Getting along…for once

 

Fun with textures

I have seen some really cool pictures where textures have been added to achieve a desired effect.  Here are my first attempts.  It’s harder than it would seem…lol

         

                  

I tried to achieve an old photo effect here.

 

 

  

This one is an attempt at something resembling an oil painting.

 

 

I’ll keep working on…you guys try your hand at it and share with me.

The Fourth of July

       

 

I love, love fireworks.  I love the beautiful colors, the deafening sound and the way the ground vibrates.  But every year when the fireworks stop and all around is a curtain of smoke, my thoughts wander.

 

Is this what a battlefield must have looked like when our soldiers of long ago tried to seek cover from canon fire?  As gunfire crackles today are our soldiers surrounded by similar plumes of smoke?

 

How can a mother, a father, a son or daughter step between the enemy and me?  How can they risk their life to save the lives of people they don’t know and probably never will? I will never understand it I guess but I sure as Hell appreciate it.

 

Today I heard a song that many of you have probably already heard but I wanted to post some lyrics.  It is a song by Toby Keith and it makes me cry every time.

 

You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door,
Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey I'm true down to the core,
And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price,
I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice,
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,
But if dying's asked of me,
I'll bear that cross with an honor,
'Cause freedom don't come free.
I'm an American Soldier, an American,
Beside my Brothers and my Sisters I will proudly take a stand.
When liberty's in jeopardy I'll always do what's right.
I'm out here on the front lines, sleep in peace tonight.
American Soldier,
I'm an American Soldier.

 

I know we all probably pray for our soldiers on the 4th of July but I am asking you to remember to do it everyday.

A True Texas Cowboy

                    

 

Braxton begged for a new pair of cowboy boots during our recent trip.  He is so picky that it was nothing short of an act of Congress to find the perfect boots.   But like any good cowboy he never took them off…he wore them with his shorts, he wore them with his pajama pants and he even slept in them the first night.

Family pics

(For some reason I didn’t get a picture with both of Steve’s parents.  I will have to get a copy from them.  As you can tell Cayden was definitely not into having pictures taken that day-maybe it’s that new teenage thing…lol.  The lighting wasn’t great that day so I tried some of these in B/W and some in color.  I love B/W anyway so it gave me a good excuse.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas part 3 (pool party at Nana’s)

 

This is one of my favorite pictures from our trip.  The boys had a great time with Uncle Matt.  He is a bigger kid than they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I usually have more pictures of Cayden than Braxton but for some reason Braxton was unusually willing to pose for me so I took advantage.)

 

                

 

 

 

No Nana pool party would be complete without a water gun fight.  She even bought a new arsenal of guns just in time for our visit.

 

 

 

 

Steve had to join in the water gun fun too of course.

 

 

 

You can tell by the devious look he was up to no good.

 

 

 

The other favorite game of the day-trying to ride the beach ball.   Many tried, no one succeeded.

 

 

It was so hard to leave Dallas! We love you guys!!

Texas part 2

It is about 1100 miles from West Fargo to Dallas…but when you miss your family and haven’t seen them in several years, it feels like Dallas is on another planet. We were so excited to spend a weekend with my family during our trip.  We ate a lot of great food, relaxed by the pool and tried to catch up with everyone. 

 

 

 

This is my brother Matt and his wife Angie.  They have been married a year already and we had not met Angie until this trip.  Thanks guys for inviting us into your beautiful home and cooking us a wonderful dinner!  The boys LOVE Uncle Matt and always have…he lived with us for a time when the boys were young.  The funny thing is, it seems like literally yesterday that Matt was just a kid. 

 

 

 

This is my sister Melanie and her boyfriend David.  She is such a strong, independent, smart, beautiful person (inside and out) and I am so proud that she is my sister.  She also just passed her CPA exam!!

 

 

 

 

This is my sister Jenny and her husband Shannon.  Jenny and I are close in age.  We helped each other survive high school and tried to keep each other out of trouble-no small job!  Too many miles between us and too hectic lives keep us out of touch but it was good to get together and catch up. 

 

 

 

We spent most of the weekend in Nana’s pool.  I will try to wade through those pictures next and post soon.