Between eating homemade chicken and noodles and Don's Bûche de Noël (Christmas cake), playing Settlers of Catan, romping in the snow, listening to music, and watching movies ("Iron Man" for one - it's good), we managed a family pic with the help of Mr. Tripod. Peter processed this one with an old look on his Mac. We all wish you a Happy New Year! Left to right: me, Don, Peter, Lesley, and Brian.
I wore the earrings Peter picked up for me in St. John, New Brunswick that Gwen made. Aren't they beautiful? They made me feel tres elegante, like when I was a little girl playing dress-up with bobby pins clipped together and dangling from my ears, only better.
79 comments:
Sweet! I'm the first to see the family picture! And a very nice one it is. Peter did an excellent job. Ruth, it's so nice to put a face to the name and the words. You look a lot like I imagined, very lovely.
There is an advantage to not having little ones running hither and yon.... you get to do things like watch movies, play games and listening to nice music. But then, I wouldn't have it any other way! The chaos is nice, too!
Hey, no fair! You edited after I posted my comment! I like the earrings..... and you had Buche de Noel and didn't invite me? For shame, for shame! I'll trade you some of my leftover fudge and chocolate chip cookies for any crumbs of the Christmas cake that might still be on the plate. :)
Good morning, Susan! There is a wee bit of Bûche de Noël left on the dining room table, come on up! Yes, I wanted to show off Gwen's earrings, but didn't remember until after I posted. I was hoping you'd come back (I knew you would).
Funny you would mention the little ones running around, because I thought many times this week about the chaos of the future that I can't wait for. Even though I have longed for grandkids for a long while, I haven't ever really imagined what it would feel like as family grows until now. I'm enjoying the addition of Brian so much!
It's so nice when new family members are added to the circle, isn't it? Brian looks as if he fits right into yours. We are certainly enjoying our newest, our grandson Matthew. He is such a joy! And he started scooting backward on Christmas Day and he isn't quite 6 months yet. Amazing that something as simple as that can make your whole day exciting!
Actually, the grands were quite well-behaved this year. Only a couple of minor skirmishes between the little girls. My biggest problem is we are outgrowing our house when they're all here. Time for that addition we've been talking about.
Oh, Matthew sounds so cute! It's funny how each new human chooses a unique way to move around. He must be adorable. Lesley did the sniper crawl.
I have no doubt that we will get very crowded in this house too as we grow. You get to know each other quite well up close. :)
Great shot of the family! Merry Christmas!! And, Peter did a great job picking your earrings..they are beautiful.
Thank you, Donica!
We miss being with you this holiday very much.
Good morning, Ruth,
What a lovely group picture. Mr. Tripod is so necessary sometimes, isn't he?
What a lovely family group. And even though I don't wear jewelry, those earrings are really lovely, and they are tres chic!
Sounds like you had a lovely holiday.
My compliments to Mr. Tripod, truly an excellent photographer.
Of course an artist is only as good as his material, and with a family like yours, how could he go wrong?
This photograph is a family classic... so gentle, so splendid, so beautiful...
I love seeing you all together...
and I feel very special being a part of your Christmas...Thank you so much Peter... and Ruth... they look perfect on you!
oh you are funny Ruth.. dangling bobby pins from your ears... weren't you inventive.. but of course, it has lead to your amazing creativity today... every young girl should dangle bobby pins!!!
All the best...
Lovely family photo - it is nice to have a face to your words!
Did you notice how your earring has that magical star effect in the photo, it twinkles!
Beautiful Family!!! Brian looks like he belongs. Lovely earrings, very elegant.
Please take a close up of Lesley's engagement ring!
Sam (whose been away too long)
Gorgeous Family Ruth! & such an awesome capture! The processing is beautiful too* I need to get me a mr tripod one of these days....Love those earrings too! Christmas was lovely this year:) Cheers to you and yours in this bright shiny new year! xoxoxo
I like being an eagle, but sometimes I feel limited since my blog is mainly a nature and travel blog. But, my wife takes care of the family stuff on our family blog.
