Merry Christmas All!
 For me Christmas decorating starts with setting outMary she was my mothers and passed down to me.
The hubby and I started collecting glass ornaments 18 years ago, this train is from the year our first child was born.

And some snow shots.
swings
snow eating
chain
Gracelooking through one of the seven trees that came down in last weeks wind storm.

Have a safe, warm, and wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Here are a few pics from the last couple days. Taken with the light challenge in mind. It has been snowy and very cold. It was 4 below zero when I took this shot. With my fingers numb and my nose hairs froze I headed back inside! My oldest son planted a Marigold seed last Mothers Day in a cup. It has been on my window sill. I believe I took pictures today of its last bloom. Here they are. Mothers Day Marigold

The thumbnail is a picture I took last summer, when photography was just grabbing hold of me.The sun was shining directly through the window into this iris. Though this is an old shot I wanted to share it for this challenge.
Thanks for looking!

We just got home from a week at Disneyland. And I had to laugh a bit over the challenge since lighting was a challenge the entire trip!It was night when we arrived at the John Wayne airport, always a challenge for me! We also had the full light of day, for most of our shots.  Though, to be honest, photography wasn't big on my mind. There was so much to do, and we did it all! I've jammed most of my pics into a slideshow,it's a long one so beware! No pictures of the scary rides as I was on them & had the camera tucked away! Enjoy this little bit of our trip.Disneyland  
 

Some of you have seen this shot and some know the story behind it. I have had a hard time deciding whether or not to share it. Candice helped me decide by choosing Giving Thanks as the challenge. I am so thankful for each day we are given. To breath the air, to love and to live. We need to do so with gusto everyday!fate This shot was taken on my way over the Cascade Mountains a couple weekends ago. Just the kids and me. We left early, lots of time to stop for photo ops. Have always wanted to get a shot of Odell Lake with the sun coming up & glowing on Diamond Peak. The sun didn't cooperate & the bushes were in the way. So I wasn't too happy with the picture. Wasn't what I had in mind. We were there for about 4 or 5 minutes.  We headed up the pass again. We came around a curve not too far ahead and there was a horrible accident. We were probably only 4 or 5 minutes after the collision. Two people were killed and another two hospitalized in critical condition. One of the men killed use to work with my husband. He leaves behind a wife, twin daughters and a young son. The twin daughters are two of my eight year old sons best friends. As emotional as these last weeks have been for us, it pales compared to what the families are going through. It makes me step back and hold my family tighter and try to love and smile and laugh as much as I can each day.  Bless you all this holiday season.

And just to lighten things up a bit, the antics of my pets.shadow play

Just a couple shots I've taken recently and one that I forgot I had uploaded. Have a great weekend all!

pathways
crystal morning
tickle  

Well, I have been giving this challenge some thought. Not alot of scary spooky fears for me. But I am a huge fretter. I fret about things that are really out of my control. At the heart of these frets and fears are my children. When I drop themoff at school. The choicesandrisks they take when they think I'm not looking.The fear that every pain is something serious. I battle these frets by sending them to school and on trips without me. By letting them make those risky choices and sometimes suffering the consequences. & Knowing that every pain does not mean something frightful.
I do, however, have a few very basic fears. Fear of fire fear offlyingand fear of  spiders! These I just deal with, as everyone does. Though the flying one has to be tackled here really soon!  

These shots have all been taken in the last two months. & were taken more for memories and fun than anything, tho comments & constructive criticism are always welcome.& the thumb is me fretting! =)

Saturday morning was cold, frosty, and sunny. It was 16 degrees out with blue skys. My favorite kind of morning. The flowers are done and waiting to be cut down before the snows come, but I had to get a few more shots of them.
seedpod
podglow
appleleaf
frosty slope  
hidden from the frost
 

with crumbsfor justpeachy
at the sink
tea time

24 exposers later... here are 3

living room
table top
art by Grace  

We have spent the last two weekends in the Mt. Washington Wilderness. My family has enjoyed this area since my mom was a little girl. It was devestated by a 90,000 acre forest fire in September 2003, destroying some beautiful places.This is our first hike into the Corbett Snow Park meadow since the fire. It was once surrounded by fir and pine trees with majestic old cottonwoods standing in the middle. The cottonwoods would normally be a vibrant yellow, they have no leaves and never will again.It was heartbreaking.
into the meadow

Just a few flowers holding on. And one freaky bee or bug thing. (cropped) Not sure whatit is. (not cropped)

multiple
single

We have had quite a few frozen mornings here lately. None as frosty as this day!
frozen
frosty
shivering

Happy First Day of Fall! (officially tonight)

simple joy
symmetry interrupted

 
some color

Comments and advice always wanted!

Now that the flowers are fading & last night the deer ate my pansies. I have moved on to the kids and dog. I am  trying to get away from the snapshot feel. So all advice is welcomed.
Drake
Grace
Clay
Clay in color
not mine.
 

Yesterday evening I was sitting at the computer trying to decide what shots I wanted to post. Just then heard one of the kidletts do a shout/scream/shriek sound outside. Then footsteps running upstairs. Evidently a spider had been found on my middle child. He is not a spider lover. They had captured it in a film container. Couldn't get any good shots in that. Releasing to the wildwas our only option. It  creeped and crawled and was quite fast actually. Got a close up of it, and an upside down
shot. Decided we had tourtured it enough  & let it go. Almost entered the poor critter(shudder) into the Endurance challenge as it did endure being captured by boys and flashed repeatedly by me. Not sure what type of spider it is, other than big. If anyone knows please share!