Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love and Best Wishes,

Amy, S, Little Man, Ellie, Echo and Norman

See you soon.

Garfield's Flowers

Once again when we were in Indianapolis in October, we visited the Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Garden. And once again, I had fun taking some snapshots of the absolutely beautiful flowers and plants therein. Here are a few of my favorites. I hope you like them too:

Nearly Neon Lantana


Speaking of neon, I think this has to be some kind of coleus.
We'll call it neon coleus!


I like this one for the light and the bokeh.


The orchids in this place are amazing.


Orchids with creamy bokeh.


An exquisite variety.


Pretty in pink.


This one reminds me of a ruffled shirt.


Very unique.


Pomegranate, used in last month's header.


Then, outdoors, there were mums.


And these...not sure what these are, but I liked them.


Bees were also outdoors, of course.


Outdoors, it was definitely autumn.

So there you have it. I love this place. Or any place I can take pretty pictures of natural things. Thanks for ruminating through them with me.

See you soon.

Amanda and Russell and the Girls

Our friends Amanda and Russell asked me to take some photos of their family at the Dallas Arboretum the other day. They were to be family shots - not Christmas photos. And, all week we were worried about what the weather was going to do. Turns out it was a beautiful day and we happened to get some great photos of this good looking bunch, so I had to share them with you:

The fall colors were just about perfect here in Dallas on that day.


This is Miss Amelia, four years old.

Amelia was not so sure about me at first. We have met before, but it had been a while for sure and she didn't remember me at all. So she had to warm up to the idea of taking these photos. Getting to run around the big open field helped the warming process immeasurably. She actually came up to me a few minutes into the shoot and explained to me she didn't know me at first but now that she does know me, it was alright that I was taking their photos.

The live wire and the not-so-live wire.


She even posed for me later in the afternoon.


I like this one, but it would have been better if I would have gotten down even with the stone.


Once she started playing in the water with her dad, she had the most fun of all.


Then there is Miss Lola, just over a year old.


She is cute as a button, too.


And all smiles.


She had fun running in the field, too, with Mama nearby.

Attempts to capture a photo of the two girls together did not go so good. Actually, those photos would make a pretty funny blog post all by themselves. The only one that came out remotely salvageable was this one:

Then we took several posed family shots in different locations of the Arboretum. Here are my favorites:

This one...still when Amelia wasn't so sure...


By the fossil walls and all that water.


In the field full of fall colors when the sun was just about right.

It was nice to enjoy the beautiful day with this beautiful family! Thanks Amanda and Russell for letting me take your photos!

See you soon.

Thanksgiving Silliness

On Thanksgiving at S's parents' house, we once again attempted to get a photo of the five grandchildren together. Yeah, well, here's what we got:

I should say, in Little Man's defense, he was not feeling good at all.



Winner of the "first to cry" award - Katherine!



Next...it was Alexandra.
She didn't cry - she just crinkled up her sweet little face.



Sophia was all like, "What's the problem, girlfriend?"



Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle.
Giggle.
I think Little Man and Alexandra might look even MORE alike than he and Sophia...



OK, all looking sort of in the same direction.
But Andrew is eating a cookie.
And everyone else sort of has this "why am I here?" look.



Andrew is now on the move.
Alexandra is pretty sure the grown-ups are on something.



Little Man's turn to cry!



S said, when viewing these photos, as if speaking for LM,
"I sure can enjoy the holidays more now that I've got my Hoveround!"
So now, of course, we call it the Hoveround.

Sophia to LM: "Come on, you and me, let's blow this Popsicle stand!"



Add in grandparents - add in another layer of complexity.



Look at LM...he is really enjoying himself.



This would be one of a series of shots where I took my eye away from the viewfinder.
Ahem.



Sophia's turn to get upset!



Then we tried individual family shots...they were MUCH better. Ha.



Actually, I think this one is pretty darn good.
Excellent, if you know what came before. And after.



Family 2.



About as good as I got on that one.



Then sicko with his grandparents rounded out the festivities.



Later in the day, we humiliated LM a little more with this great wig.

So there you have it. Another round of grown-up silliness, trying to get little kids to cooperate for a photo. Until Christmas...

See you soon.