The Sun Sets on 2011

It's been a great year for our family in so many ways.  
We look forward to what 2012 brings.
Happy New Year!

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on,
with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
  ~Hal Borland

For Auntie Cheryl

Hi Auntie Cheryl

I am growing up in black and white and color.

I'm still happy and so cute but I really don't know that yet, everyone just tells me so. 

I'm too busy exploring and learning to think about much else.  I love you and miss you.

Oranges

Yummy hand picked oranges.  A first time experience and very delightful.  It is so fun to be somewhere warm and sunny :-)

Merry Christmas - Coming Soon

Friday's Fences - Boots

I found this fence on a drive during warmer weather. 

Go here to see more fences:

For Grammy Great and Grandpop

This mother wanted a nice family picture for a Christmas card.

She had a vision.

The vision included children sitting nicely where they were placed.......

and smiling sweetly.

Sometimes the smiles happened................

and sometimes they didn't!

So watch your mailbox, Grammy and Grandpop, because in the end, with a little help from a friend, we got a good one :-)

What a Spread

Dinosaurland - Dinosaur National Monument

I found this long neck dinosaur behind a fence.  I thought it might be a great addition to Friday's fences.

There is nothing like a billion year old smile.

What I've Learned

I took some candid pictures of a mother and her sons. 

When I took them to her I offered to take some more, formal family pictures, if she would like.

She indicated she might consider taking me up on my offer.  

A day or two later she called and said she was interested in accepting my offer.  

She said she was getting married on Saturday and wondered if I would photograph her wedding.  She said that she had a family member with a point and shoot camera that would be there but she really liked the quality of the pictures I had given her and hoped I'd oblige.

I reluctantly said I would help her out.  This is a hobby.  I am an amateur with no low light experience, which is exactly what I found when I arrived at the appointed hour. 

 I turned to my husband who has all the faith in the world in me, (he has always believed that I can turn straw into gold) and said, "What am I going to do?' He calmly said, "Learn from it."

I did learn. 

Lesson 1:  Act like you know what you are doing even if you don't have a clue...........

everyone doesn't need to be in a panic.

Lesson 2:  Go with what you know and if that isn't enough use Auto.

Lesson 3:  Keep shooting with the intent that you'll actually get something of interest. 

Lesson 4:  Think more about making the bride happy than your fear of failure.

Lesson 5:  With a prayer in your heart, divine intervention and someone who believes in you,
total disaster can be averted.

Follow Your Heart

  

Do you ever feel like you should follow this kind of advice, but you seem to have

temporarily misplaced your heart?........................Perhaps it's your ears that are missing?

Everything will come out right because I've heard:

It will all be okay in the end

and if it's not okay,

it's not the end.

Mellow Yellow Monday

I thought this was a cute yellow handbag. 

I like the reflection of the orange post on the bottom of the bag. 

Friday Fences

My husband took me for a drive the other day and I spotted this home with a fence.   Initially we drove past the home and then I had a flash of insight, I envisioned how I would process a photo of the house.   I asked my husband to please back up.   He's good about requests like that.   Picturing the photo in my mind before I captured the image was a new experience for me.  It was kind of fun.

Go here to see more fences:

Oops!

I spilled a little water so, I decided to make a picture of it.  

I think it turned into a pretty neat abstract.