December 31

This is it - the year has come to an end, and here is my 365th picture!

I have enjoyed doing this so much. It's really opened my eyes to seeing the beauty that is all around us, if we just pay attention.
I do plan to continue this. I don't plan to post every day, but I'll be looking for things to photograph and will post them when I see them.

It's a gray day here, not snowing but no sunshine either. I thought this wagon, sitting on the edge of the field made a pretty picture.

December 30

Wednesdays are always busy days for me. I work every Wednesday because it's the day the Dr comes in and I do rounds with him. I am almost always late getting out of work because of this. My husband and I decided it was a good night for the two of us to go out, so we didn't have to think about supper when it's already time to eat.
Tonight I stopped and picked up subs because I have to go away this evening. I love the signs at Jimmy Johns and thought this was a good one to share. I think those rules fit anywhere!

December 29

My husband has some old cameras that he has displayed in our family room. My daughter Heather and I found this one recently in an antique store. It completely folds down and can be stored in the black case behind it. Bob was happy with our find!

December 28

Heather, Andy, Laura, Aaron

We had our family Christmas party last night, and as I do every year, I tormented the kids by making them have their picture taken in front of the tree. Every year they give me the "oh Mom" answer, but then give in. So after a few not so good shots - here's my official picture for 2009.

December 27

"His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!"
Clement Moore - 1823

Is this cute or what? We had Bob's family party last night. This is his nephews son, Durstin. I had such fun holding and playing with him. These lines from 'The Night before Christmas' describe him quite well, as he spent most of the evening smiling and winning hearts!

December 26

My niece, Arianna who is 11, made this picture for Andy and gave it too him yesterday. I've never seen a snowman in camouflage and I love that army hat too.
She did good!

December 25

What a fun day! We had my family here for the day. There are 19 of us in all. We were thankful that our step mom was able to be with us, as she was in the hospital earlier this week. She came home on Wednesday and is doing well. It was great to have the whole family together for the day.

December 24

We love having Andy around! He is always making us laugh. I bought these stockings as a joke from the dollar store and told the kids they had to fill them up for Bob and I.
Andy found them, added the Christmas hat and said they were now filled up. It's actually true - I had said all I wanted for Christmas was to have him home!

December 23

We looked at a few Christmas lights the other night and stopped at this place my daughter Laura told me about. As you can see it's got lots of lights, 46,000 in all! They have the lights set to change with Christmas music, (Trans Siberian Orchestra) which you tune into on your car radio. I can't imagine the work that went into this, but it was fun to see! Here's a video that the owners posted if you want to see the lights in action.

December 22

Laura, Andy, Heather

Last night we picked our son up from the airport to spend a few weeks with us over Christmas. He's in the army and hasn't been home since March, so everyone was happy to see him.
Our daughter Laura's husband was working so we picked her up. This is a sight I haven't seen in several years - all three kids in the backseat of the car together!

December 21

I'm having a busy day here. My son is coming home tonight and I'm trying to get some Christmas baking done. In the meantime, the cat is racing around the house, getting into trouble and being underfoot! Here he is in the entry, with the rug displaced behind him.
"Who me? I don't know who messed around with that rug, but I found it that way!"

December 20

While parts of the country have been getting hit with huge snow storms, we've been lucky to have just some gently snow coming down. I love seeing the trees covered in the freshly fallen snow.

December 19

Last night we had our work Christmas party. We usually have it right at work so those who are scheduled can come in and have a meal. The team had everything looking really nice. We had a great meal and a fun time!

December 18

This is our front walk. I noticed these little footprints going to the front door. I think it was probably the neighbors cat, who like to come and visit.

December 17

This bench in our backyard is a wonderful place to sit in the summer, but it doesn't look too inviting now! The flower heads hanging above it are from our hydrangea tree. It always surprises me how long they can hang on.

December 16

I took this picture out the patio door at the Nursing home this morning. The lights you see are actually in the Dining room, but are reflecting outside. I thought the lights looked pretty reflecting in the window and decided to try to get a picture. You can see the reflection of the Christmas tree too.

December 15

I've had a busy day and didn't think about taking a picture. So, I'm sharing a picture I took of our tree last night. I'll try to do better tomorrow!

