Wordless Wednesday {Shepherd}

Always Watching; Always Guarding

Channeling St. Marianne of Moloka'i

St. Marianne, Pray for Us.

Mazes, Pumpkins, and Costuming Magic

This was a great year for Halloween.  Seriously.  It was.  I am not saying that previous Halloween's haven't been wonderful but this one was magical.  

This was the first year we've been able to spend it with my parents and have the very talented costume maker, Grandma, enjoy the fruits of her creative labor.  

We had Halloween off from school so we drove up the night before Halloween and then made sure that we hit the ground running on Halloween morn.  First stop, Jeter Farm in Roanoke.  This was a beautiful spot with views of the surrounding Roanoke Valley wrapping around us.  The farm has been in operation since 1853!  They are well into their 5th generation running the farm.  What a delight it was to walk through the maze feeling the call of generations gone by.

The gentlemen made it through the corn maze in a flash.  The ladies, however, took time to stop and enjoy the surroundings and well, one of us may have become a little lost in the process.  Ahem.  Me.

Zane was a Harlequin Clown

We headed home from Jeter Farm with our arms loaded with pumpkins.  One can never have to many of these heralders of fall!  HS and LD took a lot of time planning out their "perfect" designs. HS had at least ten different ideas and well, LD went onto another entire page all together.  That was definitely part of the fun of carving!

This year HS did all his own carving and gutting himself.  Truly, does this kid ever stop growing up?  Don't answer that.  I'm pretty proud of him!

Sam Flynn from Tron

Beautiful Peacock

Sam Flynn the Protector of the Peacock

Trick-or-treat!  

Grandma did an amazing job again on the costuming.  Both kiddos couldn't have been more proud to strut their stuff around the neighborhood as they embraced their Halloween character.  I am fairly certain that no matter how old they get they will remember how much Grandma loves them and the array of costumes that she has designed are sure to stand as sentinels helping to shape their ideal Halloween.

Happy Halloween 2014

Wordless Wednesday {Caught}

Fall keeps us caught within our love of the nature, beauty, and color.  

It's a symphony of sight with every tree playing a part within the concerto.  

For those weeks that we can be caught within the concert we can dance along to the beautiful music and just be

caught. 

Caught Among the Clouds

Caught in the Lens

Caught in the Finale

For three weeks straight, our clan drove the Shenandoah Skyline Dr. 

Each week the symphony was a little different.  

The first week the trees along the drive were caught clearly within the first movement.  The colors were beginning to pop and come alive.  Each leaf was touched with the change of color.  

By the second week, they had made it into the slow movement of the concerto.  The leaves danced and twirled down in bright hues and covered the trails with a carpet of yellow and rust.  It was an oriental carpet created with the beautiful patterns of leaves mixing and scattering.  

Our final week as we camped within the beauty of the region we were able to experience the finale.  Trees were standing bare, the last of their leaves clinging by a small thread.  

The gates of the campground were ready to shut, ending another season of family memories, and awaiting the spring when they would be reopened for another group of eager families, scouts, church groups, and lovers of the sound of nature's concerto. 

The endless sea of cars full of people ready to be caught had diminished leaving only the sweet sounds of nature behind to finish its concerto.