Cleaning Drawers and Photo Shoots

Oh for the weekends...got another drawer cleaned out and house cleaned...well some of the house cleaned. And then, I had this most wonderful family shoot on Sunday morning. There were 18 in all...wait...no, there were 19 people in this family shoot! 3 babies, 2 toddlers, 7 young adults, 4 of you all middle aged yahoos, and 3 seniors. Oh yes, and we can't forget the beautiful golden retriever!! It was a hoot! (I'd love to show you a photo of them, but haven't gotten permission from all the family members, but I do have a few new photos of some of the family members on my photography blog) And, you'd think I'd had enough with photography for awhile after that, but noooooooooooooooooo! I had a photo shoot appointment with my youngest today.

Lace is just plain fun and dressen it 50s with this dramatic pose

I have learned several things about photography...lighting...poses...background...and don't stop shooting. You might get something fun like this...

...or something like this...


...or, oh my heavens, something like this...


...or something goofaliciously like this!!

I love my job (mother, photographer, friend)!

Weekend Camping (McSwain)

REMEMBER, YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT!

Cliff and I got a quick get-away to Lake McSwain this weekend, about a 30 mile drive for us. The foothills are parched, but it somehow reflects beauty to me...perhaps not for everyone, but I rather love looking at the parched foothills across from our campsite.

I not only love the foothills, but I love to people watch. This husband and wife in their red (remember, red is my favorite color) kayak, caught both Cliff's' and my eye. The sun was setting, part of those parched foothills became the most beautiful auburn, and the golden sun was reflecting on the husband and wife kayak team.

This is what was happening the opposite direction...the sun looked so big setting behind the dam! We went to bed not long after, and was serenaded by hoot owls and yipping coyotes!

After breakfast the next morning, Cliff takes a nap...he had gotten up at 2:30 a.m. the day before for work. After work, we loaded up, and off to camping we went. He didn't hardly have time to relax. So, what a perfect time and place to do so. Awwwwwwwwwe, my honey bunny!

Off to dreamland!

All you local friends of mine, you have got to hear me now! Cliff and I decided, for lunch, we would try the Lake McSwain Marina and Galley. Oh my lardy!!! Those hamburgers (it looked like an ordinary burger) were the most delicious thing I have tasted in a long time. So, if you want to go for a short drive for lunch, you don't have to pay the entrance fee to Lake McSwain, if you are eating at the galley. They will give you a free pass. You have not lived, if you have not tried the Lake McSwain Marina & Galley burgers (price-wise, they are very reasonable)! So, what are you waiting for??????

I have to admit, Lake McSwain Marina and Galley isn't much to look at. The inside...it's dinky, and the eating area is outside behind the building.

Back to camp...After Cliff took another nap and I read (yes, isn't that amazing...I was reading...a lot...and quite loving it), we decided to take a short drive to Hornitos. A very small community farther up into the foothills about 10 miles from the lake. There was this dilapidated estate that caught my eye. Usually rubble looks like trash to me, but I wondered who lived here, who used this stove. And, why was this stove so exposed for us to see. I wondered...

On our way back from Hornitos, we saw a refrigerator dumped along side the road. This irks me to no end!! We see so much of this here and especially out on county roads. Don't you just want to shake people sometimes?

Back to McSwain...Die hard fisherman...I love stalking and shooting people! :0)

Finally dinner time! Cliff and I take great lengths in planning our dinner meals while camping. I think we eat better camping than at home! Last night's menu: shrimp and chicken kabobs with onion, yellow & red peppers, sauteed zucchini with onion, fresh raw grape tomatoes, and a slice of grilled dutch crusted baguette bread...topping it all off with a glass of Merlot. Not pictured very well, are the cute little fishy plates we ate off of (our tent trailer dinnerware)! :0)

We ended our last night star gazing...in these lounge chairs. We were hoping to see a meteor shower or at least a few falling stars. However, we only saw one shooting star and about 30 jets or satellites...it was a lovely evening, though! The air was cool, but not too cold and we didn't have too many yahoos...Bubba and company types that like to fly their confederate flags and whoop it up when night falls...so, we could enjoy our star gazing without interruption.

