Catalina

Back in August (2009) my husband and I went to visit our son and his girl friend in CA for a quick four days. It was wonderful....we had such a great time. It was in the triple digits here in Texas 103, 105 gross hot Texas summer heat! When we got there it was the perfect weather in the mid 70's. Wonderful! Our first day the four of us went to Catalina Island. Beautiful place I hope to return and spend a few days there one day. Me and Jerry on a submarine ride near the island.

Jeremy and Jenette

I love this place, such a romantic place.

You can walk the entire town of Avalon, I can't wait to go and spend a few days there, just exploring the town and surrounding island of Catalina. One of my favorite Doris Day movies was filmed right there in Avalon. " The Glass Bottom Boat"

This is the boat we traveled on, we sat on the very top deck on the trip over. That night it was too chilly so we sat inside. It's about an hour trip each way. The round building in the back ground was a casino in the 40's later. A museum is in part of the building now. Below is another photo of the casino building. Isn't it such a unique looking building?

90th Birthday

The Saturday after Thanksgiving (2009) we helped my mother in-law celebrate her 90th Birthday. The photo below is Alice with her four children (l - r) Bob, Larry, Jerry and Betty.

The biggest surprise for Alice was her sister from Chicago came down to help her celebrate. Aunt Babe who just turned 90 herself in January 2009. These two ladies had a great time catching up.
Below is a picture of Alice and Babe (mid 1930's)

Thanksgiving Day 2009

I flew into St Louis on Thanksgiving day, my son Jeremy and his girl friend Jenette flew just a few hours after me. my daughter Kimmy and her boy friend Nick drove in from Kansas. We all met up in St Louis and even though it was cold we took some fun pictures at the Arch before continuing on to Flora, IL.........Here are just a few.

Jeremy and Jenette at the base of the Arch.

Kimmy and Nick at the top of the stairs, I love this one, it's just fun.

Kimmy at Nick at the base of the Arch.

I'm back.......

I have been gone from blogging for almost a year......I'm ready to get this part of my life back. I miss my camera and I miss how making pictures makes me feel. It wasn't the best year to begin with and then it ended with the loss of my mother. I hate that I can't pick up the phone and call her, I miss her so much at times I can barely breathe...........I will miss all the little things she done for me on our visits home. Mom alway made me feel special, but she did that for all of us. I'm so thankful we had such a good visit over Thanksgiving with her, but there was so much more I wanted to share with her.

This is the last picture I took of her. My son Jeremy and Jenette was in from California for the holiday.

Jumping Pix

While my daughter was home for her visit we spent some time in Fort Worth with a few of her friends. Jumping pix are fun to capture, sometimes can be a challenge. Here are just a couple of the better ones, the girls got some good air, I was impressed.

I love this one. This is a real working clock at the main entry at the Botanical Gardens. They change the flowers out for the seasons. These are shades of purple pansies.

Star Magnolias

Here it is Mid Feb. and here in Texas we have blooms already...at least until the next freeze!

The Star Magnolias at the Botanical Gardens were beautiful. Small delicate blooms in shades of pink and white, gorgeous...

Long Time No Post....

I've been a bad blogger as of late....

Last week my daughter was in from Kansas for a short visit. We had such a great time. These are just a few pix from one of our days in Fort Worth while she was here. On this day we visited the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth, one of our favorite spots. We took along Sara, one of Kimmy's friends.

Even in the winter the Botanical Gardens are beautiful. I was surprised to see a few things in bloom already.

We always take some bread to feed the fish and turtles at the pond.

This little guy wanted in on some of that bread too. When I turned around he was setting about 3 feet from me on the ground just looking up at me...

So I had to share.

Sara is expecting in May, she is starting to get the belly bump. In a few months we will do a maternity shoot.

Cowboy's New Stadium

The Cowboy's new stadium is nearly done. My husband and I have been watching the progress of the new one for some time now. It will be completed this summer. Here are a few pix I took a few weeks ago. I will clear up this, we may have lived in Texas now for over 20 years but we still are Chicago Bear Fans! The only time we have seen the Cowboy's play in person was several years ago when they played....you guessed it.....the Bears! That being said, this stadium really is awesome.

Sentimental Painting

Here is a picture of a painting my son in California painted and sent me for Christmas. I knew what it was before I finished tearing the bubble wrap off of it. It is very sentimental to me. I had taken a picture years ago of a shed at sunset on my parents farm and this is Jeremy's take on it. I love it and will cherish it always. I miss when we go back to Illinois not being able to walk around the farm...I think I will always miss it. This is the picture I took.

I got this digital ornament from my stepkids, so neat it holds 60 images and can be directly hooked in to the computer with a USB cord or can run off batteries to hang on the tree. Really a cool gift!

2008 ....gone in a flash!

As I was going through the images of this past year I thought about how important photographs are. How they represent a moment of our life. A life that is not posed and perfect, but a snapshot of who we really are...at that very moment.

I love to capture the emotions and moments that in an instant are gone....and when we look back on the images we see more than just who or what the image is of....but to really see that moment, and what it represents in our life. Not just the smiles but that little pout on a child's face, a tear of happiness on the cheek of a new bride or that soft little curl of hair on a babies neck. These and so many more are the things I don't want to forget...these images are our memories. Proof that we were here........