I Loved You Before I Knew You

If you have known me for more than 5 minutes, you know that I absolutely adore my granddaughters (aka - my chickees). I always tell them I loved them before I knew them. I fell in love when they were still in their mommy's tummy. Spending time with them makes me happier than anything in the world. I see them almost every single day and I wouldn't have it any other way. I ocassionally plan little weekend excursions for us - and we always have a blast. I spoil them shamelessly.

In June, I reconnected with my childhood friend Debbie Lutz. Debbie and I met in kindergarden, and were best friends all through high shool and afterward. Marriage, kids, jobs, re-locations all got in the way and we fell out of touch. Out of no where, she called me and invited me to a week long vacation to Florida. I was thrilled and accepted her invitation. It was as if we had never been apart. We talked and laughed and reminisced.

Debbie has a teenager named Hallie who I got to know a little better on this Florida trip. Debbie has done such a wonderful job raising Hallie. She is sweet, smart, polite and poised. And she is also quite beautiful.

Hallie has been dancing since she was teeny tiny and is a talented ballerina. She also dances for her high school dance team ~ the Cavaliers. While Debbie and I were in Florida, she told me she wanted me to come visit and attend one of the football games and to bring my chickees. She e-mailed me their football schedule and I selected a date that I didn't have any photo shoots scheduled, which was this past weekend.

I rented a hotel room for the weekend, packed up the chickees, lots of drinks and snacks and we took off early Friday afternoon for League City. We went to the football game Friday night and to Kemah on Saturday and then we finished the weekend with the chickees swimming in the pool - probably their last swim of the season!

I took my camera to the football game to capture photos of Hallie dancing. I have never photographed any sports events so I had fun testing my camera, lens and skill photographing the game plus tons of pictures of Hallie. I learned that stadium lights are a photographer's best friend. You can't take a bad picture in a lighted stadium!

My joy didn't end there - when I got home my daughter Desiree (aka my chicken), was in town and I got to see her for a few hours. I hadn't seen her or her husband Tony in about 6 weeks or so and I missed them so much!

October is a month full of photo shoots so I'm glad I had this weekend. Spending it with my chickens and great friends make this Momma Hen very happy.

I feel blessed, grateful and loved. Can life get any better?

Here are a few pictures from Friday's Football Game!