Last look at our campsite before packing up and leaving. Another truly lovely time together! We are so blessed!

Revelations vs Revelation

At work, I get calls occasionally letting me know what I have typed wrong in our church bulletin. It's something that I shouldn't let get to me, but somehow it takes me back to 2nd grade where my teacher, Mrs. Christianson, would give smart pills (candy) for the children that had trouble reading. You guessed it, I ALWAYS got the smart pills to make me smarter!! Which told me every time, that I was not smart! So, when someone points something out to me, where I have failed, it's hard for me to let it go and give them grace (for making me feel stupid!). Well, yesterday I got one of those calls and it was from a woman that loves to point things out to me. I had typed Revelations instead of Revelation for the book of the Bible in which we are going to be studying (Wednesday Night Bible Study). My response to her was, "Oh, did I do that again? Yes, I know it is Revelation and not Revelations and I will correct that mistake right now." My daughter would have said, "Thank you for letting me know, and making me feel stupid with your pettiness. Oh yes, and on an IQ test, you would have beat me by a landslide!!" Yes, Lacee did say this and it made us both laugh and laugh and laugh. Then Lacee said, "Mom, we should be thanking this woman for making us laugh so hard, and keeping us healthy!" I just love this child and surely she was sent from God!!

Our Weekend

Our weekend started off with Ashlee, Gilbert, Lacee and Maycin setting up for the Fall Festival Craft Fair here in Atwater...I watched Margo. :0)

Then Gilbert and Maycin came to pick Margo up and back to the fair.

Ashlee selling her Trash Bags at the fair...yeah!!

"Hi, Maya and Isaiah!" Friends and supporters of Trash Bags...

Honest, I never do this! Because when we had our first grandchild, we decided as grandparents to not buy our grandkids things, but rather, spend time with them instead. But, while spending time with Maycin at the fair (we checked out all the booths), I slipped and bought him this car...the lady that sold it to me said, "it will withstand all kinds of abuse." Just right for rough and tumble little boys!

Gilbert and I got bored...so we took pictures of us taking a picture of each other....I know, so lame!


Papa's rough hands give tender touch to see if Margo was getting too hot.

Finding shade was a bit difficult at certain times of day...

Leaving fair and making one stop on our way out (Lacee pictured)

We all gathered back together yesterday for BBQ and Corry kept the tradition of making babies cry!

Wrestling With Thoughts

Do you ever have days where you wrestle with your thoughts...you go back and forth in your mind to find the truth and then something comes in your email that totally puts in in perspective, and you're like slapping your forehead with the palm of your hand, rolling your eyes and ending that moment with, "That's it!" Well, I had one of those days! Here is what IT is. "What is most valuable, is not WHAT we have in our lives, but WHO we have in our lives". I'm totally blessed to have Jesus in my life and totally blessed to have you!

Princess Peanut Sighting

2 1/2 months

...Some...

...some were having weddings at Lake Alpine...

...but, this is what we did...

...and this...

...and this...and this brings a smile to my face for some reason. No, this actually makes me laugh!!

...and this makes my heart leap!! Truly my hero! And, might I add, he is not only my hero for saving me from the unstable bolder (okay, so it wasn't unstable, but makes for a great story and fabulous photo), but he is also my hero for posing for me without too much whining that he might look like an idiot to those watching...

Lake Alpine brought us a wonderful day of relaxation and a bit of physical exertion...very little physical exertion (remember we were at 7000 feet and we flatlanders were a huffin and a puffin)!! We left the mountains with one more stop at Ironstone before traveling home. It was a grand weekend!

Lake Alpine

We decided to make a stop at Lake Alpine, one of our favorite places to visit off of highway 4. It's absolutely beautiful there...clean air...cool air...friendly people...sights, smells and sounds perfect for the senses. It's close to heaven, I imagine. Some people were fishing...

