The Best Reason to Smile

You may not realize it, but today is an anniversary. You may not remember what you were doing at this time last year, but what I was doing is strongly in my mind. One year ago, just after 2:30, I was on my email. My friend Grace and I had been emailing back and forth our usual nonsense, joking about sending emails to the wrong person, especially Ryan. At the time, unbeknownst to him, I was sending her a Ryan quote of the day.

When I got on, I saw she had replied to my last email. She asked if Friday morning still worked for me to get together to do scrap booking. I wrote a reply, saying Friday worked for me, and suggested we check out the neighborhood (go for a walk, that is) to cover up our activities. We knew Ryan would ask what she had done, especially if he knew she met with me. Grace isn't normally a scrapbooker, and her scrapbook was to be a surprise for him.

As I was about to send it, I realized had somehow missed an email from Ryan. The subject line said, top secret! Intrigued, I clicked on it. "Even in your family, you can’t speak of this," it said. I caught a glimpse of a few words following: D & E, and your parents...be CERTAIN...

Mom appeared behind me. "Let me get on for a minute." As much as my curiosity was aroused, I quickly logged off, lest Mom see whatever it was she wasn't supposed to.

 I wandered the living room, waiting for Mom to get off. Then Eric.

I could only think of one thing, but I made excuses to myself. If he was going to, why would he tell me? I got on as soon as I could, and finished the email. Even with these suspicions, I didn't imagine how what I was about to read would affect me. 

So I’m proposing on Friday!  Might you be available Friday night to possibly help with my proposal?  I’m thinking hidden photographer from afar for you.

I didn't reply. I ran outside and yelled like when I call the chickens, only without words. Running to the neighbors, I swung hard, grinning the whole time.

If it had been possible, I would have stopped mid-swing. Friday? I was meeting with Grace Friday morning to scrapbook, and going to the park for the proposal Friday evening! Would it be hard to act normal?

It seemed like a long time I was out there, but it must have only been a few minutes. I replied to Ryan, my excitement uncontainable, and looked at the email I had been going to send Grace. Having them both sitting there was quite amusing. If I sent Grace's to Ryan and Ryan's to Grace, that would be amusing... Okay, it would be quite horrible, actually, but the thought of doing it was amusing. Smiling, I sent them both to the correct person.

Ryan had actually said I could maybe tell the older members of my family. I didn't, at first. I just enjoyed knowing what I knew as we worked outside that evening. That night when Deanna came home late from work, I was half-asleep. "Jeannette. Do you want to watch Little House on the Prairie?" I was tired, but I slipped out of bed and went downstairs with her.

As it started, I leaned back against the couch and said, "I didn't get up because I want to watch Little House with you." Finally, at the thought of telling someone, I couldn't suppress my smile, and she asked, "What?" It was so fun to tell her. "Ryan's proposing to Grace on Friday." (Excuse me. I probably said, "Ryan's proposing to Grace on Friday!!!")

"How do you know?" she asked. I told her and showed her Ryan's email. Tired as I was, it was worth getting up for.

My sisters told Grace later that I smiled whenever I heard her name-and being a word name, even when it wasn't necessarily referring to her. "Your sister's always smiling," she replied. "You just notice it then." We had a joke as to who would stop smiling first.

Doubtless you're wondering, if you've been aware of these happenings and read my original Smile post, what the point of this is. It did turn out to be more of a rewrite than I thought it would.

I wasn't sure what the point would be myself. I had thought of writing this, probably before they got married. You see, today feels like an anniversary to me, even though their anniversary isn't for over three more months, and even the month-anniversary and anniversary of when he asked her isn't until the 28th. The 25th probably means nothing to them, but like I said, it feels like an anniversary to me. So I felt like doing this...but what was the point? I wasn't sure I had one. I even thought of ending it with something like, "I don't have any conclusion for this, I just felt like writing it because I'm still smiling."

But over a month ago, I got a point.

Though it was challenging, I didn't know as I listened to a study last September 9th that it would affect me so much, just as I hadn't with that email. In like manner, this wasn't really the start; things had been setting up for this day for some time, and the more official anniversary-the 28th for Ryan and Grace, the 16th for this-came later.

