Mikal Derek Steven

My oldest son, Mikal, turned 21 in December and as you can see he has two middle names.  He was a couple of days old when the nurses kept pressuring me for a middle name to complete the birth certificate.  I couldn't come up with one, then I came up with two and could not decide between them.  When I later looked them up in a baby name book I found they mean nearly the same thing!  Derek means 'ruler' and Steven means 'crowned one'.  Cool, no?

You see him pictured here with his girlfriend, Amy. They have been a couple for 4 ½ years now. Amy graduated from tech school (architectural) this past spring and Mikal has now started tech school (IT). They live about 45 minutes from us so we don’t see them as much as we’d like.

And, they just got engaged!

I think they’ll make some pretty cute grandkids when they get around to that. ;)  These photos were taken last month, but we took some really cool ones over the summer if you're interested.

No ducks today :)

I have almost exhausted my supply of photos from warmer days and from the zoo. But we’re far enough into winter that it won’t be long until we have warmer days again. . . right? I just love geese!

This is a Lady Amherst Pheasant and believe it or not, when my children were very small I had a pair of these and a pair of Golden (which have the same features in just different colors – the white is yellow and the blue is green). I bred them and incubated the eggs, the little pheasants were so cute when they were hatching!

I almost overlooked this cat, she never moved, just sat there staring.

I think it would be neat to have one of these printed huge to use as a backdrop.

I think this fellow was hoping I’d feed him, but I just made him a star.

Allergic to Travel

I think I’m allergic to travel. More often than not, when I travel I end up with a sinus infection. It starts out innocent enough, a night in a motel then the next morning I wake up with sniffles, then the sneezing, and my head feels like a huge balloon. It really taints the joys of the places we visit and leaves me just trying to get over it when we get home. I would love to find a way to prevent it.

I managed to take a few shots in Missouri during our whirlwind visit. Marissa and Cole did not end up coming – long drama story there. I’ve spent the last few days trying to recoup. But, tonight we’ll be going up north for the weekend, to photograph the activities at the Angel on my Shoulder's Camp Angel.

This shoe birdhouse hangs in a Magnolia tree in my parents’ yard. They have many birdhouses all over their acreage.

I picked this one up a few years ago for my dad. It’s the only one like it I’ve ever seen and it seemed appropriate for him since he used to have a camera store.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

What begins with 'U'?

Unique leaf Under ice

Unfortunate penguin Under snow

Uniform bars

Umbrella in the snow

almost Upright Unflavored water

Unique lights

Unbelievable!

Unusual Uncle with Understanding nephew

And that completes letter U in Martha's A-Z Photo Challenge. :)

Splashes of Color

Reflections of Love (Macro Monday)

Macro Monday is easy to play, snap a macro (or any close-up) photo, post it on your blog and come back here and sign Mr Linky. Don't forget to visit each other. :)

When we got home from shooting Khris and Ashley in the park I sat on the porch with them for a bit and put my macro lens on to snap photos of that ladybug on the mums. Ashley was sitting in front of us and I asked her to hold still while I got a close up of her eye.

At first I was upset when I saw Khris' bright red hat reflected there, then I decided to just go with it. . .

And I asked Khris to lean forward a bit and I got a little closer and voila. I really like this shot! Hope you do too.

Britney Dawn

Britney is the oldest of all of our children. She's 22 and has given us two grandchildren to date. After she graduated high school she decided to go to Pennsylvania and stay with her dad while she went to college. It was at college that she met Nick and over their spring break she brought him home to meet us. Shortly after their visit I got a phone call from Nick and he asked me for her hand. That was about three years ago.

Britney and Nick decided to get married by a judge on December 23rd, 2008 and they held their breaths hoping Britney would not end up in the hospital on that day. Adrianna cooperated and was 5 days old when we all went to the courthouse. She looks a little bored with it all doesn't she.

Looking out the window was about the only thing I could find to keep Tristan quiet while his mom and dad became wed. I asked him where the dog was and that kept him busy for a while. There was no dog, yeah I'm mean.

My little girl, my baby, all grown up. She is the first of our children to get married. They do plan on doing a ceremony next year.

It's official, they're Mr & Mrs Smith now. :)

Doesn't she look great to have just had a baby 5 days prior?!

The Family, they're all hitched now.

Last of the paperwork.

Today Adrianna is one month old.