testing something new out! playing with videos and you tube. this test snip-it is from when Kaleb was just about 1 year old. Did you see it, does it work???

Wonderful Spring!!!

Finally we've got some beautiful weather and we got a chance to play! On Sunday we ventured out to Govenor Dodge State Park and played for quite a while. Our first stop is one of the campground parks, I think K and Linds would have been happy to just play in the sand for the whole day. Carter he wanted to wander. He got a kick out of climbing the play structure and then eventually hitting the slide. I of course was just excited to be outside with my camera, I went fully manual and there were some good shots taken. Some of what could have been my favorites didn't turn out as perfect as I would like. I think that my ISO setting was a little high for all the bright sunshine, there seems to be a lot of "noise" in the last picture here, but I still like it. Otherwise I just sort of set my Apeture and played with my shutter to get the right exposure, all my photo criticing pals, what'cha think??? I'll post some more pics after I get these words out.
The next stop of the state park train was the earth dam by one of the beaches, that's where the last shot here was taken. I also had fun shooting some rushing water there too. Boy was it hot outside! Poor little Carter was turning lobster red, but he didn't seem to mind. We didn't spend too much time at the dam, Kaleb was so worried that Carter would get away and fall in the water. After that we headed to the waterfall, it is always cooler down there and we were looking for a cool spot. On the path to the waterfall is an old spring house, we spotted a tiny little snake (have no idea what kind), very cool! Then down to the bottom of the waterfall and a little bit of a hike along the path. I was starting to get tired, Carter is a lot to run after! So the suggestion of ice cream was made and out of the park we went! But really the weather was just to nice to not stay outside, after ice cream we took the dogs for a walk to Wilson park and hung out there for awhile too. Really we had the perfect day!
So far this week has been wonderful too, walked to pick the kids up after school each day, love that! Today it's doing some spring storms, which really is fine too, I love the smell of the rain and the sound of thunder.

So life has lots of ups and downs and for the last few weeks my life has been even more of a rollercoaster than normal.

The picture here is of my Grandfather when he was in the army, very handsome guy. He passed away on April 5, holding my Grandmother's hand. He was 86, he lived a wonderful life and was ready for his next journey. We will miss him terribly, and I only wish that I could have know him better. It brings a smile to my face to know that in his last few months and weeks he loved to see Carter, Carter brought a smile to his face. I felt so honored to meet so many of my Grandmother's friends who had to see this Carter that Grandma talked about. For me Carter will always carry a very special piece of my Grandfather forever.

But with death there comes life...

My very best friend, Judabee (only I can call her that), had baby number two on Monday April 7th. A beautiful baby boy (I love boys!) from what I hear, our first visit will be tomorrow. Of course I have already told her that we are bringing the camera and I am so excited to take "newborn" pictures!

Speaking of pictures, I have decided what I want to be when I grow up, drum roll please... A PHOTOGRAPHER! The dream started this fall when I convinced my friend Dot to let me take her daughter's senior pictures. Then there was Mary who asked me to do a family Christmas shot, and then I got my new lens and well as of March "Silly Scrapper Photography" was born! I am working on a blog to showcase my favorite shots and maybe help get more bookings. If you are interested in taking a peek at my work, pop me an email and I will "invite" you to view the blog. Keeping it private for the time being. Or if you are interested in being a ginea pig for me give a shout out too!