It's Finally Here!

It's here! Autumn is finally here! My favorite time of the year and 

all the world seems bathed in a soft gold light...

Each leaf on every tree seems to explode with color...

The mornings are now "put on a sweater" chilly and are often bathed in mist... 

I love the colors of each Fall treat...like Indian Corn!

Or delicious Autumn apples!

The pop of an orange pumpkin...

...or the glow of a sunflower.

Sunsets seem just a little more beautiful...

And what's better than jumping into a pile of freshly raked, oh so crunchy Fall leaves!

Venture down any country road and you will find farm fields filled

with warm, rich shades of gold & brown...

...orange & yellow...

...and red.

Uh huh...the world just seems more beautiful in the Autumn and I am

so excited to greet this magical season once again.

Each leaf...

Each pumpkin and gourd...

Each ear of corn...

There are so many wonderful things to cherish in the Fall. Among

my most favorite are these...

                           

Quiet evenings by the fire playing games

Soft, warm flannel sheets on the bed

 

The glow of flickering candles

Fall festivals

The scents of cinnamon, oranges & cloves simmering on the stove

Pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn

Hot bowls of hearty soups and stews

Cozy robes and slippers at the end of the day

A hot apple fresh from the the oven

Chili and corn bread or warm polenta cakes

The wind rustling through the leaves

Caramel apples

Hot apple cider...

These are just a few of the things I love about Fall.

What are some of YOUR Autumn joys?

With love always...

Got Sunflowers?

We sure do...so what better thing to do than make your kids go stand in

the field and pose for Mom!

Uh huh...

Hoping your September is filled with lots of sunshine!

On The Road Again...

...or, I should say, we were! We are home now after being away quite a bit in July, August and over the Labor Day weekend. Grace and I were able to follow Bill to some conferences and we had a fine time! Well, even if I should be red of face that I missed Mr. Dennehy's birthday again. Shame on me. *smirk*

School has begun again, in earnest, but it is sweet to look back at some of the Summer fun we all had!

Are you lookin' at me?

Dinner? Nope, he lived to tell the tale!

We enjoyed our second trip to the Destin/Fort Walton Beach area.

We love it there and also love visiting Seaside, Alys Beach and Rosemary Beach.

And just as we did last year, we were able to spend some time with Kat and George!

Many of you know our Kat through her blog! They are such a wonderful couple!

Labor Day weekend had us enjoying the sights and sounds (and tastes!) 

of one of our favorite cities, St. Louis!

      

The main reason we were in St. Louis was to enjoy a mini reunion with 2 of the

 families who were in China with us 7 years ago...

Our Gracie

Mike & Shelby

Ginny

We saw our favorite local band play at The Fraze Pavilion near

here...The Stumps always bring the crowd to their feet and it is always

such fun to share their music with so many friends and family!

Grace with her favorite rock and roll drummer, Gary!

We went to Hippiefest again (One of our Summer traditions!), also at The Fraze Pavilion!

We attended a family reunion in Kentucky near Natural Bridge State Park

which is also where Bill and I spent part of our honeymoon 33 years ago!

Grace and Bill with cousins Ivy and Pamela

Bill with his cousin Randy

Grace and her BFF spent a lot of time together this Summer and one of the fun things

they did was to take kayaking lessons!

I was honored to be asked to take photos at 3 weddings this Summer.

These are the flowers from Chelsea and Tony's big day...

These are our friends Melissa and Dave...

Melissa changed her shoes so she could dance the night away...

...with the music of our friends Mark, Kenny, Gary, John and Jim...The Stumps!

I was also honored and blessed to be asked to shoot this young family's photos.

The daddy just left for a tour of Afghanistan so I humbly ask you to keep them in your prayers.

We celebrated my Mother's 84th birthday with dinner out...

(and my brother Jim being a goofball as always!)

...and a cake with her favorite baseball player, The Red's Joey Votto!

A few days later we celebrated my brother's birthday...and yes. He was still being

goofy but Grace doesn't look too afraid does she? *grin*

There was lots of time for having fun in the pool... 

...and for being goofy when our friends Kate and Ginny came here to visit us!

Oh and there were other birthdays, visitors, anniversary celebrations...and church fun,

silly times, late night movie marathons, sleep overs, catching fire flies,

cook outs, fireworks...

It was a great Summer. Uh huh. Sweet memories were made.

I hope your Summer was filled with special moments and sunny smiles.

Much love to you all!