...some boating...

...some climbing...

...climbing with success...

...some swimming...

...nothing cuter than some swimming!!

Willie Nelson & Sarah Evens

It all started this past Friday evening...my first concert (at the Ironstone Winery Amphitheater) since College. So, I was excited, but didn't have any real expectations. Sarah Evens was opening the show for Willie and I have to say, "Willie, you let me down!" However, those that are die-hard Willie Nelson fans (and those that consumed multiple carafes of wine) were feelin' WN. For me (and my man, Cliff, and our friends Dave & Cathy), Sarah saved the show and she and her band were far better, far more entertaining, far more...people, she saved the show, believe me.

Ironstone Winery is located in Murphys, CA which is about 10 miles from Angels Camp where we stayed the night. Angels Camp is a hoppin' little town, and we happened to stay in the "Jumping Frog Motel!"

I love this handsome dude!

I love this handsome couple...Our friends, Dave & Cathy!


I told you Angels Camp was crazy about frogs. Check out why:

http://www.frogtown.org/jubilee_history.shtml

After eating breakfast, we parted from our friends, D&C (in which we could have a fabulously wonderful time in any circumstances), and traveled north on Hwy 4. We'd see redwoods along the way (looking out our windshield).

We stopped at Bear Valley Ski Resort and had an awesome view of the Sierra Nevada's. We felt we were on top of the world!

See Clifford smiling? Now study it. Keep that grin ingrained in your memory. Why, you ask? You know that thing...that natural bodily function...the one we don't like to talk about and women don't do (if you do, you aught to have it checked out by a doctor., because I don't do it. No sir-ree! You won't catch me doin' it!). It's the thing that men always swear is an accident, but really they force themselves to do it. Uh huh! Yep, keep that grin locked in your mind, because if you see it, you'll know to RUN, FOREST, RUN! (Those that think it's just truly disrespectful, down right dishonoring and any other dis you'd like to throw at me for talking about my Honey Bunny that way, please take it up with my psychologist, therapist or my pastor...on second thought, don't take it up with my pastor! He's my boss!!)

On our way back down from the ski resort, we spotted an isolated patch of about 5 Bristlecone Pines (truly an amazing tree). Read about them:

http://www.amwest-travel.com/awt_bristle.html

I promise I will be back with more of our weekend...

SOMETHING NEW

Well, I just did it. I said I was going to to it, and I did. I didn't wait one more second to make the choice...the right choice. I didn't have a cheerleader to encourage me to do it, I did it solo. I just did it!! What did I do...drum roll please...I signed up at our local physical therapy hospital as a pool member. What that means is I'm basically a health club member without the gym part. Only the pool part. I just felt like I had to do something. It's too dang hot to walk or ride a bike (still) and I could just feel my body losing strength. I love to swim and it made so much sense to make swimming my source of exercise. There are scheduled times for free swim, but, I went to my first water aerobics class this after noon. Okay, now here is the really really funny part, everyone of those women that were in the class were 10 years plus my senior and the only one younger than me was the instructor and she was 20 years old! At first I felt a little out of place...but soon was entertained. and I got to know a few of the members...Marti (with an "i"), Em (short for Emily), Judy, Penny and others, but my favorite was Lucy. Let me describe Lucy to you...oh...my...gosh!! This woman was the epiphany of Retiree Florida USA! She is probably pushing 70, full make up, with bright red lipstick that covers her lips and outer edges. She wears classy sunglasses that have rhinestones, and the hat, let's not forget the hat, it was a stylin' cowgirl hat, a fabulous marine blue, with sparkling sequins. She wasn't going to let working out dominate over her looking beautiful. One of the other things I learned in class, was that these women loved to talk...they talked and talked and talked all while the instructor tried to instruct us. Later I learned that there were rules, "no talking while the instructor is talking". Can you hear me laughing??? I wish you were there, because it was much funnier in person!