to you from failing hands we throw the torch...

i stood where thousands of men, women, and children had died in the act of war. french, british, belgium, canadian, and american war memorials. the great war and world war two. hundreds of thousands of marked and unmarked gravestones. ammunition, debris, trenches and deep scars in the earth still cover the countryside. i really had no idea...

lest we forget (lest i forget...), i took these pictures while i was there, in belgium and france.

and now the torch and poppy red
we wear in honor of our dead.
fear not that ye have died for naught;
we'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
in Flanders Fields.

- moina michael, 1918

mamiya 645 taken spring 2012 in france

smile and wave

you don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back. ~ william d. tammelus


it's been a few years since i've been on a merry-go-round, and i was pretty sure i was all grown up and riding bigger roller coasters. but i still wave as i go round, and she always waves back.


happy mother's day.


love,
your favourite red head.


ps. pictures taken at some of my most favourite places in france with my mom and little sister. 

behinds

this is one of my most favourite pictures. she looked just as gorgeous carrying this baby as she did her first.

i often find myself behind everyone taking a picture. (my dad, and now tyler, used to say that i always stay exactly ten steps behind everyone...) in my mind, i think i'm catching everyone in candid. however, i have a lot of pictures of behinds.

and that's another reason i love this picture. he didn't want to leave me behind.

love,
auntie holly

ps. i listened to this song a lot in toronto. it did nothing for homesickness. trust me. but it certainly made me think of family. a lot. and right now, my family is growing. a lot. and i love it.

tooth ache

birthday boy. favourite restaurant. all dressed up. slicked down hair.

and it wasn't till we got home that he told us his tooth was aching.

the night ended with a tearful emergency tooth pull at the dentist.

and he still told us that it was the best night ever.

good kid.

love,
auntie holly and uncle ty.

i do believe in all the things you see

miss erin louise. one day old in a crib her daddy made.

tyler says i'm a baby stealer. i have always fully denied this accusation until this little one was born. and her mother had to ask for her back. several times...

she's a red head. what can i say?

love,
auntie holly and uncle ty

ps. here's a lullaby for erin.

if birds can glide for long periods of time, then…why can’t i? - orville wright

tyler has recently been restoring and flying old remote control planes. at first, i must admit, i did not understand why someone would spend so much time building a toy to fly it, and then crash it, just to rebuild it again... (i still don't really understand...).

but when you see it sitting so unassuming on the grass, and then watch it lift effortlessly in the air, do loops in the sky, and, finally, plummet dangerously to the earth (more times crashing than you would think...), it really is quite a show.

we visited tyler's cousins in rocky mountain house and tyler put on such a show. and after a few successful flights and landings, and a finale with broken wings, we were all impressed.

time to rebuild.

love,
r&y

i'd rob a kwik-e-mart for you

what happens when your best friend has a baby? we cry. and refuse to acknowledge that it has been years since we have pulled down our backstreet boys and jonathan taylor thomas magazine clippings off our walls. or that it has been that long since we talked on ICU. or msn. or since we've screamed this or this or this or this or this in the little green car while spinning circles on black ice on crowchild. or that our dreams of being rock stars might have to be put on hold for a while. or that we live on opposite sides of the country. or that we might actually be growing up.

she does make cute babies, though.

love,

me

ps. remember this?

ninastiko

what would do you do on top of the world?

chief mountain. harder than the west coast trail. but with a three hundred and sixty degree view of the curve of the earth. and without the forty pound pack.

love,

r&y