Camden!!

Camden Oliver Glenn made his arrival on October 11, 2011, a couple of weeks early.  He weighed 6 lbs 8 ozs and was 19.5 inches long.  I had arranged to be in SC later in October, but quickly got my flight rearranged so that I could be there to help out.  Ryan's mom and dad were there for the first few days to help out and I got to visit with them a little before they left.  I was there for a week, and Camden did a whole lot of sleeping while I was there.  Emery and I had a blast hanging out together, and she even got a little bit of TV coverage while we were picking out a pumpkin at the local pumpkin patch.  Everyone is doing very well, and Camden is growing and changing so quickly!

Here's a few pictures that we took of him while I was there

My parents were able to make it up for a visit, as well as Austin, Megan and Elaina.  We had fun trying to get some posed shots, but here's a casual pose.

 The "formal" sittings....

Nature Shots

I always try to carry my camera when I take walks around the property, and taking pictures of butterflies has to rate as one of my favorites to catch with the camera.  Here are some pictures from recent walks.

Alpacas

We recently went to an open house at a nearby alpaca farm.  Alpacas are a smaller version of llamas, and are valued for their wool.  It is finer than sheep wool, supposedly much warmer, and of course, more expensive.  There are several alpaca farms in our area, and I couldn't miss the opportunity for a close up view of alpacas at an open house!  The owner walked us down to the back pasture where the females are kept, and called the animals over near to the gate where we had treats to give them.  This particular rancher specializes in black wool alpacas, so most of his herd is black.  Here they are coming up for their treats.

 A close up

 This one was a little more shy and wouldn't get to close to us

 How could you not love this face?

 And this is Ruby.  I would have packed her up and taken her home with me if I could.  She was a very friendly alpaca, which is unusual for the species.  The owner said that she had the typical alpaca aloofness until she gave birth the first time, and shortly after that she decided that humans were pretty cool.  She hung around with us, nuzzled our hands, wanted to be petted, and just generally made herself lovable. 

 This little cutie was five hours old when the picture was taken.  The same mom gave birth last year at their open house as well.   

 This is a very picturesque old brick church that we also drove past this same day, on our way to a local winery that has music on the weekends.  A local person bought the church and has restored it, but to our knowledge doesn't do anything with it.   It is just some pretty local scenery!

Cards Game

We went and had some fun at a recent Cards vs. Braves game.  It still feels odd to cheer against the Braves, but it is getting to feel more normal.  My students keep asking when I'll start cheering for Mizzou instead of UGA, and I keep stating, "NEVER!"  College teams are different, but they can't seem to understand that.  I will ALWAYS be a Georgia Bulldawg!

We got there early and took advantage of the spacious conditions to take some photos.  Don't worry, other fans did show up before the game started!  Here's me and my friend Rita

And then me and Mark.  I was wearing my Georgia Bulldog hoodie around my waist, and kept watching the scoreboard for updates to GA vs. USC game.  Austin also did a good job of keeping me posted with updates.  Sadly, the final updates were not good ones. 

 Here's local hero Albert Pujols warming up

 Scene from our seats before the game.  We were on the first base side this time, and we couldn't see the Arch from this side of the stadium.

 Game time!  Cards won!

Another Gorgeous Sunset!

It seems that I never get tired of photographing these beautiful sunsets!

Prepared for Winter

Mark has been having fun splitting wood for the past several weekends (really....he likes this stuff!).  We now have what he calls five face cords of wood for the winter.  I think we went through three last winter, so we should be able to survive something even worse this year, although I hope we don't have to!  

The Perfect Suburban Lawn

Mark has been so proud of the grass that we have gotten established this year.  He has become as obsessed as any suburban homeowner about having things cut neatly.  He finally got the entire "yard" cut all in one weekend, so that it is all the same height!  These aren't great pictures, but I keep forgetting to take them earlier in the day.  Thankfully we have a tractor, but it was still an all day long process!

He's even invested in a weed whacker, that essential element of suburbia, so that our driveway can be nicely trimmed!  

We still have some bare spots, but we intend to have topsoil hauled in and do more seeding this fall.