Photo Cards

I have been spending a lot more time taking pictures and pursuing my love for photography. It has always been a hobby that I enjoy. I have been working with a friend to take some of my photographs and create cards with them. She recently sold some of hers at a Christmas craft fair and did really well. Below are some of the ones that I have created. I actually have about 50 different images so far. Please forgive me for the quality of these photos, they don't do the cards justice. I have some amazing ones from pictures I took while Mark and I were visiting Cape Cod. I'll have to post some of those pictures as well. I have also enlarged several of the photos for framing.

Thanksgiving Photos

Sorry it took me so long to get these up on my site.

These photos show the amazing bathroom renovations. For those that are familiar with this bathroom you will notice that the sink has been moved to where the closet use to be. It actuall works out well since the bathroom was so cramped before.

It was so hard to get a good look at the Thanksgiving feast...there was so much food!

Thanksgiving is over, now it's time for Christmas

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone. And if I do say so myself, was a great success. Mom was definitely with us in spirit. Nothing burned and everything went according to plan. Everything went almost too well. I kept waiting for something to go wrong...but it didn't. Thanks you to everyone that brought stuff. It was delicious. I had planned to post pictures from the fabulous event, however, for some unknown reason I haven't been able to get them on here. I will try again at a later time.

For those that were wondering - I actually got the bathroom complete enough to use. I can not say it was totally complete because I haven't put in the tub surround and there was one area that was not sanded because the spackling decided to take to long to dry. This project was started before mom got sick and needless to say took a little longer than excepted since there was about a month where we did not do anything. The pictures of the bathroom will also be posted soon. I'm sure dad is just thrilled to have that room back in order. I also decided to put in new flooring in the kitchen. That was a fun little endeavor just 2 days before Thanksgiving...what was I thinking.

I did venture out the day after Thanksgiving to do a little Christmas shopping. I did not go really early, I waited until about 8:00 am. To my suprise the stores were not that crowded and I did not wait in line anywhere. I was able to get at least half of my Christmas shopping completed. How exciting!!

Thanksgiving Menu

With Thanksgiving less than a week away the reality of it all is starting to set in! I am really looking forward to seeing everyone. I am also really excited about the actually cooking of everything. Of course, Mark will be on hand to help. He is the turkey master. I have never known anyone to baste a turkey as much as he does. The last turkey he made actually squirted as he tried to carve it. While we all like a moist turkey I do not think it is good when you need a raincoat to eat it. Let's hope he does not overuse his new baster this year. I am also in search of a cute apron for him. If anyone knows where I can get something really funny please let me know. I guess I could just make one myself. I would just have to come up with something really clever...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The good news is that I have finally set a menu. I have also lined up a few people to bring some of the items. The menu is below - please let me know if I have forgotten anything.

• Turkey
• Ham
• Mashed Potatoes
• Green Bean Casserole
• Carrot Casserole
• Corn
• Stuffing
• Oyster stuffing (mom always made it, but I have no idea who would or will eat this. Who ever eats it is in charge of making it in the future)
• Salad
• Deviled Eggs
• Sweet Potatoes
• Cranberry Sauce
• Rolls
• Gravy
• Drinks
• Desserts (pumpkin pie, sugar cream pie, apple pie, peanut butter pie, butter cookies, persimmon cookies)

Memories

I have acquired a new little "toy". I now have a scanner that scans slides so they can be saved as jpg files or you can print them out. I am having so much fun with this! Mom and Dad used to break out the slide projector every few years around the holidays but it was such a hassle. I have scanned around 275 slides so far and only have about 400 or so to go. This is going to take a while. Most of these slides were taken between 1966 and 1972. Once I get them all scanned in I will go back and fix some of them. There are a lot of scratches and quite a bit of dust on the images. I don't want to spoil the surprise for some of my relatives but I imagine there will be a lot of people getting photo cds or a DVD with a musical background for Christmas this year. They are just so much fun to look at. I have made a game out of trying to figure out some of the people in the pictures - I'm actually better than I thought I'd be!

Mom & Dad

I just love the matching shirts! Dad has informed me that back in "the day" if you were a couple you had at least one matching outfit.

Grandma & Grandpa Rawlins

Grandpa Rawlins & Leslie (she is chewing on a cigar!!!)

Valri & Lesli (at least I am pretty sure that is Valri)

Granpa Rawlins, Helen & Phil

Dad & Wylie on their motorcycles

I am not really sure who these people are but I just love the photo!

(I think I can identify the person at the stove, but I am not willing to do that until I am sure)

Christmas Beagle

Boris is all ready for the holiday season in his new PJs. While he is not overly thrilled, Zona seems to be enjoying it. Can dogs laugh? I really think Zona is laughing at Boris. I wish I could have gotten a good picture of Zona - he wouldn't stand still.