Our son's Change of Command Ceremony

 

These photos did NOT turn out how I wanted them, but I thought I'd share since I am so damned proud of him and his little family (We're also very proud of our daughter and her slightly bigger family).  These were taken with my 50mm 1.4 lens and I do not know what happened but oh well here goes.

 

Before the Ceremony, outside in front of the hanger.

Papa and Emily (age 4)

Stage setup.

Color Guard.

Announcing the Wing commander, the Outgoing Squadron commander and my son ( the incoming squadron commander) on the right.

My son saluting his troops as the new commander of his squadron.

Emily's favorite part.  THE CAKE!

Emily and her other grandma (Nene).  I think they look so much alike!

 

Thanks for letting me share a little part of my life. 

 

Please read my fellow blogger's sites starting with Sharon Meyer Photography and follow the circle around back to my blog.

 

 

The U.S. Military is us. There is no truer representation of a country than the people that it sends into the field to fight for it. The people who wear our uniform and carry our rifles into combat are our kids, and our job is to support them, because they're protecting us. ~Tom Clancy

 

 

Tell Me a Story May 2015

Bullard's Beach State Park

Flowers and More

We went camping at Bullard's Beach State Park on the Oregon Coast (where I live) and took a 4 mile walk/hike on Wednesday.  There were wild flowers blooming everywhere and initially that's what I thought my blog would be on and it is, except I've thrown in some other interesting (I think) things.

Please visit my fellow blogger and see the blog circle we have created @ Sharleen N. Stuart Photography / South Florida Photographer

I came across this sign and thought it was pretty interesting and I've taken a couple of the Camas flowers that accompanies this sign.

A beautiful Camas by itself

 A field of Camas

We continued our walk and found some beautiful little flowers.  Not sure of the name of all of them but I will attempt to name them.

 I thought this was some sort of wild clover, but I'm not entirely sure.

 This was growing right in the sand.  They are called beach morning glory.

 I love these tiny heart shaped bells.  They are called Salal.

 I believe this is seashore lupine.

For the life of me, I could not find the name of this flower.  I used this website to identify some of the images listed:

http://www.pnwflowers.com/ 

 Wild Iris

Wild Radish

 This is Scotch Broom and although it's very pretty and comes in all yellow blooms as well, this is an invasive weed to our area.  We pull it up out of our property.  I'm sure one day it will take over everywhere, thereby eliminating all other flowering plants.

Scotch Broom flowers.

A few more images of our walk in no particular order.

 This is a "by the wind sailor".  Read about these beautiful creatures here:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/150420-velella-jellyfish-pictures-california-beach-ocean-animals-science/

 Looking back toward where we travelled.  We picked up ticks in this area we believe.  Nasty little bugs.  Thank goodness we got them all off the dog and ourselves!

 Just some interesting grass I played with.

 Hub found this rusted something or other.  Kind of looked like a drain out of a ship or something!

 I have never seen tops ends of pine tree branches red!

 On the way back to the trailer, we went thru this tunnel of trees.

"Uncooked" pine cones?

This plant was growing up towards the sun.  The very ends of it were red and I thought it was very pretty!  Not sure what it is.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. ~Anais Nin



Tell Me A Story - April 2015 - A Windy Day at the Playground

I went to Minot AFB, North Dakota to watch my granddaughter Emily, while her mom and dad went to a conference in Virginia.  She LOVES going to the park and we tried to go everyday, but boy was it windy out.  This day we went to the "froggy" park as she calls it. 

Minot AFB has tons of playgrounds in its housing area.  This is the "froggy" park so dubbed by Emily!  Balancing on a beam takes "talent".

Peek-A-Boo (yes we had a bit of a runny nose)

I love this image.  Her face was full of joy as she went down the slide!

 Wild haired girl, Getting ready to go down the slide!

Do I have piggy whips (lips) Grandma?

Last swing of the day.  Swing me HIGHER Grandma!  I admit I was afraid to let her go too high! I also should have put her hair in a pony tail or braid!

A sunset at the end of our day made it special.  These were taken from the back of my sons house.


Please follow the circle of our blog by reading:
 Beth Williams - Venice, Italy

Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation. ~Lois Wyse

 

Tell Me a Story March 2015

Heceta Head State Park and Bed & Breakfast

Our excursion this month was something we've always wanted to do, stay at Heceta Head Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast.  There are six rooms in the house with 3 being on each side.  Our bedroom (Mariner's II) is the top right looking at the house.  The house was originally the assistant light keepers house and was a duplex of sorts.  Over the years it has been many different things including classrooms for college classes.  If you ever get to the coast of Oregon, this is a MUST see. Here is the link to the bed and breakfast.

http://hecetalighthouse.com/bed-breakfast

The view from our room

 

One of the parlors looking towards the front of the house

This cat belonged to the light keepers (husband and wife) whose quarters were below the B&B in the basement.  We were sitting in the chairs above enjoying the view when he came and sat on the porch.  Was taken through old distorted glass.

The other end of the parlor looking towards the diningroom where we were served the most delicious 7 course breakfast in the morning!

An old organ in the other parlor (remember it use to be a duplex where two families lived)

Fireplace in 2nd parlor. Me in the mirror!

A replica of a captain's wheel on the fireplace mantle

 

An old Remington Standard Typewriter No. 7 in the corner of the diningroom.  I can almost remember typing on this but not quite! HA

Some old bottles and lanterns above the cupboards in the guest shared kitchen

When we left to go to dinner south of the lighthouse, we stopped at the turnout and saw some sea lions playing in the water.  You can see them in the lower right sunbathing in the glorious sun that day.

Waving from the Water

Frolicking in the surf 

 

Lighthouse on the left and the B&B on the right.

After dinner, we walked up to the lighthouse.  Sunset was beautiful!

This was the crowning glory in my opinion.  Heceta Head Lighthouse beckoning sailors safely home. 

The next morning, we took a walk around the grounds and the tulips were blooming

I hope you enjoyed my photos.  To enjoy more photos and blog, please visit my fellow photographer:

Beth Williams/Budapest, Hungary

Thus he struggled, by every method, to keep his light shining before men. Surely the lighthouse-keeper has a responsible, if an easy, office. When his lamp goes out, he goes out; or, at most, only one such accident is pardoned. ~Henry David Thoreau