Gimme some love!

Candy, at Shutterbugsandbutterflies, has passed along this really cool award to me today. If you haven't been to Candy's site, go. Right now. I'll wait. 

Candy is a photographer with a fantastic eye. She is the wife of a Calvinist preacher, a mother and a marathon runner. She is a fascinating mixture of straight talk and wide eyed wonder. 

Thanks Candy.

Here are the rules: Write about five things you love. Make five other people do the same.

1. I love these eyes. Jordan's eyes are her most striking feature, and they always have been. Looking at pictures of Jordan as a small child and comparing them to a current picture, it's the eyes that tell you who you are looking at. They compliment her graceful and lovely appearance nicely. These eyes are the reason I began taking pictures.

2. I love this smile. Emma's smile is still young and genuine. I don't know why it is that we develop that phony smile as we get older, but we all do it. Emma is hanging on to her "real" smile longer than most. It's at least 1,000,000 watts. This smile is love. This smile gets whatever it wants.

3. I love this heart. Matthew is the kindest, gentlest, and most generous boy that I know. He is a great friend. His best attribute may be his ability to forgive so easily. Especially his quick tempered and often regretful father. 

4. I love this picture. We don't do family pictures very often, because, frankly, I prefer to be on the other end of the camera. But, a couple of weeks ago, we dressed everyone in white shirts and denim, found a pretty place, I set the camera timer and made a mad dash. We were happy, we were smiling. And nobody hated the picture. Result? We finally have a picture of the whole family to hang in our home.

5. I love my bullwhip. These don't all have to be the greatest loves of my life, do they? I'm a huge Indiana Jones fan (he was the force behind my love of history -- it's a long story). That whip you see coiled on my shoulder, is made by David Morgan, the man who made the whips for the movies. It's the SAME whip! And I paid through the nose for it. Now purists will look at my outfit here and say "Sure, he's got the hat and jacket. But, where's the gun and the shoulder bag?" But, what they're all thinking is "I wish I had that whip!" It sounds like a rifle when it cracks. I think it scares the neighbors, but they've only called the police once. It hurts like a mother when you catch yourself in the calf or behind the ear. That's the sign of a good whip. (I don't really have jaundice -- it's just the filter).

Now, I think I'll pass this love fest on to:

1. Pam. She has possibly the cutest kids on the planet, especially the curly haired ballerina who loves her uncle Chris.

2. Alisha. This is your online source for two beautiful little crackerjacks, whose mother takes her camera EVERYWHERE! Even to the hospital. And she answers all of her email. She's like Superwoman.

3. Kat. Kat is a great writer and story teller. Those ghost stories creeped me out. On top of that she might have West Nile virus. I think that alone should qualify her for an award. And one of these days, I'll figure out what a fritter farmer is.

4. Susan. All she is is a Christian, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, former teacher, photographer (make that a very good photographer), vocalist, cook, cleaner, mender of boo boos, organizer, writer, blogger, listener, piles of laundry doer, and jewelry seller. So she has quite a bit of time on her hands to do things like this. Besides, she always leaves the kindest comments for me.

5. Jordan. My first born, who just lives for things like this.