Yay for Independence!

Mom's Gallery

Something I've always been around is great art. I live among many, many creative people!

My first exposure to art came from my Mom. She picked up our little water colors when I was about 7 years old. She's not stopped since then! Not only did she study and learn and practice her own techniques, but she later taught classes to help release the inner artist in others.

My Mom has passed on this gift for drawing and painting on to quite a few members of the family. My older brother has that gift. As I've said before, I have the carrier gene and so does my sister. Many of Mom's grandchildren and great grandchildren are artists as well. It is wonderful to watch as they all develop their own styles!

Today, I came upon some photos I took just while I walked around Mom's home one day. I think you'll enjoy walking through this little home gallery as well. Enjoy!

Photo Series

I'm not that great of a photographer.

To make up for it, I take a LOT of photos

in hopes of having a lucky shot.

That is exactly what I was doing when I shot this series

But as it turns out, more WAS better.

These two little sweeties are rarely still.

I think you can see that.

They also have quick-changing emotions

which you will also see.

Week-End Wind Down

What a fun week we've had! We started off celebrating Ben for his 29th birthday, happy that he was here with us for his day this year.

Later in the week Sara arrived with her parents.

We enjoyed a sweet time having them visit here in Wyoming.

It is nice when others can see the beauty of the West with us.

By Friday evening it was back to just Mike and me.

We were in our dual rocking chairs when a cold wind blew through, 

bringing hail and lots of rain.

 It was really, really a LOT of rain!

THEN, our cell phones and our land line all started ringing.

We are signed up for a CODE RED alert system that

calls us with serious weather threats.

We were being warned of the potential for flash flooding!

We didn't have any problems at our house but we did

learned that the local art museum was flooding.

That's the museum where our son-in-law is employed,

where they were just starting on their big week-end festival!

Yikes!

I don't think he had a very pleasant evening but

he and the rest of the staff there did get

everything under control.

 It turns out to be tougher than you might think to get a 

good photo of rain and hail but this at least gives you

an idea of the bouncing and splashing that was occurring.

 By this morning, things were calm again so we headed into

the festival to enjoy...well, to enjoy the festivities.

The girls had their faces painted.

Elise held her face funny but she was very still throughout the process.

Cordelia requested a butterfly face.

She was very specific in asking for a monarch butterfly.

Aren't they precious?

 There were stilts there for people to try.

Cordelia did pretty well with them.

 There was plenty of cotton candy.

 Our little monarch butterfly really enjoyed her cotton candy.

 This is how I smile when I am trying to take a photo of Elise

but due to the glare on my phone, I didn't realize the camera

was in mirror format (looking back at me).

Oopsy.

 There.

I got it figured out.

It was fun to watch Elise

work her way through the cotton candy.

 Yes, she was wearing two hats.

Cordelia's kept blowing off as she was dancing around a bit

so Elise kept track of them both.

Uncle Ben found these adorable hats for them

in New Mexico and they sure were drawing a lot of compliments.

When we first arrived at the festival we had a chance to chat with a man on stilts.

As we were leaving, we saw him from the back.

Well, what can I say about that?

No thanks.

Summer Evening in Wyoming

Last night was a pleasant evening. Our daughter-in-law, Sara, arrived to join Ben here. Along with her were her parents, Mark and Orit. With these relatives here from North Carolina and Michigan, our daughter and son-in-law, Maria and Eric, hosted us all for a delicious dinner out in their yard. Although we felt a few drops and saw some threatening clouds, the weather was really quite cooperative.

Mark and Orit arrived with gifts for our little granddaughters. They really hit the mark with little princess costumes!

They felt so very beautiful and special!

I received a dandelion from a princess.

THAT doesn't happen every day.

Cordelia felt it was important to teach Elise how to bow in her royal dress.

Sara tells me she is not photogenic.

I do not agree!

Sara and Ben  

And introducing Orit, Sara's mother...

I know she looks sad but she was just listening intently to Maria telling her something.

I thought it was a pretty photo of her anyway, and I promise 

I will show smiling photos of her as well.

And this is Sara's Dad, Mark. 

I think he's also listening intently to something Maria was saying.

I don't think Mike and Sam were listening intently at all.

Rudely, I did not get any good photos of our host and hostess.

I don't know what is wrong with me.

Later, we showed Orit and Mark a big view of Wyoming from part way up the mountain.

 Sara took over the camera so I could be in some of the photos as well.

I really loved this one of Mike & me.

I'll likely use it over and over until you are all sick of it.

The four parents all lined up in front of Wyoming.

The four of us became related back when Sara and Ben were married,

and we've really grown to appreciate these people.

Mike & I always find them easy to visit with and fun to be around.

It was nice of Sara and Ben to bring them into our lives!

And another nice photo of Sara and Ben...

It's probably a good thing we were running out of light as 

I may have just kept making people pose. 

I do that.

Romantic Surprises

This past week-end was really all about love and surprises!

Mike was asked to officiate at a 50th wedding anniversary party. The officiating part came in when the "re-bride" and "re-groom" renewed their vows. The best part was, it was all a surprise to the two of them! Their daughters put together the party, which was really a lot of fun.  Their parents were escorted to the meeting place in an old car and greeted by their family and friends, some of whom came from out of state.

Excuse the small and distant photo but I didn't ask permission so I want to keep the people unidentifiable.

At one point, the parents were called up to where Mike was and he led them through a little wedding service including the renewing of their vows. One of the things Mike did was to read the 50 year old newspaper article about their wedding. It was all quite sweet. 50 years of living and loving is most certainly something worth celebrating!

Don't you just love those kinds of surprises? You have to know your people, know they'd enjoy that sort of thing, but it can turn out really great.

One of the best parts of the story had to do with potato salad. The daughters wanted to have potato salad for the meal served afterward but they knew their Mom made the best potato salad so one of the daughters asked her Mom to make a BIG batch of it for a "girl scout" event.  Sneaky, huh? I'm sure her Mom didn't want to make potato salad on her anniversary week-end but she agreed. That tells you something about her! Anyway, it was pretty funny when she realized she had made it for her own surprise party!

In the meantime, our daughter and son-in-law and their little girls were in New Mexico for an EVEN BIGGER EVENT involving love and surprises. I hope you will read the post about that right here. It will warm you heart, I promise!

Entertaining the Little Girls

I'm enjoying a few days off from work and some extra time with my family. That means more photos!

One thing about Mike is this... he is a fun guy. Really. He knows how to make fun out of the most ordinary things.  Who would have thought to liven up an afternoon by pairing granddaughters with Grandpa's clothes closet?

 What little girl wouldn't love this shirt?

 Cordelia had a great idea!

Two in one!

There you have it.

A party - just like that!