PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 6/20/11

After 2 long plane trips...to and from...3 countries....seeing places people only read about....time spent in hotel rooms, busses, subways and trains...many experiences...almost 500 photos and many videos...and many stories we look forward to hearing in the days to come...CHRIS IS HOME! He may never know how much I missed him and was so excited to know what he was doing each day and what he was seeing...that I would look up his itinerary and then look up the places where he was visiting...that I would fall asleep and wake up to figure out what time it was where he was (along with doing that many times during each day) ...that I woke up this morning with the anticipation of a child on Christmas Day...I could hardly wait to see this kid... this experience he has had has amazed me, impressed me, worried me, made me sad (selfishly), made me want to explore more, made me beam with pride at Chris being able to do this, made me miss someone more than I thought I could and made me smile in my heart that he is HOME...SAFE AND SOUND!

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 6/19/11

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO DAD AND TODD...Two incredible days who have always loved their kids so much. This morning we went over to Mom and Dad's...brought in Starbuck's for all of us and enjoyed it on their front porch. As far as gifts go, I was very excited to give Dad his presents...a book about American's in Paris (fitting since Chris has been there now) by David McCullough (good history) and then, the piece de resistance (in my very most French like accent)..."Lady Gaga" cd. Within a few minutes, he went in and put it on and her voice filled the house. What a nice way to spend the beginning of Father's Day. We then came home and watched the US Open (won by Rory McIlroy...22 years old from Northern Ireland who led the entire tournament) and went for dinner around 3 at Outback for their steak and lobster and then came home and played a family kickball game. It must be duly noted that Todd and I beat Zach and Nick 6-1 and we even gave them an extra inning as a bonus and still...we won! Todd made a blueberry cobbler for dessert and we watched Food Networks "The Next Food Network Star" which is a Sunday night tradtion. The only thing missing from this day was Chris (who comes home MOnday night...YAY!) but he even borrwed a phone and texted Todd to wish him Happy Father's Day so he was most definitely here with us in spirit. A very good day, indeed.

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 6/18/11

Camping trip #1 of the year is now in the books...Buffalo Peaks...campfires...cold nights...hanging out...awesome breakfast...wolves howling in the distance...Nick didn't bring a sweatshirt, thus quite chilly...worst part: putting up the tents...best part: being there...

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 6/18/11

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 6/17/11

This was taken at Cherry Hills during Grammama and Grandad Dell's 40th Anniversary party. The skirt outfit I am wearing was purchased on a shopping trip along with Tami with Gmama and GDDell on a day in November. They wanted us to have special new outfits to wear to their party. The dress that Grammama is wearing is now hanging in my closet as we clean out her house. This is not a "perfect" photo...very washed out and fuzzy, however, to me, it tells a huge story. It shows both Grammama and I smiling and really listening to this person talking, it captures a moment in time that I may have not remembered and to me, the lighting, shadows, blur and smiles on our face really make it actually...well...perfect. These are sometimes the very best photos in the world.

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 6/16/11

It's hard to imagine, but this "mess" is better than it was yesterday, but it is...I'm ready to get my living room/dining room back to a more normal and I plan to spend most of the day working on it. Within the boxes, there are hundreds of memories, documents and photos that I want to make sure are preserved for all of us now and always so that is the goal for today. The dining room will be another mission. Sure miss having all the boys gone...Chris in Europe and Todd, Nick and Zach up camping at Buffalo Peaks, but trying to consider it a "treat" and giving me a chance to get these things done in a relaxed way.

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 6/15/11

In honor of Father's Day weekend this Sunday, I added this photo to my Facebook profile and my photo of the day for today. When looking through childhood photos, there was never a doubt in my mind from the very beginning that I wasn't loved by my dad, mom and family. I'm not sure everyone has that opportunity and that is just something I am so blessed to have. This reflection photo makes me smile (just about like the smile I have in that photo). Thanks, dad, for the unconditional love, support, laughs, and even tears you have always given me...and that "you're a sweetheart." :)