After the study when my friend said she wanted to speak to me, I didn't know what it would lead to. We noted things that we saw in our associations with others that we knew weren't right. But we were picking at slivers, not realizing that to remove those slivers, we must first remove the plank, for until that was done, we couldn't see clearly, and more slivers would be produced.

So the Holy Spirit began working in our hearts, revealing our sin, making our desire to change our own hearts, to die to ourselves and live to God. We realized that if our hearts were right with God, if we truly loved Him above all else, then we would naturally desire to speak of Him, and these other things would naturally be resolved.

On the 16th of September, we prayed together to dedicate our new vision. In the wee hours of that morning, we began to speak of heaven, and we got this glorious view of what a truly eternity-focused life would be like. Our joy was unbounded, and for days I couldn't help but smile.

But we know that human beings are fickle and forgetful. We wanted to have fortitude, to not lose sight of that joy and glory. So we determined to keep each other accountable.

Like before, I wanted to share the happenings. It was so exciting, I might have had to tell people even if it had been forbidden. I relayed this exciting happening to Grace. "It's like at your engagement," I told her. "I just can't stop smiling!"

"But it's better," she said.

I forget if she said it's better, more exciting, or happier. Regardless, it stuck firmly in my mind. It's better. Obviously it is for me, but that Grace would think to say it made me wonder. It's better? Of course I have to say it is, but is it?

No Christian would disagree in theory, of course. But as Christians, realizing the goodness, joy and glory of marriage, we sometimes forget. Seeing how wonderful a picture marriage is, we forget that marriage is the picture, CHRIST is the reality. We know that our relationship with God is the most important thing, but I think we often feel that life begins and ends with marriage. It is marriage that gives us fulfillment, not Christ.

And marriage is just an example; it's like that with many things. You see, marriage is concrete to us. We don't have to exercise any faith to see that it is, and that it is good. Christ? Well, we have faith that we have a relationship with Him, but since we cannot see it except with eyes of faith, we often lose sight.

Growing up as a Christian, I know many things the world doesn't realize. Were I to completely abandon my faith, I still would not live outwardly as the world does. All those "terrible" sins-I know that they will not make me happy. But because of this, I can use Jesus as a supplement to my life. Instead of having a good marriage because of love for Jesus, Jesus becomes a way to make my marriage good. Instead of serving others because of love for Jesus, I serve others because I have the knowledge that life will be better that way. Instead of ministering to others so that I will please my Savior, I minister to others to impress those who see me.

In other words, Jesus is a way to make my life good, rather than becoming my life. I know God's way, but do I love it?

I laugh as I read over my Smile posts. I was glad to be a bridesmaid, because people excused my talking about the wedding. I thought about it often, and I was glad if anyone brought it up. Conversations about it caught my ear. People laughed at my silly obsession.

Why was it so exciting to me, I wonder? I have asked myself that multiple times, and I imagine I am not the only one. Regular interest in a wedding, even that it was the first one I could remember being involved in a lot, doesn't explain it. The only reason I can think of is because I love Grace, and I am interested in things that affect her.

It's a silly example, perhaps, but isn't this how we should be with our Savior? Wouldn't we think constantly of Him-and therefore want to speak constantly about Him-wouldn't His name catch our ears, if we truly loved Him? Shouldn't we be willing to look goofy and obsessive, even in the eyes of our family members and other Christians? I long to have that sort of love for the Savior, that others would see me as a little too eager.

But that is not something you can work up. I didn't try to love Grace. I never said, "Okay, she's getting married, so I'm going to be really excited." It even crossed my mind that maybe if it was just a mental choice, I'd choose not to be so much. So, to some degree, it wasn't my decision. And yet, if I had not already had that relationship established, had not already spent time with her and gotten to know her, I wouldn't have been excited about it. And if I had chosen to suppress it, I could have. Our relationship with God has that same tension. As we seek God, He does the work in our hearts. It isn't up to us--yet we can suppress His work or seek it.

A year from when I first found out about the engagement, I am not excited as I was then, yet when I think about it, the joy remains. In a year from September, I may not be jumping out of my skin, but I do not want to lose the joy that I have found in a thirsting desire to love Christ above all, especially self. I want to still be smiling over His glory revealed to me. Realizing that things of this earth don't matter, because I'm going to HEAVEN! These things are but a picture of the reality to come.

