What is better than having a boat???

Having a friend with a boat! Thank you so much for taking us with you on Sunday Sheramy! We had a blast. I am so glad I made the choice to risk taking my camera. Jeremy, you rock. I am so thankful for your careful and cautious fatherly manner. You make me feel so comfortable as a mom in a boat with children. It was awesome! I wish there were months and months of summer left.

Huddy and Shana....I just love this. It is such a perfect "mom" moment. This will be a picture that Huddy will love when he is older.

Huddy showing us his "monster" face. Sooooo funny!

Shana and Kaden tubing

The men posing. How manly.

The name is Willits...Mike Willits(notice the farmers tan, that is because we are not from Minnesota were all men go shirtless)

This is right before we dumped him.

Kaden on the tube.

Matthew did not want any part of it...He preferred the nice comfortable boat.

My favorite shot of Kaden

How great is it that I caught his tongue out!

Pulling the tube in for some more air.

It was a great day! Thank you so much for taking us. I could do that everyday:-)

A different kind of love story...

A lot of things have changed in the years that I have known Mike. We have lived in 8 different places. We have had 10+ different vehicles! We have had many different friends that have taken many different directions in our life. We have added Matthew to our little equation. We have even had numerous hair styles:-) including a Mike having a mullet years ago. There has always been a few constants through all of the change. The two biggest constants have been our love of Mike's grandparents, and Mike's love of fly fishing. There should be no denying this after seeing the last post. I never thought in a million years Mike would post to my blog all by himself. I was of course forgetting that he might want to share one of his greatest accomplishments!
From a wife's point of view:
There is so much that I love about my husband's passion for fishing. One being that he finds great joy in something so simple. The fact that catching a 5lb Bass at our local pond can make his whole week worth while, even get him to post on my blog. Then there is the fact that it is for the most part free(okay, I may be kidding myself here) Lets not forget that he now has a new fishing buddy that loves fishing as much as he does. As a mother I think there is nothing better than knowing both my boys are spending a few hours a night together doing what they both love. Then there is the fact that my husband is incredibly sexy to me when he is fishing. He makes it look so easy and he is so good at it. I could seriously watch him fish for hours. That is for sure is a consistent in our relationship! I also love when people walking by stop to watch him fish. You do not see a whole lot of fly fishing here in Minnesota, and I might be biased but I have never seen anyone cast as perfectly as Mike. Then there is the last thing......

Mike learned how to fly fish from Clair. He was around 9 years old when Clair was allowed to take him out fishing. Clair had learned to fly fish from his Brother in Law, Cal. Mike will never forget the first trout he caught on his favorite Montana creek with Clair and Cal. That first trout hooked Mike as much as Mike hooked it. In the years that passed Mike and Clair spent many hours together fishing. A few things changed as the rocks around the creek became to much for Clair and they had to move the fishing to a safer private pond....the big fish in that pond made up for that I suppose. There was of course always lunches packed by grandma Dot, and history lessons about the state they shared a love for. Then the biggest of all the changes came to be...Clair lost his fishing buddy to me. Before Mike and I met he and Clair would go fishing anytime Mike was free. Mike spent all of his free time fishing with his grandpa. It is funny how a pretty young girl can change how much free time a young boy has. Don't get me wrong..the fishing did not stop. I loved when they would go fishing together and encouraged it quite a bit. Mike just had a new love in his heart too. He tried teaching me once....it did not go well. I have come to the realization that fly fishing is not for me....however, photography is:-)

These pictures are all from scans of photos that I have that are not that great to start with. In one aspect I am sad they are not better. On the other hand at least I know I have them in a place that will keep them from getting worse.

my absolute favorite picture of Clair.

Mike and Clair getting ready to go fishing back in 92. This was just a few months after we met. Mike was actually wearing the shirt he has on the night we met:-) Oh~ and that car in the garage is Dot's old mustang that we took to prom. I will never forget how proud Mike was that his grandma did not want a typical "grandma" car. A few years ago no one could remember her having this car but the two of us.

This picture is one of the first things Mike looks at everyday. This picture sits in a frame by his sink. He starts and ends each day with a hello to Clair.

