I am in LOVE!

So this title could refer to a lot of things. One person that I love, among all the many, is my husband. He is the best ever! He told me the other day that he wanted to get me something for my birthday but he didn't want me to know what it was. Keep in mind that this was like the 7th and my birthday isn't until the 24th. Being the hormonal person that I am right now, I started crying because it was (to me at least) a sweet thing to say. I started thinking about all the things that he could have gotten me and then I started to panic. Not that he wouldn't have come up with something great and wonderful, but because I was thinking of a few things that were/would be higher up on the priority list than what I started to fear that he would ge me (a new rifle/pistol). So 2 days ago, I asked him if I could suggest something that I wanted for my birthday. He agreed and I told him what I thought would be enjoyed by the whole family (but would be for my benefit more). About 6 yrs ago, we had purchased a digital camera for the first time and I loved that....but sadly over the 4th that said camera died. So I suggested for my birthday we upgrade our camera experience and I am in love again. We decided to get a Nikon CoolPix P150. This was something that we had been looking at since Amanda had brought one home on loan from the school and we marveled at the differences in the pictures vs our other camera. He bought it as an early birthday present and I had been itching to use it. Then he gave me a perfect opportunity. He is working pretty close to our house and there are large fields around that are prone to have deer bedding down during the noon time. He called me and said there are 4 does and a buck still in velvet by this building we are working on. I didn't waste any time. I walked over there (it is less than 3 blocks) and sure enough there they were. I was thrilled. This is what I saw when I first walked up:

I was standing probably in the middle of the road at this point. They knew I was there and started to get up. But I took my time and they weren't in any hurry either. I am loving the zoom on this camera. I was only able to get maybe three or four more steps closer, but with the zoom you would have thought I was standing right next to them! Now Gabe had said that there were 4 does and a buck but with the zoom, I discovered something interesting:

This one is actually a buck---he is still trying to grow the big rack, but there is obvious growth there! This is my favorite of all the ones that I took:

I think we determined by the other pictures that this little guy is actually a 5 by 5 buck! He isn't too big, but if he survives through the hunting season, he has the potential to be a monster. I took this last one without the zoom, just so I could see what it would have looked like. I can't take pictures with my other camera and I am not knocking it either, but this is what I would have gotten with the other one even zoomed in as far as I could (or something similar):

So I guess that I am now in love with this camera! I don't profess to be a photographer by any means, but this camera is a huge step above what we had. I am still trying to get used to it and learn the various settings and tricks that it has, but I LOVE IT! I guess this means that there might be a lot more pictures to blog about as I get the hang of my new toy.