Father's Day at the Lowmans

Lee and Dave invited our family over to share the holiday with their family. We had a great time. Brooke and her boyfriend, Jason came and Zach Lowman and his girlfriend, Melissa, were also there. Gina and Steve and baby Jack had come down from the Richmond area on Friday. Zac Allen also came from Newport News. Dave's mom, Eloise was there also, so we had a huge crowd and it was lots of fun. The pool isn't completely done yet but it was good enough for us. It really is beautiful and the only thing it still needs is just cosmetics.

Rainbow!

I stepped outside this evening to walk the critters and I looked up and saw a beautiful rainbow. It is the first time in a long time that I have seen a complete rainbow. There was one at the wedding this past weekend but it was only a part of one. The picture doesn't show it but later the really faint part filled in and it was complete. There is also a double one on the left side - pretty cool!!

Sunday afternoon at the Browns

Ryan came over Sunday afternoon with Aaron, Ben, and Joe and his two children, Aiden and Leah. They had planned on going to the pool, but someone (I won't name names) has lost our key to the pool and they couldn't get in. So, they spent an hour or so hanging out with us. They are such cute kids. It was nice to take pictures of kids rather than dogs for a change. :-)

Luray Caverns

This was a spectacular wonder! I had never been in caverns like this before. I had been in a mud cave when I was a teenager but never anything like this. It was really beautiful and what a treat for God to create this delight for us. We had a great breakfast this morning and then headed out to Luray Caverns. After touring the caverns and then the Car and Carriage Museum we ate lunch at the Artisan's Grill and then headed down Skyline Drive. It was a bit foggy so we didn't have a great view. But, we did see a bear that crossed the road in front of us and I couldn't get my camera up and ready before he was in the woods on the other side. That was exciting! We then stopped at Skyland and got a room for tonight. We went to eat at the restaurant, we had a table right at the window and while we were there watched a major rainstorm come up the mountain and it really poured! Tomorrow we are taking the Skyline Drive down to Waynesboro where we will get on 64 and head home.

Our Anniversary trip

Brad and I left Monday morning for our 26th anniversary trip. We headed to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia. It was a good trip although it didn't get really nice until we got off of I95. Then we got into the hills/mountains of Virginia and had a great time tooling around with the top down on the Eclipse. We are staying at a bed and breakfast in Luray, Virginia. It is a cute town, a little bigger than Bell Buckle, but reminded us of Bell Buckle because of the art influence here. Last night we ate at Uncle Buck's restaurant which was pretty good, not the best but certainly not the worst we have had. This morning we got up and had breakfast here at the B&B, and then went for a walk down the main street of Luray. We went into some of the antique shops, I saw some antique china that I would have loved to have but I was strong and passed it up. We then went into an art gallery that was in a Warehouse - one person's art is another person's junk right? Anyway, some of it was nice, I loved the stained glass art. We then ate at a little delicatesan and walked back to the B&B. It was pretty hot and humid so I needed a nap. We had planned on going to a local baseball game. I'm not sure what class ball you would call it, it is a team called the Luray Wranglers and they play with the Valley League. I doubt it was triple A, I really don't know. I was really excited about it but we had a terrible thunderstorm that lasted a couple of hours and I guess the field was just too wet cause they postponed the game. I was really disappointed I thought it sounded like so much fun! So, that is about all we did today, tomorrow we are going to the Luray Caverns and then we aren't quite sure what we are doing after that. We are playing it by ear.

My Beautiful Dancer Daughter

Her last recital as a student is this year. The red sequin with the fringe is her solo costume.

Meet a REAL American Hero

I went to Annapolis this past Saturday for a very special portrait session.  I am putting this on my photography blog, but I really wanted to share on my personal blog as well.  Back in March, a couple of weeks after Brad got home, I got a letter from a girl who saw my website and found out about Oplove Reunited through my website.  She was sad that she didn't know about it sooner to have pictures of her family before her husband left for Iraq.  He had just returned from Iraq and she was asking if I would consider coming up there to do a session and if not, could I recommend someone. Brad and I had been to Annapolis a few years ago for a wedding at the Naval Academy and we loved it so I told her I would definitely think about it, Brad and I are usually up for a road trip. At that point she wrote to me and told me a little bit more about their family and George's time in Iraq.  After hearing their family's story there was no way I wasn't going up there to meet this young family and do a session for them as a small token of my appreciation for their military service.  And, yes, I said THEIR military service.  George spent 15 months in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Infantry, but Carolyn spent 15 months at home with a baby keeping "the home fires burning".  Carolyn's desire was to have some nice pictures of their 3-year old son with George in his dress uniform so Zach would know how special his dad is.  Even without all the military background this family is super special.  I had a great time with them and it was well worth the drive up there.  I won't go into details here because I don't think that Carolyn and George would want me to, but just be assured the man is a hero and I really wish our children today were growing up with heroes like him plastered on their walls instead of pictures of sports and entertainment stars.  Men like George are the ones who deserve to have their pictures on children's walls!  (Click on the picture and you can see a larger version)