December 14

I showed this old Engine house earlier this year, here.  I was at the business next to it today and thought it looked pretty in the setting sun, so I'm sharing another shot of it.
Here's a little history of this building. 
This is Engine House #5.  It was originally built in a nearby city in 1880.  It was scheduled to be demolished in the 1990's. A local man who owns a fire services business bought the building for $1 and had it taken down brick by brick and re-assembled in our town.  It's now a Fire Museum, which houses his collection of antique fire trucks and other firefighting equipment.

December 13

Do you see that sweet, innocent looking face under the tree?  Don't let him fool you!  Oliver thinks that the tree is a big toy set up for him.  The ornaments are fun to bat at and the strand of lights hanging down is his work too.  So far the presents are unscathed, but if we don't watch him, that could change too!

December 12

Last night we had our first Christmas party of the season.  This one was with my Dad's family.  He comes from a family of 10 kids.  All of those kids now have grandkids, and there's a few great grandkids, so you can imagine what a group there is when we all gather!

One of these girls is a cousins grandchild, the other is a cousins daughter.  The purpose of the wading pool was for the little kids to find things hidden in the paper.   However, these 2 decided it was more fun to get in and throw the paper around!

December 11

The blizzard is done, and the sun is starting to shine though the clouds!  It's still pretty windy, but it's not snowing.  This picture was taken down the road from my house.
On another note, I got my Trailblazer back.  We got good news that it wasn't a problem with the transmission, it was the transfer case.  I don't know what that means, except that although it was expensive to fix, it wasn't as bad as a new transmission!

December 10

This is what it looks like through my front window today.  We have been under a blizzard warning from 1pm yesterday and it is expected to continue until 6 am tomorrow.  It's cold, snowy and windy here.

I was lucky that it was my day off today, but Bob and Heather had to go in.  They both said the drive was pretty bad, and Bob isn't quick to say that.  Hopefully this storm will pass us tomorrow and we can start digging out!

December 9

We are under a blizzard warning here, although it's not bad yet.  We'll see what the rest of the night brings!  Since we are all staying in tonight, Heather decided to make a batch of fudge.  We use an old recipe that came from Bob's mom.  It has to boil for a while and then be beat by hand for some time.  It took me many attempts to learn how to do it, but it's good!  Now I end up making it for family gatherings because no one else does it anymore.

So, here's the first batch of the season, being stirred on the stove.

December 8

I don't have a nice picture today.  I was on my way home from work, when my Trailblazer (the one I got a month ago) quit working.  It was running, but wouldn't drive so we're afraid it may be a transmission problem.  

I have noticed though, that even in difficult situations, God takes care of us.  My husband got out of work early today and came along about 5 minutes after I stopped.  A police officer stopped traffic and let me sit in the police car to stay warm while the tow truck loaded my vehicle up.  We have a big storm with freezing rain and blizzard like weather predicted for tomorrow, and if this had happened then, it would have been worse.

So - now we are praying that it isn't too horribly expensive to have fixed and tomorrow I'll try to take a little nicer picture!

December 7

And it just keeps snowing!  This is a picture of our road when i came home for work.  The snow keeps coming down, with big storms predicted for this week.   I guess I better get used to it!

December 6

This is a farm down the road from us.  I think it looks so pretty with the snow all over!

December 5

Here's what we did today.  Our church had a craft show, which my husband and daughter had a table at.  Bob carves wooden figurines and ornaments and Laura does flower arrangements.  The weather wasn't too great, so attendance was down, but they still sold things and we had fun sitting there, talking to people.

December 4

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Up till last night, we only had a dusting of snow one time. That's all changed.  We got 11 1/2 inches of snow between 7:30 pm and 6 am.  The weather people said this storm centered over our little town and another one to the north of us and we really got hit.  Others in the county got 2 - 6 inches.

It was a nasty drive in to work this morning. I followed the tracks someone else left and prayed I didn't meet any other traffic.

This little tree is on our patio at work.

December 3

I was backing out of my driveway this morning and I noticed this beautiful full moon in the sky. I love how the branches show up in front of it.

December 2

Every year my 2 sister-in-laws have a wreath making party in early December.  Last night was the night!  There were several family members there, including my two daughters.  We have fun trimming up different greens and attaching them to wire frames.  Everyone's wreath turns out different and they are all beautiful!
This is my wreath, hanging on my front door.

December 1

We have been working on putting up Christmas decorations and Oliver feels he needs to be in the middle of everything.  I have lots of things in totes, and here he is - right in the tote!