Thanks for letting me know about your template. I like the way you are able to put photos all the way across. The one I'm using limits me on that. I'm "shopping" for a new one!
OH....great family photo!
Wonderful family portrait, you guys are so cute!
I can just imagine how special those earrings must feel when you wear them:) They are beautiful!
Yea! An updated picture for our refrigerator!! Great to be together, isn't it?
Found your site recently and have been enjoying the photographs...love the family photo and the treatment given to it - I brought the tripod to our family dinner but was unable to organize everyone getting together while the kids were awake and happy! (Love the earrings too!)
Ruth, what a great family photo and a good looking family too! Those earrings ARE beautiful and I loved your reference to when you were a little girl...gave me my smile for this morning!
What a great photo of you all!!!
Loved seeing it and beautiful earrings.
handsome family you are...
As an aside, if I was going to get a hairstyle, which is something I haven't done in years, yours would be a strong candidate. Love your hair.
A Belated Merry Christmas to you! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the photo! The earrings are awesome too!
i came over from amy's blog to see the family portrait she inspired! this is a wonderful photo, so full of personality! nice to meet you and you are welcome to come to my place for a cup of tea as well :)
I have a couple more blog questions. I really do like your blog. One thing I like is that the photos are so large. How do you do that? I always choose the "large" setting when posting a photo to my blog, but they are not near as large as on your blog. Also, I'm experimenting with the Minima Stretch template, and there is a border around the photo. I'd like to get rid of that. How did you do that on your blog? Please let me know if you'd rather not receive questions like this on your blog. I've been doing this for a while, but am still learning how the whole thing works.
Wonderful photo! I get grumpy just hearing "Settlers of Catan," Abby absconded with it somewhere and can't remember where it is - it's too durned expensive to get a new one! We played many rounds of Cranium and QuickWord Christmas night. Three of Abby's friends came over for dinner with their moms (all dads were MIA), which means it was nine women and me. I joked that her friends were all supermodels, so it was "A Supermodel Christmas." No complaints.
What a lovely photo! You look like a lady who has danced :O)
Yes, the earrings are beautiful.
Beautiful....on so many levels!
Hi, Vicki, this long holiday family time together is a luxury. So glad you had time with your granddaughters too, they are so sweet. I think love grows exponentially as our progeny multiplies.
Ah, thank you, Barry. We are a happy lot, I think you can tell.
Gwen, I loved having you here Christmas day. I've been waiting for the right occasion to wear the danglies. Now the thing lacking is to go to the Bay of Fundy in person and meet you, John and Max, and see and feel the splendor of your surroundings, and your art.
Thanks, Sanna. I hadn't noticed the magical star, but I'm not surprised. I think Gwen works in alchemy and magic.
Hi, Sam! Welcome back, so glad you've returned. Lesley's ring is quite beautiful, and Brian picked out by himself. He knew Lesley didn't want a diamond, and she wanted something nostalgic. It has a beautiful peral. I'll see what I can do. :)
Dear Amy, thank you. I thought you would like Peter's processing. I tried to replicate it on PhotoShop, but couldn't get close. Mac's Lightroom is pretty cool. Thanks again for the inspiration of love and beauty in your family pics. It's going to be a fun year, I can tell!
Thank you, Charley! I will come to your place and explain about enlarging photos.
Sometimes I feel that my blog is all over the place and I wish I focused more on a limited topic. But then it wouldn't reflect me, I guess.
Ruth, I'm in shock. A) You visited my Bittersweet blog - thought you were only interested in the Flag one (which is currently out of commission) B) I didn't know about this blog - only knew of the Huffing one - so, real treat to see your picture AND To see that you are not an angry old lady! LMAO. In fact, you are looking good, woman!
And, how lucky are you - to receive earrings by Gwen.
So, I'm going to go and explore this blog now. :)
Anet sweetie, thank you.
