Saturday, August 13, 2011

Elaina's Newborn Photo Shoot

I went to Georgia for a week to meet my new grandchild, Elaina, and to spend some more time with family before school starts.  I had told Austin and Megan that I would do newborn photos for them, although I am by no means a portrait photographer.  Ryan's parents, Donny and Nancy, were willing to put up with me again for the week, and I was very grateful for their hospitality!  Sara and Emery came down to stay with them as well and we had a great week.  Sara was my assistant for the photo shoot, and did all the deleting and editing the photos I took, and I took hundreds! She was invaluable in making me able to pull this one off!  Here are a few of my favorites from the photo shoot.  Sara also loaded them onto Snapfish, so if anyone wants to go through all 119 of the final favorites, let her know and she'll hook you up!




















Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Mark's on Youtube!

This was filmed at the Batten Disease Support and Research Association meeting in Minneapolis last month.  I just thought about putting it on the blog....a little late!

Advancements in the Fight Against Batten Disease



Sunday, July 31, 2011

Elaina Ruth

Austin and Megan gave us quite the surprise last week when they announced the birth of Elaina Ruth Horne!  They kept the pregnancy a secret, so we were all VERY surprised.  I’m heading to GA this week to meet this new baby girl!  Sara and Emery headed down there immediately, and Emery is impressed with her new baby cousin.  She got some good baby holding practice in for brother Camden.  Austin and Megan are doing well, and we are all “tickled pink”!
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Thursday, July 21, 2011

More hummingbirds...

I never get tired of watching the hummingbirds around our house.  I recently bought the third 25 lb bag of sugar, although friends in the area say that right now we're in a lull of activity.  Apparently the hummers feed insects to their babies and don't visit the feeders as often.  Once the babies are ready for nectar, I'm not sure how I'll keep the feeders full!  We have four 32 oz. feeders placed around our porch, and I have to fill at least two, and sometimes all four feeders each day.  Late in the evening right at sunset and for a little bit after, things get very busy on the porch.  I have spent time taking pictures of the hum of activity, but my next challenge was to try and "catch" a hummingbird in flight with the camera.  I wasn't sure if my camera would actually accomplish this, but I was pretty happy with my first day's attempts.  Please, before you think I'm great, these were from almost 200 pictures that were taken.  Thank God for digital photography, I would never have been able to attempt this with film!








Bonus pic:
Lucy and I had gone out to the garage and the kittens came running, but apparently they didn't realize I had Lucy with me.  This was the end result of Onyx coming face to face unexpectedly with Lucy!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Ooops, I forgot one!

Sara, Ryan and Emery came to visit us in Owensville a few days after I got home.  Again, Sara did a great job of chronicling the visit, so I'm just posting a link to her blog.  We loved having them, and can't wait till they return!
Missouri

Now I think I'm sorta caught up....

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Kittens

It might look like we are trying to quickly replace Gus, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Mark and I have been talking about getting a couple of kittens all spring, and I decided when I came back from SC it would be the right timing.  Given that it is good to be home while they are little, I still felt that we needed to go ahead and get kittens, even though we are still grieving Gus.  Also, Mark is having a terrible time with mice in his car!  He’s had to replace the air filter with almost every oil change, and this week the car is at the dealer after the entire AC system was plugged up with nesting material.  I don’t know if Toyotas are less mouse proof than Hondas, or if his lab mice are seeking their revenge through their brethren, but he’s spent a lot of money this spring on “mice repairs.”  So he’s endorsed getting some “mousers.”  Since I’m allergic to cats and neither one of us wants to deal with a litter box, these are outside babies.  We’ve been keeping them in dog crates at night, and with the heat the crates got moved to the basement, since it was just too dang hot in the garage.  During the day they’ve been staying on the porch, rarely venturing off, at least not yet.  The calico is named Scarlett, and the black one is named Onyx.  Scarlett came from the Franklin County Humane Society, and Onyx was a freebie from a few miles down the road.  People don’t seem to frequently spay/neuter around here, and there were so many kittens to choose from!  I was heart set on calicos, but could only find one.  Black cats are another favorite of mine, although Onyx actually has very, very dark striping on him.  He’s younger and smaller than Scarlett.  I’m enjoying spending time with them, and they are both total lap kitties, who come running when I walk outside.  They still aren’t too sure what to think of Lucy, but are becoming better acquainted with her each day.  Through this process I’ve found a low cost spay/neuter clinic where I have started volunteering.  People, PLEASE spay or neuter your animals! 
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Scarlett
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Onyx
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Gus

A few days after I returned home we lost Gus.  He was only ten years old.  He had a tumor which was removed in May, and we were hoping that would be the end of the cancer.  He passed away quickly, without too much struggle, and I was deeply thankful that I made it home in time to see him again and to be with him.  He was a wonderful dog, and he will be greatly missed.