From My Viewfinder

We went to College Station Saturday to visit with friends we hadn’t seen in a couple of years and go to Santa’s Wonderland.  We went to Lara and Dennis’ house to hang out for a few hours with them and their kiddos and David and Amy and thier kiddos.  So it was 6 adults and 7 kids and it all went great! Dennis made some great burgers and we all had a chance to catch up and let the kids play (I know our kids had a blast).  Then we all headed to Santa’s Wonderland to go on a hay ride and see the really cool Chistmas lights (trust me when I say you wouldn’t want to pay the electric bill for that place for even a day!). A good time was had by all and was a reminder that getting together only every few years just isn’t enough.  Oh yeah, if you need batteries of any kind, Dennis and Lara are the people to call since they own the Batteries Plus store in College Station.

Since we were on a hay ride and moving most of the time, it was awfully difficult to get in-focus pictures without blasting away with flash which is nearly just as bad.  So after a while, I went in the other direction and left the shutter open for a few seconds to see what I could come up with.

Just a couple of profiles I shot last night before bedtime.

We spent some time last weekend at James and Tiffany’s. I helped James with some dock repairs while the kiddos had fun together and the mommies had some good talk time. Before the work began though, I had the chance to shoot some more ski photos. Their friend Dwayne was getting in some final skiing for the year.

For Halloween, we had Dash (from the movie The Incredibles) and Shirley Temple running around. They were both so cute.

Nathan and I spent some time outside yesterday enjoying the finally awesome weather.  He was getting frustrated not being able to swing on the swing set properly.  It was sorta funny to watch him flail and kick away all the while not going anywhere.  So, instead of me pushing him, I spent about 2 minutes showing him what to do and he caught on quick. He had a blast and was pretty proud he could do it by himself.

Kayla has had a loose tooth for weeks now but tonight it was finally loose enough that she let me pop it out.

I had the opportunity to shoot some photos of our church band this past Sun. morning in an effort to help convince some decision makers in the Denver area they are legit.  If things fall right, the band will be headed to Denver next year to help plant a new church.

Anyway, like 95% of churches, the lighting in our church pretty much stinks but I was able to get several shots I was happy with even at ISO 1600. Here are a few of my favorites:

All of the photos can be viewed by clicking the appriate link on the galleries page.

Not long ago, Nathan and I headed outside to play ball and ride bikes.  Well, of course he crashed and bruised his forehead and scrapped his nose.  He cried some but then said he was OK.  We played some more and then went in for lunch.  He had some grape soda, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and cantaloupe.  So, in the course of about an hour, he went from perfectly clean to the picture below.  Be sure to click it for a larger view.

And, he was going with the backwards hat that day to make it all look cool.

We rode out hurricane Ike at Amy’s parents house in Liberty which ended up being in just about the worst spot inland. They don’t have any trees around their house so we thought it would be better than ours which has several trees around it. Anyway, it was rough but we’re all safe.

We had the chance to head up to Lake Livingston again and the weather was PERFECT! There was hardly anyone out on the water and we had a blast! The kiddos did a bunch of fishing and officially caught more fish in one day than I have caught in my entire life. Grandpa and grandma had about enough of baiting hooks when the day was over.

We spent a bunch of time on the jet skis! Nathan took a short ride with me first but then didn’t want to ride with me the rest of the day. It was all about mommy. He would ride with her and ask stuff like “You like go fast mommy?”. She would answer “yes” and he would say “me too”. She would answer “yes” to most of his questions trying to be re-assuring that everything was OK and he would always answer “me too.” When he asked if she like the “big bumps” (wakes from other boats) she finally answered “no, not really” and so he answered “me needer.” Kayla on the other hand rode with me bunch and she was a little dare devil. We’d max it out and she was happy as a clam. Lots of fun.

Near the end of the day, I gave the jet skis a workout.

We finished up the great day with a great sunset.