About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Saturday Photo Hunt - Beautiful

There is nothing more beautiful to me than family. I've been blessed with two beautiful daughters, a handsome son-in-law, an adorable grandson, and a precious granddaughter. They all may be "beautiful" by the standard definition, but I know their beauty goes deep inside to their souls. I am so proud of them all, as my regular readers already know from the multitude of posts about them.

As my first-born, here is my daughter Jamie in a few stages of her life. She was blessed with an ability to ice-skate as we soon found out after her first foray onto the ice at the age of 3. We put her into figure skating lessons which improved on her talents in precision and artistic impression. She won many medals and trophies before she finally hung up her skates. Jamie was always a happy little girl who loved her dog Star (below with the white nose) and Star's sister Kaycee. Her very first paid job was cleaning up our back yard and we always laughed that she could actually say that she'd "shovelled sh*t" for money. Jamie has always had a totally offbeat sense of humour and would always regale us with laughter as she put on little plays or had her sister videotape her making a commercial for ladies' laxatives.
























Jaclyn is my "baby" and she could not be more different from her sister. She has been blessed with a very creative soul and it shows in her writing of prose, poetry, and song lyrics; her paintings; her beautiful singing voice; her photography; and her jewellry designs. She was also blessed with an incredible mind and even when she was still very young, I'd buy her Mensa puzzle books that she'd whip through at an unbelieveable rate. She also went into figure skating and at her first ice show at the age of 3, actually stole the show. When her sister was in high school taking a photography course, the two girls went down to one of our local parks and had a great day taking photographs. One such photo turned out so well that I had it enlarged and framed after Jamie had signed it. When Jaclyn reached high school, she also took courses in photography and has taken many fine shots herself. This is one of the other photos that Jamie took of Jaclyn that day at the park. I really like this one, almost better than the one we had framed because it shows her as she truly is, a free spirit.
























Jamie grew up to be a beautiful young woman who has worked hard to help her husband as they saved for their first home. They are very happy with their two little ones and now, although she'd rather stay home to be a Mom, she's preparing to return to the work environment to continue her role as co-breadwinner. Jaclyn, also grew up to be a beautiful young woman, and although she has been blessed with many gifts, she's also struggled with health issues over the years. She is doing well now and I'm so proud that she has hung onto her inner strength to overcome some extremely difficult obstacles.
























The latest additions to my family are my son-in-law Jason and my two gorgeous grandchildren. As Jason likes to joke, he's really "IN" with me now having given me one of each sex. Jason is a fantastic father and loves my daughter and his two children more than anyone can imagine. After a hard day's work, he's down on the floor playing with Noah or holding his precious little princess. He's definitely proven himself to be a worthy son, let alone son-in-law. Here he is having ice-cream with Noah this summer at Splashdown Park and holding his darling daughter at his own younger sister's wedding this month.















So this is my idea of the word "beautiful" and I'm looking forward to seeing other participants' ideas. See tnchick for more photos on this week's theme but wait until tomorrow as I'm posting early.

44 comments:

Liz Hinds said...

Wonderful and beautiful family you have! My post is similar!

Colin Campbell said...

I think family shots are more beautiful than any nature shot. You have some lovely ones there.

Leslie: said...

Thanks Liz - I saw your post and it really is similar. Great minds think alike.

Leslie: said...

Yes, Colin, I agree. Beauty is not necessarily on the outside, but goes deep within to the soul.

stan said...

that's really a heartwarming collection of your truly beautiful family. :)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful family shots :) Happy photo hunting and have a happy long weekend!

Rach said...

aww all very happy photos :-)

Anonymous said...

G'day from my nation's captial city - cold Canberra. :)

Great photos for this week! That's twice I've been to Ravello now and I really enjoyed the Villa Rufolo gardens.

I'm planning to go back there next year.

SASSY MOM said...

Great take -- I also posted a similar one. Family really touches anyone's heart.

RiverPoet said...

You have a beautiful family, Leslie. And do they know how lucky they are to have you?? Hmm??

Peace - D

ancient one said...

Yes, you have a BEAUTIFUL family. Very precious post!

YTSL said...

Great entry to go with the interesting photos! :)

CRIZ LAI said...

You sure have a beautiful family over there Leslie. Family is always the first when it comes to the word beautiful :)

http://crizcats.blogspot.com/

jmb said...

Lovely post for the theme Leslie, everyone's family is the most beautiful thing to him/her. Have a great weekend.

eastcoastlife said...

aww... such a beautiful write-up on your beautiful family. Have a happy weekend with your family!

jams o donnell said...

What a wonderful post Leslie. You have such a beautiful family. Have a great weekend

Napaboaniya.Elaine Ling said...

Beautiful pictures of the different ages :)

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful tribute to your family. Lovely post. Lovely photos. Happy Saturday!

MumbaiiteAnu said...

Beautiful family photos! You have a wonderful family. Thank you for sharing.

My Photohunters: Beautiful here

Dragonstar said...

Lovely! Yes, I totally agree - family is tops!

holly said...

oh i love the fact that she used to do ladies' laxtives commercials. mine was always the new and improved shampoos. now with more jojoba.

Anonymous said...

All very beautiful family photos - great post!

Happy Weekend.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful family you have, Leslie :)

Anonymous said...

You have a beautiful family dear....

Carver said...

You have a beautiful family. Those we love are beautiful blessings. Happy weekend.

CherryPie said...

What a beautiful family you have, you must be so proud :-)

Anonymous said...

beautiful family shot!

JR's Thumbprints said...

Now that's the ultimate blog -- one about family, including photos. Due to the nature of my work, I could never have a blog such as yours. For some reason, that one photo makes me think of Barbara Eden in "I Dream of Jeanie."

Anonymous said...

Family is a great beautiful choice! Blessings on all of them
:0)

Anonymous said...

Great post! I have to agree that beauty is so much more than what you see on the outside. You do indeed, have a beautiful family.

Daryl said...

I agree! Beautiful .. all of them!

:-Daryl

Anonymous said...

Grand collection of beautiful people.

Kat said...

Wow, your family is beautiful :)

Pam said...

Lovely pictures of your family.

Anonymous said...

You do have a lovely family! It must be nice to have daughters.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Daisy said...

Ah, you do have a truly beautiful family! And you describe them with so much love, it made me feel happy.

nancygrayce said...

I love family pictures too! I take enough! :) Your daughters are so beautiful!

Ruth L.~ said...

The love shines on the faces in the photos, and in your words.

PERBS said...

Thanks for the BEAUTIFUL glimpse of your family life!

Drop by sometime.

Paulie

tanabata said...

Beautiful photos of your family!

PastormacsAnn said...

Nothing more beautiful than precious loved ones. Wonderful choices for The Hunt.

GMAC said...

hi leslie. family shots really defines beauty! happy photo hunting!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

They are beautiful and Jaclyn is so like you!

Barbara said...

A great post for 'beautiful' you do have a beautiful family.