And I write this as a reminder to myself. (Which is a good thing, because it's way too long for anyone else to read!) Since we do lose sight and forget the reality of the spiritual, those moments when God reveals Himself to us in a special way are precious. Just as reading that first Smile post reminds me of the excitement I once had, and brings back a smile of remembrance, so I write this that I may not forget the excitement I once had in striving to follow after Christ and the longing to desire Him more than anything, and to call myself back to that joyfulness. "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation."


Thinking it over, I realize: it is better. Way better. Because there's no greater reason to smile.

My Blog and Its Statistics

Today I was working on a post, and decided to check when I first started my blog, knowing it was coming up soon, and realized it was a year ago today when I posted for the first time. I have posted 50 times-that works out to about once a week, which is interesting since I've posted three times in the past three months.

A while ago, I got on my photo a day blog to upload my picture of the day. Well, pictures of several days, as I was behind on posting them. I glanced at my statistics. I enjoy looking at my statistics for my blogs. But this time, it said "no stats yet". Confused, I made sure it was on stats for the week, not day. Yep. I clicked on all time. No stats yet? What? More confused yet, I went to my main blog. Jeannette's Blog, 2 Pageviews, it said. Two pageviews? The stats indicated that it had been viewed twice today, but never before that.

I was quite sad. I liked looking at my stats. In October, I had a little over a hundred views. In November, I had close to four hundred. This reflects my first Smile post, which is my most popular, at 372 pageviews. Things peak in January, with 582 views, reflecting a number of posts, including my second most popular, One Sunday Afternoon, with 84 views. It's up again in May, reflecting Eric's birthday post and the one about the church, and probably some from another more popular one, the spring break trip.

Another interesting study is that of pageviews by audience. Of course, the majority is from the US, but I've had 29 from Ukraine (Zach or the Thorntons), 8 from Taiwan (my cousin), 6 from Peru (Elizabeth). The mystery is who looked at my blog from India, 5 times. There's also one from Canada, which I assume is one of Ryan's relatives. I've also had some from ipads, iphones, Blackberries, and such.

I can also see how people were referred to the site: emails, my friend's blog, a few random things I don't know, and mywedding.com and Facebook, which are the top two.

As you can see, I have gotten my statistics back. I have no idea why they left, but I was happy to see them again. It's a sort of like a journal. As of right now, my blog has had 4,247 pageviews, which isn't much for a blog and is probably 2/3rds my own and my family. My Photo of the Day blog has, by its nature, a relatively large number of views, 3,479, peaking in May at 582, probably because of the Spring break trip. March 8, of the older lady and baby, one of my favorites, is the most viewed at 43, with January 15th and my toast poem coming in second with 23.

Anyways, that is probably the boringest post I have done yet except for the Day Outside one, and that's saying something. (For that reason, I'm leaving boringest. It needs something to spice it up, if only someone telling me that's not a word.) I was just tired of studying and thought I ought to post something today. Happy birthday, Blog! I shall now go do something useful.

The Sinful Children

Hello children.

This is Rebekah Zellers.

I have decided that Jeannette's Blog has become too flippant of late, and so have taken it upon myself to make it more serious. So, I have decided, for your good, and for the edification of your souls, to write you a series of poems to enlighten you and to inspire you to reflect on the meaning of life.

The series is called

THE SINFUL CHILDREN,

and I hope that you will gain much practical knowledge that you can apply to your own life.

THE GLUTTONOUS CHILD

There once was a sinful child

Who consumed too much dessert

He said one cookie was all he ate

My friends, there had been two on his plate.

So he felt something odd in his tummy

His belly swelled up so large

He turned into a pig, he didn't know what to do,

And his mother put him into a nice pork stew.

THE CHILD WHO PUT HIS ELBOWS ON THE TABLE

There once was a sinful child

Who had very bad manners at dinner

He always had his elbows on the table

Unfortunately, it wasn't very stable.

He was eating mashed potatoes one day,

And when he put his dear elbows down

The table flew up and hit his little head

The next thing he knew, he was dead.

