Our oldest turned 10 this morning at 6:32am. Tonight we had birthday cake and pizza with our family. The big party with her friends is this weekend. One of her brithday gifts tonight was an “M” ear ring holder. As you can see in these photos, she has quite the collection of ear rings.
Interesting… As I looked out our dining room window this evening, I see the warmth of the sunset. If you didn’t know better, you could imagine this sunset at a warm beach.Yet, I know the cold Winter wind is howling out in the field. And a couple hours after this photo was taken, as I write this post I peer out my office window and see our neighbor plowing snow in his driveway. I guess after months of cold weather my mind is on a warm beach somewhere.
The four highest points in the small town of Tea, South Dakota. From left to right in the photo are: The grain elevator, the older water tower, the large water tower, and the new radio tower.
The meteorologists were right! The big storm of the 2009 holiday season is upon us. It’s been snowing and blowing for the past 36 hours. It finally let up a little so the girls’ could get out and play. There’s a 6 foot high drift right in front of our door.
The fog yesterday hasn’t really burned off. Fog is supposed to be a pre-indicator of heavy precipitation. If so, we may see a very white Christmas this year.
A thick overnight fog froze into beautiful crystals that covered everything this morning.
Even though the place is open, and I’m sure it a hot, happening joint I found the empty street an interesting contrast to the “Open” invitation.
These gals are ever vigilantly watching over the streets of downtown, waiting. Patiently waiting. You might say they have a certain “State” of mind in this photo.
Thanksgiving 2009: Uncle Al carves the bird, Gracie eagerly awaits at the kids’ table, and the marshmallows are toasted to perfection on the sweet potatoes.
Despite a month or more of transition, things are somewhat back to normal. For now. New desk, old utensils.
My youngest daughter drew this about 2 years ago, inside one of my note pads. I just ran across it again. I know that as a dad with two girls, I am in for a heaping helping of teenage girl emotions ahead of me. I hope that as they get into those awkward years, they remember how they saw themselves when they were 5.
Gracie found this little guy, and like kids will do, decided she wanted to keep him as a pet. After a night cooped up in an old milk jug, we convinced her that he would be better off back in the wild with his family.
The idea that a plant can grow from a tiny seed, into a large fruit-bearing plant in a matter of months has always amazed me. This is our 4th year of working the soil in our garden, which was initially a large patch of rock-solid clay. For the past 4 seasons, we’ve tilled-in compost, peat, and mulch. We now have rich, dark soil. Our garden has really been growing strong this year. The plentiful rain this year has certainly played a part as well. All of our plants are producing large volumes for harvest.
This morning, there was a thick coat of dew across the entire region. These photos are details from some of the plants in our garden.
Just a select few frames from the many that I took at the Air Show this afternoon. A great show as always.
There’s a local auto-restoration company who had this beauty parked out in front of their business. There’s really no better advertising for their services than to show the fruits of their labor. The sleek lines and curves, and the color are truly amazing.
We took a little family road trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant in De Smet Friday night. If you haven’t been, it’s a good old-fashioned, low-tech family fun event. Volunteer actors audition for the roles of Pa, Ma, Laura, Mary, and the whole cast of Little House on the Prairie characters. Right after we rode the horse-drawn wagon, the girls got to pet the horses.
We have been fortunate this summer so far. Normally it is 90-100 degrees, and drier than a tumbleweed. But we’ve had a good amount of rain and the temperatures have been hot, but cool off over night and in the early morning. The flowers, grass and trees are in full bloom in our yard. I found this little guy happily collecting nectar in the flower garden.
I was out and about today, scouting for new outdoor locations for high school senior portraits. I stumbled across a group of kids taking it easy on the lake in kayaks. I like the various bright colors of the kayaks and the vivid colors of the sky and greenery.
Had a lunch meeting today, and on my way back to my car, I passed by this set of chairs on the patio area of the restaurant I was at. The negative space aspect of this photo intrigues me. Instead of seeing the actual subject matter (people at a table) you only see their shadows.
Walking downtown on Phillips Avenue today, taking in all of the activities and set-up preparations for Hot Summer Nights this weekend. The streets will be filled with Corvettes Harley-Davidsons, and people. While walking along, I glanced over and noticed this cool reflection in the window of an office building. I like the distorted imagery in the glass, and the way the reflective colors appear in the glass.
On our last night at Cedar Shore Resort, I found this moon over the boats at the dock inspiring.
On the river, we hooked up with friends Jack and Joelle who have a house boat. It took a little coaxing, and seeing dad do it, but finally the girls put on their Brave Faces and jumped off the top deck of the house boat. It’s about a 15 foot drop, and was even a little intimidating for dad at first. These 3 shots are a sequence of one of Gracie’s many jumps. View Post
The day started out a little gray and gloomy, but at least we didn’t encounter any rain. As the afternoon progressed, we finally saw the sun! We had a great few hours on the boat with our friends Dave and Stacy. This photo is of Maddie and Gracie on the tube behind the boat. View Post
We stayed at Cedar Shore Resort in Chamberlain, SD for the Independence Day holiday weekend. We drove there Friday morning, hoping for a day of fun and sun on the boat. Instead we had a gloomy, rainy day. This photo of Gracie looking out the window of our room at the wet, dreary day says it all. View Post
This is a shot looking down the 3rd base line as a girl makes a hit, at my oldest daughter’s softball game. View Post
Goodbye all my friends at HenkinSchultz. I will miss you. We had some great times over the past 7 years.
The Fire Department was called out last night to help with storm spotting. We watched for tornados for about an hour and a half. After an exciting night of storms and tornado warnings, we were in the clear. The storm split-up and moved to the south. This is a few frames from the tail end of the storm as it moves south.
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Words cannot describe how sad losing a 10-day old baby must be. To my friend, we are praying for you. The sunset today made me stop and think for a good long time. I hope and pray that God be with you, and that your little girl be with Him in heaven.
