It's That Time of Year

With a visit to Rawhide Western Town we have sucessfully taken our old time photograph for 21 years! We have only  missed one year in all that time. Daniel,the tall honcho on the right above, was only three months old when we began taking these photos.  Before we knew it we had eased into a tradition. 

Any opinions on which one I should frame and hang on the wall?

 

You don't wanna mess with this bunch.

Niagra Falls

While in New York for Eli's Blessing, we decided to drive upstate. This entry is about one of the things we found there, Niagra Falls. Here is the bridge that crosses from The US into Canada,

and way down below is the dock for the "Maid of the Mist" boats. Look closely and you can see the people lined up in their blue Rain Ponchos.

We decided to go get on one of "them little boats".

American Falls shown here. One of 'em is Rainbow falls.

Eli was snug in his little blue world, his stroller under a poncho.

We boated up into the mist at the base of Horseshoe falls. It was very"misty". We got very wet!
We really had a blast.

to be continued...

My Cute Mom

My Mom walks our dogs, Argo and Dodger, most days.

Her outfit to stay cool is pretty cute.

She reminds me of "Maxine" that Hallmark card Cartoon character.

A Visit from the Emig's

My swing set in the back yard hadn't seen much use lately. The slide was nice and slowI managed to snap just a few photos of my Great Nieces and Nephews while they were here. They came to see their Grandma Aha while on their trip to the Emig's here in the Phoenix area. She was thrilled.

Jack I missed getting Carolina and Fiona in a shot. Nor did I photo their parents Cali and Joey Emig. I guess because it is busy when they are around.

We went to the clubhouse to swim. The Beach pool was open but it was a little cold. So we went in the main pool and the hot tub.

--So glad they came by.

Gracie's trick

with help from her big brother Tyson.

Samantha and Kyle

I have been wanting to post something about our visit to Miller's in California. My camera was fritzi so I just have a few semi clear ,semi representative photos but have decided to use 'em anyway since my words have been failing me a lot lately.

My niece, Samatha, and her husband Kyle have a great little place in a beautiful area of Thousand Oaks. They also have two wonderful little kids Kate and Owen.

I know it is never a dull moment at their house. Sam is constantly busy with them and then there is the work of being pregnant too.

We took them a sofa and chair. I hope she uses it like this as much as she possibly can.

Brent Turns 60

Birthday best,big Brother!

This man is one of the last of a dying breed. Okay maybe that is an exaggeration but real cowboys who live off their land are few.

Yes, he wears boots every day, a cowboy hat most days and chaps and spurs when needed.

It's hard work, to put it mildly.

They (Tammy, his wife, may work harder than he does, plus she does the housework, prepares meals and works outside jobs) care for hundreds of head of cattle which includes branding, marking, tagging, vaccinating, calving, doctoring, castrating, weaning, feeding, watering, fencing, and moving/trailing.

To feed them means planting, fertilizing, irrigating, harvesting, baleing, storing, moving, selling, distributing, trucking, buying and selling, loading, repairing equipment and feeding them huge bales of hay you grow, put up and haul, or pellets of some kind to supplement and improvetheir feed, every day, without fail, no matter what. Blizzard? No matter. Broken bones or pneumonia? bah. Truck won't start? go anyway.

Then there are the horses.

Anyway, here's to the American small Rancher.

Rachel and Allison on separate coasts

Ladies--waiting.

Rachel is waiting (pictured here with Heidi) to hear if she is accepted to grad school in Montana. All her eggs are in this particular basket so I think she will be moving there(Missoula) no matter what happens.

How many weeks along are you now Allison? Would that be 28 and officially the 3rd trimester?
...and with the boys thrown in for good measure.

David Leaves on a big scout prep hike tommorrow. It is spring break here. He is preparing to go to Philmont this summer!

Dan is filming on a big shoot for school.

Dan is looking tough so David won't think he can take him. Gotta maintain the big bro image for as long as you can.

Maybe that applys for sisters too? I don't know.

Connie and Doug

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58206/Missionary-Training-Center-presidents.html

Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes. ~Gloria Naylor

My Sister's Birthday today

Happy Birthday, Connie!

(Under labels click on "Connie" to see past posts )

She took funny care of me at the dock on the Grijalda river like no one else could have, comfortably anyway.

