Mother Nature has opened her box of crayons in Michigan ~

"And all at once summer collapsed into fall"

Mother Nature has opened her box of crayons and used the most amazing colors!
I absolutely adore fall colors every year!

It makes me get outside more and snap a few photos. I love being outside, but I tend to
hibernate when it gets colder. Just like a bear...

I bought one mum this year and I love the color of it. I tend to go for pinks and purples.
However, I do throw in a orange or yellow every few years. 

If a year was tucked inside of a clock,then Autumn would be the magic hour".

These trees are all in our front yard and require a lot of cleanup, but aren't they pretty?

My Rosemary plant is still looking great! I can never get enough Rosemary.
I love the intoxicating smell.

"The heart of Autumn must have broken here, and poured it's
treasure upon the leaves".
I did say that I LOVE fall colors, but I will put a disclaimer right here. I don't like the clean up near
as much. I'm getting too old for all this work. lol  Truthfully, if we don't get an Indian Summer, it will
probably stay like this until next Spring. 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers"
Do you have fall color where you live? I would love to hear about it.
We complain a lot because of the highest car insurance rates in the nation ,but when
you look at all this color, it almost makes up for it, right? :)

Happy Tuesday and may you be blessed!

Fall Family Fun

It is a RARE day when we get the whole family together as we did this past weekend.
We had a fun , fun time taking family photos, going to a corn maze, taking a hay ride
and just hanging out. I wanted to share a few of the pics that we captured.

Above are all our grands except that one that is due in May. lol. If Ainsley looks unhappy
it isn't because she didn't have a sucker. She had one and didn't want it. Thought I better
clear that up right away. ha!

Two of the grands singing Karaoke at the corn maze.
Don't they look the part??!!

The little girls singing LET IT GO from Frozen. The DJ took a video of them singing and put it
on his facebook page. Little stars in the making. :)

The corn maze was fun, but really all it is is exercise disguised as fun! I found that out
a few years ago, but it was still a blast.

I was really beginning to get bummed because according to the weather forecast it was
supposed to rain, rain, rain and rain some more, but it held off for us until after the photos
and after the corn maze fun. We started the bonfire when it was dark and it started
pouring so thankfully we got most of the plans in. 

My oldest son Jason and his beautiful family. The plan was to have the bean stubble
still in the fields for the pics, but as fate would have it the renters plowed the field
 a few days before!!
They haven't plowed it for years and years ...until this year. I need to hang a sign
next year...:)

The kids took several photos of the mister and I. I am so annoyed. He had a gray shirt to wear, but
in all the hustle and bustle I forgot all about it so it is what it is. Hopefully next time I will
be a little more organized.

Sweet little Korrah

All our grands with us. Ages are from 1 year old to 16 years old. YIKES!
How did we get here in life? The years just fly by now.

The boys...Joshua...the little guy in the middle is always making faces. You would
not believe how many poses I got of him. 

I think this was my DIL idea. It turned out pretty neat although I think hubby and I should
have switched places. 

Smooch, smooch...another baby on the way in this family.

Remember earlier how I said it is a rare occasion to get our whole family together?
Well, our SIL Matt is missing from this family. He was in Japan again for his work.
Maybe someday we can get him in the photo.

Goofy, silly, fun!

So this is our family and we love each and every one of them. Thankful for Gods blessings
each and every day!!

Please remove your shoes(and don't take a better pair when you leave!}

What do you think of this sign?

I just laughed and laughed when I first saw it, but I also thought I
NEEDED IT.

We just put new carpet in the living room that is light
colored and no shoes are allowed nor is any food or drinks.

First time I saw the sign it was marked down from 19.99 to 14.99.
I didn't get it.

Next time it was marked down to 9.99.
I got it...and I LOVE it!

I've been doing a little decorating here and there. This is really not exactly like I want it, but
I got tired of messing with it so it is what it is. Does that ever happen to you?  Most days
I love to decorate, but some days it just doesn't fall together so I give up. yep.
I guess I'm a quitter...of sorts. :)

You are probably wondering what the BELIEVE chalkboard has to do with the decor.
Absolutely nothing! HA! It is my word of the year and has been there since
January 1 and I just can't change it. It was a very appropriate word I might add.
With all the changes our family has been through this year I have to BELIEVE
that everything will be okay.

I also wanted to share a new fountain with you that was just installed in Bryan, Ohio.
I call it a local town because we are there every other day it seems. Okay, maybe
not quite the often, but a lot!  Isn't the fountain just beautiful?

This is kinda random, but this past week a HUGE part of our willow tree
FELL DOWN...GO BOOM!

Hubby was contemplating cutting this part of the tree down because it was splitting, but
he didn't have a chance. We woke up one morning and he looked out the window like he
always does and said, "Well, I guess I don't have to cut the tree down". We were
floored! HOW did we not hear this huge tree fall in the night? 

Thanking God that it didn't come down on the house!
As you can see it just missed it so someone was looking out for us that is for sure.
I am also very thankful that it didn't come down when hubby or I were mowing
underneath it. That would not have been good.

We have a lot of it cut up and hauled off to an area on our property, but we still have the largest
part of the trunk to get cut up. We do a little at a time because we are OLD and we just
 can't handle hours and hours at a time. :)

While we were outside working on the tree, hubby showed me this hornets nest in another tree
in front of our house. There doesn't appear to be any activity at all so it must be an old one.

I just can't believe it is almost the end of October already!! The fall colors this year were
spectacular in Michigan! I took a lot of photos and am overwhelmed by the beauty that
God creates for us every year.

Oh, one more thing...we have a new granddaughter!!! Grandchild #9!! She was born
yesterday to my oldest son and his family. They now have three sweeties.
Keira, Kanaan and now Korrah  Michelle Boothman. She weighed 6 lbs and 8 ounces
and was 19.5 inches long. Born around 4:30 pm. We hope to visit them on Sunday
and get a few snuggles in.

Happy fall day to each and every one of you!!
Blessings~

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile!

Autumn is sure putting on a gorgeous display here in Michigan again this year.

I L.O.V.E. it!

I wake up to this gorgeous scene day after day. This is across the road from our house.

I guess there are perks to living in Michigan on a back, dirt road after all. I mean
you just don't see this beauty in the city.

"Come, little leaves"
said the wind one day,
"Come to the meadows
with me and play.
Put on your dresses of red and gold;
For summer is past,
and the days grow cold."
~ George Cooper

I shot these photos yesterday in our front yard when the sun was shining through the trees after a rain.

Can you say AMAZING??

Delicious Autumn!
 My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird
I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns!

~ George Elliot