Easter Storm…

Sunday dawned a beautiful sunny gorgeous day… as Easter Sunday should. In fact, it was one of the prettiest Easters in a long time. Late in the afternoon the clouds began to roll in… what came next was one of the loudest thunderstorms in some time. It brought crazy winds and many areas enjoyed golf ball sized hail also… we lucked out on Sunday’s storm, but not so much on Tuesday Evening’s (BUMMER).

Here is a picture I captured right as the rain stopped. Isn’t it just beautiful. It makes me think of Christ ascending in to Heaven.

 This is the Rainbow I captured when I looked out the other direction… How cool is that?

 Another shot of the Son… I mean Sun peaking through the clouds. I loved it!

And this is the picture of the guy who wanted to meet Jesus. He was up there flying in the middle of the Thunderstorm… Brent says he was trying to fly above the storm… CRAZY!!!

Cobalt Blue Skies and Lavendar Rose Sunsets...

The recent glorious weather has inspired me.
If it works in nature, it's inspired right?
Cobalt Blue, Lavender and Rose...
Couldn't be any Lovelier!

Sarah, Natalie, Jenny and Misty...
How's next weekend looking?
Let's Play!

Ladies, if you're in town & you'd like to join in the fun, you're invited too! The more the merrier.

My Whispering Willows

I love walking around our Wonder Pond... even when it's empty of water.

This is what I wake up to every morning.
Love, Love Love the song birds.
I hope you can hear the Whispering Willows.

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Wednesday!

This is the beautiful sunrise I awoke to this morning!

It is pretty awesome, when you consider it came after the violent thunderstorms we had last evening. How can you not have a great day when it starts off like this?

I just wanted to Wish Everyone Have a Wonderful Wednesday with me.

While weeding my flower bed...

I couldn't help but snap a few pictures. Everything is beginning to look so pretty. This was just after the rain (which makes weeding soooo much easier) and everything looked so clean and pretty. Anywho, while weeding my flower bed I noticed my Honeysuckle had gotten out of control. So I snipped off some vines and made the cool wreath in the upper left hand shot. The basket in the bottom right shot is all planted with perennials and ready to go home to Miss Jenny Doan, aka Momma Doan, the winner of my give-away. Have a wonderful Monday!

Communing with Mother Nature...

It was a beautiful afternoon, so Brent and I decided to take a drive down a country lane and attempt to go Morel Mushroom hunting. Now I am sure this beautiful wooded glade was teaming with them... but I can say we are dismal mushroom hunters... a total bust on our part. We even looked it up online before our departure and looked where they instructed to no avail... What can I say... we are just not cut out for it. But we had a lovely walk while communing with Mother Nature. It truly was glorious... the only downside... ticks, yup those icky little creepy crawly bitey things... yuck, yuck, yuck!!! I must have picked like twenty off of me and you know what... I still feel creepy crawly all over.

Oh... did I mention I almost stepped on a snake also... yup at our second stop. I only yelled a little bit and I'm sure that snake was way more afraid of me becuase it took off oh so fast... good for me... made me just a little more cautious after that.... still went trekking through the tall grass... Here is a picture of the little lovely... a Western Ribbon Snake... non-venomous... scary to me, none the less.
who knew I could be so brave... I really don't like any of those creepy crawly bitey things... nope, not at all.

Ok... this was my favorite stop... Brent wouldn't climb the fence to investigate the burned out remains of this old house... I have been wanting to for like FOREVER... so I climbed that rusty rickety fence all by myself... Brent said that made me a trespasser... but the sign did not say no trespassing... it only said no hunting... and I am guessing they meant the kind of hunting that you do with guns... of which I had none... only my trusty little camera to take these awesome pictures (well at least I think they're awesome). Over all, it was a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon.

The Beauty of a Fall Day...

I absolutely love this time of year. I love sweatshirt weather... a nip in the cool crisp air... the sun shining through the trees... These are just a few of the pictures I snatched while driving through the country with my sweetie... What more can you ask for?

I particularly loved the bottom left shot.

Hurricane Ike Hits Kearney, MO...

So yesterday finished with a rainbow and today began with the winds. Gotta love nature. Notice the Richardson Wonder Pond is almost full to the brink... too much more rain, which is surely coming and it might just go over the top of the dam... I think that would be a first... It does look so much nicer with a little water in it tho... Has to be said... I wonder how long it will last this time? If this weather continues... who knows...

Gotta go get the Fam ready for church... more later.

Awe Inspiring Rainbow....

Here is a picture of nature at its best. This rainbow was absolutely awesome, it came on the tail end of all the rain we've had over the past two days. I wish we could have got the whole thing in one frame, but this was the best we could do. Pretty sure, Misty and Jake will be blogging this also, they probably beat me getting it posted, but that's okay it was totally over my house... to bad, no pot of gold tho'.

The Last Hurrah of Summer...

This is the last of my flowers out by the fish pond. The heat, lack of rain, and pretty much my neglect have just about finished them off. At least they have a little bit more life in them.

