So now my 'littlest' brother is married. It's hard to believe.... I felt rather emotional all day. And forgot to take tissues.....

First dance...
Dad and Mom with their baby. :)
Not sure whose arm is whose in that jumble!
All the little girls were so excited about having their own goblets and could hardly wait to drink their grape juice.
Adorable babies that we don't get to see often enough! It was just so good to have everyone home again but the time went so fast, after everyone was gone again I felt like I had hardly connected with any of them!
LeAnn and Tia taking a moment during rehearsal for some chocolate. ;)
Doesn't this just make you laugh?! Her soft little open-mouthed chuckles were too cute. I have no idea what was funny. It's interesting to look at all the different expressions on faces in a family picture of 40+ people!
Lisa and Regina...

School starts tomorrow. We've all been counting the days, for opposite reasons! Up at six to get them on the bus at 6:55. Will we make it through the year without missing the bus? My fingers are crossed....

~ellen

I had the privilege of taking pictures of my cousin's kids a few weeks ago. It's been awhile since I'd seen them, so I was picturing 'little' kids in my head. :) They are quite grown up! Here's just a couple for you Sheila.....
I love black and white...
And of course, since it was at our house, there was a considerable breeze blowing and Mallory's hair didn't want to stay in place!
Thanks for the opportunity Sheila- I had fun and I hope you'll be happy with them!

~ellen

Just playing with some pictures... This one is before...
and this one is after...
From iheartfaces.com.

Steve and I did something we never did before. At least not since we have kids. We went camping, just the two of us, for a long weekend. It was so absolutely wonderful- I can't describe what it did for my mind, body, and soul! No schedule, no internet, tv, phones, etc. Lots of reading, campfire, talking, and laughing. We've gone on vacation before without the kids, but somehow, this time was different. Life slowed down, we could relax and breathe deeply....
Steve read an entire book. :)

Oh yes, and peanuts and LOTS of tea. And Solitaire.
The sun shining through the trees...
Cool mushrooms...
Bacon over the fire anyone?
There was a 'Rails to Trails' close by so we went biking one day. Packed a lunch and biked until we came to this 'snack shack' along the way. It started to rain just as we came out of the woods so we sat under the roof at the picnic table to eat.

He had drinks, snacks, candy bars, ice cream and I'm not sure what all in there!
It's a good thing you can't see just how hot and sweaty we were! We biked about 23 miles that day...
We came across these steps going down over the bank, so we took a break and went and sat on the rocks and listened to nature. :)

And even if you're camping, you must still have popcorn on Sunday evening. We did a little more sight-seeing on Monday before heading back to real life.
Thank you Babe- for thirteen years of being the lucky one! I'd marry you all over again. :)

~ellen