Oh My Goodness “Meine Gute!”

Had to add in a bit of German there.  It fits!  The last number of weeks seem like a BIG whirlwind with so much going on, that I had to make decisions.  Those decisions included putting a number of things on hold while focusing on the most important thing in my life which is family.  Family will always come first.  Christmas season is normally a busy time anyhow, but throw in a son’s wedding, one can only image what that can do.

I will remember this Christmas season as a season of miracle; with caring people who opened their hearts in many ways.  This made things fall into place that only a month earlier I was wondering how to pull it all off.  I’m not going to elaborate on the details except to say that I’ve been blessed!  In the end I’ve gained yet another wonderful daughter-in-law!

Then, I’ve been cleaning up after company, Christmas, open house, trip and trying to again become organized if there is ever such a thing and once again get into a regular schedule.  (wink).  But then….who knows what else will come fill the void.  Wait, did I say void?  Never mind, most should understand what I mean.

Here is my son and his wonderful new wife in a scrapbook page I put together of them.  All the photo’s are by me except maybe the upper right hand one.  That one her Dad (also a photographer/artist) may have taken using my camera.  The digital Scrapbook kit is by one of my most favorite designers Jenny Binder.  Her kit “Winter Frost” seemed perfect for this winter wedding.  The colors were perfect; except I did recolor some papers to include purple since it was also part of Bri’s colors for her reception/open house.  Beautiful bride and groom don’t you think?  Ok, I know I’m a bit biased.

I started out with one daughter (right) and now have two more beautiful and wonderful daughters added.  Amber Skye joined our family almost two years ago (left).  Married to Sean.  Brianna is my newest daughter (center).  Married to Ryan.  My boys have done a good job.

Ok here is a picture of my boys!  Yep,  every one of them.  Aren’t they a good looking crew?  I know, I’m very biased, for that is how Mom’s are.

Here is our newest family picture.  It’s the first time we’ve been all together for quite a few years.  So this is my treasure!  My family.

Here is the man I love most.  My dear husband and friend Steve!

Advertisement

Anniversary Day

Yesterday was my Anniversary.  It’s hard to believe that it was 27 years ago that we got married.  Little did we know what we did to our parents when we picked “our day” so close to Christmas.  Well now we are getting paid back.  Would I change it?  No, not at all.

The other day I was visiting with my dear mother-in-law and we were commenting on December weddings.  Why?…because weddings in December seem to be a family tradition that is being carried on.  My in-laws got married right after Christmas.  We got married right before Christmas and now my son is getting married right after Christmas.  We laughed saying “pay backs” will come to them someday.

Would I have my son move the wedding date?  Absolutely not!  It adds a lot to the “to do list” but I’m soooo happy for them and support them fully.  So am I getting everything done on my “to do list”?  Absolutely not, but it’s ok.   As to celebrating “our” anniversary…it was in a small but meaningful way.  We’ll take time to celebrate it later when things slow down some.  We know we have each other and grateful for each day we have together.

Here is a scrapbook page I created for our 25th wedding anniversary.

Here is another page created using the same scrapbook kit featuring our Wedding Day.  I’ve made more but I’ll just show the one.

Billings Trip

With only one working vehicle I ended up taking Steve up to the Billings airport yesterday.  (It was a bit scary because the car doesn’t do well on bad roads.)  A company bought him tickets to come meet with them about a project.  Hopefully this will net him a nice contract job or a job.  We’ll soon find out.

Anyhow it was very cold out.  When I got up that morning (4:30AM) our thermometer said it was seventeen degrees below zero.  It was cold.  As a photographer I normally take my camera everywhere except not on this trip.  There were two reasons why:  1) I just didn’t want it sitting in out in the cold as I shopped.  2) There wasn’t going to really be room for it in a safe place.

Yet I did regret not taking the camera because as we came down off the heights from the airport it was an awesome site to behold.  That cold air was heavy and so dense.  Then there were the warm puffs of air rising from all the various buildings and then the sun trying to peak through all those layers.

Then it would have been nice to have the camera to take a picture of someone stealing a coat from Kolh’s.  I tried getting the plate numbers of the red pickup but it was too small and hard to read.  If I had the camera I could zero in on that spot and maybe read it.  It’s sad that people steals.

I was able to get a few things I needed for Ryan’s wedding yet there is more to go.   It was nice spending the day with my daughter Amber.  It might have been fun getting pictures of her shopping.  I think she enjoyed it.

Well that is the photographer minded person for you where so much of the thinking revolves around picture moments to preserve.

Kevin & Valerie

My nephew married the most wonderful young lady. Ok, I know, I know…I keep saying that but it’s true! They make the cutest couple together and seem like a perfect fit for each other. I for one is sure glad she is now part of the family.

Anyhow I wanted to post some pictures of them together here on the blog and was also looking at a Quick page that was done by Lella for my other site. That’s when I thought that the two would be perfect together. So I tried it and sure enough it worked beautifully together.

So here is the pictures posted in the Quick pages that Lella created.

50th Wedding Anniversary

My parents 50th wedding anniversary was on June 2nd of this year.  Isn’t that something else?  The worlds greatest parents too!  Yep, I know I’m very biased on it.  Anyhow I’ve been wanting to post something here about it and haven’t been able to till now.

Earlier this year I asked my mother what they would like for the anniversary.  She made it very clear that they wanted it kept small and with only the family.  That their desire would be to have all their kids and their families go out and eat at a restaurant together.

So we arranged a private room at a local restaurant here on July 2nd.  This date worked best because most of my siblings come to town for the 4th of July anyway.

After we finished at the restaurant, we came out to my house, where we got pictures.  After that, we went in and watched a slide show that I put together of all the pictures of my parents as kids with their parents, and of them through the years together.   It was fun to hear them recall stories as they veiwed various pictures.

Above two Pictures:  This was taken in June as a gift for their anniversary.  The top one I like because it catches a mood that is totally them.  Happy.  The next one is the one that my mother choose because she liked it.

This was taken at the restaurant we ate at.  It captures them.

This was another precious moment captured as we were getting everyone lined up for the group pictures.

Here is the BIG group picture of everyone who made it to their celebration.  What a group it is too.  We were missing a few of my kids and a few of my siblings kids.

Here is me with my siblings and parents.  We really didn’t plan the picture part very well, so we were wearing clothing that really didn’t match, so turning it into a Black and White photograph was the best solution.