white Christmas!

This is the fifth year I have gone to Mary's home to photograph her family around the holidays! It almost didn't happen this year as David, her husband, was gone over Thanksgiving, our traditional time to take pictures. So when her family was all together this past Saturday to celebrate Christmas I finally had my chance. We managed to spend a few moments outdoors too as it was sunny & calm. We always take pictures by the evergreen in the corner that blocks the setting sun. I think this is the first year there's been snow in the pictures!

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to include the dogs, Jack & Zeke, in this year's Christmas card. Jack is 15 years old now & I'm not sure he'll be around for next year. So we assembled in the living room over the Thanksgiving weekend & I put the camera on a tripod & gave Don the remote control . . .

May you have a wonderful Christmas with your family!

red

I was driving down South street last week & noticed these red Christmas ornaments hanging from the branches of a tree. Something simple. They sparkled in the sun light. I tried to talk myself out of bothering the home owner (whom I've met before) but I kept thinking how fun it would be to photograph them. So I finally listened to my inner voice & stopped by this week & asked if I could take a few pictures. He graciously said yes. I might try this myself next year . . .

all I want for Christmas is you!

It's been awhile since I've posted a youtube video. Enjoy . . .

Spidey

Last weekend Don & I dined at a local hole in the wall that serves great soup. The owner has an eclectic collection of stuff in this place. Lots of
hippie1960's memorabilia on the walls & counters. That is part of the restaurants appeal I guess. The table we sat down at had this Spiderman sprawled across the center of it. It reminded me of Austin & Daniel in their younger days. There were super heroes always underfoot. Spiderman was maybe Austin's favorite. If he wasn't playing with Spidey he was drawing pictures of him. So since I had my camera/smartphone in my pocket I took a picture. Not too grainy either for an indoor shot. And we left Spiderman as we found him.

nap time

One of my grainy phone photos but still a worthy shot.

practicing

I treated myself to a smartphone for my birthday so I've had one since the beginning of October. It has a camera but I don't use it much. I have found that if I use it indoors or with low light my photos are very grainy. But still, I don't mind having a camera on my phone. Dad & I had lunch yesterday in Dick's Place & he found several people to visit with. A good photo op.

Emma

We've been incredibly busy at work this month & last so I haven't had much energy for picture taking. But I attended a baby shower today for Lora, my niece, and her month old baby daughter, Emma. It's hard to take bad baby shots & she is so adorable wrapped in all that pink . . .

more calendar photos

Don's family calendars have been ordered. I took all of these photos except for five of them. It's fun to see the variety of jobs & the environments everyone works in. I was ready to give up the calendar this year & was prepared to tell Rex that when he came for a summer motorcycle trip with Don & Terry. But he had sent me a photo before he arrived (that I had missed in an email) so I was inspired to finish it with that bit of encouragement. And I do love this collection along with my family's photos.

Daniel. Auditor.

Don. Engineer & manager of product development for a manufacturing company.

Yizhi. Graduate student working on genetics research.

Austin. Graduate student working on research related to cancer.

Jean. Nursing instructor.

Liz. Event planner for an information technology company.

Lois. Nurse in outpatient surgery.

Louie. Manager of a sporting goods store.

Matt. Works for a construction company; mostly drives a bulldozer.

Pris. Administrative coordinator at a university.

Rex. Engineering program manager.

Sharmin. Post doctoral teaching instructor of college chemistry & biology.

Terry. Insurance agent.

Amber. Paraoptemetric assistant.

Cheyenne. High school student. Selling shoes in a department store. (We weren't allowed to take any photos in the shoe store.)

Calendar cover.

walnuts

For the first time in a while we came home without a deer. I was relieved after hearing about so many sick deer. And since we still have venison in the freezer I didn't mind. I don't care much to roam the pastures during deer season & on the last weekend I had time to myself indoors with Jack & Zeke. I found walnuts underfoot during my walks down the driveway with the dogs. Mom loved walnuts. She especially loved black walnuts. I could have brought her buckets to shell & she would have loved it. So I took the time to shell a few of my own while Don hunted. It was actually an enjoyable past time. I took pleasure in getting pieces out in chunks rather than small bits. An ice cream bucket full of shells yielded about one cup of "chopped" nuts. I brought home a bag of more nuts to shell but haven't touched it yet.

I heard a bit of ranch gossip too over deer season. I heard that an Amish family bought the place around the bend in the road where I've taken some barn photos. Galen says the barn is caving in so I assume it won't be there much longer.

for Elaine

I have been making family calendars for several years now. I've always had a theme of some sort. A couple of years ago my aunt, Elaine, suggested my theme be people at work. First I wanted to do "wheels" & picked on the younger generation. But I loved her idea & this time picked on my own generation. Our parents instilled in us a very good work ethic. The variety of jobs we hold is fascinating. I did not take many of the following photos that appear in next year's calendar but it was fun collaborating with my siblings to get a photo from them. My brother-in-law, Mike, laughed telling about Nancy taking his photo. But in the end she sent me a couple of great photos that I used. I think the person that loves her job the most is my sister-in-law, Jean. She spends her days in a high school surrounded by teenagers. When I visited her at work I could feel the energy in the air. And I could tell she had a good relationship with many of the students. So many thanks to everyone who contributed or allowed me to photograph them. If you want a calendar you need to contact me. And of course I had to make Dad the cover . . .

Ted. He has his own engineering firm in Colorado.

Nancy. She works in customer service for the phone company.

Roy. He coordinates roofing jobs.

Mike. Farmer.

Mike harvesting corn.

Betty. Nurse.

Cheryl. Dietitian & manager.

Dale. Runs his own home care business.

Gene. Welder (and farmer).

Jean. Custodian.

Jim. Manages coops. (Deb took this photo with her phone!)

Lois. Nurse.

For those of you who think there should be 13 photos I held my husband's photo back as I'll include it with his family's photos next month.