More fun

 

 

 

Fun with images

 

 

 

 

Girl's week 2009

 

For a good number of years now I've been lucky to be included in a week with the girls. It's grown from a long weekend
into a 7 day affair where we include our respective husbands at the weekend. We lounge around for a few hours each morning in the sunroom drinking coffee and reading magazines while talking about the "important" things in our lives.
We spend time on the beach walking, sitting, beachstone hunting, having cocktails, power walking and "just" walking.
We shop in all the cool little towns in the area nearby and eat well each and every day.
What is it all about really though is just taking this time to connect in our friend Jane's wonderful Grand Traverse home on the beach. We've had years we'll not ever forget.........one where Paula was going through chemo, one where Jane had just suddenly lost her Mom and one where I had a respite in the midst of caring for my dying Mom. This year we celebrated our friend Nan's husband Tom's recovery from kidney removal as well as retirement for a few of our guys.
We've all known each other more than 20 years and shared much.

"A friend is someone who dances with you in the sunlight and walks with you in the shadows"

Thanks for the dance and the walk girls!

Happy Birthday Early Mary

 

Since I am leaving in the a.m. until next Sunday I am wishing Mary Wild Hansen an early
Happy Birthday! I've been blessed with wonderful sisters-in-law on both sides of my
family. Since I have no "real" sisters they have all become my surrogate sisters. Above
is Mary doing some of her favorite things but by no means could I manage to list all the
things she is good at! Wishing you a wonderful birthday and hoping you'll be doing something
fun and special with someone fun and special this coming Saturday. You deserve that and more!

Closing out summer

 

 

 

While I do have a week still at Lake Michigan with the girls (guys join us on Friday for the wkd) I still look forward
to closing out the summer with the Rice's on Lake Huron. There is something about Lake Huron that calls out to my soul.
It's almost like a familiarity I can't quite pinpoint. Perhaps I was there in another life~or it may be the fact the sunrise and moonrise are more in tune with my truest nature. It would be my fondest dream to find myself living there
at the close of my years for the peace and serenity it brings me. While others find comfort and harmony with the sun setting on the water, I find it with the sun and the moon rising across it. In any case, we are indeed fortunate to be surrounded by lakes as vast as an ocean on all sides of us in this wonderful state.

Dave Kohler's fawn shot

Probably my favorite (besides Dylan shots) of the upnorth vacation. Taken by my
son-in-law Dave............awesome catch!

Last nite

 

Random images from vacation

 

One last look back after "dumping" the pics from my memory stick........clean and
ready for the next week away with the girls. These were a few random shots I
kinda liked from Leelanau.
Life is made up of experiences and memories. Some always remain sharp while others
tend to fade. It's one's own choice as to which make the former and latter. Images
help bring things back into focus and, I for one, am glad that the taking of these
images has improved so much over the years.

New Header

Thank you to my brother-in-law Dave for my new header and all of the pics he
took for us of our family at the Wild reunion. I know it is a labor of love
for him but we all appreciate it!

Photo contest

 

Our bank is having a photo contest which submissions must be in by the end of the month.
These are five of my choices for entry. Can't decide which to use and don't trust my
own judgement all that much because I tend to see "outside the box" in most instances.
I did try to pick a few that might be typical type shots for a calender which is where
the winners end up. Ideas?

Where or where is he?

 

Dylan has certain things he really likes one of which is this tub toy shaped like a piece
of coral with a face. He can easily grasp it and put it in his mouth and turn it all
around with his little hands. It is the one thing you can hand him and he will instantly
smile. Much to our horror he dropped it downtown Traverse City the last day up north!
I will not rest until I know Lindsay and Dave have a new one for him which they've
promised me they will get. I only wish I could see the look on his face when he gets
spongehead man back.

Memorable vacation moment

One of the "quieter" memorable moments from our vacation last week was Dave's and my encounter with the fawns right behind our condo. We could actually get pretty close by being quiet and we were both wearing natural colors. It was amazing to watch and shoot them with our cameras. Dave's camera is much better than mine and so his pics are even better than this but not too bad for my little 7 pixel! I won't soon forget the experience.

My lovely daughter

 

We just spent a wonderful week with Lindsay, Dave and Dylan. It is always so hard to say
good bye and there is always a certain emptiness felt when they leave. I guess knowing
that we can't just drop by for a hug whenever is what's hard. Looking back I realize now
what it was like for my Mom and Dad as I was never near enough either as an adult and I always
felt befret when I parted from them. Such are the ties that bind us to each other in life, strong
and at the same time tenuous in certain ways.