35 Years Married to This Great Guy

Just returned from a couple days in Omaha to celebrate our 35th anniversary. Had a great time and visited places we've never been before. We stayed in Carter Lake near the airport. We arrived on Sunday, the same day the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge opened up. This bridge is a cable-style and is beautiful. We walked over it on Monday and the lighting was perfect for some beautiful sky pictures. Besides walking over the bridge, we also visited Freedom Park, Lauritzen Gardens, and the Old Market area.

Lauritzen Gardens was a photographers dream come true. I will definitely return again. It is beautiful and the flower gardens are amazing. Of special interest is the Train Garden--a must for any train lover (or train lover's wife). Oh, did I mention we also saw the Big Boy?

Two of the Union Pacific Railroads' greatest locomotives sit across the parking lot from Lauritzen Gardens and visible to passersby on Interstate 80. On display are Centennial No. 6900 - the largest and most powerful diesel-electric locomotive ever built - and Big Boy No. 4023 - the world's largest steam locomotive.

We also managed to help out the economy of Nebraska (Ugg boots and shoes for me)and Council Bluffs (specifically the Bass Pro Shop where Roger got socks and gloves and I got a couple shirts and hoodie along with a couple pairs of socks). Before leaving to come home today we went in search of train stores in Omaha. The first two were closed (they seem to have limited hours they are open). We did hit pay dirt at House of Trains where Roger was able to buy some more stuff for his trains.

On the way home we stopped at Breezy Hills Winery in Minden where we sampled some wines and bought five bottles. They directed us to a Stephanie's restaurant in Elk Horn and another winery. We found Stephanies but not the winery.

Uncle Lloyd took care of our beagle children while we were gone--thank you so much.

Weekend happenings

Been a busy weekend. On top of bringing work home and spending 11 hours reviewing RFP proposals for work, I did manage to work some on my digital photography class, visited with family, partied at Beaverdale's fall festival with family and help celebrate a nephew's 21st birthday, and babysat grandchild #4 on Saturday and Sunday. He was sleeping today when his parents dropped him off and slept until about 10 minutes before his parents showed up. I did manage to get a few cute pictures of him yesterday.

Photography Class

I signed up for "Digital Photography Simplified" taught by the talented Mary Elizabeth over at ScrapGirls.com. I've got several assignments for week 1 which I've been slowly working on. Above are my pictures and layout for Aperture / depth of field.

Re-Wined at the Jasper Winery

Saturday we stopped into the new location of the Jasper Winery, which is now located in Des Moines near Gray's Lake, to taste some wines. They have a series starting next month called Re-wined, "A series dedicated to hot topics and having fun." The first one is coming up on Tuesday, October 7--"Goodbye Granny Panties, Hello Spanx." Stacey's Bra and Lingerie will share an "uplifting experience." The cost is $20 plus tax or season tickets for $100 + tax, and includes Hors d'oeuvres and glass of wine.

Do I have any friends interested in joining me? Drop me a note and let me know and I'll get us some tickets.

Do[ing] the Zoo--The Blank Park Zoo

Thursday night we were at Bordenaro's (the best pizza in D-town) and Grandpa promised Luke we would go to the mall this weekend so he could spend the change Grandpa gave him. Grandpa was under the weather so I went to pick the grandchildren up today. While buckling them in their car seats I found out they wanted to go to the zoo, so the zoo is where we went. These kids have been to the Blank Park Zoo at least four times this summer. Actually they were there just last weekend. It is amazing how much joy they get at the zoo. Each time is a new experience. Of course they talked me into visiting the gift shop.

Visiting The Mammoth Site in South Dakota

Back to scrapping the vacation photos--it's only been 6 or 7 weeks. This layout is based on a template by Ali Edwards' "Layered Template No. 3" and the papers and elements are from Cherise Oleson's "Assemble Your Own Zoom Albums: 12x12: Vacation." I used Mistral and Arial fonts.

About the Mammoth site

Many, many years ago, large mammoths fell into sink whole and were trapped and died in the area near Hot Springs, South Dakota. These bones were discovered in 1974 by earth moving equipment excavating for a housing development. According to the the Mammoth Site's Web site this is South Dakota's greatest fossil treasure. Excavation was stopped and through the "work of local citizens, the Mammoth Site was preserved. Today it is the world's largest Columbian mammoth exhibit, and a world-renown research center for Pleistocene studies." The hill is enclosed by a climate-controlled building. "The bones are displayed as they were discovered, in the now dry pond sediments for an "in-situ" exhibit. Walkways allow visitors a close-up view of the fossils. To date, 55 mammoths have been identified, along with the remains of a giant short-faced bear, camel, llama, prairie dog, wolf, fish, and numerous invertebrates." For more information, visit The Mammoth Site's official Web site.

Nice night for a walk

Made it to Gray's Lake tonight for my walk. Roger got a call saying he didn't have to come in at 7 so he accompanied me to Gray's. While I did 3 miles, he strolled a little ways around eavesdropping in conversations of other walkers. Sounds like he enjoyed himself.

Been really busy at work and it will continue for the next three weeks. On top of that, I attended a class on Plain Talk or Plain Language yesterday.

I haven't scrapped anything in several days and have really been missing it. Tomorrow is weigh-in and I'm afraid it isn't going to go too good since I bought a bag of Candy Corn the other night on top of tailgating and the bottle of wine I drank last Saturday.

Luke goes to preschool

Luke is now going to the Science Center's preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I ran over to see how his first day went last week and captured these photos.

New design

Been working on updating my blog today. Let me know what you think. Still need to do some work but decided I'd better get to bed.

3 at 3

Been working on this layout last night and tonight. I'm still working on it--it's just not quite right yet. I used September's Scrap Girl Club Kit -- Well Loved. I love this kit. I also used the transparency style to make the picture a transparancy. Let me know what you think. TFL.

GG and JJ

Scrapped another layout this afternoon. I used a picture Sarah took of GG and Jaren at Luke's birthday party on Saturday. The journaling reads:

Great Grandma Gladys (or "GG" to her great grandchildren) and Jaren (JJ) spent some quality time bonding at Luke's third birthday party. Jaren is now two months old."

Someday you will know
Just how you came to be
What branch you fall upon
In our family tree
You'll look at all the pictures
And point your little fingers
At family members who used to live
And now to you are strangers
Their legacy will live on in you
And someday you will see
A little face looking up at you,
Another branch in the tree.
~Laura Taylor Mark


Supplies used in this layout, include:
ABR_DressUp_12x12_Paper-White
ABR_HisNHers_12x12_Circle-Peach
ABR_DressUp_Emb_FrameCluster1
ABR_DressUp_WordArt-Memorable
ABR_HisNHers_Alpha1_J
ABR_HisNHers_Emb_Wrap-GreenBTM
ABR_HisNHers_Alpha1_G
DSF_Emma_notepaper
Font: Scrap Rhapsody

The papers and embellishments were part of the Scrap Girls Monthly club for August 2008.