bak 2 skuL.

Well, this has been quite a week.

I forgot all about blogging this week.  I guess I was too busy looking at all the flood pictures of Vermont!

You never really think a really big storm is going to hit a place YOU call home...and then it does.

It's still hard to believe.

A week like this really makes you pause and count your blessings.

I'm so thankful my family in Vermont is safe and well, but so sad for all the damage that was done. ♥

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In-between looking at flood pictures this week, we've been gearing up for a brand new semester! 

It's here already?!

For Josh, this means setting his alarm extra early and dusting off his schoolbooks...he started his first classes today!  It's going to be another busy semester but we're ready. 

Bring it!

For Knox, the beginning of a new semester means, well...

It means learning more and more new words (like peepee, for example, which wasn't exactly next on my list of words I was hoping he would learn...though I guess in retrospect it is a good one to know).

It means getting to play with Daddy's school bag...

And, apparently, it means printing fax confirmations for faxes we have never sent. :)

(I have no idea how he does it but confirmations keep appearing out of nowhere on the printer!!)

For me the start of this new semester means working out the details of a brand new SWING group I'm heading up this year. 

I'm super excited to get started!!!

So...

Vermont, we love you!

And Semester #7 (of ?), we're glad you're here.

Grandpa Porter's Photos & Photography 101

Last week my family was invited to a reception at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (the hospital where I was born) :) in Brattleboro, VT because the hospital hung a display of enlargements of my great-grandfather Porter's photographs in their administration wing.   

My great-grandparents, Porter C. Thayer and Edith Webster Thayer, were photographers when photography was till somewhat of a novelty.  

They held a photography studio in Townsend, VT in the early 1900s and Grandpa Porter traveled (by horse-drawn cart) all around Southern Vermont capturing and preserving on camera images of rural life...working people, towns and landscapes.  

His photos are now quite well-known and have become an important piece of Vermont history.

If you stop at a General Store in Vermont today you are likely to find some black and white postcards with Grandpa Thayer's trademark white descriptions at the bottom of each picture.  His photos pop up all over the place.

This past year Brooks Memorial Library and the University of Vermont have been working together to digitize 1,250 of my great-grandfather's photos in order to preserve them, which I think is very exciting.

And the display at the hospital is an honor.  Here are some photos of the reception last week, courtesy of Bratteboro Memorial Hospital.

My Dad & his brother Bill, Porter's grandsons

 

Dad & Mom, Aunt Mary, Uncle Bill, my cousins Bill & Becky

So...with Grandpa Porter's photography skills on one side and Josh's photography skills on the other we're expecting great things from Knox in the photo realm...  (no pressure) :)

We've started his training early, check it out.  :)

Porter's Great Great Grandson, Photographer in Training

Not All Cows Are Created Equal

One of Uncle Malcolm's Jersey Cows

If there's one thing a Vermont girl knows it's that not all cows are created equal.

Jersey cows, for example (the brown ones) are the best. 

This is what my Uncle Malcolm says, anyway, and I take his word as law when it comes to cows. 

You should, too.

Holsteins (the black and white ones) might give you more milk, but everyone knows that the quality of a Holstein's milk is far inferior to that of a Jersey cow. 

A Holstein will give you lots of skim milk but a Jersey will give you pure cream. 

I am very loyal to Jersey cows, as you can tell, but this summer I did discover one Holstein that could give a Jersey a run for its money.

VS.

That's right, Holstein vs. Jersey and it was a close call!

Have you ever heard of Cornhole? 

I hadn't, until our July 4th picnic when my uncle, aunt and cousins brought this game over for us to play.  I LOVE Cornhole.  It's my new favorite game.  And as soon as I move to a place where I actually have my own yard I'm going to hire my cousin Maria's fiancee Matt to make us one of these sets, and my cousin Lauren to paint it for us.  Didn't they do an amazing job with that one?!

The object is, of course, to get as many bean bags in the hole as possible.  You also get points for landing on the board, which is harder than it looks.  The first team to 21 wins, but you have to be careful because if you go over 21 you LOSE.

Jerseys rule, Holsteins drool!

The Boat

I'd like to introduce you to a very very special friend of mine.  

Meet...

The Boat:

My parents bought this beauty right after they were married.  I don't think when they towed it home they had any idea that 38 years later they would be taking her out for a ride with their two grandsons!  My dad has done an amazing job at keeping her going.

My parents have had different cars through the years, even different houses.  

But only one trusty boat.  

We love this old bird. 

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of lazy days on the lake...swimming, tubing, waterskiing, falling asleep on the shore...

I remember spending the night on the boat, anchored in the middle of the lake.  I remember earning my very own "cool" life jacket when I finally mastered waterskiing.  I remember taking her camping with us.  I remember spending many of my birthdays with her.

And I remember the dreadful day our boat died in the middle of the lake.  My dad swears he would have pulled the plug and sunk her that day if he hadn't had me and Courtney with him; he had to sit on the front and paddle her all the way back across the lake to the boat launch.  Not so fun for him but Courtney and I thought it was a great adventure.  :)

We have so so SO many fun memories involving the boat.

So this summer, with everyone home in Vermont, Courtney and I were very excited to introduce our boys to the boat.  

They must felt pretty comfortable with her, because as soon as my dad started up the motor they fell right asleep. :)

Knox, 11 months old

Max, 2 weeks old

Knox woke up after a little while, though, and he loved the boat.

Getting sleepy again. :)

I'm so thankful we all got to have another beautiful day together creating more fun memories on the lake with the boat.♥

 And I'm looking forward to many more! :)

Moose, Bear, Deere...and other Vermonty things

It's hard to put into words all that I love about Vermont.

I love her sweet air.
Her wildflowers.
Her clean grass.
Her loud silence.

I love it that one morning as we were getting ready for breakfast Josh caught a glimpse of something moving outside the back door and whooped, "Look!  MOOSE!"

And that we all scrambled to the windows to see a Mama and Baby Moose sauntering past my parents' house and on down the hill...just barely too quickly for us to catch them on camera.

And then there were the other wildlife sightings...like this huge bear...

Which my sister (very easily) convinced my mom she really needed to have on hand for when her grandchildren come to visit.  :)

 
And this Deere!

It's not every day you get to ride a Deere.

Vermont is the perfect place to take long walks...

Especially when you have lots of people willing to help you. :)

It's a place where, when you stop by to visit a dear friend, you might just get sent home with half a TO DIE FOR raspberry cream pie.

And a place where nice neighbors let you come to cut fresh RHUBARB out of their yard for Strawberry Rhubarb Birthday Coffeecake.

And Rhubarb Birthday Pie.

And anything else Birthday and Rhubarb-related you could ever dream of. 

Happy Birthday, Courtney!

Vermont is a place where you might be tempted to sit  out on your back step all day just to watch the tall trees swaying in the breeze...

But where you definitely need to learn how to close the screen door...so you can keep out the mosquitos.

It's a place where you get to just hang out by the counter...

 
And watch your mom working magic in the kitchen.

In Vermont you never know when there might be a shower!

Cute helicopter quilt my mom made for Baby W!

Beautiful things just happen...in Vermont.