You are so right that the earrings feel special. Gwen chose a very delicate wire for the ear, and just putting them in I can feel the quality. And the weight and dangle make me feel girly.
Mrs. M.! We missed you yesterday. :( And speaking of refrigerators, we had to cull some of the photos to make room for new ones. That was hard, but Nancy did a good job.
Dear Oliag, welcome! I'm so glad you found synch. Your Picturing the Year blog is gorgeous, very artistic. I look forward to seeing what you see.
That's funny about the tripod - yes, their talents are limited. :)
Thank you, Tammy. :)
Your weather sounds very like ours now, rainy and treacherous. Today is super windy! Take care of those precious creatures.
Thank you, Auntie Sandy. Our family is your family. :)
And thanks for the kind comment about my hair. At my family Christmas yesterday I can't tell you how many of us - including the little girls - had my hairstyle.
Oh Kerri, thank you! I appreciate your comment - you have such an artistic eye. I look forward to more beautiful macro shots of yours in 2009.
Oh, Robin Bird! I can see I'm going to get lost in your blog. Thank you, and I will come for a cup of tea very soon. I need to sit there longer. For one, you were playing one of my favorite tunes: Be Thou my Vision.
Ha, Loring! I think Don, Lesley, Brian and Peter played for 3 hours - first time in our family. I love Cranium and missed it this year. And good on you for surrounding yourself with supermodels. I always say you are a smart man.
Babs! Well that is a terrific compliment!
My dancing has to catch up with my happiness.
Dear Sharon, thank you my beautiful friend.
Morna! Hehe, well I started Huffing so I wouldn't do all that huffing and puffing here. It didn't seem fitting for this blog. I have loved your Bittersweet blog, so gloriously creative and artistic.
Ruth - I would love to know about enlarging photos too!
Ohhhh. What a family photo, Ruth...one to be proud of (though I must say you have more of a Hillary look than a Ruth look?). Also, you CAN replicate that look on PS if you want to know. :)
I am so eager to hear about the day yesterday with the family. Did you only go for the day, I wonder? So many questions, so little time...but soon we can talk our ears off!
Much happiness and joy of life to you Ruth and all those your loved ones 2009 !
What a great shot, you guys all look so friendly, not that I didn't think you were or anything,lol. Iron Man was awesome, all the best to you guys in 2009!!
Morna, please tell me if you have trouble with the instructions I sent you. It takes some playing to get it right sometimes.
Ruth, you are scaring me with Bouchee do who ? oh deeah !
buche de what ?
Does it bite ?
Buchee do Noelu !
Buche de Noel
i copied your spelling and i can't get that upward arrow thing on U and two dots on E
looks scary
i don't like to expose my ignorance to you and your readers Ruth.
i would say yes yes, i know what this Bouchee is, Bouchee do noelu was barking at me and came chasing me once, when i was a kid.
Never heard of Buchee Ruth. oh deeah ! how ignorant i am. feel ashamed.
Gorgeous ear rings, have to thank Peetah for that.Good eye you got Peetah !
very delicate craftsmanship. i don't like to use the word 'craftmanship' on Gwen.
Thank you Gwen, highly intricate craftwomanship. just lovely.
Joy in the picture Ruth, what are you holding in your hands ?
Oh good, Boots, I would like to watch you process a photo on PS like that. Lots of things we can do this week.
Yes, we went to the cottage for the day, mostly because of Peter's allergies. I missed you, everyone did.
2 more days!
My dear sweet sister, Leena, I wish you could come and sit with my other wonderful sister Ginnie and me this week while we do nothing but what we want to. Or I'd love to fly over to Joensuu and enjoy the twilight through the window.
barely recovered from the shock of Bouchee and you threaten me with settlets of cuttan.
Thank you, Bob. Before the family started another game of Catan just now, we were in the hot tub under a spectacular clear sky, and Lesley was pointing out all the constellations and planets. You'd be proud of her! I promise I'll try to photograph the moon with success in 2009, I need some of those 3D glasses.
