Winter Wonderland

With, originally uploaded by Sharon Pire.

a pic I took for a weekly challenge on Flickr. Getting out to shoot some architecture (the theme for the challenge) was, well...a challenge in all this snow we've been having!

Christmas in the Country

We went to the next town for "Christmas in the Country" tonight. It was very cool - town square, Christmas music, horse & buggy rides, popcorn, hot cocoa, peanuts, bounce houses for the little ones - and COLD! There were two fire pits going on the courthouse lawn. Had a great time walking around and looking at the decorations :)

It's Coming

Moonrise over the Mountains

After a birthday party this afternoon, I took RJ to a State Park for a bit. As we drove over the one lane bridge on our way out and up the mountain, I looked over to see this view. Couldn't resist stopping, it was quite a sight!

Good Morning Tennessee!

Looked out the window this morning and saw one single ray of golden light coming through a hole in the cloud cover. It looked just like a searchlight. I ran for my camera, and when I got outside it had opened up. Beautiful morning in Middle TN, 54 degrees. Freeze warning for tomorrow night. One thing about living in TN as opposed to FL - we won't be sweating while out trick-or-treating this year! :)

Field of Dreams

Freedom

"Field Trip" with a friend :)

A good friend came to visit from Florida, so we went on a little hike to Fall Creek Falls. This is the view from the top of the trail. It's only about a mile, but it's over very rocky terrain for the majority of it. The weather was pretty good, not too hot, a little bit cloudy and a little bit sunny. We went fairly early so we could avoid the worst of the heat and also the storms that were expected later in the day.

Of course, we can't get together without the classic "shooting the shooter" LOL
Beautiful country, lots of photo ops, so we took our sweet time getting to the bottom.

This was a perfect resting spot. Cold air was literally blowing from this crevice, felt just like the A/C was on...

We were tired and very sweaty by the time we got to the bottom, but the view and the coolness from the 250ft falls made it worth the trouble :)
Looking forward to her next visit already!

It's time once again -

for Vacation Bible School! This year's theme is "Saddle Ridge Ranch - rounding up questions, driving home answers"

There are bible stories

Crafts
Snacks
Games, and lots of fun for kids and adults alike :)

I've worked in VBS for many years, but I've always been with the youngest children. This year, I'm directing 1st grade. We have about 20 kids, and they are definitely more energetic than toddlers and babies! I'm enjoying it though, I think they are teaching me as much or more than I'm teaching them :)

Historic

Pic of the Day

It's been awhile since I've posted anything - a lot has happened in a short time. Now living in Tennessee, which definitely gives me a new desire to go out shooting. Lots of new and interesting stuff out there just waiting on me :) This is from today. I took my daughter and her friend to a nearby state park. Driving back through the country on the way home, spotted this scene. Turned around and went back to catch it. What a cooperative horse! :)

Winter Wonderland

Peek a Boo!

Santa has gone high-tech

RJ made the Nice List :)

The Wonder of a Child

RJ's first time seeing Santa. He's never wanted to before now, but this year - he's a believer :)

Happy Halloween!!

It's that time again

Twilight

(not the movie - the real thing)

Disney's "A Christmas Carol" Train Tour

I had gotten the email about this, but forgot until I saw a friend's facebook update about it :) I was planning to take RJ since he's a train nut, so we headed out to try and meet up with our friends. We got there a little later, but bumped into them in the line a few times as we waited -



I'm glad we got there early - we had to wait about 45 minutes I guess, much shorter wait than later in the day!!


It really wasn't bad at all, the weather was nice, there was a cool breeze blowing - and we even saw a VIP waiting in the same line - LOL, RJ was in open-mouthed astonishment to see SANTA waiting to go in the train too... turns out he is part of a group called Palm Tree Santas

To be honest, the inside of the train was probably more interesting to me - I love behind-the-scenes and seeing how they do the stuff they do. RJ was fascinated with some of the more obvious things, like these maquettes of Scrooge and Cratchit

it was a pretty neat setup. At the end, they had a blow-up theater, where they showed a preview of the film in 3D. Pretty cool, looks well- made and if nothing else, this accomplished what Disney set out to do - made me want to see the film! LOL, that's Ok, for Disney it was a very expensive marketing ploy. For me and RJ, it was a chance to get out of the house, enjoy the cool weather and see something different. Mission accomplished!