Sunday, October 24, 2010

100 years, 1000 memories

I've already posted some of my pictures from my Grandmother's (Nani) 100th birthday bash on my photography website, but I felt I needed to add more here.   First to document what an incredible woman Edna K. Shaefers is, and second to show what a roaring good time we had at the Stinson-Green Mansion in Seattle...1930's style!  June 2010
To start things off, a month before the party, I spent the afternoon with Nani at her apartment and we did a little photo shoot.  I used this picture on her invitation.  Beautiful spring flowers in her garden area were a perfect backdrop!

Stinson-Green Mansion.  Seattle, WA

Audrey all decked out in her flapper attire.  We had a fun time dancing...

My friend, Natalie Gunter made this beautiful cake!  Even the picture was edible!
Becky and her friend, Taylor who joined us for the night!

What a spread of food...typical NW fare...salmon and fresh goodies! 


More dancing! 
Me and Nat cuttin' a rug!  Tim and Clint...the "men in black".


Celeste with cousin Elise and friend, Lola.
Natty with cousin, Sacia..".it's so hard waiting for Nani to cut the cake...hmm, I think I'll just try a little first."


Check Daddy and Natty swingin'!  Grammy and Sophia sure have the moves!

Cheers to Nani!  We love you!


The best dressed of the evening!  Audrey, Aunt Sandrine, Uncle Carl, cousins Elise and Margot.





Grandad, Aunt Dana, Aunt Trish, Uncle Carl and Mommy.   Thanks to everyone for making this evening one we'll never forget!  Happy 100th Birthday Nani!

Bermuda!

We went to Bermuda!...it's been several months ago...but somehow it still seems unreal that we traveled to this beautiful little island in the middle of the Atlantic.  Thank you to Pitney Bowes for this wonderful, all expense paid trip, but an ever bigger thank you to my incredible hubby for working so hard in 2009 to get us there!  It was everything we imagined and more...


Yes, the water really is this blue!  Our first day we went out to the pink sand beaches...enjoyed lounging, sipping out little drinks with umbrellas and swimming.  Tim snapped this picture from the beach.  I couldn't believe how warm and pleasant the water was....paradise!
Paradise, unless you touch one of these beautiful, yet painful friends.  This is a Portugues Man-o'-War and they were in the water.  Signs on the beach said, "swim at your own risk".  The blue water was calling me and I couldn't resist.  Luckily I wasn't one of the 2 people in our group who got were stung.

While we were there we enjoyed a little surprise birthday dessert at one of the fabulous restaurants we ate at every night!  I think almost every dessert we ate was as fancy as this one!  Happy Birthday Tim!
Our room with a view!
The Little blue trolley took us down to the beach and various resort restaurants.





One of our day trips included time in the Capitol city of Hamilton.  This modern city included lots of shoppping and walking around.  We also saw many cruise ships that stop here.Well, it's not Jamaica, man...but we found a fun hat shop.  I tried not to look like a tourist stalker, but I had to get a picture of a local in his Bermuda attire.  This is a businessman...pink shorts and all! 




We enjoyed haning out with Tom and Kathy again.  Tim and Kathy worked together at their Microsoft account.  Tom and I get to the be the "significant others"  and we don't mind a bit!...Last year Puerto Rico and this year, Bermuda!
One morning while Tim had a business meeting I hiked up to the lighthouse, not far from the hotel.  I found this little guy along my path and got some great shots of the lighthouse.





As you will see later, we ventured out to the island on moped.  It look a little while to get used to driving on the left!



The old town of St. Georges.  Here I am in the gallows in the town square. 

Admiral Sir George Somers, Founder of Bermuda


The homes in Bermuda and mostly pastel stucco.  It is quite a site to see all these beautifully colored homes dotting the island.  Bermuda has no public water system.  They catch the rain water off their roofs and store it in large barrels.  Yes, it rains in Bermuda that much!  Do you think we could try this in Seattle?



We went into St. Peter's Church in the old capitol of St. Georges.  It is the oldest continually used Anglican church in the Western Hemisphere.


You might say we ate our way through Bermuda...dining at incredible restaurants every night!  Here we are at a dinner on the beach.  I think our favorite Bermuda dish was the local Rock fish! 


Bermuda is a British overseas territory...therefore driving on the left, Bermudaish Brittish accents, and the Red Telephone Box.  During our moped adventure, we headed over to the Dockyard area of the island and found many little shops, including Bermuda Clay Works and watched the owner throw a pot.  One nice thing about the island is the cleanliness and friendly attitude we found everywhere.  I don't think Bermuda had one bad area to be in.  We felt very safe there and were treated so well!

On our moped excursion we stopped at one of the many parks along the ocean. 

We found this fisherman on the cliffs, catching bright blue fish with just a line and a rock, no pole.  He had already caught a few, so I guess it's the way to fish, Bermuda style!  We probably sat and watched him for 45 minutes that day.  We also ventured down to a little private beach and found a Bermuda Longtail bird nest.  Mama sat patiently so I could snap a picture.
Ok, so we look a litte nerdy in our moped helmets :)  Thanks Tim for being our driver!




There are no cars allowed on the island, unless you're a local, and even then, there weren't a lot.  Everyone rides a moped!

Just one of the many flowers on the Island. 

Just say the word, and we'd be back in a heartbeat in our Bermuda shorts and all!