My husband seriously goes fishing every night. He gets home from work, eats dinner and heads to the pond for an hour or two. I joke that I have become a fisherman's widow. Yes, some nights I get a little annoyed. I can tell you two things though. I can see Clair in every cast my husband makes. I know that when he goes fishing he feels whole again. I think of it as him going to visit an old friend:-)

Mike Was Here!!!

This is a fish that I caught yesterday at our local pond. It was the biggest fish that I have caught there. It was about 18 inches long and about 5 pounds. I only wish that Matthew could have been there to see it or better yet have caught it himself. Not bad for being only about a minute away from our house. The only problem is that since it is so close I have been finding myself putting off many chores around the house but maybe that is what winter is for.... then again that is when goose season is.

my....attempt? at Photoshop

Here is the awesome picture that John took of all of us at the house in Hamilton. He had Mike floating above us. All I could think of when I looked at it was "In memory of". Can you find Mike now...sure it looks good from afar but if you zoom in it is a disaster. I am still learning:-)

Day #5...the last full day with family before the drive home

Downtown Hamilton Montana

I don't know why but I just love this picture of Alec walking into the place we went to lunch.

Going to Lunch with Laurie and Alec. Lunch was really nice:-) Loved the sweet potato fries.

Aunt Debbie teaching Matthew all about yarn. He really loved this contraption that spooled it.

learning from a pro..I can't wait to see what his shots are going to be like.

Sandra demonstrates that it is so easy you can do it one handed(FYI...she is 21 even if she looks like she is 17ish) Sandra is Debbie and Bill Nokes daughter. She has an internship this summer with a fair housing organisation and is really making an impact.

look grandpa Bob....no hands!

Did I mention that I LOVE it here???????

Mike challenged Alec to a few games of ping pong. The final score was 10 games to 0.........I can't put who was winning because Mike won't let me. I hope that is a clue:-)

Back to serious Boccie Ball. They are trying to figure out who's ball is closer.

I love this shot of Matthew...he is getting so big.

We spent a lot of the last few days floating the river...that explains why there is only half the pictures for today. I actually ran all the way up the hill and back down to get my camera after we finished floating so I could grab some shots. Floating was by far my favorite part of the weekend. I loved every minute of it. This shot above is my favorite shot of Alec from the weekend(I don't know...I guess the fishing pictures are up there too)

Mike and Alec chillin....

We got Matthew to go with us the second time on Sunday. He had a blast. He would do anything that Alec and Chelsea did.

I love this shot. It is so cute seeing all of them together and having so much fun.

I way over exposed this picture. I managed to save it(only because I was shooting RAW..thanks John) it is still pretty washed out behind Sandra..but artistically I kind of like it.

Mean while back at the ranch...Everyone is having a great time before dinner.

If you don't know by now I like capturing moments when I photograph.

Entering into Man's land...the house had a little deck that overlooked the river. The men gathered on this deck one night and I cornered John and asked him a million questions about photography. It was a very nice conversation. It was very nice John to hear how much you loved Judy! It really made me smile. You two are very lucky:-)

Grandpa Bob hanging out.

Bill Nokes(Debbie's husband) The refined one in our group:-) It is always good to see you Bill.

John hanging out in Man's land.

One of my favorite shots by the fire on the last night.

I only have a few more from the morning goodbyes before we started our very long drive home. I will try to get them added soon.

I have to say that I try to be pretty respectful when I add pictures but if I ever add a picture that you hate let me know and I will gladly pull it...just and FYI!

That said I hope you are all loving the pictures from the weekend and feel free to comment you can leave it without signing in, just pick anonymous.

I had to repost this

This picture is seriously one of my top 5 from our trip. In the last post it just did not look good at all. The side posting really distorted it. I owe it the honor of being posted right(silly huh!) So here it is in all it's glory. Uncle Craig and Matthew face to face:-)

Day # 4...the fun continues

Disclaimer!!!!
First of all I have to say that this is a totally new method for me. These pictures were so much easier to upload but the quality is not as good. I am going to upload all the photos to an archive site for all of you to get copies if you want...soon! Secondly I have to add that it messed up the spacing on the ones at the bottom and at this point it would be too much to redo the whole thing. I am going to pull a few of them off and repost them when I get a minute.

