People

Maya, Steve, and Kaien

Happy birthday, Maya. I know you’re exhausted but look at this little boy. What a dear little thing he is. To everyone else reading this, let me introduce to you Kaien (pronounced basically like Ryan with a K) or Kai, if you prefer (like Sky without the S). He was born on Saturday, December 24, and we visited this evening and I know you’re going to be shocked but I took a few pictures. This is one of my favorites. I probably say this every time I see a newborn but it always surprises me again how small they are. Anyway, welcome to the family, Kai. We’re a bit of an odd bunch, but you don’t get to pick your family. Sorry about that.

Dorothy and D’Argo

Cathy and Dorothy went over this afternoon to pick up D’Argo from Steve and Maya’s. They were going to the hospital to have their first child and we will have the dog for a little while, certainly until they are home again and settled down a bit. As I write this, late on Saturday morning, there is still no word on the baby’s arrival, but we should hear any time now.

As you can see, Dorothy is enjoying having a dog.

Kasia, Troy, and Katie

The group I work with had its annual holiday party today. It’s not exactly the sort of party portrayed in some movies or television shows, with dancing and revelry. It’s just a bunch of folks (about 150) getting together for a meal, a silent auction to raise a bit of money for a local charity, and a time of mostly quiet socializing. I was one of two photographers today with the other being the “official” photographer. That freed me up to take a few candids and not really stress.

Being a technical person, I’m technically not a member of this group but this is the group we largely support. I work with quite a few different teams within this group although there are a lot that I don’t know at all. I’ve worked with these three for quite some time and probably know them better than all but a few others here. They all hate to have their picture taken but they were kind enough to let me take a few.

Iris and Ralph

After the three day birthday, Thanksgiving, family reunion with Cathy’s family, we got together with my family today for our fourth day of celebration. I cannot express how thankful I am for both of my families and it’s nice to be given a day off (and to take two more) specifically to express our thankfulness. I’m thankful for more than family, of course, but that’s certainly high on the list.

Dorothy, sadly, left to drive back to school and wasn’t able to spend the day with us. It was good to see her and she’ll be back in just a few weeks for the Christmas break. As usual, I took pictures of everyone as we sat in the living room and visited, with the usual range of discussion topics customary with the my family (we tend towards the geeky end of things, I have to admit). In addition to some family pictures, I particularly like this one of Ralph and Iris. It just works.

Hannah

It’s been way too long since we saw this young woman. Actually, the last time we saw her, she was a girl of only about 8. She’s grown up a lot since then and it was so good to have her visit for Thanksgiving, along with her dad and sister, both of whom we’ve seen a bit more recently. It was a really nice to get to know her a bit and I think we’ll put more effort into getting together again befor too long.

After a busy Thanksgiving yesterday we went to Great Falls today. While I took a few pictures of the river, it was more an occasion for photos of Hannah, Abba, and Darius. I really like this one of Hannah. She has an amazing smile, also, but it’s more common, when the camera is pointed at her, that she makes a silly face.

We also saw a great blue heron in the process of killing a black snake. It would stab the snake with its beak and picking it up. The snake would coil around the beak and the heron would drop it and the process would start over.

Cathy and Darius

I picked up David and Darius this afternoon and the Thanksgiving (and birthday) festivities have begun. This was taken while David went to the airport to pick up Jim and Hannah. Dorothy and Abba were on their way from New England. William would come down tomorrow morning. So, it’s still relatively quiet. Cathy, as you can see, is making some animal sound (although it looks more like a “moo” than a roar, but I don’t know) while reading The Three Happy Lions to Darius.

Cathy

I was taking pictures around the house this evening, looking around for interesting shapes and patterns. I took some of a patch on the shoulder of a jacket, some of etched metal and a couple of a photograph of Cathy’s mom taken back in the day. I also took a few of Cathy and this one I like best of them all. It’s not a huge smile but it’s a familiar look. I suppose I could have waited until her birthday, which is coming up, to post her picture. On the other hand, there’s never really a bad time to take and post her picture.

This photo was taken on Monday (which is why it’s dated on Monday) but I’m actually writing this on Friday. It’s been a busy week for her with a software conference from Monday through Thursday at the Gaylord National. Lots of good information but fairly tiring. She took her first rides in Uber the first three days and then drove herself yesterday (Thursday).

An Elf

An interesting thing happened on the way to the river today. We had thought about parking near Old Angler’s Inn but the parking area was jammed, so we went to the main Great Falls entrance and parked there. We left the car and headed towards the visitor center and then the river when a woman called Cathy’s name. Actually, she just said “Cath!” It was a friend of Cathy’s from high school and her husband. That in itself would have been surprising and of course it was. It was also lovely to see them since it had been probably fifteen years since we’ve seen each other.

But what was more surprising was that they were in the company of an elf. I’m afraid I don’t remember her name but she was nice enough to allow me to take her picture. It isn’t everyday that I get to photograph an elf. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever done so before. She looks young but of course, as we all know, elves live a considerable time so she could easily be quite old, as we humans measure time.

Joanna and Juan (Again)

I generally only post one picture a day or if I post more than one from a single event or location, I combine them into a single post. This event rates a bit more, so I’m posting this separately. The wedding of Juanna and Juan was an entirely outdoor event. If you’ve ever planned an outdoor wedding, you know how nervous it makes you as the day approaches and the weather is uncertain. Planning an outdoor wedding in November is really a risk. Nevertheless, the day was about as beautiful as you could ever expect to get in early November. It was warm (in the sun), perfectly clear, with no wind. The perfect setting for the marriage of this lovely couple. There may be cloudy days on occasion in the future but at least they started out on what was arguably the most beautiful day of the year.

Joanna and Juan

I’ve had the privilege to know these two just about as long as they’ve known each other. It’s been so exciting watching them fall in love and today Cathy and I were fortunate enough to be allowed to witness their marriage and the beginning of their life together. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see them get to this point. The ceremony was nearly as beautiful as Joanna and I’m happy to say it didn’t go off without a hitch (i.e. they got hitched).

She certainly picked a good Juan and won’t have to tell stories about the Juan that got away. (I know, and I’d like to say that I’m sorry, but I’m not.)

I was (thankfully) not the official photographer but I was able to get a good seat on the aisle so was able to get a few pictures of them walking both in separately and then out as husband and wife. I’m sure the official photographer got a lot more and better pictures than I did, but I wanted to share this with Juanna, Juan, their families, and the rest of my followers (both of you).

Agatha and Bertram

One of Cathy’s soccer friends hosts an annual Dia de los Muertos party every year and this year was the third time we have gone. We were a bit tired from hosting a baby shower earlier in the day but so we didn’t stay late but we did go. We also didn’t expend a lot of energy on our costumes, simply wearing paper masks that we’ve had but rarely used. I’m pretty sure Cathy’s brother Jim gave these to us years ago. They are surprisingly effective, although the few people at the party who actually know us didn’t really have any trouble telling who we were. Cathy was Agatha and I was Bertram, which probably come from Wodehouse, consciously or not.