Monroe's Sugarin', Barton VT

It is our yearly passage of Spring to visit our friend's Sugar House up in Barton VT. Steve and Terri Monroe have become good friends of ours. Their Sugar House has been featured here on the blog on several occasions, and every visit is a very special time spent with some very proud Vermonters!

This year we were accompanied by Miss J, Steve, and Ryleigh. I love sharing all of our Vermont traditions with the newest generation of our family. xxx

The Sugar House is a very busy operation during the boil, but it never ceases to amaze me how well the whole operation works....like a fine oiled machine.....they work so well together and always know what needs to be tended to at the exact minute.

We were treated to a delicious dinner during our visit. The Vermont hospitality never ceases to amaze me! Now, let me first say that I am not a big fan of hot dogs. BUT.......Terri  boiled the hot dogs in maple sap......NOT syrup.....but fresh sap....and then put them on the grill for a few minutes and served them on toasted rolls. I have never in my life tasted anything so amazing!!!!

Genious!!!!

She also served us her homemade chili. Oh we were very happy visitors!!!! :-)

And the dessert!!!! Good Lord the deliciousness of the dessert!!!! There is nothing, and may I repeat nothing more delicious than a warmed raised donut dipped in freshly boiled maple syrup fresh out of the boiler. Not even chocolate is better than this. AMEN!

Thank you so much for such a fun evening to Terri, Steve, and Josie!!!! Good company, a hot dog cooked the Vermont way, homemade chili, and a beer. It doesn't get much better than that!!!

Praying that the weather allows you many more boils this year!!! xxooo

N and Melissa get Married!!!!

Last weekend was such a wonderful weekend for us. Our son N married Melissa, the love of his life. These two are meant for each other. They are both super amazing people who share the same ideas, morals, and are just the perfect soul mates. Their love for each other is so apparent and it is contagious.

Melissa asked me if I could shoot a few pictures of the guys at the hotel before the wedding. I had my makeup and hair done, was wearing sweats and sandals, and had lots of laughs with the guys just before I got dressed and left for the church. It worked out great!:-)

Here are both of my boys. I love this picture:

Nick wore a medallion with my mother's picture on his boutenniere, and there was also one on the flowers that I carried. Sigh....it was a surprise for me, and I can not tell you how much it meant to me. 

It was a beautiful mass and Melissa looked stunning!

Here are all of my "kids"....Steve with Miss J, Jay, N, and Melissa. I love them all soooo much

This last image says it all. 

Personally, it was a very emotional day for me. My Mom really wanted to be able to go to this wedding. I know she was there with us in spirit and I know how proud she is of N!!! My Dad also could not attend the wedding. He was in the hospital. Although it has been such a difficult couple of months for our family, this was a perfect day in every way. We are so happy and so blessed.

xxxxxooooo

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014

Top of the Mornin' to you!!!! Oh, wait a minute. It's evening right now. But, that's ok because everything Irish goes today!!!
Miss J ran a road race in South Boston yesterday, before the big parade. This gave Mr. S and I the opportunity to babysit Miss Ryleigh, which gave me the opportunity to take some St. Patrick's Day images of this precious little Lassie!!!

*******Cuteness Alert****** :-)

I just love this one....

What a big girl!!!!! :-)

Ryleigh has not appeared on the blog for a while so I figured I'd let you know what is going on with her.
First of all, she sits up all by herself!!!! She also has already gotten her first tooth. She is eating baby food. Sweet Potatoes are her favorite. She is forever smiling and she is forever melting my heart.
This better not be the look to come whenever she sees Nana with her camera. It's kind of like an "oh no" look! *wink*

But naaaaah.......she loves Nana's camera and loves to give Nana her pretty smiles! :-)

These were taken this afternoon. Can you see the little bit of hair that's growing in? Can you see the color of her eye brows and eye lashes???? 

Did you know that only 1% of the population has red hair and blue eyes?????

I...........LOVE............HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slater Mill, Pawtucket RI

I visited the Slater Mill site in Pawtucket RI on Saturday, with several members of my camera club. We arrived t 9AM for a private tour, as the museum opens to the public at 11 AM. Our first stop was the Sylvanus Brown House, which is furnished as an early 19th century artisan's house:

We also visited the Wilkinson Mill, which is a 19th century machine shop with a working water wheel. (Water was frozen during our visit so we could not see the water wheel in action)

And the Slater Mill which was the site of the first successful water powered cotton spinning factory in America:

A view of the Slater Mill from the Wilkinson House Mill:

We had a great time, and it was so nice to be back out shooting again!

Sweet Baby James

 Getting some normalcy back into my life, so decided to get back to blogging and sharing photos. Before I begin though, I'd like to let everyone know that things are going well with my family and I. My father is doing well. In fact, I think he is ready for some normalcy as well. He told me today that he is going to start participating in activities where he lives. I took him out today, and got him back just in time for him to attend an afternoon coffee and cookie social hour. And tomorrow night he is planning on going to the weekly "Happy Hour"at the pub! I am really glad that he has decided to get back into his routine and getting back to being social. It is the best thing for him.

Okay, now lets get to sweet little baby James. I had the pleasure of doing his newborn photography session almost five weeks ago. It's about time I shared the images with you here on the blog. James' mommy Amanda is one of Miss J's good friends and I was honored when she asked me to take his newborn photos. As soon as I walked into their house and saw the beautiful fireplace, I knew just where I wanted to place that little bundle of joy! I didn't really get to use my wooden bowl that I purchased for Ryleigh....she was such a big girl that she was too big for it. :-) But not James. James fit nicely in that bowl and it went so well with the whole rustic feel I was after.

Isn't he so beautiful?????? Love him!!!!!!

He's telling us "Sshhhhh....I'm trying to get some sleep here!" 

Look how nicely he fits into his Daddy's baseball glove. He was so tiny!!! But he was giving us the wink letting us know how really cool he is!

Ryleigh likes her new friend!!!!!

Thank you James and Amanda. I hope to get some time to spend with you both again! xxoo

A Valentine Love Story

Let me begin this blog by saying that I had no intentions on writing a blog post today. It was the furthest thing on my mind. I'm not one who would want to share a personal loss on this blog at such a sensitive and fragile time in my life. However, sometimes life throws us the unexpected, so I would like to share a very special valentine story here. And now.

Allow me to back up a bit if I may. My last blog post featured my parents recovery from pneumonia at a rehabilitation facility. In that post, I wrote about the deep connection that my parents shared. You can read the blog post here:
 http://www.carolsviewofnewengland.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-pneumonia-twins.html

The day before my parents were to return home together from rehab, on January 25th, my mother had a stroke. She never recovered and I'm so sorry to say that she passed away at four o'clock this morning, on St Valentine's Day. My mother was so full of goodness and love. It doesn't surprise me at all that God called her home on a day that is all about love. To quote my good friend Nancy....."The Lord is all about love and when he sends one home, he does it with the greatest of His love." I know that God loves her very much, and that God appreciates and acknowledges all of the love that my mother has given during her life. She was an amazing person....full of grace, dignity, and most of all, love.

My sister Kathleen and I arrived at my fathers to tell him of our mothers passing at 7:30 this morning. We walked in the door and greeted my father to tell him the news. However.....he already knew. He told us that he was woken up by a woman standing at his bedside during the wee hours of the morning. He was awakened by her and he felt refreshed...... he was not the least bit groggy. It was my mother at his bedside letting him know that she was okay.

And so the love story continues even through death.

I can not even begin to tell you how much I feel at peace knowing this.

Happy Valentine's Day Mom. I love you with all of my heart.