It's Not Easy

Tonight I am very sad. My sister posted this message on her Facebook page today:

If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it, to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and prospectively, to equally profound sadness. I'm sitting here enjoying what is most likely the last beautiful afternoon I will share with my most loyal friend and companion.


I'm glad that my sister and her family was able to enjoy one last beautiful day with Wilson. Cancer has taken him from his loving family long before they ever should have had to say goodbye. He really was one of the sweetest dogs I have ever known. My neice posted this beautiful photograph of Wilson and a quote that made me cry.


Goodbye Wilson.

Thanks for the sweet kisses and always letting me know you were happy to see me.  

Hugs Sandi. Sweet thoughts and prayers for you and your family. 

I am so sorry. 

You're The Best

I bought this pillow today with a gift card that my daughter gave me for Christmas. I love it on so many levels.

When I first saw it I immediately thought of my husband because he helps me be my best self. I will always believe that meeting him was one of the very best days of my life.

I love that looking at this pillow will always remind me that it was a gift from my daughter who, along with my son, are truly the best of me.

I also love this pillow because I hope that when people see it in my home they might realize they are an important part of my life.  

The old saying goes that we are known by the company we keep and this pillow says to me that the people in my life are all special and are an integral part of who I am.

Unexpected Joy

There is something that really intrigues me about the idea of Project 365. For those who aren't familiar with the project, it basically consists of documenting every day with a photograph. You can learn all about it here: http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

I am not sure I can really commit to taking a photograph every day but it does make me realize that I should do a better job of taking and sharing more photos here. It is all about the view through my shutter after all! So, while I am not ready to commit to taking a photo every day, I am ready to do a better job of capturing the ordinary and extraordinary everyday events that equal what I consider to be a pretty charmed life.

For example, today I had to go back to work after enjoying ten days off (don't worry - I do realize how fortunate I am). Anyway, it was hard to get up while it was still dark outside and get ready and out the door by 7am. As the day progressed there was all kinds of snowing and blowing going on outside and it was freezing cold. Things seemed kind of bleak and the day was feeling long when I found out that I would get to spend some unexpected time with my oldest grandson this evening.

We had a great visit that included Chick-fil-a for dinner, homemade chocolate milkshake topped with three cherries and some quality time playing trains. Here's a photo of the great train track that we built. Dylan said it is "huge" and "amazing" and "enormous" - and it is!

Merry Christmas from our Family to Yours!

Greg and I have been very blessed this year in so many ways.

We have been blessed with good health and the opportunity to spend time with our children, grandchildren, extended family and friends that we are fortunate to call family. We have reconnected with old friends and made some new ones too. We've been on a few trips, including a wonderful trip to Disney World where we saw it anew through the eyes of our grandsons. Spending time with them is something that we love dearly and are thankful for beyond words.

We've put together a few of our favorite memories to share with you and hope you enjoy viewing them as much as we enjoyed making them! Just click to play and click on the arrow at the bottom to flip through the pages. You can click on the photos to enlarge them if you wish.

We pray that the New Year is good to you and yours. God Bless!
Betty and Greg

Free scrapbook created with Smilebox

Flying By!

Thanksgiving is almost here! Where did this month go - or last month for that matter? It's hard to believe that almost two months have passed since our Disney trip. It took me a while to get started but I am finally making some progress on the photo scrapbook that will hopefully capture some of the great memories made during our trip.

There are so many reasons that I love making the photo books but one of the best reasons is that my grandsons love them! It is not unusual for them to pick up one of their birthday books or a trip book and sit down and look through it or bring it to me and strike up a conversation about something. Just the other night Dylan was looking at the sea glass that Greg and I found on a Martha's Vineyard beach during our 18th anniversary trip. I was able to pull out the trip book and share photos of finding the glass. It is also that particular book that prompted him to ask "when can we go to Martha's Vineyard?"

The Disney book is a big project since we have lots of photos that tell the story of so many special moments. For now the Disney memories are still vivid and bright. Dylan often asks "when can we go back to Disney World" or will say something like "let's go ride Pirates of the Caribbean" and Patrick carries Mickey around the house like they are best friends. Hopefully the photo book will help keep those memories safe long after they begin to fade. The pages that I finished last night tell the story of Dylan's very first Disney ride. He knew that Dumbo would be given that special honor and we headed there as soon as we got into the park. Patrick wasn't so sure about the flying elephants so he and I kept our feet on solid ground while everyone else boarded for a magical flight over Fantasyland. For a brief moment I was a little sad to miss out on the first ride but in the end it was perfect. If I had been on the ride I would have missed the big picture - spending time with sweet Patrick and seeing the joy on the faces of  people that I love...flying by.

Through Their Eyes



My daughter took a series of photos of my grandsons looking out the window while they were waiting to board the plane for our Disney trip. I love this photo because it allows me to see what they were seeing even though I wasn't there. I can tell from the photo that the boys loved watching the planes out on the tarmac and were excited about getting on the plane. Their Mom told me they were excited to see "Lone Star One", the Southwest plane painted with the Texas state flag and that the pilot of their plane waved to them through the cockpit window right before boarding started.

Every week there is a different challenge on the MyMemories Blog and the challenge this week only had one rule - the photos used on the page could not include faces.The challenges are great because they help me learn new digital scrapbook techniques and spark ideas for designs. I wanted to document Dylan and Patrick's first flight for the Disney photo book I am making and thought this photo was perfect for the challenge. 

For readers who may be interested in lifting this design idea, here's what I used to make this page: 

- The background is "Ocean Floor" from the kit "Some Beach Somewhere"

- On top of that I stretched a map that I found online across the entire page and turned the opacity down to 25% to allow the blue ocean to show through. 

- The font I used for "Flying" is called "Lemonchicken" and the other type is "Walt Disney Script".

- I used just a little of the Fish Eye effect on the photo to give it a little depth.

- Embelishments: The dotted line is curved stitching, the star is made using the shape feature in the program, Micky Mouse is made from three circle shapes and the plane is a png file I found online at clker.com - a free clip art site.

To Tell The Truth

          

I want to honest up front...Not all of the photos I post here will be my own. I will always do my best to give credit to the photographer but my daughter shares many of her photo files with me and I often can't remember who took which photo once they are on my computer. My husband loves to take photos as well. As a family we have a ton of photos! During our recent trip to Disney World we collectively took 2,119 photos - that's right - more than two thousand pictures in seven days! It's hard to believe, but it's a true story. It's just what happens when there are two adorable little boys and a million sweet smiles to capture through the shutter. My grandsons even got in the act and were snapping a few of their own photos. I'd say they come by it honestly!