Our Getaway

We flew to Toronto last Tuesday for a 1-week getaway, just Larry and I. The boys spent the week with their grandma, but we called them every day. Jared started asking us how many days we had left on Wednesday - only one day into the vacation. We sure missed them too and are happy to finally be home with them. They forgave us immediately for leaving, we brought them some souvenirs as a bribe, I love that we can buy them off so easily :)

While in Toronto, we went north, south, east and west to explore the beautiful area. It's so beautiful and green, lots of lush trees and some that were on the brink of turning all shades of fall colors. We went to Niagara Falls, Palmyra NY, and some little towns within an hour of Toronto. I loved the little towns with their old rock houses and turn-of-the-century architecture. Larry loved the helicopter ride, he was as giddy as a school girl. I took about 200 pictures, but will post a few of my favorites here.





Taken from the helicopter....


When we were here with the boys last summer, they saw this "pirate" ship off the side of the road on Lake Ontario. So this time we stopped to take a picture


This butterfly has decided that Larry needs a little decorating :)


One of the highlights of our trip was touring the church history sites, here is one of the Sacred Grove. Beautiful is all I can say to describe this, it was a perfect day and the light came down just right for me.


Taken from Hill Cumorah - I just loved the puffy clouds!





From the entertainment district at Niagara Falls - I was playing with the low shutter speed.

A funeral and a wedding

Yesterday we said our final goodbye to Uncle Leanard who was buried in a local cemetery. There were many there to mourn with the family and show support. It was good to see family members whom we have not seen in awhile. The Honor Guard was there to send Uncle Leanard off with military style - it was nice of them to do that. The service was beautiful and some lovely things were said.

In the early afternoon, I headed off to photograph a wedding. There was joy and everyone celebrated the union of a very happy couple. What a difference in atmosphere from funeral to wedding! I'm very excited at how my raw 'straight out of camera' photos turned out, but it will be awhile before I can post any - I have so much to do.

Here are a couple of photos I took at the cemetery.

First day of Kindergarten

David was so excited for school today, he ran right to the bus and didn't even look back to wave at me. When I met them at the bus stop up the street, he ran to tell me how much he loved school. His enthusiasm was way over the top!


And both of my cookie monsters...

Beautiful

I had a wonderful photo session this past week with a great couple, I am just so pleased at how they all turned out. This one is my favorite, there are more on my photo blog.

A Holiday Couple

Today is our anniversary, we've been married for 8 years. We sort of nicknamed ourselves the "holiday couple" because our relationship took a new step on different holidays.

Larry and I met at a church function in the summer of 99 and we became acquainted right after he'd signed his life away to the Air Force. We were only friends when he left for boot camp. While in boot camp, he wrote a letter to me (and 20 other friends from church). I could barely read his writing and at the end of the letter he told me not to address it to "the big L" - something his friends lovingly nicknamed him. I thought it said TO address it to "the big L" so I did. I also wrote on the back of the envelope, "sealed with a lick cause a kiss don't stick." It was just for fun, I didn't think I'd see him again anyway so a little flirting couldn't hurt. Poor Larry, he was made fun of for that one. Lucky for him, it was close to the last day of boot camp. He went to Florida for tech school and we continued to write letters.

It was over Christmas break that we really got to know one another over the phone. On Valentines Day, he and I were unofficially engaged (which meant he wanted to make it official with a ring). He proposed on Independence Day (ironically) and we were married over Labor Day weekend. That's why we got the nickname "the holiday couple."

First day of school

The parent holiday begins!!



Jared is so excited for school to start, he hardly slept last night. He didn't want to pose for pictures this morning either, he just wanted to run for the bus stop. However, I know just the silly things to say to this silly boy to make him laugh. Jared is in the 2nd grade now and he just lost a tooth a couple of days ago so I just love that new smile!

David will go to Kindergarten next week. He had some testing done today to see where he belongs, he didn't want to leave when he was done.

May-Ho Ice Cream

Nothing says "summer" like something sweet and cold..... something like homemade ice cream. Only David calls it "may-ho ice cream." I don't bother correcting him, he says it with such enthusiasm - it really is cute!



This week has been a big week for our house. We got sprinklers and sod put in, they did a fantastic job and for a great price. We still have curbing to do and lots of gardening - something I'm not really good at, but I'll have to learn if I want this place to look nice. Here's a work in progress, it sure beats having rock and dirt for a yard.

Uncle Leanard

I wish I had a picture of Uncle Leanard, he came to visit this summer and I can remember him standing in our house when it was still under construction. He was Larry's favorite uncle growing up because he was so much fun. He passed away this morning of lung cancer. It was just diagnosed last week and a real shock for everyone. How would it be to believe in nothing after life? To think that we are in limbo or just cease to exist once we stop breathing? I can't wrap my mind around that. It makes too much sense to believe in God than to not. I would not have emotionally survived my own losses throughout life if not for this knowledge.

A Toast

Here's to crazy.... may we all have such moments. I got some requests and this is long overdue, but I've finally got my skydive videos online. I'm so happy to have my stuff back, sorry the quality of my videos is so poor. This is my first movie (of this kind) so I'm sure it will get better from here on out. I went skydiving 8 times, but only 5 of them were videotaped and only 3 of them are included in this video (the good ones).

We're in business!

We moved in Thursday of last week and are finally settled into our new house. I still have pictures to put up on the wall so this house looks more like a home, but I'm having a hard time deciding where (there's too much wall space). I actually have empty drawers, isn't that something?!

We're getting landscaping bids so if you know someone who does it full time or on the side (who doesn't charge an arm and leg).... let me know and I'll call you for a number. Right now, the boys are content with riding their bikes on the sidewalk, but I know they'd love grass to play on.

We had our first visitor from church. She brought flowers, it was so sweet! They look so lovely on our table, it brightens the whole room.