THE CHILD WHO WENT TO BED TOO LATE

There once was a sinful child

Who did not heed her mother's word

She went to bed too late

And this, my friends, was her fate.

She slept through the night restless

She was chased by a bear in her dream.

She woke up rather scared and cried

She fell out of her bed and died.

As we do not want the ending of the poor little girl for ourselves, we shall now scuttle off to our beds. I hope these stories will greatly help you in your life. I hope to share more practical poems in the future.

Thank you.

Rebekah Zellers

Crash at the Curve

Late Friday night I sat beside my brother's bed. As it has gone, it seems, for some time, my plans for getting to bed earlier than usual that evening had failed. It was now past 1 o'clock, and though Eric had started saying every so often, "Well, I have to get up at 6 tomorrow," we still continued talking.

For once, Kristen was asleep before we were, and Dad and Amy were still up, though preparing for bed. Mom and Melody, who was not feeling well, were downstairs, having been watching movies. At the time, we weren't necessarily aware of these things.

I can't remember what we were saying, but whoever was talking was interrupted by a loud screech. I was about to say someone had taken the curve really fast.

The curve just down from our house is a bit treacherous; some people have even prayed angels around it. People are always turning around in our drive since the roads are a bit confusing as they merge into one road and emerge again, and taking that road too sharp, causing screeching, isn't uncommon. We've lost our mailbox more times than we can count.

But my words were cut off when the long screech was followed by a loud crashing sound.

Glancing at each other, we all suddenly rose and hurried downstairs. Dad was emerging from the hall, shirt in hand, as Melody and Mom opened the front door. We went out on the sidewalk, peering down to the ditch on the other side of the road where a vehicle had stopped. Unlike I had thought, there was only one vehicle. We suddenly noticed loud, rocky music, and an alarm started going off.

Dad was inside, calling 9-1-1. "Yeah, we don't know. No, we haven't gone down there. There's someone moving around. I don't know if anyone's hurt."

"What," we joked, "he doesn't want to go out in his sweatpants?"

We could see some figures looking around at the car. Mom didn't think, judging by the music, the speed at which they must have been driving, and the time, that it was a good idea to go down there, since they seemed to be fine. We went back inside, and Mom went to look up the upstairs window.

"Keith!" she called. "It's on fire!" The smoking vehicle made an exploding sound. We hurried back outside, and the whole front was engulfed in flames. Every so often, another explosion sounded. Dad called again.

It was frightening to imagine someone in there, burning before our eyes with no way to help.

I got out my camera.

The fire was getting bigger, and right beside the woods. "If they don't get here soon, the woods are going to start burning," Mom said. It was a good thing it wasn't very dry, or they would have.

At last three police cars came. One policeman shone his flashlight into the truck to see if anyone was in it. Another guy looked at the situation and said something along the lines of, "Well, you guys got this? I'm outta here."

"'Kay. See ya," another said.

The first policeman noticed us standing there and started coming towards us. "Did you guys see what happened?" he asked. "Are you the ones who called?"

Mom yelled something from the upstairs window. The rest of us were standing at the end of the drive, ready to answer his questions. He brushed right past us. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I can't hear you. I have a head cold." He had a large, sort of bald head.

We told him what we had seen. He said that he had been afraid that someone was in there.

I had seen two people at the end of a drive down at the curve. They were walking away from the fire, however, so I assumed that they were just curious neighbors. Melody, from the upstairs window, had seen a guy walking away from the fire yelling, "Hey! Hey!" and then, "Billy!" before disappearing.

We don't know what really happened, but our hypothesis was that someone had stolen the car, so of course they didn't stick around and someone picked them up after the crash.

At last we heard the sirens from the fire engine briefly, and they pulled up. Some sort of inspection or preparation seemed to take a long time. Then a fireman had a hose and began spraying the fire.

The smoke billowed up in a great arc, though as I had the fifty on my camera, I couldn't capture the whole thing. With the police lights reflecting on it, the smoke looked neat, yellow and red and blue and purple.

We could now see that the vehicle was a truck.

The moon was very bright that evening.

We all stood on the drive watching the proceedings, despite the cold temperature. At last they managed to put the fire out. Mom and Dad went back inside. We were still standing there, and a policeman approached us. We looked at each other, wondering. When he came closer, he asked, "Did you guys see what happened?" We told him we had heard it.