The day started out with Matthew's patience finally paying off. During breakfast a very excited boy ran in screaming "I caught a fish!" He finally caught his first trout....after two days of trying.
Can you see the fish in front of his shoe.

The fish swollowed the hook and Mike actually had to do CPR on it.

Mike doing CPR on the trout...After 10 minutes he called it. Matthew was so sad about it. We told him that it's life would not be wasted. We ended up cooking it up for Grandma Dot for dinner.

The bummer about loving the story telling portion of photography is that you can not be in two places at once. The women decided to go to the farmers market. I love the pictures that I captured from the market, even if I seemed like the paparazzi at times. I just wish I had more pictures of the guy's day.

I loved this bench

I hope the girls can see what my vision is now that they see these pictures. There are so many that I love.

Buying pies...good food was not an issue for the weekend. The smoked salmon from Andrew was the best!

The Willits girls love jewelry.

This lavendar was all over. It made the cars smell good too.

This gal was weaving in one of the booths. I think she used Diana's yarn too(more to come on that)

This is one of my favorite pictures of Chelsea.

Don't look now but that girl with the camera is still following us!I love this shot. It just seems like one that will be valued for a lifetime.

After the market Diana took us to her yarn factory for a tour. She had been making yarn for a long time. It is seriously pretty stuff. They actually ship all over the world.

Her plates:-) Thanks Chelsea for the photo idea.

The yarn before the dye is added.

Racks and racks of dyed yarn

This is what the back wall looked like. I LOVE this kind of thing. The artist in me adores a pretty mess!

Diana showing us how they dye the wool yarn.

This is one of those shots that Mike does not get. I can just see him raise his eyebrows as he looks at it. I however, think this basket tells quite a story about the dye process. I found it to be quite fantastic:-)

All ears...

I know this is not the best picture. I knew that I would never get it to be a good exposure. However, when Diana opened the door to the factory to let a little air in I could not get over the Montana mountains just out her front door. I found that to be so incredibly wonderful. I had to share it as part of the tour. Bad pictures can tell stories too you know.

A bin of dyed yarn

How cute is this hat! Chelsea and Laurie modeled it for us.

My favorite shot of Laurie...you look so cute! This should be your facebook picture(if your kids will let you be on FB)

Love the backdrop of bins of colored yarn.

Off to lunch...

Where the problems start with my post:
Okay, I managed to upload these to the side. It was too late to redo them, so I am going with it.

This picture is of Chelsea plugging her ears as her mom told all of us about the older dog they had passing away on a family vacation to the beach. I thought it was pretty cute to see her not wanting to hear about it.

I love this picture of Laurie and Heather too....Heather you look far from old!

Some serious Boccie Ball

Matthew still in Heaven

Aunt Judy, she is seriously the funniest person I know! She keeps us all laughing...all the time.

Debbie trying on Chelsea's hair.

Matthew was a little afraid of this raft and that was probably a good thing. This is the one time he tried taking it out on his own. Then he became convinced that it was sinking and made me pull him out.

Alec chilling a bit.

More photographer's remorce. This is one of the only pictures I have of Patrick. He is Diana and Jim's son. I also managed to miss getting many of Marie(next to Patrick below) Patrick spent a few hours fishing with Matthew on Saturday night. It was very cute. Here is how one of the conversations went between them:

Patrick: (seeing a bat fly by) Wow, Matthew did you see that? That was a bat.

Matthew: It was! I saw one once...in Home Depot.

Patrick: You did?

Matthew: Do you want to know what section it was in?

Patrick: ...sure

Matthew: ...Doors

Leaving it to the professionals! Saturday night was the only night we had everyone there so we decided to "TRY" and get a group shot. I was lucky enough to shadow John(the professional) and study his every move. This was my quick shot before he was set up...clearly no one is even ready yet. The only problem was that someone was missing. Who you might ask????My dear husband! Where was he you might ask???Oh yes, with his old girlfriend! He was fishing away. He walked in 5 minutes after we were done. I will have to post John's final shot when I get it.

Well there you have it...it only took 57ish pictures. Imagine how many I would have if I could be in two places at once:-)