Yesterday I found out how I did at the fair. As always the ones that I think are going to be great don't do anything, and the ones I think are "eh" win... go figure. These are my entries:

First place- 2007 Fair

Third Place- Farm Animals

I didn't win anything for the rest of these but thought you might like to see them:

Abstract(Lots of entries of the bridge here)

Children(The one that won on in this category was funny-
a little girl holding a frog in each hand; very cute!)

Flowers(This is one category that I didn't understand the judges decision)

Portraits and Character Studies

Still Life
(One of the winners for still life was balloons- that one confused me BIG time!
They move! Quite the opposite of still!!)

Water(Some beautiful water shots were there!!)

Wildlife

There were some awesome photos this year! It's fun looking at other people's creativity and admiring the beauty God created that they captured. But oddly enough, some of the second place winners I thought were better than the first place winners; and there were some there that didn't even place but looked much better than the first or second places... that is why I say that the judging was odd. (Not just me, but Ryan and Erin agreed too!) And I'm not saying this out of bitterness, that mine should have won- the ones that I thought were better were complete strangers to me. I think that they need to have the judges on-site at the fair so they can defend their decisions- some of them I just really didn't understand so any insight would have helped. Erin and I want to be the judges next year; we'd set it straight! ;)

So, there you go. Shasta County Fair 2008- not the ones I was thinking, but content anyway. If you have the time you should go look and appreciate the very beautiful images.

Some milestones

The month of May carried with it some significant milestones. First it was Nathan and Nicole's birthday. They turned 5 years old this month. To me, that is amazing! Where did the years go? How did I get to be a mother to Kindergarteners?? I often look at them and can see their sweet little faces in the hospital the night they were born. I cannot believe that in less than 3 months, I will be dropping my children off for the first time at the classroom doors. You'd better believe that I'll be covering them in kisses and tearing up (that is if I can hold it together and not let loose until I get to the car!). And if that isn't enough for a mom to deal with, the day after their birthday Nicole says to me in all seriousness, "Mom, now that I'm five, can I drive the car?" I know this is gonna come way too soon!

Nate also finished up his last game of soccer this month. This was our families first introduction to organized sports- and Ryan's introduction to coaching. (Did I mention that Ryan didn't know much about soccer before the season started?) It was a new step in the life of our little family! Oh, boy- you should have seen Nathan's eyeballs when he saw his trophy, too. He says to me, "I think it real. Real gold!" He is quite taken to it now; anyone who stops by the house gets to see it (whether they asked or not)... He's even taken to sleep with it as I captured in this picture tonight! :) He had gone to bed without it but when I went to check on him there it was with him in bed- let's hope that it doesn't break; there would be tears for sure!!





But what I think is the best part of this month is that Ryan and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on the 22nd. I consider myself very blessed to have this man call me his wife. I love being married to him; I love that he is my best friend; I love how he loves me! I love that I get to share life with him. I love that I continue to fall more in love with him through the days and weeks. I love our marriage!
Thank you God for blessing us so! You are quite amazing!!