"Who knows the most?" he asked. "I want someone to come back to the car with me and write a statement." We looked at each other. I glanced at the dewy grass and my socked feet. Hmm...

"Who saw the most?" he repeated. We all started saying what happened, but no one volunteered. "It's not a big deal," he said. "We just want someone to write down what happened."

When Melody said that she had seen the guy who yelled, "Hey!", the policeman said, "Yes, that's it. That's what I want."

She waited for Dad, and they followed the man down to the road. Soon Melody came running back along the road.

"What does she have in her hand?" Eric asked.

"Nothing," I said. "Wait, she does," I corrected myself as she entered the light of the police car parked at the end of the drive.

The policeman had given her a clipboard with the report on it and told her she could finish it up at the house.

So she sat on the porch and wrote while Mom, worried about her being sick, brought her shoes and Amy found her some unmatching socks.

We assisted her some, and went down to the drive, wanting to go where Dad was. So, Deanna, Eric and I crossed the cold, dewy grass, and my socks became wet and my feet frozen.

The first policeman was standing with Dad when we arrived, and asked if we had been smart enough to put shoes on. "Yep," Eric said. He and Deanna had.

"Oh, there's one," he said, indicating my damp feet. "So, are these your kids too?" he asked Dad.

"Yep."

"Wow." (His language was probably more colorful than that.) "How many is that-five?"

"Three more are asleep inside."

I don't remember what exclamation he made, but then he said, "I have one nineteen-year-old boy and one thirteen-year-old girl, and I would rather have five nineteen-year-old boys than one thirteen-year-old girl. The drama wrapped around that girl!" He started listing things-"she did this, and they hurt me" and so forth.

"They are a blessing," Dad said.

"Oh, she's not a bad kid," he said. "She's a good kid. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with it much. I work nights and I sleep in the day. My wife keeps me updated and I'm like, 'Wow, I don't know how you deal with it. I couldn't.'"

I hurried back, this time along the road so that I needn't get any more damp than necessary, stopping briefly to look closely at the truck. It was actually a black truck, Eric said, but it looked white after the fire.

Melody had just finished her report. "Why did you come back?" she asked.

"I thought you might like a picture," I replied.

She posed with it, and then I took a close-up, so she could remember what she said.

Then we walked with Mom back to the policemen. A tow truck had come, and they had attached a line to the truck to pull it out. Melody offered the clipboard to the policeman, but he asked her to hold onto it a minute.

We noticed that they had knocked over one of the arrow signs on the other side of the curve (to the left on the picture above) which meant they had gone a long way. They had entered the ditch and gone along it for quite a distance, and the crashing sounds we heard must have been going over the big logs in it. (Another thing that the policeman described quite colorfully. Dad said that they cleaned up their language quite a bit when we came down. They could have used some more...)

Then the man looked over Melody's statement. "This is a very good statement," he said. "If I have any questions I have your number, but that probably won't happen."

We think he looked like what you imagine a police officer to be.

The man with the tow truck pulled it out just by pushing something that drew it out by a cable. We could finally see it quite well.

The tires were in very bad shape-one was quite missing-and they didn't turn, so it scraped along the road.

The windshield was gone-probably one of the explosions-as was the hood, revealing the engine.

The tow truck couldn't pull it well on the one remaining wheel, so they ended up getting another machine to put the truck on top of with some difficulty. But we, having been out there for an hour or so, went in to put on pajamas and warm socks, drink hot chocolate in Melody's case, huddle under covers, and get to sleep.

Late the next day (really the same day) we attended a bonfire, and Melody gave a dramatic retelling of that morning's adventure. She drew it out as long as she could, emphasizing every exciting detail.

We're only surprised that they didn't manage to get the mailbox. It was quite an experience, the most dramatic of the things that have happened from living at the curve.

A Wonderful, Double Family Surprise

I have a pretty wonderful family on Dad's side. (I do on Mom's side as well, but though they are wonderful as well, they are not the subject of this post.) We are much blessed by having two of his sibling's families living in Toledo.