This has always been so with us. v

How do people make it through life without a sister? ~Sara Corpening

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double. ~Toni Morrison

Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply... ~Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814


There can be no situation in life in which the conversation of my dear sister will not administer some comfort to me. ~Mary Montagu

When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us? ~Pam Brown

Twenty Years and counting

It all started back in the day...
Way back in 1980 something the Cutler's moved to Colorado, went to the State Fair, and started taking old time photos of the family. The first ones were actually with an antique camera and some of the photos have suffered because of that process. It became a yearly tradition and long after we were no longer able to attend the state fair we sought out sights and took our shots. One year it was at Devil's tower Wyoming. One year of necessity it was in our backyard here in Gilbert (our first year with Ian) and this year we spotted a booth at Six Flags Amusement Park in New Jersey and-- Ta Da!


Be afraid, be very afraid.

Coney Island

More party in NYC.



We decided we had never been to Coney island and that it must be about time.

Well yup, it's all true what you have heard. Nathan's does serve an excellent dawg, the ancient wooden coaster is a bone jolter, the Atlantic ocean is colder than the Pacific, and freak shows abound outside as well as inside on the Boardwalk.
Earlier in the week we had hit a flea market in Hell's Kitchen and David picked up a too cool leather jacket. Thus we were inspired for the above photo.













Here we are inline for the "Wonder Wheel" at Coney Island.












We picked the tilting rocking version of the cars of course.

It's all About Allison week continues!

Family

Newlyweds Cindy and David Butler with Cindy's great Aunt Doris.

I might be a second cousin or a cousin once removed i can never remember what it is. Cindy is my cousin Linda's girl on my Dad's side.

We attended their Open House here in Gilbert. They were married in the Bountiful LDS Temple and will continue to live in Lehi, UT.

Cute couple.

Tommorrow I leave for New York City!

A history making day for Justin and Angelique.
Congratulations on their First Baby!

Douglas Justin Earl

see blog "and it came to pass" for photos!

Happy Birthday Danny!!

Today is the day!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

(see prior posts please)
march 29th or clic on "almost a fool"( a label at the very bottom of this blog site)

Cactus League

Can anyone figure out what this is a photo of?

hint- it was my view during the game.

answer- Dave Watt's back




Okay, down to business. Wait, one more trick photo.
This photo?
Any guesses?
Five little dots in the distance above the giant green batters eye wall? (by the way when you are seated behind that thing, on the side, you can tell you have really bad seats).
Yup, it's a "fly by" of red Bi wing airplanes! Even at their slow speed I couldn't get a photo until they had almost disappeared. ( I have never claimed to be good at this. )



Rachel and Russ showed up too! Rachel started a water fight with me and I definitely "finished it".

But, the whole reason for this party is that our good old friends the Watts came to Cactus League spring training.
Cactus league for those of you who don't know(not Joey of course)is Major league Baseball "warm up "games. Oh I don't know- Ask Joe E. He may not know it but he is my "go to" guy" on Arizona sports.


Anyway, we went to see the COLORADO ROCKIES play the Chicago Cubs! We got some serious sun, ate dogs and cheese frys (10 points for finding them in the picture)and "drank" frozen lemonade. (I won't mention that the Rockies lost.)


Photo-from left to right-Nada,Josh,Jaxon(look closely he's only three months old, I am serving a purpose as I sit in my largeness, I am his shade maker!)Me, Ashley, Kaitlin, Rachel, Russ, then Davey, and Christine! (We have been friends since before these two were even born.)

Hooray for Colorado!

Elder Cutler's Birthday

Danny was born April 2, 1989 in Kirkland Washington.

He had two big sisters at that time.(He still does, plus a younger brother) He didn't have to talk for himself 'til around 3 or 4 years old. Those sisters anticipated and interpreted every noise and gesture.

We moved that very next summer to Sedalia Colorado.

This photo of my curly headed little boy is one of my very favorite of him. He explored every nook and cavern at full speed and then looked back to grunt and gesture his approval to the following Mom.(me, of course)

..................

Happy 20th Birthday

Elder Daniel Keith Cutler!

in Vina del Mar Chile

Happy Saint Patricks Day

I need to say once more this is my Great Great Grandmother's castle in Ireland. Her name was Catherine Mequire. We are going there some day!

Big Brother Brent

Happy Birthday, Brent!
I think i need some new photos.