doesn't really care.

It was a great visit with Ron and Rondi, good food, great view and good wine to pass the day.   Here is a shot of the river from our deck at night when the sun is going down.  I could sit on this deck all day long.  (I think I did sit outside all weekend)

We had more visitors from Ed and Jeannie and then Shawna, Mike and the boys came too.  It was a beautiful weekend for sitting outside.

I had taken the kayak out a couple times already but John hadn't.  So Monday he decides he better take a spin.  The current is pretty fast right by us so as soon as you get out there you have to paddle hard to keep from going downstream.  

He is finally heading downstream and this is where you can relax a bit.

But then paddling starts again to get into shore.

I of course couldn't stand it, my arms were killing me but seeing John out there made me want to take another spin before we left.

John getting a bit creative with my camera while I was gone.  This is the sun's reflection in the river.

The view of both kayaks on the river bank

Our visitor

Great weekend.

A few more

Just a few more from their first look...

After this moment I couldn't see anymore as tears filled my eyes

Then a few fun ones

Ashley and Kevin's Wedding

This last weekend John and I traveled to our goddaughters wedding in southern Illinois.  When I say southern I mean waaaaayyyyyy down south.  As you can tell they are in full summer and we were loving every minute of it.  Temps in the upper 80's to 91 when we left.  

I had the pleasure of giving Ashley a gift she will treasure forever, her wedding photos.  I'm not a wedding photographer, but for Ashley I couldn't have been more pleased when she asked me.   

Our trip was great, the wedding was beautiful and our visit was priceless.  I have so many favorites that it's hard to chose a few and with a busy schedule when we returned I managed to get out three of my favorites to hold over some family members that are begging to see them.  

Their wedding party in the same driveway as their engagement photos.

One of my favorites with the two of them sharing a moment alone.  It's a busy day and sometimes you need to let the bride and groom just have some quiet time and spy on them with your big lens.  

Couldn't resist having Ashley spin a few times in between the white pillars.

We love you Ashley, more than words can say.

Up North Spring TIme

I've been missing from my blog a little more than I like but life got busy on me and I had to chose what to let slack and my personal posts were put on the back burner for a while.  But don't think that I didn't pull out my camera for enjoyment during that time, I did lots and lots of fun things and will somehow get to share them all with you.  I'm not usually a go back and post something from an earlier date but some of them are too fun not to share.  

Last weekend we went to the cottage, John's back was okay, not great but either he takes it easy at home or up there.  We did get a few things done up there, I did all the heavy lifting and John did what he could.  We make a pretty good team :)

Saturday afternoon was snowing, I had engagement photos that were cancelled up there due to wanting a spring look..... snow flurries does not cut it.  So we took a break from the inside work and wandered outside for a while.   It is starting to look like spring even with the snow flurries, flowers are blooming and trees are budding out.  We still have a pile of snow up there but we'll ignore that for awhile.

Water is still very high and flooding the bottom part of our land.  

The sky was so blue and I loved the green contrast against the blue.

At one point during the day we sat down for a cocktail and snack.  We sat in the dining room and watched the river flow by.  As I'm sitting there this animal swims up to the edge and stops for awhile and then he heads out of a swim again.  I was scrambling for my camera but the little guy was hiding in the brush so I missed him on land.  Here he is swimming away.

I zoomed in closer for a better look.  Not sure what he is

Sunday morning was beautiful sitting on the deck drinking hot chocolate and watching the birds and the river.  I think we sat there for a couple hours.  

Soon we'll be able to put the kayaks in and explore beyond the land.  I am super excited about that and tried to talk John into letting me go but he said no..... he is right, the water is super high and flows into places that may be difficult to steer clear of.  It won't be long though.

May Flowers

A pretty site I couldn't pass up tonight on my drive home.  Well I didn't have my camera so John and I took the wheeler back to the location.  Gotta love the 4 wheeler road right a-ways :)

Maxwell 2 years

I remember when Maxwell was little, he was a bit of a crabby baby.  One of the nights I watched him I had to walk around with him for hours as he screamed.  This is when Lynn found out he was allergic to dairy.  No dairy he was a different kid but I had one arm that took months to heal, even had to switch to a lighter weight on that side at the gym, Max was no light weight.  It seems like just yesterday he was a baby, he was such a cute baby too.  Well he's just had his 2nd birthday and he makes a pretty cute little boy too. He looks so much like my brother Randy it's ridiculous, all I can see is Randy in him or Randy's son Beau.  What's even crazier is Randy and Max share the same birthday. 

Here's our Maxwell starting out the 2's.

He did such a good job but there was a bribe involved.

This is Maxwell, all smiles means lots of teeth and no eyes.

Max did so well Lynn decided to change his clothes, Mally really wanted her picture taken.  That doesn't happen very often at all so her and I practiced her smile for her "real" pictures in June.

Seeing this face is like going back to the days of when Lynn was 4.

Maxwell is back but not without his bribe...... he got a piece of GUM.  See I told you he was a big boy.  He learned how to chew it in just one day, he was determined and he loves it.  These clothes are more Max approved, he also loves, loves, loves his shoes

Look a-likes

I'm doing another series of photos for John's mom.  She just loves pictures of the grandchildren and great grandchildren so I'm trying to get all the the grands to have this same pose with their kids.  This might be a bit more challenging for Shawna to get all three boys on her lap :)  

Mommy and the birthday boy

Yep this is Max, dirt bike skater boy.

He no longer has his gum, it was spicy and he "don't like it".  Guess grandma needs to buy some fruity gum.  As Elly would say "grandma do you have any layers and layers of flavor".