Beautiful Watkin's Mill State Park...

Wendy and Joey love our little Watkin's Mill State Park and so do we. Here are just a few shots Brent and I got as we walked the 3.8 mile trail. The weather was perfect that day as you can see. The Canada Geese were looking rather stately and made for some beautiful shots. I thought the picture of the of the fishing boat looked like something that would be on a post card. Any way, this is our state park and we love it. I am hoping Miss Sarah will take our family pictures here. I already have the spot picked out and know what we'll be wearing. How's that for preparing. Hope everyone will be up for a little walk tho. It's about a third of the way in. Well, we'll just have to see.

Flower Garden at Nightfall...

Here are just a few more random pictures of the Flower Garden by our ornamental fish pond at nightfall. This was also taken Tuesday evening... right after the storm blew through. I love all the variety of color.

I had to stand on a chair to get the garden from this angle... You can almost se the fish... I think this is the clearest our little pond has ever been... It might have something to do with Brent's new pet fish... a sucker fish the size of my foreare... I am so not kidding... it's crazy... all it does is eat and eat the scum at the bottom of the pond... it's great! Sometime I'll get Zach to catch it again so I can get a picture of it for you all.... Oh well, work tomorrow so I better go to bed... Brent is sleeping at the Fireworks Tent again tonight... bummer.

A Walk in the park...

Tamra and I spent a lovely afternoon walking through Watkins Mill State Park. The weather was glorious, couldn't have asked for better (80 with a cool breeze). This made for absolutely perfect walking weather.... oh and picture taking weather also. I loved all the colors of Fall. Tamra and I truly enjoyed our day together. Love my sisters.

This first shot makes me think of the Sacred Grove... the Sunlight coming through the trees...Serene Beauty. I can see how a young boy would be drawn to the woods to find a quiet tranquil moment to commune with the Lord. I know that whenever I am surrounded by Nature I too feel closer to the Lord. I am reminded once again of his generosity and love. He provides us with such beauty all around us, if we but open our eyes.

Here are some random people who happened to be handy when I wanted to get these shots. I particularly like the random person in the center shot... he he he... No really, I thought this was such a nice picture of Tamra. She has such a pretty smile. I might have worn her out walking, but she never once complained. She said the good thing about this trail and the pace I was keeping with all my "Frieda Fotog - Picture Taking" she had plenty of opportunities to rest. ps... the Frieda Fotog is Brent's words for picture taking... I don't know... some family thing.

Anywho... I loved the shots with the little boy in the red checked shirt. He was having so much fun. It was so sweet how his father stayed so close, watching over him and keeping him safe.... Much like our Savior and Father in Heaven do.... This also brought back many happy childhood memories of summer vacations in Arkansas. We were right there in the creek with my dad, collecting minnows, crawdads, and hopefully - no snakes... Then off to the river for some good old fashioned family fun.... swimming, fishing... and a weenie roast to finish it off.... sweet memories

Here are a few more random shots.

You know me... I'm a sucker for texture and color.
I loved the mushrooms in the center of the top.
(Tamra pointed them out)

Oh... What a Beautiful Morning...

Every day, Monday through Saturday, I get to experience sunrise in Kearney ~ thanks to my Zach. He is more than willing to get his license, but Mom and Dad are not quite ready yet. Aren't we silly? NO!

The unfolding beauty of the heavenly sunrises, make the early mornings well worth the effort and lost sleep. Here is my "I'm sorry ~ My mom is a little camera crazy ~ Sunrise Progression".

The first photo in the upper left hand corner of the first collage was taken just after Zach got out of the car at the High School. He had to be dropped off before 6:45 a.m. (on a Saturday, no less) I looked out the window, saw the beginning of the sunrise and thought "I'll just get out of the car and snap a quick picture"... no big deal to me. Zach's friends are like... "What the heck is your mom doing?" Then Zach replies (and later tells me), "I'm sorry, just ignore her, my mom is a little camera crazy!" Nice Zach... any way, then I proceeded to take my normal drive home... pre-seven on a Saturday morning the back roads in Kearney are basically dead. At each stop sign & along the back roads, I just would stick my face and camera out the window and snap a picture or two. Okay... I'll admit... this maybe was a little crazy... I even pulled over & got out to take a couple pictures at one cross road.

I have to say it with song, as I tend to do... Oh, what a beautiful morning... Oh, what a beautiful day... and it was! Watching a sunrise is a great start to any day. After seeing one, I am filled with a sense of peace and thanksgiving. This final picture is the full blown sunrise from my back yard.

Thanks Zach for putting up with your momma! I will miss our early morning discussions and these glorious sun rises when you start driving on your own. I have enjoyed teaching you to drive, you are doing so great! You still can't get your license till the end of the month... I know... lame!

Kearney's Beautiful Sunset!

What a gorgeous sunset we had this evening. Loved it...We won't have a new blogs until we get back from our family vacation. bye for now....