I just love the colors of Autumn. The leaves on this tree outside the high school turned a bright shade of vermilion that I couldn't resist getting a photo of.

The daisies are a nice bright spot in our garden for several months of the year. These yellow ones stay long after the daffodils and tulips have faded.

I have several succulents, this one is my Thanksgiving Cactus. I just want to know HOW does it know the date? It bloomed yesterday right on time for it's namesake. I have a Christmas Cactus as well and just noticed today as I was adding soil to the pot and moving it to a new location, that it has the start of flower buds on the ends. I wonder if it will bloom Christmas day? My Easter Cactus always, always blooms for the occasion and I posted an earlier photo of it here.

My Nana (my mom's mom) made the best pecan pie EVER. No, really. It is the best. I have had her recipe for years, but just came across it a few weeks ago when I was sorting through a stack of recipes I had never taken the time to organize...and there it was. It broke my heart when my beloved Nana passed away in 2001, but she was alive for me yesterday as I made this pie and again today as I cut and ate a piece...and it was just as delicious as I remember. :)

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

My daughter took this photo and a few other fireworks photos this past Fourth of July in Elk River...current population 153. We head out there most years to spend the day with our friends and their parents who are actually full time residents. The town fills up fast with people from within a 60-80 mile radius who come for the swimming, atv riding, fireworks display, and the huckleberry ice cream that Elk River is famous for!

Spiders anyone? This girl was my sons pet for more than 9 years. She is a curly haired tarantula and we got her as an adult, so I am not sure how old she was, but he cared for her very well, handled her and loved her. She lived a nice long life and we were very sorry when she died. There is no cooler pet than this!

More of the poppies! I love them, I hope you like them too!

Normally I would never post this type of photo, but today I felt the need to tell you about one of the greatest men I have had the honor to know and love, my grandfather. He has always been the most amazing man to me. A little larger than life in all respects, from his unfailing devotion to God, his family, friends, and country, to his selfless love for my grandmother. Here is a man that has always done it right. There is no one other than my own husband that I respect more than my grandpa. He is someone to aspire to emmulate.

As a child, I spent a lot of my time with my grandpa. He would take me out for an ice cream at McDonalds and pop an 8-track tape into the car stereo and we would sing, "Loch Lomond" til my grandma would get sick of hearing us. Or, he would be "the Old Grey Mare" and ride me around the living room on his back. I can only remember one time where he spoke a harsh word to me (and I am quite sure I deserved it), he rarely spoke harshly to anyone or got angry. In fact he is usually smiling and happy even when things aren't so great. Case in point is the above photo...which must have been taken on the saddest day of his life, the day we buried my grandma, his wife and soulmate of nearly 68 years. Always trying his best to make everyone else feel better, that's my grandpa. He has always been my hero.

Today is his 94th birthday. I love you grandpa. The happiest of birthdays to you.

xox
Sherry

This is the Palouse River at Laird Park, one of our favorite day trips during the hotter summer months. There is a small pond that has been dammed with a wall of rail ties and this is the area right behind. The pond makes for a great swimming hole, Idaho style, and the walkway above the small dam is a jumping point for those wishing to enter the frigid waters the fast way. The water IS like ice, so sometimes it is better just to jump in!

An Arbor Day memorial that sits within the University of Idaho Arboretum. It is one of my favorite places here in town to go and just sit and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

My favorite photography subjects are my children, no doubt about that. This is my youngest son who was happily building a sand fort during a summer day trip to Laird Park which is a very nice break for us. We spent the day playing in the ICE COLD water...well the kids did anyway. I spent most of my time in the shade on a blanket taking pictures!

Most of the leaves are gone from my Red Maple tree now. We had a few days of solid wind and rain and that pretty much did them all in. But this photo was taken a week beforehand and shows what beautiful color the tree has. For a few weeks each year we are treated to a glorious rosy hue splashing the walls in our living room as the sun sets behind the tree.

Poppies! I love them. They are only glorious for a little longer than a month, so I have to take all the pictures I can while they are out.

Road Trip! Portland - Once Angie and the girls and I arrived in Portland, we met my other friend Ruth and dropped all of our girls (5 in total) off at the hotel for an evening of pizza and swimming while Ruth, Angie, and I went to THE best restaurant in Portland, Jake's. Anytime I am in Portland there are a few things I cannot miss, and the Chocolate Bag dessert tops the list! It is rich with raspberries, white chocolate mousse, several kinds of chocolate, and whipped cream. Ruth nearly finished hers off. Angie had about a third of hers left, and I could only manage to eat a quarter of mine! Maybe my yummy steak had a little something to do with that.

