Fall, Colors, Crazy Hair, Broken Bones...... oh my!

Our fall this year is showing some beautiful colors and you can't help but think "ahhh where's my camera" the entire drive to work and home.  Well this morning I remembered to grab my camera and we had the most beautiful sunrise.  1 mile down the road I stop to capture it...... no card.  Of course I seen everything that should have been photographed on my drive into work and home again.  So after I got home I grabbed a card and took a short drive around the block with my camera riding shotgun.  I might be super busy with photos but every camera/photo loving girl needs to take some pictures for fun.  

This tree was surrounded by some late bloomers

A wild thistle captured my interest for the foreground with the colorful woods line.

More wild weeds.... I'm laying on the side of the road right now and when you see the end of this post you'll realize just how crazy I am about taking the "right" photo at any cost.

Driving by this one woods it looked different and magical inside it.  Most of the woods are thick and dark but this one was just clear cut which made it bright inside and with the yellow, red and orange trees on the inside it brightened it up even more.  

Yep of course I went through the ditch and walked inside to capture it closer..... again just wait to find out how crazy I am.....

But it was so worth it.....

Another peek from the outside with the camouflaged green hiding the magic inside.

I found a crazy haired caterpillar that curled up in a ball.

He finally got brave and walked away

Okay so 10 days ago I was playing with Little A and I caught my foot on the step in the house.  It hit really super hard and kinda like got hooked on it.  I said a few naughty words as I landed right by Little A's toys.  I sat there and did the ouch, ouch, OMG, swear word, ouch, ouch, OMG, swear word, another swear word as Little A played with his toys and looked at me and laughed.  At this point I told John I think I broke my toe.  Fast forward an hour or so and I put my shoe on to hold my foot tight since it's hurting really bad.  It actually felt better in a shoe so I went on my normal day..... that night I took my shoe off and it was swollen and starting to turn purple.  The next day it hurt to walk and putting a shoe on was a bit painful.  I took my old surgery boot with me to work and made it until about 9:00 before that came out of the truck and became my best friend.  

Now a week passes and I wear my boot "almost" all the time, I take it off when I drive and sometimes at home.  It's feeling better, I think I might get through..... then Monday I have Senior photos and I wear my boot in the park.  The sweet boy I am photographing asked what happened and when I tell him he says "I'm really sorry you're hurt".  He was so concerned about me and of course I'm tough and don't like anyone to feel bad for me.  We head for main street for a few photos ..... this boot and driving and bending for photos is really restricting me so I think "main street hard sidewalks..... I will go without the boot"  My Senior sits on the sidewalk by the wall and I crouch down to take his photo and I'm not sure if I heard it or felt it or both but something happened in my foot that I knew wasn't good and it felt even worse.  I couldn't tell my already concerned Senior boy that I hurt myself so I finished his session without saying a word and tried to not limp too badly.  Inside I was swearing and ouching worse than the first time.

Today a trip to the doctors office and sure enough I have a broken toe.  He thought it was probably fractured from the step and then broke when I bent my foot to crouch down.  

This is the most horrible x-ray ever, this foot has had 3 surgeries already on it (you can see the screws in the big toe) and makes my foot look horrible but my foot is laying on it's side and it's the pinky toe that is broke.  Now how crazy am I to get the right shot?  No wonder I don't heal well and John thinks I'm the worst patient ever......

Melanie Mae is 3 months

Melanie Mae is 3 months already.  It seems like she has always been with us but kinda crazy that 3 months has already passed us by.  She is the best baby ever, I know I said that about Jr too but seriously all our grand babies were such good babies..... okay so maybe Maxwell wasn't (flash back of his first night by grandma isn't so good) but he's good now :)

Melanie has one issue...... she does not like her picture taken.  She freaks out by any camera pointed at her.  She becomes an instant wiggle monster and makes the crabby face and ends us with crying.  I follow lots of new moms on instagram and wonder why Lynn doesn't show off Melanie on there.  She can't because what you get of her with a cell phone would not be showing her off...... I tried many times too, she hates the camera.  

