goodbye 2010

I have grown a lot during the past year. I have learned to "take a punch" and "roll with the changes"....I'm not sad to see 2010 go, though. It's been a rough year, mentally, and financially. I sincerely hope I can get it together in 2011.



Goodbye 2010.

Sleep in heavenly peace

I love the candlelight service on Christmas Eve. It's so pretty when the lights are turned down and the candles are lit and we sing "Silent Night".



Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.

Merry Christmas

Wishing all of my family, friends, and blog followers a Very Merry Christmas! May God bless all of you this Christmas and throughout the New Year!



Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" Luke 2:10-14

Comfort and Joy to you all!

Watch out Martha

I attended a Christmas luncheon yesterday at a co-workers home and was amazed at her lovely decorations. She had TWO trees and just lots of prettiness everywhere. I had such a wonderful time with such good company.

Thank you Mary Ann, you have a lovely home!














Here's hoping your surroundings are beautiful this season!

about time

I don't think I've ever posted a pic of my sweet husband here on my blog. So I guess it's about time. I had to do some sample portraits for a Lottie Moon fund raising I will be doing the next couple Sundays, and my hubby and kids got to be my models. They are such good sports.



REALLY good sports...



Family is awesome.

I Heart Faces ~ scenic B/W

Just had to use this shot from last weekend. The kids uncle took them fishing while we were visiting for Thanksgiving. They had a blast. I love the reflection of the trees in the pond.

Sunda Citar ~ stars

I'm just getting it in under the wire. It's still Sunday though, and Sunday means it's time to share a quote or two, join in the Citar fun, brought to you by Tabitha at Fresh Mommy.

I got to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her husband deep in the Piney woods of East Texas. I decided to give astrophotography a shot and see how it came out. Being so far away from any big cities, the skies are awesome for viewing stars. I used a pocket flashlight to "paint" the tops of the trees with light during a 30 second exposure. It was fun! Can't wait to try it again.



"The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas!"
~ June Hershey

just another Texas autumn

We try to make it out to Lost Maples every year since there are few places in Texas that get any kind of "fall color" to speak of. I think we were a little late this year, I really wanted to go last week, but I had to be home all week for the major plumbing repair that was underway.

Anyhow, we went today and even though most of the "spectacular" color was gone and on the ground already, I still managed to get some good shots in and we all had a great time on our short hike through the park.

Here are a few of the shots I got.


the entrance to the park...probably the most colorful thing we saw


I thought this was kinda pretty, so I zoomed in and got a nice close-up of it


another pretty plant that I'm sure is what was making me sneeze throughout the day


the path ahead


Ronnie teaching the kids to skip stones


some color!!! It really was few and far between, though


I saw this ONE leaf from a distance and had to get a close up shot of it.


Had to end this post with one of the kids...they really did have fun today, and so did I. Can't wait til next year.

I Heart Faces ~ orange

It's about time I enter another photo into an I heart faces weekly challenge. When I saw the theme was "orange", I knew just what to use. They are growing up way too fast.

Sunday Citar ~ siblings

It's Sunday again! Time to share a quote or two, join in the Citar fun, brought to you by Tabitha at Fresh Mommy.





"Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet."
~Vietnamese Proverb

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you,
as you are to them."
~Desmond Tutu

Every year I take the kids pics in a pumpkin patch...and this year I had to find a new patch to use. It's fun to look at the old shots and see how they've grown throughout the years (too fast, if you ask me). Here is a peek at this years pics - to see more, click on a photo and it will take you to my flickr album.

Sunday Citar ~ to be yourself

I've been in a bit of a blog funk recently, but I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, it's Sunday!!! Time to share a quote or two, join in the Citar fun, brought to you by Tabitha at Fresh Mommy.



"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this shot of my girl just being herself. Doesn't hurt that I didn't have to edit it at all, it's SOOC, and in my eyes, it's just perfect.

cooling off

So many things I love about this pic, besides the subjects. I love that my daughter had no problems running outside in her pajamas to play in the water. That my son actually put on some shorts (he HATES wearing shorts) so that his favorite pants would not get wet, I love that they had so much fun, so early in the morning with no complaining or fighting. It was a good day.

Scott Kelby's 2010 Worldwide Photo Walk

I got there a few minutes late, but I made it! It was a blast this year...we walked from La Villita to the San Fernando Cathedral and took pics all along the way. Here are some of my favorites.



After getting home and looking at what I got, I noticed a theme. A lot of lines. I love finding texture and lines and patterns.



more lines...



I love this shot. The paved road was drawing my eye and the fire hydrant just finished the look. The funny thing is that it looks like a deserted street...but there were people everywhere. Good timing I guess.



Reflection of a building in a puddle.



This looked like a castle in the distance to me. Too cool not to get with the sun setting behind it.

Happy Birthday America!

I'm using pics from last year's 4th of July celebration. This year, I have a killer migraine and we're not venturing outside the house. But I didn't want to let the day go by without a holiday post of sorts.





Hope everyone has a safe 4th!

Vegas.....take 2

Exactly a month has passed since I've posted any photos....I am guilty of being very lazy as far as picking up my camera has gone. Though, I did go to Vegas again during that time and took some fun shots.



I actually made it to Fremont Street this time and it was pretty cool. It was totally worth the pain my feet were in after the evening ended. I got some great shots of a cover band playing (Secret Agents). They were really good too. Awesome, AWESOME band...and they were fun to shoot.









All in all, it was a good trip, considering it was a work trip and all. Now that I'm done with work for this season...I really must pick up the camera and make myself take some photos.

Favorites

After posting that pic of my mom and the kids on Mother's Day, I thought I would try something a little different every now and then. I'm going to pick a favorite photo from years past, do some post processing magic and post them here. This will be the first one.

I took this one of the kids watching a storm coming in. Funny, because they are terrified of storms now. Anyhow, I love that they are not "cheesing" for the camera, that I was able to catch them unaware of my presence there.

trees

As I mentioned previously, we went to a nursery Sunday to look at some trees. Ronnie has this sudden desire to plant a tree. We just can't agree on what kind of tree. I would like a Live Oak or even a Magnolia tree. Our neighbors have a Magnolia tree and it smells heavenly. He wants a Texas Red Bud...but, we already have a Red Bud. He wants a nicer one. I think we will have to come to some sort of agreement to get both a magnolia, AND a red bud. Win win.

The nursery

After lunch yesterday, we went to a big nursery here to check out some trees. There were plenty of other cool things to check out as well. They had some awesome garden statues, benches, and other ornamentation. This was one statue (the book part is up on a pedestal) that I thought was pretty cool.



There was also a neat building with a big water wheel by the koi pond. The kids liked looking at the fish there.



I also thought these bird feeder/bird baths were pretty.



We didn't get a tree...yet. But we had a lot of fun walking around checking things out.