Road Trip! Portland - At the footbridge over Multnomah Falls, I decided to be daring and leaned over to get this shot of the lower falls emptying into the pool below. As I was taking this photo, another tourist was taking the same type of photo and lost his umbrella into the drink. Guess that's what happens when you are trying to hold a camera and an umbrella at the same time!

Road Trip! Portland - Once you have left your vehicle and begin your small hike to the base of Multnomah Falls, you will be able to see the old foot bridge that crosses the water. The trail system will take you over this bridge and on up the side of Larch Mountain should you decide you are feeling adventurous. I hiked up with Angie's daughter only as far as the bridge because the others decided to wait for us below. As I mentioned in a previous post, it rained the entire trip...my daughter and her friend decided to wait in the car, and Angie waited at the base.

Road Trip! Portland - Right before arriving into Portland, Multnomah Falls will draw your gaze. It is the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States at 620 ft, and cascades down from Larch Mountain on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Basin. Visitors can park in the rest area right off Interstate 84 and walk to the base of the falls. The more adventurous...like myself...can hike up to the bridge and beyond. There are a series of trails throughout this area that connect to other parks and smaller waterfalls.

Road Trip! Portland - One thing you are sure to see a lot of on a trip across Interstate 84 in Oregon, are trains! Lots and lots of trains. This engine was actually stationary for the shot. Most of the time they are moving and have 100 or more cars attached behind them. Commerce along the Columbia River never sleeps.

Road Trip! Portland - Last year at about this time, my friend Angie and I took our girls to the Revolve Tour in Portland. I took a few pictures along the way which I will feature for the next few days.

This photo was taken from Interstate 84 which runs along the south side of the Columbia River Basin in Oregon. The mountains in the background are on the Washington side of the river. It rained the entire trip...par for the course this time of year...but when I saw the rainbow over the river, I just had to try for a capture.

Thank you to all the United States Veterans that have fought for our country's freedoms. We owe you a debt that can never be repayed.

Doesn't this look like fun? I took this photo last year during Bovill Days. There was a picnic after the parade and this guy cruised in and dropped ping pong balls onto the park lawn. If you could scramble fast enough to get a ball with a number on it, you won a prize. We won something, but I cannot remember what it was!

I think God gave us Autumn because he knew that we would need memories of brilliant color to last us through a long winter. I snapped this photo 2 weeks ago as we trekked back to our parking space after the University of Idaho Homecoming Parade. Nothing in the parade even came close to the beauty of these amber leaves.

Our beautiful kitty, Beethoven, is the most affectionate and loving cat ever. He has personality in spades and has never met someone he didn't like...or leave without a furry reminder of himself! When we first moved to Idaho, my hubby worked for the Human Society and Beethoven was an abandoned kitten. Someone missed out on the cat of a lifetime when they didn't keep him!

This summer, my hubby and I decided to have a 'date' day and got on his Ninja 650 two-up for a ride through some beautiful Idaho countryside. Normally the bike is used for his daily commute to and from work, but that day we headed up Highway 95 to Plummer and then turned east onto Highway 3 towards St Maries. This is Chatcolet Lake which is actually the southern most tip of the much larger Coeur d'Alene Lake. Getting my hubby to actually pull over for me to take a photo is a challenge that involves helmet tapping and much pointing and gesturing...I was unsuccessful in conveying my wish to stop, so this capture was while we were booking along at 55 mph!

When the poppies are in full bloom, there is a fine black dust that covers the bottoms of the petals. In this photo you can see the dust beginning to form.

A few weeks ago, I captured this photo of a rose in my front yard after we had a two day rainy spell. A few days later we had our first freeze and all the roses started to die off for the winter. I thought perhaps I might get a few more blossoms, but this was the last one to fully open.

Daffodils for Kimmie Sue

When I was a young girl, my best friend KimSue and I would walk down a muddy dirt road in West Virginia (I lived in WV for 7 years) to an abandoned farm house off of Lynn Creek Road. I absolutely loved, and still do, exploring old fallen down dwellings. Anyway, this particular farmhouse sat very close to the road and was nothing much to get excited about. Come spring however, we were delighted to see the daffodils...hundreds and hundreds of them...blooming all around the house. In my mind I can still picture it and the fun we had cutting them or digging them up and taking them home to our mothers'.

The snow covered iris from this post has bloomed and turned the most marvelous shade of purple, almost black, though this photo does it no justice. I especially love the zebra striping on the petals!

The first few tulips in these planting beds have opened. There are at least 100 bulbs planted and they are short-lived, but beautiful while they last.

I captured this lovely scene at the University of Idaho Arboretum a few weeks ago during a family walk. The trees hadn't quite all turned colors yet, but the one in the background shows a hint of what it looks like right now. I had to wait for the cloud cover to move a bit so the sun would highlight the tree.