Happy Halloween~!

Whoohoo! Halloween is such a fun time. Area churches host fall festivals for children to have a safe place to enjoy and the camraderie of dressing up, trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving is what great memories are made of. My kids (adults now, young though they be) attacked the pumpkins Thursday night. Jeremy's was the best, him being the artist and all anyway. We saw the photo online and then he did his version. The other pumpkins though died a painful death at Kia's carvings! But at least she gave it a try. That's the fun part! MM though had a hysterical meltdown when she thought the pumpkins were being hurt. After she saw it lit up though, everything was good. I even got photos of her by it. Forgot to size it, will add it later tonight. My favorite memory of pumpkins when I was a child are roasting the pumpkn seeds with my mom, and visiting Half Moon Bay pumpkin orchard on school field trips. I'm not much of a carver either. One year I painted the pumpkins, that was fun.

I think this one is my favorite that I shot. I love the pattern on the patio from the mouth. Reminds me of piano keys. Which makes me think of my mom and my sister and hours at the piano. Don't forget to have fun, play safe and drive even safer because of the goblins out ghosting.

More Fall goodness

just one for now. exhausted, need sleep..early work day tomorrow-today? I made the mistake of loading elements 7 on my new computer, only to have an issue restarting it...duh..the program is for xp/vista..everything's OK but the program seems to be 'missing something'..or maybe it's just me being tired...more to explore on this later. enjoy and have a happy Friday!
Oh and my youngest son carved the coolest pumpkin tonight..pictures later today!

Fall beauty and MM's impromptu session

We were out in the backyard 'exploring' and decided to do some photos. I had my Canon on landscape setting since I've been doing a lot of fall color shooting, so MM's hair is a bit more golden, but I love it!

Not our backyard, darn! Isn't it beautiful?! If you want family portraits for your holiday cards, call or email me NOW so we can take advantage of this lovely setting.

This tree is the reason I stopped at this place. Look at those yellow leaves. Yes, they really are that vivid.

And this last one is my favorite and not even one that I took! My son shot this one. Isn't she just adorable!

3rd place!

Professional category, judged by Danny Bills, curator at the Wichita Falls Museum..3rd on my weathered barn photograph. The barn sits behind the Shiloh Museum in Springdale, Arkansas. It was a last minute decision to enter and I didn't even have a mat on it (horrors!) but it still got a third. There were like 50 of 68 entries that were in pro category.

Meeting great authors

Dusty Richards, Western Spur Award winner, motivates crowd with his talk.
Velda Brotherton, also of NW Arkansas, writes stories of historical interest.
Ginger DeVine, California children's author, and Ron Churchman, former Comanche resident, lives in Texas, just published his first book. I did a feature on him for the paper.
Una Belle Townsend, has three children's books published, is a school teacher in Yukon. Grady's in the Silo is an Oklahoma Book Award winner. Put it on your Christmas list!
Dusty and Pat Richards show off his latest book, Texas Blood Feud.
Read and enjoy the photos.
Saturday was the Chisholm Trail Book Festival at the Simmons Center here in Duncan. There were plenty of authors and I got to meet Dusty Richards. Even got an autographed copy of his latest, Texas Blood Feud. Looking forward to reading it. Bought a book from Ginger DeVine, California children's author. Have another children's book on my list - author Una Belle Townsend ..Grady's in a Silo! Can't wait to get that copy. She's a school teacher in Yukon, Oklahoma, and the story is based on a true event from 1949 that made national headlines. She also has a couple other books out that look great.
With all that though, as I was talking to Dusty and his wife Pat, the author at the next table overheard me say something. As I moved to her table and looked at her name, Velda Brotherton, bells went off in my head! I used to read her writing online a few years ago when I was doing some family research. We hit it right off and she's got another book coming out. She's written several stories about my ancestors. I'm so glad I got to meet her.
Anyway, here's a few photos from the event. I hope this event grows and gathers great local and state public support. These authors invest a great deal of time and money to attend book festivals. Show some support by going out and talking with them and if you can't afford a book from them at the moment, keep them in mind for buying gifts.
Dusty also spoke and told the youth there and adults that even if they never write a book, to make sure to write down family stories. He's a great speaker and I loved every word. If I'd been in reporting mode, I would have been scribbling it all down.

Rural Beauty

Yes, I'm back! Spent part of the day editing photos, but took time out to take a drive with my husband to Waurika. It's time for the Waurika Fine Arts Festival. It's a great little show and the work is on display through next Thursday. A reception is Sunday afternoon for the artists.
The leaves are definitely showing fall colors in southern Oklahoma. It gave me a chance to shoot some photos. Plus, we found some great horses down that way and I have a ton of new horse images. Some of these though are from a few weeks ago at the Pruitt Ranch out by Velma.The second horse image and this bottom one are from Pruitt Ranch. The others were today in Jefferson County. Do you like them?!

Cutest Pirate Girl Ever!

I used Picnik to work on some of these and a photo resizer too. Color may be off, but the subject is the sweetest! Mya had such fun running, exploring and being a little pirate girl today. Great weather! Happy Autumn!