Uncle Trotti

My Uncle Trotti passed away a few weeks ago.  His Memorial Service was held last weekend on Edisto Island and he was buried in the family plot in Allendale SC.  He was a wonderful man and very much loved.  He was the patriarch of the Riley clan for many years and will be sorely missed.  

Sadly, the best part of a funeral, if there is such a thing...is that you are able to reconnect with family that for one reason or another you've lost contact.  As is the case with most family or long lost friends, the 20+ years that pass between us always seems to miraculously have never happened...We pick up exactly where we left off!  

 My Uncle retired from the Army as a Lt. Col and thus he was honored with a 21 Gun Salute - an incredibly moving experience!  I tried to capture a bit of it with these images, although, it was tough making a video & crying at the same time...hence the occasional sniffle on the video.


Rest In Peace Wilmot Trotti Riley! 

Trotti on the far right

~ David Gray ~ This Years Love ~

Basketball

We are knee deep into basketball season!  It adds a bit of stress to our week - you know - getting to & from practice on a school night...but on Saturdays it's all worth it!!

 

 

 

 

Charlie Joseph

Well, we wouldn't know about best hotdogs, but we admit their grilled cheeses are pretty yummy!! Don't forget their sweet tea either!!

Six

How did these feet get to be six so fast?

Spy Time

This is what happens when your kids get bored...

 

Let it happen more often!

Christmas

What a season!! Our family had a wonderful Advent and Christmas season this year. We incorporated some new and wonderful traditions. Today marks the end of the season of Christmas with the Wise Men visiting the Baby in the Manger. My girl was both excited and sad when she saw that the Wise Men had made it to the manger. Excited, because we've been waiting for this day since the beginning of Advent. Sad, because she knows that we will no longer wake up each morning anticipating change in the Manger scene ~ not until next season.

2011 Year in Review...

I'm just four days late with this slide-show...not too bad! I'm also pleased, considering that my hard drive was wiped out in October that I was able to save this many images from the past year!

Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you the Lingenfelter version of
Two Thousand and Eleven!

~ Joni Mitchell ~ Shine ~

Happy New Year!!

We celebrated what's become a tradition in our house...Spot's birthday!

The Guests.

The presents.

Happy Birthday Spot ~ May my Boy want to celebrate your birthday for years to come!!

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Lou's Birthday!

I know, I know...I'm sooooo far behind on some of my posts!! I did however, want to post this slideshow from my girls 6th birthday. All she wanted was to go horseback riding & her Aunt Jamie made that wish come true! We had such a good time! Jamie's friend, Bonnie, was the best, most awesome hostess/horse whisperer!! I cannot thank either of them enough!






The Weepies ~ Gotta Have You ~
The Weepies ~ Simple Life ~

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We had the best time last night! Some friends invited us over for dinner & guess who showed up?? That's right, the Jolly Old Fellow himself!! What a surprise!! He was so kind & intuitive! As soon as he saw my girl he knew exactly what she wanted for Christmas!! ;-)










~ Bruce Springsteen ~ Santa Claus is Coming to Town ~

The Office

My girl has taken to perching herself right up on my desk while I work..I kinda like it!

Feminist

Yesterday, my boy asked me if something was "handmade" or "man made" and I asked him to give me an example and he said "like a lake".

I replied "that's man made".

To which he said "well, that isn't fair, what if a girl helped build that lake? it should be called "People Made".

I love that boy!!

My sleeping beauties!

They're so precious when they are sleeping!! Both of my babies are getting so big! I can hardly stand it! Although, I will say that recently I was thinking about my boy & the struggles of growing up and I got so excited thinking about the man that he will turn out to be! Kind, generous, smart and funny are all the things I wish for him! Oh and of course...tall & handsome!!

2011 Lantern Walk

One of my favorite events at the kid's school!

~Yo-Yo Ma ~ Dona Nobis Pacem ~

Armed!

This is what happen when good kids go bad...with caulk guns!

Sweet Potatoes

My boy's 2nd grade class had a field trip to the Atlanta Food Bank's Tapestry WIC Garden - led by the magnificent Fred Conrad (father to Ivie). The task given to Grade 2...digging up sweet potatoes. Let me tell you...these weren't your ordinary, buy at Publix, bake in the oven, add a little brown sugar sweet potatoes...these things were MONSTERS! I've never seen anything like this! I asked Fred why they were so big and he looked at me and said "Luck!"

Chopped!

Our fall break was spent at my parents house this year. One of the many treats when visiting Granna & Daddy Jim is being able to watch TV. We try to be conscious of what the kids watch while visiting - but some things are just too irresistible. Like the Food Network show Chopped... Perhaps you are familiar with this program? Four chefs compete with each other and must use several chosen ingredients when preparing their 3 courses. One by one they are "chopped" from the show until there is only one remaining chef.



Not long after we returned home, I woke up one a.m. to my children preparing their own Chopped event. The ingredients they had to use were: soy nut butter, jelly, frozen bread, granola & kiwi. I was chosen to be the judge, which also meant I had to taste the dishes...all before I'd had my coffee....

At the end of the tasting, I was to place the "chopped" dish under a large pot lid and then ceremoniously uncover which dish had been "chopped" (just like in the show). It was an easy choice for me - once it had been revealed that Chef A had soaked his bread in coconut water...yes water... Chef Lou-Lou was the clear winner! Plus, there was no denying her presentation & the fact that she prepared three separate dishes...

Michaelmas

Yesterday, our school had their annual Michaelmas celebration & as usual...it was fabulous! My boy was so excited because this was his 1st year to be chased by the dragon. He really hoped to be the last one tagged - luckily there's always next year... I was at Michaelmas in a professional capacity...school photographer, but that didn't stop me from capturing images of my muses...

Lou in a cape that she made in honor of Michaelmas.

Check out the video I made last year for Michaelmas!

Dragon*Con 2011

Seriously...this is why you live in a city! You can't make this s#*t up! This past weekend Dragon*Con was held in our fair city and we decided to take the family to see the parade held on Saturday morning. I mean, people not only get dressed up like this...they do it early in the morning!! Thank goodness because we had the best time perusing their wackiness!! Here are a few of my favorite images!



Folks couldn't have been friendlier!! I'm serious, everyone would turn and give great big smiles or break into their characters stance without a second thought!

Or lend little girls their machine gun...


The Elf guy - looked JUST like Will Farrell...I think maybe that was the point...


It's really hard for me to choose...but I think the balloon image is my favorite!!


Although, I LOVED Chewbacca here - favorite costume...so sexy!!! You know I have a thing for tall guys...

This guy wasn't part of the parade, well, I guess technically he was because he came behind everyone & cleaned up. We joked that his machine was futuristic enough to be a character in the parade...sch-wooped up all the garbage! If you've gotten this far and you are interested...you can watch the slide show I put together of our fun, fun morning! Seriously, we'll be back next year!