Madelyn 3 - Bennett 9 months

Miss Madelyn is 3 already.  She is just the cutest thing ever and it's been quite the pleasure watching her grow.  She got two ponies for her birthday.  She tells me "Daddy calls them Fat and Sassy"

Bennett is 9 months already, it's hard to believe the next time I see him it will be a year.  That time sure flew by.  We got lucky and picked the last nice day last week and the colors were stunning and this family is always a pleasure to spend time with.  

Little Mister was pretty stingy with his smiles but when he did they were big ones.

Miss Madelyn has spent so much time with me that she already knows what to do, even without looking at me she's a pretty little girl.

Madelyn was all smiles with the fun tent she got to play in while we took pictures of Bennett

Love this one.

Something a little fun and edgy

One very blessed family

Copper Falls and Up North

John and I had a vacation day for Friday..... weather report......rain, rain and more rain.  Oh well a day off of work in the rain is still a day away from work.  We headed up to the cottage on Thursday night so we didn't know if the colors were peaked or not.  We woke up Friday morning and decided despite the rain forecast we were heading to Copper Falls.  It was a beautiful day, cloudy but warm and no rain.  

My arm has been giving me some troubles lately, so much that I've stopped going to the gym and take Tylenol every 4 hours for the past 2 weeks.  I believe it's rotator cuff inflamation but since I haven't seen the doctor and John worries about me being in so much pain when I sleep it might be torn.  A few nights he wanted to take me to the emergency room during the night but of course I'm too stubborn for that.  I'm tough I can take the pain.  

Everything I do I need my arm.  Weeding, painting, waxing, weights, zumba, painting, weeding, cutting down flowers, weeding, painting, waxing... oh and maybe it hurts a bit when taking pictures.  Lifting my camera up and twisting my arm about sends me into orbit but of course I keep doing it.  Carrying my camera with my big lens is heavy enough to set me back a week or two.  So I compromised with him..... I'm taking my camera but I'll use my "not so heavy" lens.  

When going on a hike don't forget to look up.

A few years back we came here and there was hardly any water, this year was a pleasant surprise.  

Colors are not even close to peaking yet.

I was on the other lookout deck and when I came back I found John just standing here taking in the view.  It truly is a beautiful site.  

Then after I set my camera down so I could grab a shot with my phone for Instagram someone decided to carry it for me and play photographer.  

It didn't rain the entire day but the air was heavy with moisture and it hung on the branches creating fiber optic sparkles.  

After our hike we found this lake with a bit of color.

We headed up to Ashland and was [ this ] close to talking John into going to Applefest in Bayfield until the bartender we were talking with said about 5,000 other people will be there with you.  That was it, Applefest wasn't going to happen.  Oh well we headed back to the cottage for the night. 

Saturday morning was nice and we got the cottage winterized and some firewood cut and then it stated to rain.  And it rained hard but with our new patio area by the basement we had a tin roof over our heads and we watched it rain.

And yes one more time getting the camera..... my arm doesn't hurt that bad John.  

As bright as the colors were this is when it was raining so hard you could bearly see.  

A little ducky swam by as it was pouring.  Our last wheelbarrow of wood that didn't quite get unloaded yet before the rain started.  

This next photo just says Cottage to me.  This was a break in the rain and as you can see we keep using the wood in the wheelbarrow to keep the fire going.  

We had a pair of Palliated Woodpeckers that ate the berries on a tree right next to the cottage all weekend but they were smart enough to hide behind branches so I couldn't get a decent shot of them.

It was a great weekend even with the rain.  The neighbors joined us and we had a few drinks and a fantastic supper.  Watched a movie and HGTV until early morning.

Fall Family Photos

Audra called me for Senior pictures of their oldest daughter and even though we couldn't get that to work out we set up a family session for in the fall.  I personally love fall family pictures so of course I'm all for it.  Such a sweet family on a more than gorgeous fall day.

The leaves are changing even though there isn't a lot of color this year, there is enough to bring the fall look to the photos.  This family has two dogs and one being a bit old they wanted to include them in a few of the photos.  Of course squirrels live in the woods..... so a short leash was needed for the old dog.  

Beautiful photo of mom and daughters

Thank you Ben, Audra and kids, it was a great time and you're a lovely family.  It's tough to watch those "first" go off to collage so having memories of you all together is priceless.  

September Photo Club - Horse Ranch

I'm not much of an animal lover, actually I don't touch animals unless I really have to and that doesn't happen very often.  BUT I love to look at most animals..... from far away.  When driving by cows and horses I think the sunlight is so beautiful on them.  So I asked a good horse lover friend if she had any suggestions for our photo club.  She hooked me up with the sweetest horse lover ever.  She has a cool barn, a pond, horses, a donkey, fence, trees...  Okay that's all we need and she was willing to let us into her ranch to roam as we pleased with cameras in hand.  There are quite a few of us and we laugh a lot so she has no idea what she's getting into.  

Sorry for the watermarking in the center I need to protect the photos for the owner

When we arrived it was a beautiful site right from the get go.

The pond was shimmering with colors behind it

The horses were so friendly that they got right up in your face so close ups was the name of the game.

They started to relax and move away from us.

I love this one with the blue eyes and those long eyebrow hairs.

Well remember that I don't like to touch animals.... well these gals didn't care, they were demanding attention from me.  I did pet them a little, someone even caught it in a photo or I could deny that it happened.  

She has the cutest donkey and the sunlight on her hairy ears is the greatest.  

Cleanest barn I've ever seen

She's back and in my face again demanding attention

This one is a happy accident, I forgot to change my settings and happen to get a pretty amazing outcome of the little gal.

This little horse got a bit spunky and had to go for a time out.  

Now it's time for the horses to run

and buck

and jump

The owners heading out to bring the horses around

Mallory came with Lynn, of course when there is animals involved Lynn's not getting out of the house without her.  She loved it and of course found flowers in the field.

Mally is showing me how the horses mouths look

Will you share your flowers with me.  "Nope but you can take a close up"

One last look at the little girl on time out.  She's so darn little and cute.

These horses all have stories behind them and since Kristy is much better at telling their stories because it comes from her heart I'll let you read about them on her site here 

Thank you Kristy and Brandon it was truly a pleasure to share in your night.  I could come there everyday and photograph the horses, they are beautiful.