You Capture - Fall

Beth's You Capture subject this week is Fall!  It's perfect because right now Fall is everywhere.

Unfortunately it's in the koi pond adding unsolicited color that will have to be unpleasantly removed as we get deeper into the season.
  
It's rampant at the feed and seed store where we buy our koi food.
 
  

And it's everywhere we drive whether we're looking for it or not.

This colorful little tree is almost lost in the deep and vibrant hues that surround it.

And this Fall picture is a portent of what's to come - dreary skies and barren trees but for now, in the Fall, she holds on to as much color as she can.

For more Fall pictures without the grim reminder of what's to follow, visit Beth's I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture - Play

Beth's you capture subject this week is Play.  I struggled.  While I was at Beth's this week, I shot a couple of quick pictures of Eli and Clara.

Sometimes play can be a lot of work for a two-year-old.
 
And Clara loves to play ball already.
 

Here you can see that all the toys in the world aren't as intriguing as Grandma sitting on the floor with a camera.


Finding Play at home was very challenging so I turned to the koi for help.  Here are the youngsters from the spawning just a couple of months ago. 

And here are the parents playing with their food in the pond next door.  You can see what a commotion they make.
 

For more Play, visit Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture - A Photo A Day

Beth's You Capture challenge this weeks was to take 'a photo a day' and I loved it.  It was fun taking pictures of whatever or whoever was close at hand even when, as in the first day, I forgot until the very last minute.

By the time I got outside it was drizzly and almost dark.  I didn't go farther than a few steps out the back door and captured the pond just before fish bedtime.

The next few days were a little easier.  Beth's terribly injured ankle is an awful thing but there was one bright side for me.  Not only do I get to spend more time with her and the kids, but there were many more photo ops than I would have found at home.  Here's Eli on Tuesday being the adorable little guy that he almost always is.

And here's Clara on Wednesday being just as cute as she almost always is.

On Thursday, I drove Beth to her physical therapy appointment and then we stopped by the school to check the class rosters posted at the front door.  The hard thing was that Beth had to take her pictures from the car because it's so hard to take pictures while being supported by crutches.  But I did get a picture of her taking pictures (it's my thumbnail) and this picture of her coming back to the car after double checking the rosters with the kids

Friday I was home so I turned, once again, to my backyard.  It's kind of sad that the Autumn Joy Sedum are starting to turn already.

Saturday we went to our son-in-law's birthday party.  There were many well-behaved children there but I was most impressed by these very well-behaved rottweilers.  Here they are waiting for permission to join the crowd.

And finally on Sunday evening it seems appropriate to close with a sunset picture.

To see quite clearly how lots of other people's weeks went, visit Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Chris Jon - Through The Years (Sort of)

Chris came into our lives in early 2008.  That was when we met this new boyfriend of Amber's, from the Detroit area, for the first time.  When he arrived, Amber's uncles were doing some carpentry work for Beth and they put Chris right to work.  He proved himself then and he's been proving himself ever since.

Since Chris has only been in the family a little more than 4 years and since I don't have pictures of him - through the years, this post will be a little different.  It's just going to be about Chris and how we know him to be.

He wasn't around long before we suspected things were getting serious.  After all, he let Amber drive his truck.

And it wasn't long before our suspicions were confirmed.
 
 And there's that truck again.  (Actually this isn't the one I'm talking about but the pictures show how she felt about that one.)
 
Things evolved quickly after this.

We'll start with Chris and Jack.  Jack was their firstborn.  Things were good when he got to the hospital.

But they went downhill from there.  Neither was prepared for what was ahead and this was one of the few times when I felt like the dad suffered because he couldn't bear watching his wife suffer.  I can't look at this picture without tearing up.

 But he hung in there with her and the outcome was pure joy.

And then we'll move on to Chris and Dane.  Chris was a little more relaxed for this labor.
 
But his emotion and pride was just as evident after the birth.

And finally Chris and Aubrey.   With number 3, he actually showed his happy anticipation and optimism.
 
 And the outcome was, once again, so joyous!
 
Chris is very involved with his children and never passes up a teaching opportunity.

Including teaching them to appreciate piles of leaves in the Fall.

He's also skilled and helpful.  They happened to visit this Spring when I had just begun enlarging our small pond.  I'd laid the liner and then got surprised by an unexpected spawning.  What a mess!  Chris looked out and said, "Do you mind if I mess with it".  Of course I welcomed it and he got right to work.


He not only built a beautiful pond.


But installed a much needed flagstone walkway between the big and little ponds.


So here he is - family man extraordinaire and the grandson-in-law that most could only dream of.

 A couple of weeks ago they were in town so we took the opportunity to have a small, early birthday celebration for him.

 Of course he held one of his children while we sang.

 And then enlisted his help to blow out the candles.

Like I said.  He never passes up a teaching opportunity.

Finally I want to appreciate his infinite patience in my endless mini photo sessions upon their leave takings.

And when I think of that, I'm reminded that he, like Mary, insisted on taking pictures of Mr. Right and I as we left their house not too long ago.  And that's just the kind of guy he is.

What is it about these wonderful August 7th birthday people?

So, Chris, Happy Birthday!!  We're hoping it's your best one ever but only half as good as the many, many more to come.

You Capture - Water

Beth's You Capture subject this week is water and that really worked out for me on several levels.

First we went to a birthday party near Coldwater, Michigan where the kids and some of the adults spent a fair amount of time floating and playing in the water.

Then there was all kinds of activity going on in our koi pond this week. There's no accurate way to predict when it will happen, but Monday morning a spawning finally occurred. If you've never seen a koi spawning, you're really missing out because it's spectacular. The fish fly around the pond bumping and jumping and turning the water into a varitable cauldron of water, plants, and fish. You can hear the splashing in the house with the doors and windows closed. You'd probably be hard-pressed to pick the fish out of this picture but, trust me, they're in there.

By late yesterday evening, peace was restored and once again the pond was calm and quiet.

During the day, I wasn't the only one watching the show.

And now the plants with fertilized eggs firmly attached to their roots, float quietly in the small annex pond where no fish can feast on them. (Koi seem to consider their fertilized eggs the ultimate delicacy.)

For more water pictures, visit Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture - Cold

The subject of Beth's You Capture this week is Cold and evidently Mother Nature wanted to give us lots of cold photo opportunities. As usual, though, she's overdone it.

Here's our koi pond half hidden behind the net that protects it from leaves during the winter. I wish there were a way to protect it from cold.

And I'm hoping that lots of food will help keep the cold away from these tiny creatures.

I snapped this picture of Joan of Arc as she sadly walked through the snow in the backyard.

Mother Nature decorated a tree in 'cold'.

And we abandoned our plans for a wintry barbeque because it got just too wintry.

For more authentically cold pictures, visit Beth at Ishouldbefoldinglaundry.