Patty Jo - Through The Years

Today is Patty's birthday. She's far away in Virginia but that doesn't diminish our wishes for a beautiful day for her.

Here is Patty 'through the years' pictorially starting with the first picture in the album we started for her back in 1993.

After that, as I plan to do for all the adults, I've tried to include pictures from each five years until now. Here she is at Chelburg Farm. I was so proud when she volunteered to lead the group in Baa Baa Black Sheep at a sheep shearing.

Here she is at Beth's wedding. You'd hardly believe she was about six months pregnant here.

And in 2004 on vacation in Michigan City.

2008 with Dave at the Christmas House.

And a couple of weeks ago just as she was leaving for work.

Patty's been a blessing to our family since we joined Dave in loving her back in '93.

So Happy Birthday, Patty. Here's wishing you the best day ever with lots of downtime and happy celebrations.

Catching Up, Continued

All of a sudden it was the last day. I made sure to get up in time to say good-bye to everybody and get those last pictures in.

Here's Dave with his lunch. He said that the guys he works with think they're really, really funny hence the enhancements to his lunch cooler. (It really is kind of funny).

The first ones to leave were, of course, the first ones up. Everybody went about their business in order to leave on time. Everything was organized and nobody was frenzied or frantic. I was so impressed.

Today David was getting a ride to school but I don't think that's typical. On a typical day, I believe everybody in this family leaves the house at a different time. (By the way, I think Patty has finally admitted that David is taller than her.)

Katie was next. How can they all be so pretty and handsome and cheerful and sweet so early in the morning?

Evan Zachary who was up with the first ones orbited around everybody's sphere cheerfully. Don't let this picture deceive. Each one ate a healthy breakfast but because we were here Zachary got to finish his off with Chocolate donuts. I wanted to include this because it was so cute that he was adamant that his donuts had to be chocolate and then he insisted on calling them brownies.

Here's Matthew cheerfully enjoying his healthy breakfast.

And then ready to head out the door - right on time.

Meanwhile Zachary, who has to look at each picture after it's taken, realized that sometimes he looked really big and sometimes little. I explained that it depended on how close he was to the camera so he experimented. Here he wanted his hand to look big.

And here he moved far away so he'd look small. He's SO smart!

All too soon it was time to leave. Patty's mom (Nana) arrived to take over and we headed out.

On the way home, we ran into this critter. I was glad that he was securely tied because I sure wouldn't want to run into him on the loose somewhere.

More about our busy week in the next post.

Catching Up

Catching Up is probably not a good name for this post because I'm so far behind that I'll never catch up But I'm going to try to fill in some of the blanks of the last 3 weeks.

It's hard to believe that February has been such a busy month. We did some traveling which was great as usual because we do love to travel. About a week and a half ago we headed out to DC to stay with Dave & Patty's kids while they did a 4-day weekend in Florida. We had so much fun. We just don't see enough of the faraway kids and it's always fun to see how they're growing and changing.

While we were there we got to see one of Matthew's basketball games.

A couple of interesting notes here. One: Matthew took his time bringing the ball across the center line while all the parents and team members yelled at him to hurry up and get across. When I asked him about that later, he replied that his coach told him to take his time so that the team could get 'set'. It just goes to show that what we think we're seeing isn't always what we're seeing. And, two: my camera lens sucks at indoor action shots. But that was obvious from looking at the picture wasn't it.

We got to spend a lot of time with the very adorable and amazingly mature Zachary. He's not four years old yet but obviously he doesn't know it because he acts, talks, and plays sports like a much older child.

Next on the agenda was David's basketball game. Here are Matthew, Zachary, and Katie waiting for the game to start.

And here's David bring the ball up court.

Obviously, I continue to struggle with my camera on indoor action shots. (It really makes me wish I hadn't sat on it with the zoom lens attached in the golf cart that time. Dan was able to bend the lens back to almost normal but it's never been the same since.)

On Sunday we took the kids bowling and that was so, so much fun!

Zachary took his bowling very seriously.

Of course they all did but they had a lot of fun with it too.




The best part of the bowling experience was watching the sportsmanship of these kids. They all had their ups and downs but remained upbeat and supportive of their siblings regardless of how things were going for them. I was so proud of each one of them.

To be continued.......

Beth Helen - Through The Years

Beth was born on February 7th, 1977 during one of the worst winters in recorded history for our area. I remember looking outside all winter wondering how I would get to the hospital if I went into labor. But I made it and on February 8th, I looked out the hospital window and saw water trickling down the street. Beth's arrival heralded the much needed end to that terrible season. And I always believed it was a sign of what a special gift she would be.

Here is Beth pictorially 'through the years'.







So here's wishing a very happy birthday to one of the most amazing young women I've ever had the pleasure to know and, to my extraordinary luck, she's our daughter. Beth's personality has always been special and quirky. She has a sense of humor that won't quit but she's not just funny. She really is bodacious. She has the courage of her convictions and isn't afraid to share. You can always expect the unexpected from Beth.

Here she is describing a momentous night in her and Brian's relationship.

Here is an anniversary card she made for her grandparents when she was very young. Her incredibly sweet, loving personality was already shining through.

And here are a couple of recent pictures from the Christmas House. She's a loving mother, daughter, wife, sister, and friend.

And she's incredibly fun to be around.

Have a beautiful day, Beth!

You Capture - Still Life

Beth's You Capture subject this week is Still Life. I can't honestly say I learned a lot about Still Life photography, I also reaffirmed what I already knew. Still Life is hard! Here are the results of my efforts.





For more You Capture Still Life Photography, visit I Should Be Folding Laundry.