More photographs

I am continuing taking pictures, but I have to admit it is getting harder to go out when we are having our typical wet, gray and cold Washington winter weather. Ugh. But nonetheless I have managed to get a few good shots, and Gary & I have enjoyed jumping in the car and tootleling about the country so I can take pictures. Here are some of the recent ones;

Grandchildren

Someone asked me recently "How does it feel to be a grandmother?" I have to say that I actually had a hard time answering that question. Just how do you explain a feeling that you never thought would be possible?

What do I mean by that? Well, I never thought that I would feel anything that would equal to or be greater than, the love that I feel for my children. It just wasn't possible! Until the morning my grandaughter was born and I was looking down at her sleeping in the hospital. The love that rushed through me just about floored me with its intensity. I couldn't belive it.

Understanding also came as I rememberd something that I had seen my father do after I had taken my children to see him in Texas. My father was a big man 6'5" & about 250 lbs (not much fat either)This was a lifer in the Army, a former DI who went through 3 wars and won a bronze star, and while I remember him frequently playing ball & such with us kids, he nonetheless wasn't the type to ichy-gichy-goo a infant with " baby" talk or get down on the floor & crawl around in play. One day though, I caught my father laying on the den floor with my son straddling him, bouncing up & down & laughing while his grandfather, Mr. Tough Former DI, was holding my infant daughter in his huge hands and saying " Isn't you just the most precious widdle girl in all the world? Yes you is, yes you is granpa's widdle girl"

My father never knew I had witnessed that scene. Personally at the time, I thought the man had completely lost it, was getting senile or something. Until 5 months ago, when I reached out a finger and touched a tiny, soft cheek & thought "Isn't you the most precious widdle girl in all the world? Yes you is...."

Veterans Day

I think this says it better than I ever could!!




Free Comments and Graphics

Playing with Photography

A couple of weeks ago a friend, who does photography on the side, lent me one of his cameras to play around with to see if I like taking artistic type of pictures as well as seeing if I have an eye for it. There have been a lot that were quickly deleted and some that we (meaning Gary, myself & some others) have liked. I thought I'd post some on here for you to look at & offer an opinion if you care to. Whatever the results are I have been having a blast!

Okay Tonja..Here goes!!!

It has been pointed out that just following a friends blog is not enough, that I need to start one of my own. Well it may be as boring as hell but here goes nothing!

In the past year our lifes have changed quite a bit. For those who weren't around to experience it first hand here is a recap.

Last October we came very close to losing Gary. It all started with some atrial fibrillation, which quickly escaladed into what the doctor's called V-Tach storms. In other words his heart started racing uncontrollaby fast, not a good thing at all.After this happened a couple of times in one week the Doctors put a AICD(Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) in Gary's chest. That was a Thursday; on Saturday afternoon they let him come home; on Sunday morning the dang thing started going off. Imagine, as Gary put it, having your privates hooked up to a very strong battery (or a strong electric fence-300 joules worth) and someone flipping on the switch..12 times. Thats how many times his defibrillator went off before they could get him to the Madigan emergency room. Scary, scary, SCARY stuff. Not as bad as watching him flatline a couple of times during his hospital stay, but still very frightening for him & myself as well.

To make long story short, we sold the horse & left the small town of Roy where it took the paramedics about 20 minutes to reach us & another 15 to 20 minutes to get him to the hospital( not their fault, its an isolated area) and moved to the wonderful city of Olympia ( note the sarcasm here) where we are a whole 3 miles to the closest hospital. Takes the EMS crew a whole 10-15 minutes to get here & get him to the ER on a busy day.

Since then Gary & I have both quit smoking; he a year ago, me 3 months ago. Gary went through a cardiac rehab program & than began to go to the gym on Ft Lewis 3 times a week, under his Dr's guidance & with a personal trainer. It has helped his self-confidance tremendously as well as his whole outlook on life, so I'd say the move was well worth it, though we miss having the horses terribly as well as friends. Though we only live 30 miles away, you'd swear that we moved to another part of the state since it is apparently to far for people to drive down here & visit once in a while.

On a much happier note, my daughter Jennifer not only married last year but she presented us with our first grandaughter, Leanna in June of this year. Leanna was a month early & weighed in at 4lbs 9oz & 18 1/4 inches. She had a few minor setbacks but was out of the NICU in 6 days & for the first 4 weeks she & Mom stayed with us. Then last month Jennie's husband, who had beem deployed for 15 months got to come home! He hadn't seen Jennie since last October (R&R) and he had never gotten to see or hold his baby girl. We got some very good pictures of the homecoming & there was even a short write of the homecoming in the local paper.

And because I think she is the cutest baby around here is another picture of little Leanna.

Okay I think that is enough for one sitting..sooooo so long for now!!