Day 2

Val is STILL mad a Kris... no emails, text messsages, calls, cards... nothing! He is DEVASTATED!

Leave Me Alone!

We had a snow storm today... about 5 inches. Some mean old dogs have been messin' around with Val's yard. Kris (bless his heart) is trying to console Val. Val let's him know that she's fine (she's not) and tells him in her own sweet way to back off!

I can relate...

Melissa

The gaggle of "28" birthdays that began with my buddy Ann Wade Parrish last Wednesday ended Friday with my FAVORITE daughter Melissa's birthday. Her and husband Jeff came down for a short visit. We had a great, quiet visit! Always wonderful to spend time with 'Lis! Love ya! Mean it!

Hugh William Jones and Walter Andrew Jones

More birthdays that I'll remember... a buddy of mine who is a professor at the University of North Alabama, Dr. Lloyd E. Jones, III, and his wonderful wife Amy had their SECOND set of twins today. The FIRST set of twins were born in July 2004 and today their SECOND set were born. All are doing great and congrats to Lloyd and Amy! Four kids! Wow!

Ann Wade Parrish

I've mentioned Ann Wade maybe once or at the most twice before here. She's a photographer based out of Birmingham, AL. ANYWAY, it's her birthday today and I wanted to give a shout out and wish her a wonderful birthday today. Sadly, the only reason I remember Ann Wade's birthday is because it falls exactly TWO days before my daughter Melissa's birthday. In fact, Ann Wade was born exactly TWO days (to the day, month, and year) of Melissa. I had something else up on the blog and I took it down because it mentioned the YEAR. That's Ann Wade's prerogative to give out years and we at Claus Martel LLC are bound by contract to protect personally identifiable information.

My supervisor at Redstone Arsenal was asking me today why I liked/preferred to do weddings with Ann Wade. Simple - out of ANYONE I've ever worked with (and this is undisputable) Ann Wade respects what I've got to do and where I am more than anyone I've ever worked with, including my other photographer buddies. It's a very instinctive synergy that reduces wedding day stress levels to zero. Plus, she's an incredible photographer in the artistic and technical sense. I'm actually an Ann Wade client. I had some photos done of me and Valerie (my golden) and it was the most painless thing I've ever done. The clients we've shared love her and her work. I've shot more weddings with Ann Wade than any other photographer or photography studio. On the human side, she's probably the kindest person and truly walks the Christian walk more than anyone I've ever known.

I stole this pic of Ann Wade from her old blog. Happy Birthday AWP and I wish you continued success, prosperity, and happiness for many years to come!

the last dry day for a while...

On a rare day when it's wasn't raining, I let Val and Kris romp around outside for a few hours...

Love

I still haven't figured out what "love" is (I understand God's love and Christ's love for us as in John 3:16 and the agape love that we are supposed to have for each other in 1 Corinthinians 13) BUT I do have two dogs that seem to have "it."