Laruen's Wedding Day

Well today is the BIG DAY... my little girl is getting married. I've been awake since around 3am this morning thinking, hoping and wishing.

Thinking about now time went by so fast.. how my little girl grew so fast.

Hoping that I've been a good Dad and that Lauren has learned something from me that she can pass on.

Wishing her new life will be full of joy and happiness.

Looking back this morning I see a little girl running around with silver teeth... playing in the rain.. hiding on the floor of my old gold car so her friends wouldn't see her... hahaha.. What I see is my little girl... now just look at her all grown up. So pretty... and I'm so proud of her.

As life goes I've made many mistakes, but one thing I've never done was to miss a chance to tell my girls I Loved them and today isn't going to be easy for me. Letting your little girl go is hard no matter what people tell you. The good thing is that I'll walk Lauren down the
aisle today and I want give her away, but I'll get another son.

NEVER... NEVER think that if someone sees a tear in my eyes today that I'm not happy, I'm very happy for Lauren and Lane, but one must also remember... "I LOVED HER FIRST"

Love you Lauren,
Dad

5 Days Left

There's only 5 days left before Lauren's wedding day. Am I ready for this... yes and no... a small part of me wants to hold on to my little girl and the bigger part wants to release her so she can spread her wings to fly. It's just hard to open the door and let go... in a way that is. I'm all excited for Lauren and Lane as they start a life. As long as they are happy, Dad will be happy.

This past weekend I helped Debbie shot a beach wedding. This was my first time to do a beach wedding and it was so pretty. I got some shots of the little bride at the alter with tears running down her face. I'm just one for the shots that pull those heart strings. When I saw her crying it was all I could do to hold it together... hahaha ... then at the Father/Daughter dance again she was tearing up again. Dad was trying to stay stong, but I know what kind of battle he was fighting and I will be on the battle field come this Sat.

My kids... and how I love them. 3 girls no less and the thing I wouldn't do for them. The only job better than being a Dad to 3 girls is being PawPaw to 2 grandsons now.... hahaha

La... Love ya Baby.... SOOOOOOOO much... Dad

Just me and the Humming Birds

It was a long day at work today. Not really busy so time just went sooooo slow.

When I got in this afternoon I got to watching the little Humming Birds. I've got 4 that's here and coming to the feeder. There's one that's a bully and tries to keep the others away. Chip and I were talking about it today at work how one will come by the feeder and the bully will chase after him while another one will come to the feeder to eat. I enjoy just sitting and watching them. It was so pretty out I just had to shoot some pictures. I didn't even pick my camera up all day yesterday so I just had to shoot some today.

Saturday I'll be going with Debbie to shoot a wedding on Orange Beach. It's going to be a beach wedding and I've never done one of those before. I just talked to Lauren and told her I need her or Mary Kathryn to go to the beach with me one day this week so I can get my setting on the flash right. I'm hoping for a big pretty sunset Saturday. I just hope my pictures come out the way I vision them... hahaha....

Looks like everyone is getting into the business except for me. Chip was telling me about a friend of his that had opened one. Everyone at work tells me my work is good and that I have nothing to worry about... I'm trying to make that leap and get my name out there.

I talked to Mom this passed Sat and she was telling me that Lauren and Lane's picture had come out in the paper up there. She was so excited. She told me that a lot of her friends had called her after seeing the picture. I did do a good job I think on that shoot also.

Well it's been along day.. for some reason I wake up around 4am and can't go back to sleep... makes for a very long day indeed.

I guess I'll close tonight thinking about Paw Roberts and how he enjoyed just sitting and watching his birds. I hope someday my grandkids will look back at the time I spent with them and say "I enjoyed being with PawPaw"... I sure enjoyed my time with my Paw Lee and Paw Roberts.. each were so different and my Granny Lee and Granny Roberts.... how I miss them.
I wish Melissa, Lauren and Mary Kathryn could have known them the way I knew them

I think if we were to stop and watch the birds we could learn a lot from them. Just like the little humming birds this afternoon.. working as a team for the good of all.

Another Gift

This is Pascagoula Beach shot from the east end this afternoon.

