For the Leaves They Are A-Fallin'

A lake house in Brown County. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

But that was spring. And now it's fall.

Fall.

You know,

when leaves

FALL

from the trees?

Hundreds of leaves, thousands of leaves, millions and billions and trillions of leaves. Bonus to anyone who knows that literary reference?

I raked mine into neat rows. And then rested the rake.

To take a few photos. Just imagine me on the end of that rake. For real.

I decided we needed a leaf fairy.

Ah ha! Maybe we've found one.

Or maybe not.

Thankfully, he kept at it while I was documenting. Someone has to do it you know.

Leaves, leaves, everywhere.

And no one...

to jump in them.

Or was there?

K & D Get Married

We attended the wedding of Katie and David on Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding, and so much fun to share in their special day. Of course, it's still just a little bit hard to believe that these kids we watched grow up are getting married. The years are short indeed.

I took my camera to the wedding, and like a good Granny, most of the photos I took are of the little ones. Haleigh is especially rewarding right now, as she seems to enjoy smiling for the camera.

Clara enjoys loving on the little ones.

Their fancy transportation to the reception.

Haleigh again. Always smiling.

Darci was a bridesmaid for her cousin Katie. They posed for a quick family picture after the ceremony.

Matthew and his little sister.

At the reception, Uncle Steve was entertaining the troops. Matthew has a turn while Will, Clara, and Harper watch.

Clara and Arden share a secret.

Josh and Emerson, Arden, and Harper. I'm guessing they're almost never running in the same direction. :)

Harper takes a break.

The kids at the wedding received treat boxes containing these little slinkies. They were most entertaining, and inspired some creative play.

The steps in the lobby area provided further entertainment.

The wedding party shared their shades with Matthew and Will. This is their Blues Brothers pose.

Matthew looking cool.

I did get some pictures of the bride and groom's first dance.

They are so cute.

A sweet one of Katie and Daddy Rich.

Andrew and Darci at the end of the evening.

We wish Katie and David God's blessings and much love as they begin their married life together.

My Baby

Twenty years ago, we welcomed our fifth baby to our family. The four "big kids" went to a Halloween party at Ruthann's while we went to the hospital. We didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, and we were thrilled to have our little Adam Carter.

I tried to add the song, "The Baby," by Blake Shelton, to my playlist to go with this post since it's pretty appropriate, especially the line, "She would always save me, because I was her baby." At least that's what the big kids always said.

You must admit, he was a cutie. Look at those curls.

He always liked swimming,

brought flowers to his mommy,

was a bit of a picky eater,

and was anxious to go to school like the big kids.

He experienced a few broken bones,

checked on the corn with his daddy,

and needed a nap every now and then.

He liked playing outside on the farm,

and dressing up like a cowboy.

He showed cattle at the County Fair, and won a trophy in showmanship.

He grew,

and grew,

while his hair got shorter... or gone!

He is a great uncle,

an MVP swimmer,

and a GCHS grad.

He loves his sibs (and they love him).

He likes being a Boilermaker,

having fun,

and just keepin' it real.

Happy 20th Birthday, Adam!
I love you!

Goin' Strong

Our community lost a good friend last week when Morgan Miers died at the age of 91. Morgan and his wife Nansi were treasured members of our church family. My lifelong membership at our church was blessed by the presence of Morgan and Nansi. Nansi has been gone 10 years now, and we will all miss Morgan's smiling face in our midst on Sunday mornings.

At the funeral service, they had some 'vintage' photos displayed, and I took a picture of this picture with my phone. Nansi was my kindergarten Sunday School teacher and directed the Children's Choir for many years. I loved the choir and Mrs. Miers. I remember how she entertained us with her handkerchief when we needed to be quiet during church. She taught us the proper pronunciation of the word "of" (not like the uhf we used to see on the TV dial), and one of my favorite choir songs, "That's What God Made Mothers For." When we said the 23rd Psalm at Morgan's graveside yesterday, I remembered that it was Mrs. Miers who taught me to recite that scripture from memory. She always called me SusieQ.

I love this picture of the handsome American soldier and his beautiful Welsh bride.

This photo is from the bookmarks they passed out at the funeral. It is that great smile and positive attitude we will miss. When asked how he was doing, his standard answer was, "Goin' strong."

He showed just what that meant when, at age 86, he decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. His comment, "Nobody told me not to do it." You can read more about his jump here.

In 2007, I snapped these photos at the Fourth of July parade. Morgan was indeed a colorful character. One young dad at the parade that day said to me, "I hope I can be just like that when I'm 88."

Morgan was an inspiration to all who knew him. He taught us to live each day, that "fantastic" is an attitude, and to keep "goin' strong." Thank you Morgan.

Who Dat Baby!

Darci sent me some sweet pictures of Haleigh yesterday, all dressed for church in her pretty fleur de lis outfit. I found it in NOLA, along with the hat. Speaking of fleur de lis, Matthew told me that his class has their desks arranged in a horse shoe, but he really thinks it should be a fleur de lis. Not sure his teacher will go for that. Or know what it is. :)

Looks like she's standing up all by herself.

She's smiling because the Saints offense was back on track, winning the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday. Tampa Bay has been Jon's team since Mike Alstott played for them. Sort of the same way I became a Saints fan, by following a Purdue player.

Someone else was happy after the game. Not only because they won, but because he's about to become a daddy for the second time. This is the message he sent out after the game: Great win today in Tampa. Now it's baby time. Hopefully #2 decides to come this week. Appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Earlier this week, Drew asked for baby name suggestions. They are looking for a 'b' name, not in most baby books, for their second baby boy, to go with Baylen, age 21 months. They got 6000 responses on Facebook and Twitter. I think that should give them some ideas to work with. I'll be anxious to hear their choice. I think Boiler Brees has a nice ring to it. :)