I come to write about this because of the time we were able to enjoy with one of them a few months ago. (We were able to spend time with the other Toledo family then too, but though we enjoyed that as well, they are not really the subject of this post either.) My talented cousin Kayla planned a surprise party for my Uncle Rich's 50th birthday. Seeing family and celebrating a birthday - in my family, that means lots of fun, abundant good food, and many picture-taking opportunities.


It was held at the home of Uncle Rich's brother, which Kayla and her cousin Katie did a beautiful job of decorating. The rest of their immediate families had gone to a restaurant for supper.

After my cousin Jared texted the girls that they were on the way home, the family and friends who were able to come before 7 scattered about in closets, behind counters, around the doorway, in the bathroom.

I was behind the counters in the kitchen, posed with my camera, opposite Katie with Kayla's, which is exactly the same as mine. (However, when she asked me to take some pictures for her, I noticed that hers zooms more smoothly. This does not surprise anyone.)

The garage door opened-it was only Katie's mom. They should be here soon, she said.

We heard them and prepared. The door opened, and Jared came in, whistling. Kristen, hiding in the bathroom with the boys, yelled, "Happy Birthday!" I thought she had jumped the gun and jumped out at Jared. Then, I saw Uncle Rich's startled face and realized he was here. I quickly attempted to capture it, but the camera didn't focus immediately.

Though I missed his first look, you can get an idea from what I did get. It was a successful surprise. From experience, I know that it is gratifying!

But, there was more, as you may be wondering about from the title if you don't know the story. Aunt Lisa came in behind Uncle Rich, and as he greeted people, she turned and saw the room opposite the kitchen.

You see, though I had never finished this post, I decided to to so now, for today is their 25th anniversary, and midst all the preparation for the birthday party, Kayla had had another surprise prepared. I just missed Aunt Lisa's reaction at the sight of the room next to the kitchen. She was very surprised.

"Did you know about this?" she asked Uncle Rich.

"Yeah," he said.

This caused many gales of laughter.

One of Kayla's friends made a lovely cake for their anniversary, and there were four different kinds of pie, one of Uncle Rich's favorites. Being out of season, pumpkin was unavailable, so I made some pumpkin pies. Due to the amount of pie dough, I decided to make three, though Aunt Lisa just asked for two. This was a good thing, because the extra pie ended up being an upside down pumpkin pie.

A 50 candle was stuck into an upright pumpkin pie and we sang to Uncle Rich. Then we went to the other room to cut the cake. We sang Happy Anniversary for fun, and teased Uncle Rich and Aunt Lisa about feeding each other the cake. Aunt Lisa protested that if they hadn't done it at the wedding, they weren't going to now. Then Uncle Rich thought he needed to intertwine their arms while doing it, and Aunt Lisa laughed so hard she couldn't continue. For her sake, I shall refrain from posting pictures.

It was fun to see our cousins, and get pictures like we hadn't in a long time.

The opening of the gifts was a fun time. The best part was when Uncle Rich pulled out the familiar-looking envelope. Aunt Lisa recognized it and got excited. Uncle Rich opened it and pulled out-himself.

His attempt to imitate himself was quite amusing.

I like how it looks from behind with the light shining through it.

A Day at the Fair

"It's been a long time since you posted on your blog," my friend said.

"I know."

It's been a long time since that conversation, and when I looked over my blog today, I discovered I hadn't posted at all last month, the first month I've missed since I started the blog. (Going on a year ago!) I've been wanting to do this post for a week and a half since I took the pictures which we will eventually get to.

Since I was two weeks old, I have been going to the Fulton County Fair every year without fail. For a number of years-eight, I believe, crazy as it seems-I have been entering things in it. In the past several years, a growing number of people in our circles have been discovering this, the best fair. (Okay, the best I've ever been to. Out of four or five. But it's a good one anyway.) We have taken different people around, and it has made this fun fair funner.

(I know, grammar police. I did it on purpose. Yes, I realize funner isn't a word. No, I don't care. Yes, I am a grammar guru. However, language changes. Yes, sometimes it isn't for the better. In this case, I would say it would be. Okay, end of digression. It's your fault, Aunt T.)

All that to introduce a mostly-picture post. Labor Day has become our big day at the fair, as our church plays at the Gospel tent in the evening, so many people come during the day. (Seriously, why wouldn't you?)

