Mulberry Street

It may have taken me over a year to complete, but I did in fact complete my family history wall. The design went through so many phases, I lost count. The frames were boxed up and put away so many times, that my back ached. The pictures took me hours and hours to sort through and edit that my eyes couldn't focus anymore. But, it was all worth it. There is room for more pictures, should I find more of our ancestors. I also have space to add my own children to the wall. That, however, is a project for another day.

You never know how long the snow will last in NoVA. Genevieve has learned this in her few years and insisted on playing in the snow as long as time permitted. We managed to go sledding, make snow angels, and chew on icicles (I made sure she selected the cleanest option available). Emory elected to stay inside where it was warmer and he could watch CARS. He almost has it memorized and I don't want him to loose momentum ;)

It was a foggy night and getting darker by the second, but we ventured out with our magnifying glass to see what we might discover on our nature walk.

All four of our grandfathers served in the Navy.  We are grateful for all veterans that serve our country, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.      

Maybe now is a good time to admit that I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I have 55 frames up, but need at least 8 more, and most need to be painted. I have tracked down 85 photos of our ancestors, but need to edit more than half of those. And, I have more holes in my walls than I am willing to admit (or count!).  But, I finally scanned the last photo of my great-great grandfather's family.  This is Abiah Wadsworth Sr and Sarah Cornelia Robinson's family.  My great-grandfather Glen, is seated on the bottom left. I'm not sure what my goals were when I began this project, but I had thought about "turning the hearts of the children to their fathers'" in a physical representation sort of way, and I think that has already happened. I am more excited about genealogy than ever before and Genevieve can name some of her ancestors. I think that is pretty cool. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Probably. But it will all come together...eventual...

When the school bells began ringing (a month ago), I had big expectations for what I would do with my time. However, I have yet to find the time to "dig in" to my big ancestry wall project. Every day I saw the pile of photos I brought back from Idaho and the disc my aunt sent me.  Every day I saw the pile of frames and wood I have saved up to hang on my walls.  Every day I saw the jump drive my mother-in-law provided me with photos of Eric's family along with notes about the website his uncle created with even more photos.  Every day I found myself doing other things.    Today my mother called and gently asked about the pictures she had so graciously lent me, like this one - the only photo of her parents on their wedding day, and one of only a handful of them as a couple. This afternoon I took ten minutes and started scanning.  An hour later I had managed to scan quite a few photos.  Thanks Mom, I needed that push....

Guess why happens when you leave your camera at home? You miss great photo ops and you get stuck with camera phone pictures. DOH! I literally stopped on the middle of the road when I first caught a glance of this rainbow. Then Eric suggested I pull off so we wouldn't block traffic. I cannot recall a time when I have seen a more spectacular rainbow. The size, the spectrum of colors, and the vibrancy of each color layer was fleeting, but absolutely magnificent.

I'm making progress on my family tree project.  I have more images and new ideas on how to display them.  Most recently, I received images for individuals who were born in the 1700's!  The late 1700's but still.  Can you believe it?!  A big thanks to Eric's grandmother, mother, and uncle for the newest images.  Thank You. Children   Father Grandmother Great Grandmother   Great Great Grandfather Great Great Great Grandmother Great Great Great Great Grandfather Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather, Born 1786

Dear Spring, I have missed you so much.  I can't wait to spend more time with you and enjoy your flowers.  Don't let that bossy humidity push us into summer before you're ready.  Also, don't let winter come back either.  Deal? Warm Regards, Alisha PS - Does anyone know what kind of tree this is?  I'm thinking a flowering dogwood, but I'm not sure.

I started a little project.  I am very excited about everything I am learning about our our ancestors.  I hope that my children will appreciate their heritage too.  After all, they are both named after great grandfathers.  Clearly, I can't accomplish a project like this without the help of my extended family members and I appreciate all their help.  Suddenly, I wish I lived next door to everyone so I could walk over and scan photos at my leisure. Here is a sneak peak, tracing one genealogical line, represented by six generations.  Children   Mother Grandfather Great Grandmother Great Great Grandfather Great Great Great Grandfather

I'm really proud of these photos.  It's the first time that I shot in manual, like really took photos and not just messed around.  Even though I was nervous that my shots would come out blurry, I never once turned the dial over to P or AV or auto (I've done that a lot since getting this behemoth of a camera body).  I manually set the ISO, the white balance, the shutter speed, and even manually focused the lens for a handful of shots.  And, gratefully they turned out.  I have to admit that shooting outside on a cloudy day is the number one reason these photos turned out so well, but I did have a teeny bit to do with their outcome.   In case we don't get a massive snow storm this winter, we have to take advantage of any snow accumulation and play when we can. Even a half inch's worth of accumulation will do. We stuffed ourselves into snow clothes, tied a rope onto the sled and went sledding or skating, rather, over the crusty "snow." ...

I wish it would snow more and actually stick to the ground.  All this cold with no snow it pretty lame.  We took advantage to the slight snow flurry this afternoon to catch snowflakes on our tongues.  It was cold so we didn't last more than 10 minutes.  Hmm.  On second thought, maybe our little excursion has satisfied all of us.

It's autumn-time.  It's autumn-time.  The leaves are falling down.  It's autumn-time. It's autumn-time. It's all around the town.  It's autumn-time.  It's autumn-time.  There's yellow, red, and brown.  It's autumn-time.  It's autumn-time.  Bright colors can be found. Primary Songbook At risk of repeating myself - I love fall.  It is breathtaking here in Virginia.  This year's autumn has been long.  I took some of these shots weeks ago and some this morning.  And, there are still many trees that have yet to change color.  I don't mind autumn lingering around though, we're good friends and I like it's company. It's difficult to capture the exact mood of nature sometimes.  What you see with the naked eye is always better than a photograph.  But, once in awhile you can get pretty close at capturing it all.  I got an amazing shot.  Sorry for the vanity, but...l...