Beautiful wedding photos by Kiel Rucker, Kiel Rucker Photography :-)

I'm sure every parent feels this way, but we think our kids' wedding was the most beautiful one we've ever been to!

This will probably seem to be a bit random, but I was thinking about getting our Christmas cards ordered so that I can get them ready on time this year, and I was going through our daughter's wedding photos. We wanted to include at least a couple on our card, but it was so hard to select one or two. The wedding photographer, Kiel Rucker, did such an amazing job, and I love viewing them! I think we've managed to narrow down the three we want to include, but meantime, I wanted to share these on my blog... Nicholle's then-fiance posted one of their engagement pictures with a special message to her on their wedding day - such a sweet gesture! Aren't they a cute couple?

This whimsical ceramic flower was hanging on the wall outside of a quaint little shop as we continued our walk through Old Town Albuquerque. The proprietor was an odd lady who was knitting or crocheting behind the counter and barely looked up or spoke when we came in. We browsed a bit, thanked her as we were leaving, she grunted a "yep" and then surprised us with "have a good evening" as we stepped out the door - ha! Ya meet some interesting folks sometimes! :-) Anyway, I think this flower is adorable!

I could almost have a separate blog devoted to benches - ha! Here are a couple more that caught my eye today while we were enjoying a walk around Old Town Albuquerque...

It's ironic how, when you see something at one place, all of a sudden you're seeing it everywhere. That's been true about these Kale plants - I had first spotted one when we were wandering around Jackalope, and now I seem to be seeing them everywhere! I think it's such a beautiful and unusual plant that I can't NOT photograph them when I come across another one!



Today my hubby and I enjoyed a few leisure hours in Albuquerque, and while we were wandering around Old Town, I had to snap a few more shots of flowers and plants... I especially like the brightly colored planter that these red and yellow flowers are in!

Needed an excuse to post this photo somewhere. This is my husband's paternal grandparents' wedding photo. The original was damaged, but my husband was able to perform his computer magic to re-create this stunning photograph! Wish I had this dress - I think it's absolutely gorgeous!

Guess you can tell that I get hung up on cloud formations, huh?! ha! These were taken at the Alan Houser compound outside of Santa Fe - what a beautiful day this was!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I drove up to see the aspens, and I got a couple pictures of the interesting cloud formations. There are lots of great locations to take photos from, and my favorite is the area where you can see for miles across the city of Santa Fe! I think we were a little early in the season because there weren't very many trees that had yet turned to gold, but it was still a beautiful day to be out in the fresh air!

These planters are on my brother and sister-in-law's patio in Idaho. Love the colors and couldn't resist adding them to my blog :-) My sister-in-law has such beautiful plants and grows an amazing garden during the spring and summer!

I've decided to collect teacups. I've always loved them, and finally decided to treat myself to a new one every now and then. Today I received the first of them - a purple pansy cup in honor of my daddy who passed away in 2005 after a valient struggle with Alzheimers. Daddy always had a huge flower garden, and pansies were the ones I always remembered (as well as the daffodils he had planted near the steps at our back door).

I just had to include a photo of the underside of the teacup in addition to the photo of the cup and saucer - made in the USA and I LOVE the American flag stamped on the bottom! (sorry the photos are a bit dark - I took them with my phone in low light - shoulda dug out my camera! ha!)

This amazing little "tree" is made of twisted wire and beads! The amount of work involved in this creation is astounding! Definitely a "thing of beauty"!

A couple flowering plants that look very "Christmas-y" to me :-) Saw these on one of our walks - it's always so nice to take leisurely strolls around the plaza. We enjoy getting out in the fresh air and sunshine!

These two photos are from Glen Annie Golf Course, where our daughter and her husband were married in January of this year. Beautiful location! The photo on the right is one of my all-time favorites!

I like window boxes with flowers... If you look closely, you can see my hubby's reflection in the window behind the window box with the red flowers :-)

Pansies and daffodils remind me of my daddy - couldn't resist taking pictures of these! Always seems to me that pansies have the cutest little faces...

Love the colors - beautiful plants...

Flowers were everywhere in planters in Jackalope - some very unusual ones that I HAD to photograph... :-)

This afternoon we enjoyed wandering around Jackalope here in Santa Fe. They had a lot of really cool benches - I especially liked these . . .

This chicken clock is a surprise gift from my artist hubby! It was hanging in the kitchen when I got back from work today! Isn't it beautiful?! I love it! Such a talented man!!

Couldn't resist taking a photo of this gate! And I love the surprise of the huge yellow flower amidst all the other shades of pink!

On a side street off of Canyon Road, there is a particular alley that I love taking photos of! Even though it's late in the season, the flowers are still blooming. The sun was a bit "hot" on the day I was taking these photos, but I managed to get a few photos that I liked. Love the shadows too!