What a way to end the end a day... watching Gods beautiful light show. It's a once in a life time show and it happens twice a day and it's over within 5 minutes never to be seen again. Tomorrow it will be a whole new show.

I just got to thinking... this was the last Saturday I'll ever spend with my little girl, Lauren. Next weekend I'm helping Debbie shoot a wedding and Lauren and all her girls are going out one last time before her wedding. I pretty sure I want see her next weekend and then the next weekend is the wedding.

I did get to spend most of the day with her today. We went to the mall in Mobile for a little while and meet up with Melissa and Noah. Noah got his first hair cut today and he looks so cute. Melissa waited as long as she could before she got it cut.

Today Lauren asked me if I was going to cry when we had our dance... I laughed and told her I was going to laugh and be happy.... knowing the whole time I was lying. I'll be happy, but I can almost assure you there will be tears. I don't care what anyone saids.. it's hard to let your little girls go. I've been to many weddings and very few times did I not see tears in Dads eyes.

The good thing is little girls will always be DADS LITTLE GIRL. Lauren keeps telling me she doesn't know what she would do without me... .I just hope she never has to find out.... You know what I mean. I've always tried to be there for the girls and these past few years more so. I don't know where I would be without them... I love them so much.... they mean so much to me.

Well I'm going to close for now. Waking up at 4am every morning kinda makes you start to run low on gas. Guess I'm like my GrandPaw Roberts... as long as I can remember he always was ome to get up early.

Another Friday Night

Here it is Friday night already. The weeks just seem to go by so fast. I guess you can say I'm on the final count down with Lauren. Two weeks, a mere 14 days my little girl will be getting married. There's a part of me that wants to hold on to my little girl and another part that wants to see her spread her wings and fly. Looking back over the 21 years I've had her it seems like yesterday she was a baby, but there were a few times in there I didn't think she would ever grow up. Now here she is all grown up and about to be a bride. Am I happy... Yes I'm very happy for her and excited for her. She has been planning this for over a year now and it's almost here for us.

Not much going own for me this weekend... next weekend I'm going to Orange Beach to help Debbie shoot a wedding. It's going to be on the beach... I hope there's a pretty sunset. Me and my sunsets. I do enjoy sitting and watching the sun sink down in the ocean.

Chip showed me a new place to watch the sunset today. It's a dock about 10 miles from here that looks out over the marsh. There's no houses or anything to get in the way... I was going to go over there today, but there wasn't any clouds in the sky so the sunset would have been so-so at best. I like it when there's a few clouds about.

The picture is one of my 4 little humming birds that are around here now. I shot this picture this afternoon when I got home from work. I feel like I have to take some kind of picture every day.... Well I think I'm going to go watch TV for a bit it's just me and little Lucy here and she only talks to me when she wants out or wants a doggy bone... hahaha

Watching the Sunset

After I got home from work yesterday I rode down by the beach. It felt like fall in the air and I just needed to get out of the house and also yesterday was a crazy day at work. The retirement system had gotten double posted and I had to figure out what happened and get it back in balance. For the most part I enjoy this kind of work, but it can really take a toll on ya.

I rode down to 'the piont' to see if there was anything to take pictures of and there wasn't so I came back down to the east end of the beach. I just parked there and waited for the sun to start to set. The air was cool and still and birds were out tring to get the last bit of food before night.

I think it helped me sleep better last night now that I think about it. Maybe this is something I need to do more often... just go sit on the sea wall and watch the birds and sunset.

Noah --- my key to the future

You're looking at my hopes of the future. My youngest Grandson Noah. At 14 months old, I wonder what things his little big eyes will see in his life time, but right now he's happy just to see his PawPaw.

Noah is now walking, kinda like an old man, but he's up and going. Yesterday afternoon I went to the soccer field where Gage was praticing and played with Noah while Melissa worked with Gage. Noah and I walked up and down the road by the field the whole time, his little hand holding onto my finger part of the ime. I told Melissa and Jonathan that I bet he would sleep good last night. I know PawPaw did.