Ah rauf, I would like to hear you pronounce that buche word. Everything sounds and looks fancy in French. I should have taken a pittur of it before we ate it, but I frosted it and it was a mess. It's supposed to look like a log ready for the fire - I think that's what buche means. But this one - thanks to my terrible frosting job - looked more like . . um . . I won't say what. Here is a wiki link showing what it's supposed to look like. It says it's traditional in France, Belgium, Quebec and Lebanon.
Believe me, rauf, I never heard of the Settlers of Catan until Don picked up the game, because Lesley and Brian told him about it. I am not a board game player, and I am not sad that only 4 can play, which they are doing right now. Some guy in Germany invented it.
Oh, in the photo I am holding my glasses, you know I have to have them on to get the focus adjusted, then I can't throw them, so I have to hold them. They look funny in the photo because the French seam of my jeans is underneath. Again with the French! See I have to bring Paris to the farm, rauf, since I can't afford to go there.
These earrings are beautiful. So is your family picture. ; ) Gorgeous.
Lovely family photo :) And those earrings are very pretty.
That was neatly done :). Good to know ur having a wonderful year end.
Iron man was an awesome movie to watch as a family.Have a great new year.
So nice to see a family (especially to see you!) which I have started to know a little bit, especially since I found this other blog of yours!
(I saw your reference to the French and to Paris. Hope you can somehow manage to come back here.)
All the best for 2009 to all of you!
Happy new year to you too ruth :D
Hi Christina, thank you.
Thank you, Drowsey. Our family is your family, remember.
Hi Nautankey, Happy New Year! When is your next play?
I hope you will enjoy the year ahead. I look forward to more stories.
Hello, Peter. I'm glad you made your way to synchronizing too.
Sometimes I can't imagine how you will find more to cover in Paris on your blog. And then you share something completely new and surprising. I do hope I can go back. Now there are other places I'd like to get to know, like India.
Thanks so much, Prasad! I feel it's going to be a good year.
Thanks so much for your help Ruth!!! It worked!!! I couldn't get it to work with that last photo that I had posted with Picasa. But, I had no problems getting it to work on my other posts.
One last question: Your photos do not have a border, or a "frame" around them. Is that because your background is white and the border does not show? Or, did you do away with the border somehow? All of my photos have borders when I use the Minima Stretch template. I've experimented but can't figure out how to get rid of it.
Thanks again Ruth! Tada!!! No borders! I feel silly that I didn't realize that was how to get rid of the them. Now, I have to decide whether I like it better with our without the borders! Ha!!!
Yippee!! Your blog looks fantastic, Charley!
Spectacular earrings nd wow, I love your family portrait. The coloring makes it pop.
Nice to meet you and your family.
Geez you're a spunk!!!
(I hope that isn't a rude word in Americaneese - it's a compliment in "Estrayan"eese).
I'd be feeling pretty happy about myself if I looked like you do!
So wonderful to see the family shot!
Happy, smiling faces.
Full of love and life.
You've been a wonderful person to get to know over the last year.
I can't wait to know you more in 2009.
Thank you, Sue! Peter did a good job, it's fun playing with processing. Happy New Year!
My dear Letty, you're a doll. Spunk, eh? It doesn't mean anything bad here, in fact I don't think it means anything that I've heard. It's something someone has, not is. But I like it, and thank you! I've loved getting to know you too, let's talk more in 2009.
Oh! Hi, Ruth. It's a very nice classic looking family photo.
I just stopping by to say Happy New Year. Wish you a peaceful and exciting new year.
How nice, Ben! Thank you, and I wish you a year full of beautiful New Zealand photos.
Now that is one attractive family! All of you!
We play Settlers of Catan too! Our daughter always cleans our clock whenever we play; we always fall for all of her ploys.
Thank you, Dutchbaby!
Oh, now I want to know your daughter's ploys! We stay pretty balanced with who wins over here. Maybe we don't have enough ploys! Or maybe we are too transparent talking about them. :|
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