November 30

Isn't this the cutest little shed?  I was driving on a back road when I saw it in the woods.  I had to stop and get a picture!

November 29

It was a foggy morning here.  This picture was taken on the bridge over the Grand River, near my house.

November 28

We had the first snow of the season yesterday.  Thankfully it was only a dusting, which looked pretty, but didn't affect the roads!

November 27

What a morning!  For the first time in my life I decided to go out early and shop on Black Friday.  I've never seen so many people in one store.  We could hardly walk through it to get anything.  This is the line to check out.  It wound through the store all the way to the back.  We waited 1 1/4 hours to check out.  However, I got the external hard drive I came for and we only heard one woman complaining.  Everyone else was very pleasant.

November 26

Happy Thanksgiving day!

I had to work today, but after work joined my husband and daughter at his Mom's house.  This is our daughter with some of the cousins.  They spent the afternoon playing games, and as I type this, they are still playing.  Good times!

November 25

Cats are the funniest creatures.  I found Oliver sleeping in this crazy position.  He opened his eyes when I was trying to get this picutre, but other than that didn't move.  If I tried sleeping like that I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to walk when I woke up!

November 24

I went in to work early this morning, and as I backed out of my driveway, my headlights shone on something unusual in the middle of the yard.  When I came home from work, this is the lovely piece I saw adorning my yard!

It was snuck there in the night by some friends from work.  You see, today is my birthday and they thought this was a nice surprise gift!  It has made its way to several different homes, and each one has added something else to the mix in the middle.  Now I have to think about who I want to pass it on to!

November 23

I've shown you several barns from my area, so I had to share this one with you.  I can't get a good picture of it without driving in the driveway, so you'll have to put up with this shot.  Anyway - I think it's so unusual to see a green barn.  Have you ever seen one painted this color before?

November 22

Yesterday I showed you a picture I took near the Grand River, which is quite close to our house.  Today I'm sharing a picture of the river itself.  There were some people fishing in another area, but it was quiet and peaceful in this spot.

November 21

We have had a lot of beautiful weather here this year.  Today was another example of an unusually nice day for November.  The temperature reached the mid 50's and the sun shone all day.  On my way to the grocery store I decided to make a stop at some property our county recently purchased along the Grand River which is about 3 miles from my house.  There was a house here until this summer, when the family sold this property.  It's a nice place where anyone can now stop and fish or take a walk along the river.  These little steps lead from the lawn down to the river bank.

November 20

This is a plant we have growing in the woods around us.  It's name is Lunaria, but it's often called money plant because of the coin shaped seed heads.  In the spring it has purple flowers and looks quite pretty growing in the trees, but I love to see it at this stage too.

November 19

Here is another picture that our son took, while on the training mission in the desert.  These colors are so beautiful, and do you see the moon in the sky?

November 18

Our son was recently in the desert in California, near Death Valley for a month on a training mission.  This is a picture he took during a dust storm. This is not a black and white photo, it just looks that way because of the dust.  I thought this was such a neat shot and wanted to share it.

November 17

It's cold out today, but I'm thankful the sun is shining.  I drive by this old barn frequently, and stopped to take a picture.  It could use some TLC, but I think it has character!

November 16

Here's our cat Oliver.  I was trying to get a close up of him, which he didn't appreciate too much.  Doesn't he look like he's saying "get that camera out of my face?"  This is the best I could get!

November 15

This is our driveway.  Now that the leaves are cleared away again, there are these interesting leaf prints over it.  I'm told they are caused by the tannic acid in Oak leaves.  We get this every year, but when winter is done, the leaf prints are gone.

November 14

This is an oak leaf hydrangea, which is in front of our house.  You can see some of the dried flower heads on it.  I think the leaves are so pretty, with the variations of colors, from light green, to reddish to a dark purple color.

November 13

We got a new vehicle last night.  Our van was geting old and we decided it was time to get something a little newer.  This Trailblazer isn't new, but it's new to us.  The 4 wheel drive should be good for Michigan winters!

November 12

The Grand Rapids Zoo has a program called the traveling zoo.  They visit schools and nursing homes with some smaller animals, and give a little presentation on the animals they bring.

Today they came and visited the Nursing Home where I work.  They brought several animals including this bearded dragon.  What an interesting creature!

Our residents had a great time seeing these animals up close and getting a chance to hold some of them.