Getting a photo, the hard way

Well a few weeks ago, the kids discovered a bird's nest in our backyard. It was a bluejay's nest. I was amazed by how small the nest was for how big of a bird they are. I decided that I had to get a close up picture of them before they flew from the nest. I grabbed an old resin chair that the kids used to get into the trampoline. I get up on the chair to get a better shot and happen to be talking on the phone at the same time, anyways, I must have shifted my weight too much to one side and the chair cracked sending me, the phone & the camera crashing to the ground. Camera & the phone were safe, but my back & arm were pretty cut and bruised. Didn't think then to take a picture of the demolished chair.

Anyways, I was really happy with this shot of the mother and the babies. I have been trying to experiment with my camera lately and also trying to take some pictures of nature not just my kids.

Fire!

So what better gift could a man get for Father's Day than fire?
The kids and I got Michael a new grill and fire ring for Father's Day.
What man can resist playing with fire? He is happy with his new "toys" and
I am happy that he is doing some of the cooking, even on Father's Day and
that some of the excess wood is being removed from our yard. Now to teach the
kids how to make a lightly golden brown marshmallow versus a char-grilled one.

I am also so grateful to have such a wonderful man to be the father of my children. I am so thankful God has helped him to be with us. It doesn't seem like that long ago that we were in the hospital dealing with his heart attack.











































Hannah made a special cake for Michael.

We're Expecting!

Okay, if you read the title and thought we were having a baby, think again.
We've opted for a 4 legged creature instead of a baby. Although we (well I) would love another child, we decided to do the puppy thing for now. Michael & the kids have really been itching for another dog lately. Our dog died last summer. After much research and debate over types of dogs, we decided to get an American Eskimo (sometimes referred to as an Eskimo Spitz). Who knew this would be such a lengthy
search. We wanted a standard sized Eskimo and wanted it to be a puppy. Seems Ohio isn't the best place to find a breeder for this type of dogs. We almost made a few long-distance drives (11+ hours) but always seem to decide against that one. Finally we found a breeder in Ohio, only about 2.5 hours from us with an adorable little puppy. We road tripped to see him and instantly knew we found the dog we had been looking for. Now we are just waiting for him to be old enough to come home with us. In the meantime, we are puppy-proofing the house. More tales to come, I am sure about "Blizzard".

Blizzard at 2 weeks:

Blizzard at 3 weeks: (This is from our visit.)

Blizzard at 4 weeks: (Thanks to a great breeder who helps with my obession for pictures!) He has grown so much in the 8 days since we have seen him. Before his belly touched the grass.