I didn't enter as much as usual this year and even considered not entering. It is much more interesting to go when you know people who entered things. Or are one.

Or if you are entered, as I was. I even got first place.

So, I guess you could say Melody and I both got first place. It was my only picture to do so.

I took a picture of the gator place for Aunt Mel.

Exciting times at the fair, right?

At lunchtime, we ate under the red tent. The coloring here was really odd for taking pictures.

I couldn't quite get it right. 

Mercy dubbing Sir Moist Von Schwartzdinger, the future doctor

Not a the best picture, I know, but I find it fascinating for some reason.

We watched a horse competition. We liked the green girl.

I like this picture-the strong lines and his look make it interesting, though it is a bit overexposed.

Yes, this is a sort of boring photo, subject and composition, but the exposure is spot-on, and so the subject so normal it's unusual, so I like it.

I took few pictures this fair day, I thought. But that was about to change. Around six we headed to the gospel tent, where people were already beginning to mill about. Melody got her hands on one of the cutest little guys we know, and the camera came out.

Once again, we were under the red tent and the color was weird.

Another little guy who was absolutely adorable with his ready grin.

By the way, if you've never tickled this little guy until he belly-laughed (it's not difficult), you are missing out.

With all these lovely people, there were so many opportunities...

I like the contrast in this one, between the older girl and the little girl, and between their focus on each other and the busy background.

The coloring almost adds to the interesting look on this baby, I think.

His toothy little grin is catching.

Contrast between daylight (above) and fluorescent light settings.

I couldn't decide which one I liked best.

So I did all three.

I turned from the tent, and some boys playing in the dusty gravel beside it caught my eye. With the sun low in the sky, lighting the scene, I could have spent hours snapping away.

I enjoyed taking pictures of the boys, though they pretend they don't want their picture taken, especially Wolfgang. He runs away, but soon he's back, posing for me, before he runs off again.

The picture is blurry, but the face so sweet I had to share.

So funny!

And this has got to be one of the most adorable pictures...I can't get over how much I love it.

There were a lot of pictures I liked of my buddy here. A flag hanging from a tall part of a tractor fascinated him and allowed me to get some interesting faces.

Katie was being shy and ran away when she saw me taking her picture, but when she went to her dad, I got this one, which I really like the concept of, though I'd like to take it better.

This one makes me chuckle.

Pointing out the flag

The sun and dust just made such cool pictures!

As everyone knows,

this kid is adorable.

He doesn't take a bad picture, either.

Spinning around one of the tent poles provided much amusement.

I wish I could have arranged this picture better, but he moved immediately afterwards. Still,the policemen and the little onlooker provide an interesting contrast.

Eloise found it quite funny that I would take their pictures as they spun around the pole, and her merriment was quite evident in her bright eyes, resulting in a sweet picture when I captured it.

This is amusingly similar to another picture I took of him at the camping trip.

Another pole, with different lighting, and this time it was even more difficult to get a picture that was properly focused.

This sweet little boy was one of the few camera-shy, but I love the look and lighting in this photograph.

The sunlight is cool...

And so are silhouettes...

Don't take my picture!

Take my picture!!!

Can I see it?

Take another one.

Cheese!

Back out in the daylight, I return to my first subject.

He's so cute, there are lots of pictures and they're hard to eliminate.

Can't resist a toothy smile!

However, he wasn't thrilled with sitting in the big wheel.

He refused to sit by himself (and I was afraid he would fall anyway), but with a little distraction we got a big smile with Melody.

Focusing was iffy as I made him smile, but the pictures were sweet.

Once again, the contrast, between happy and not, big and little. Unfortunately bad color.

Then I took some pretty girls.

(Oh, and the band. They're not included.)

I like the idea of this photo.

Looks like it's almost time to head for home. The light remained good much longer than I had expected.

Even though it's blurry, I like this picture.

And even though it's out of focus, I like this picture. I wish he had stayed just a moment longer!

Sweet smiles elicited by fanning from big brother.

Getting too dark to take pictures under the tent, the concert over, and people heading different ways...and I forgot I must go pick up the first show of flowers' stuff. So I put my camera away, and it went home with Amy.

It had been another fun day at the fair.