So today's challenge was getting her to be good in front of the camera and get Max and Mallory to look at the same time.  Well we got one photo of the three of them.  Yep ONE that is it but when you're this cute you only need one.  

So trying to get pictures of Melanie wasn't working she was crabby, now she's been here since Friday and we haven't heard a peep out of her before now.  She normally sleeps with her hands on her blanket and the blanket has to go over her face.  We are lucky we got her face out of her blanket.

She woke up really quick and did her usual chew on her hands. 

Then it was cranky time again.  So off to sleep she goes again.  

This hand made prop was a gift Lynn had gotten a bit too late but it was to cute not to try to stuff her in it.  

Her great aunt DiAnn knitted her a dress and of course she looks like a doll in it.  She had a bit of a nap so we got a few smiles from her but not many.  

DiAnn also made a hat to match.  She's too darn cute in it.

This is her usual Maxwell move.  He talks to her and she punches him, I think she was trying to tell me...... "photoshoot is over Grandma"  and I listened.

Now she needs to slow down a bit and let us all enjoy her being a baby.  

Fall Wheelin' ride

Lynn and the kids came for the weekend, her plan was to go for a wheeler ride and eat pizza from a bar.  Our kids might have grown up on "bar cooked" pizza and have cravings for it every now and again.  When they were little (okay so maybe when they were older too) we would spend every Sunday at the bar (Grandma Lea and Grandpa Earl owned a bar so don't freak out that we were bad parents and let them take naps on the pool table, play video games, chase cousins in the parking lot, explore the ball field, sit in barstools, play with sand toys in the horseshoe pits....) and pizza cooked in the pizza over was our breakfast, dinner and supper... 

Saturday the sun was shining and the weather was perfect for some wheeling so Lynn made a couple calls to her uncles and we headed out.    Lynn had Melanie (yep she is 3 months and already wheelin), Mallory and Adam Jr. with her.  

Jr is wearing Elly's pink bike helmet.  Good thing his daddy wasn't here.

I think fall happened over night.  It was a beautiful ride.

We came to a road/trail that had rushing water running over it.  They checked it out and Ken said we weren't getting across.  He was worried about Lynn with her precious cargo and now he was driving Mallory and she was telling him not to go through it.  

John thinks it can be done so I get off so he can try it.  

He made it so the plan was for Ken or Ed to go across and bring John back to drive Lynn and the kids across.  Lynn was having no part of that, she had no fear and could do it herself.   She is a Frey and her husband has taught her well.

This was on our way back.  Ken in the lead, Lynn, Ed and then us.  

We didn't have pizza at a bar but we did head to the hunting cabin and have bar cooked pizza there.  It was a great ride, Melanie slept through the whole thing and the other kids did great. 

After the ride it's bath time to wash all those dusty dirty kids.  

Wedding time

This weekend Adam had a wedding he was standing up for.  He's stood up for weddings for family many times in his life but this was his first for a friend.  Eric and him lived together while they went to tech school.  Eric is also Jr.'s godfather.  We all love Eric and wished the best for him.  The wedding was at the winery and very casual.  Adam is the skinny guy on the far right. :)

I was in a horrible spot for taking pictures for two reasons.  1) many heads in front of me 2) the photographers were on both sides of me and I wanted to stay out of their way.  Being a photographer at a wedding and having someone else get in your way is quite frustrating so I captured Jr trying to climb the pole instead.  

Jr playing toys after the wedding, it was very cold and we were there to take Jr home when he got tired.  (come on Jr get tired and crabby, grandma is freezing)

Eric is a logger and their decorations reflected his love for the woods.

And a little Melissa charm

Eric's dad was also a woods worker and died from a heart attack while out in the woods.  This was his memorial.  

I quick iPhone picture of Adam, Adam and Monica

Great wedding, great food and frozen feet..... come on Jr get crabby just once......