I call Gage and Noah my 'Little Buddies' and that's just what they are. It's really impossible to tell someone without Grandkids how you feel about them, but there's just this special love you have for them. Maybe it's the fact that we're older and in someways have more time to give the 'special time' that we couldn't spend with their Moms and Dads. Maybe it's the fact that we are getting older and we know now what's so important and it's not all about trying to get ahead all the time. Maybe it's the fact that we know that after we are gone a part of us will go on into the future, a part of us will live on and the memorries we make for them today will be passed on to their Grandkids. Thus we live on and on.

No matter what or how you say it Grandkids are so special. This is not to say my 3 girls aren't special to me... God knows they also mean the world to me.

On another subject.... Remember a few post back I was writting about the couple that wanted pictures while she was pregnant? Well a friend/co-worker went to her baby shower this past weekend. She was takent and shown Kylee's new room (for when she gets here) and Wanda said in the room was about 8 or 9 of the pictures in a frame in there. Wanda told me that she said everyone wanted to know where she had the pictures done. You have no idea what this did for me yesterday.

Well it's almost 5:30am so I better get up and start getting ready for my day at the hospital. Oh well it could be worse... I could be in the hospital...

Nightmares

What a morning I've had... I've dreamed all kinds of weird stuff. First I dreamed we were going down a street and a coffin on a stand came rolling at us. I just knew it was going to hit the car we were in, but some how it missed us. I turned back to look and it had turned over and was just laying there on the ground upside down. Then I dreamed I was going to be shooting a wedding at my old home church. I was over there looking the church over on my jeans and tee-shirt and it was almost time for the wedding. Then I got to talking to the Groom, who I have no idea who it was. Next a little girl had found part of my background stand down by the road all bent up. I got to looking for the rest of if and coundn't find it. Then I got to looking at myself and decided I needed to get some dress pants and shirt on. So I went to Moms I guess and my buddy from work was there .... I couldn't get dressed for anything... something kept happening so I couldn't. I was so glad to wake up.

I just wonder what makes us dream things like that... I've heard it the minds way of doing a memory unload. I don't know, but I sure wish I don't have anymore mornings like that. I'm so tired from running from here to there this morning... hahaha

Well I've got to get a move on this morning. Melissa is bring Noah over at 5:30 for me to take to daycare. She has to go in early this morning.. ;-(

My Lauren

Lee-Russell

The appreciating marriage of Lauren Lee and Lane Russell, both of Pascagoula, MS, has been announced.

The bride-elect is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Lee of Pascagoula. Her grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ray Lee of Prentiss and the late Mr. and Mrs. Doyle Bishop of New Hebron.

A 2005 graduate of Pascagoula High School, she graduated from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community Collage. She is now working at Lockard & Williams Insurance in Pascagoula.

The prospective bride-groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Allen D. Russell of Pascagoula. His grandparents are Hazel Russell and the late James E. Russell of Pascagoula and the late Mr. and Mrs. E.W. “Red” Prince of Gautier.

A 2002 graduate of Pascagoula High School, he graduated from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community Collage. He is now employed at the Pascagoula Fire Department.

The couple will exchange vows 2 p.m. Oct. 11, 2008, at Arlington Baptist Church in Pascagoula.

Feeling Good Once Again

The little wedding yesterday went great. Very simple little affair, but nice. The Bride and Groom were both so happy and excited.

I've helped shoot weddings where the person I was working with charged a lot and the Bride and Groom would sometimes come across as if they were doing us a favor by allowing us to shoot the wedding. This was not so yesterday. They just told me over and over how much it meant to them for me to be there. What made it feel so good was that it came from their hearts, they just weren't saying the words.

I get so tired of photographers on the forum I read talking about photographers like me who will shoot a wedding like this for free or for very little. They say we're taking jobs away from them... I don't know of anyone that would have taken a job like this, so how is that taking jobs away from them? I did something nice for a young couple as a favor for friends. If I hadn't done it the couple wouldn't have had any pictures of there special day. What's the harm in doing something like this?

Like at work, I'm getting to the point in my life were I don't care what others think. (On things like this.. I do care a lot about what others think and feel about me). I do things like this because I enjoy it and I care about the feeling of others.

Oh yeah... just to set the record straight.. I was paid... payment was a firm handshake from the Groom and a warm hug from the little Bride followed by a sincere THANK YOU. In my ledger I made the following entry.... PAID IN FULL.