Here’s a collage of photos we took of Joseph, trying to find one we could submit with his passport application. These photos are taken from two different sessions, as you can tell by his clothes and the backgrounds.
Passport photo collage: Josie
Later this year we are planning to visit Bolivia. It has been two years — and two babies! — since our last trip there.
In the past we have always shot our own photos for passports. Heck, I did my own passport this way even before I met Yoli, sending in a (pretty bad) snapshot taken against a wall that I happened to have two of.
Taking photos of babies and toddlers can be pretty tricky. And each round of photos we took had some problem that made me decide to redo them. So we ended up with almost 100 photos of Joseph and Josie before all was said and done.
For the heck of it, I decided to grab six photos of each child and make a little collage. Josie’s is maybe a little more interesting since she was making all sorts of faces.
We sprang for Springerles
We took two unplanned trips to Hermann, Mo. this week in search of Springerle cookie molds. Hermann is a wonderful old city on the banks of the Missouri River founded by German immigrants.
The Hermitage … and then home
The last part of our trip was an overnight in Nashville. I had booked a motel room in Hermitage, since it was close to the highway and along our route from Bristol. At the time I booked, I had no idea the significance of the name “Hermitage.” In fact, it refers to the estate of President Andrew Jackson.
On the first day of our vacation, as we drove from St. Louis to Bristol, we had kept our eyes open for the Hermitage exit we would be taking 9 days later. As we neared it, I spotted a huge dam with four big spillways. It was right before our exit. I made a mental note to check it out when we came back through.
Beautiful Bristol
There are uncertainties in any big trip. For me, one of the biggest concerned our time in Bristol with my great-great-uncle Jerry and his wife Thelma.
Jerry is the younger brother of my great-grandma Becker. I first connected with him almost exactly 2 years ago as a result of my family tree research. I had found a lot of documents relating to his parents and their immigrations to America.
We have been in touch semi-regularly by phone and online since then. The idea for our trip to Washington had its roots in a conversation I had with Jerry about how beautiful the leaves and trees were in Virginia in the fall, and what a scenic drive it would be.
The humility of turning 30
By which I mean to say that the day I turned 30 had some humbling moments. (The age itself really doesn’t faze me, and I haven’t given it much thought)
Our journey to Washington D.C. was a lot of fun, but it was marked by moments of constantly being lost.
Pix from the road
Here are some photos from yesterday and today as we wound our way east to Bristol, Va., and then north up I-81 to Harrisonburg.
Purple mountain majesty
We traveled across 3 states yesterday (Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee) and stopped just inside the border of Virginia to stay with my uncle Jerry and aunt Thelma. We had a great time last night eating spaghetti and telling family stories.
The trees have been very lovely everywhere (except Illinois, which was somewhat drab), and now that we are in mountainous country, everything is so scenic.
This morning uncle Jerry took us to a lovely park in Bristol and later we took a walk through a wetland, which the girls really enjoyed.
We are all in one piece, and the girls did amazingly well yesterday. The hardest part of the journey is over. Today we continue on to Harrisonburg!
Catching up is hard to do
Still playing catch-up here on the blog… Someday all my websites, bunk beds, and projects will be finished and we’ll be up to date.
Ah, who am I kidding?
Anyway, here are a few choice pics from our trip to San Antonio.
Nan holds Josie in her living room.
Yet another apology
Here at the Renaud Empire, there has been no shortage of stories to tell the world at large. There has been, however, a shortage of time in which to write said stories. So, yet again, I am apologizing for a lack of updates here.
A few days ago we returned from a trip to San Antonio to visit family and relax. It was really wonderful. The weather was hot and dry, although we were thankful to see the parched land receive some rain while we were there. My Nan’s pool was loads of fun, and all three of the girls greatly enjoyed it.