Lumberjack'n on both coasts!

Erin,

This is a picture Dad asked me to post for you.

He wasn't even 24 yet when this picture was taken. We were out cutting cedar during the late winter months, and he was so proud of you that he wanted a "historical" picture with you and him so he'd have something to tell tall tales about in the future. Grisdale is a little part of the history of logging in this country, but it was also home to our young family. Although you don't remember much about it, we were unique in our lifestyle and at times, a little desparate, but it was an adventure, both good and not so good, but I wouldn't trade the memories of it for anything. Mama

The expanding family!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the June wedding in Boulder. The day was relaxed and very beautiful. Cody's twisted sense of humor was in full gear...I have several "Bond" shots of him...I'll share a few of them in a future post. Aren't the girls beautiful? Erin's flowers were orchids and fabulous. We're a good look'n family and more than lucky to have each other's love and support.

Sarah, me, Erin & Cody, Bob - June 2008

More wild snow pictures!

Erin and Clay horsing around...Love the red hair, natural too!

Here's one for the family...This is MMC, better known as Mom, about 1935!

I absolutely love this picture of Mom. When you see her as a child, doing childish things, it renews your faith in the good things in this world continuing on.

As the world go forward, generation after generation, it's renewing to see that somethings don't change. They continue from one generation of children to the next. The honestly, innocently and with such naivety... doing some things as they have always been done...like children riding tricycles on side walks past picket fences.

Addison on her first birthday

Addison Anne eating her first birthday cake.

It took a while and some serious coaxing to get her started, but after one taste of the cake, she laid both arms down in the frosting in order to hold the cake still and leaned her head into it an took several big bites out of the side. Kids at this age are so much fun to watch.

She was given a baby doll by Mary and the boys. It was almost as big as Addie, but she fell in love at first sight. Apparently, Mary couldn't get it out of the box fast enought and Addison let out a scream of dismay...something this easy-going child never does. Everyone has fallen completely in love with this baby. She has charmed the entire wrinkled and saggy community of Grandma's community. They all thinks she's the cutest thing and they all perk up when she comes into the dinning room for dinner. She has managed to pick out the loneliest and grumpiest of the residents and makes sure she waves and smiles at them. Grandma says the impact of a single wave and grin is magical. We'll have to make sure Addison knows how many people she has charmed and whose lives she has brighten all with her little girls smile!

Little Homestead in the Woods.

Welcome to the Waller Homestead & Studio

This is new to me, this blogging thing. Our daughter Erin planted the seed of the idea in my head after viewing her blog. I love to write journals, always wanting to jot down a thought or two on those things that move me.

With the recent death of our "Papa", I've come to realize that no one will know who you are or where you came from unless YOU write it down for them. My father never thought that the stories of his young life held an interest to anyone, so he spoke very little about his unusual life on a Montana homestead during the Depression. No one lives like that anymore and according to my Mother, it was an unusual lifestyle even then. So after hearing that, he began to talk a little more. Giving us pieces of his childhood and adult life before it was centered on his wife and his nine children.
I plan on keeping the stories going, about him, about our mother and about the life ahead of us.

This blog will tell some family history, some family current events and be a place for me to inspire and to be inspired as an artist, something I am starving for in my life.
TLW