Wedding Day Tag Along

My friend, Tara, is a photographer and graciously offered me a "tag along" position at a wedding she was shooting! It was a wonderful opportunity to get a little more familiar with my camera and to see her in action! She does a great job and it really makes me appreciate a good picture when I see one... even more than I did before!
I shot manual the whole time... so I have no one to "blame" for these pictures but myself! But it was good practice... and I'll leave it at that! I am SO GLAD that I could just play... and leave the "perfect shots" up to Tara!

*I'm not a fan of "over editing" (which I've done here!) and am still learning where the line is, or even how to edit at all, for that matter. So... just look quickly with eyes half shut!!*



The sun was lovely... just not for picture taking!



The couple loved to fish so we took a few pics by the lake...

















So... I've learned a whole pile of things that I need to work on today. And that's okay. I'll spare you the list... though it is tempting to point out everything! But... I'll just walk away and leave it at that!

"Thanks again Tara for asking me to join you. It was so very sweet of you and I'm beyond blessed! I had a lot of fun... even though I may have looked "pained" at times!!"

Garage Sale... Rain or Shine

My friend asked if I wanted to put some stuff in a garage sale she was having. I said "Oh... that's okay! We don't have much to get rid of!" HA! 5 boxes later, our house feels a little tidier! (And mind you... we clear out unused stuff on at LEAST a monthly basis!)
On the day of our garage sale it was not only raining like crazy, it was freezing cold! Surprisingly, that didn't stop the die hards! We still had quite a good turn out... though we may have had crankier children (and moms!) perhaps.
Overall we had fun, got to "visit with a cause", made some money, and made some people's day in the process!



Here's Larren... bundled away!

The kids enjoyed playing outside, despite the cold!

Look at that bum... gracious!

Rainy Day Fun

We've had a number of days, all in a row, filled with rain. So... out comes the Play Doh!






Yes... Alia's still in her pajama's. And it's 3 pm in the afternoon. Don't worry, we changed her into her clothes before Daddy got home! :) That's what rainy days are all about, right? Right?!?

Bring On Summer!!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was so sweet this year (not that it wasn't last year!). I had worship practice early in the morning (before the rest of the crew was awake!) and when I returned home before church, there was breakfast waiting for me! Not to mention a pretty little girl, all dressed up, ready to say "Appy Mudder's Ay" at the drop of a hat! On the table was a couple of gifts... a wireless router (I'd been asking for one for awhile!) from Jonathan, and a spa gift card from the girls! And... I got to play mandolin for EVERY single song during worship that morning... it was the icing on the cake!! Jon BBQ'd when we got home from church and we all enjoyed good long naps in the afternoon... it was wonderful!

Back to Work... For Now

Whelp... Jon's paternity leave FLEW by. We both thought he would be bored out of his mind, and chomping at the bit to go back to work, after being home for 10 weeks... but, not so! Jon stayed quite busy, was a HUGE help, and deepened his relationship with each of his three girls! We absolutely LOVED (I repeat... LOVED!) having him home!
On the last day of his leave we decided to go to a nearby dinosaur museum. We've talked of going for years, and decided now was as good a time as any! It was surprisingly interesting and we ended up staying a lot longer than I thought we would! But now, as I look back at the pictures... I realize just how "odd" it really is!

A miniature version of whatever this thing was, way back when...


The summer staff has just been hired, so we had our own personal tour guide group! (There were like 10 of them!) And that big guy there is "Bruce"... he was found a mile or two from our house.


Our little family here, beside our "buddy"...




Since we had the WHOLE place to ourselves, Alia could "dig for fossils" undisturbed!


After our fossil adventure we all went out for Alia's favorite... Dairy Queen! "Frews Fwies and Chechup" are a definite treat for her! Not to mention hot fudge sundaes... :)

Lare Bear Galore

We have been SO SO blessed to have children who learn to sleep through the night at an early age! This girl definitely likes her sleep... and that makes mommy (and daddy) very happy!!

I love this pic... it makes me smile every time I see it!

Utter focus... :)

We put up the mobile for Larren the other day, and she loves it! She'll sing to it, move her arms to try and catch the butterflies, and be amazed for minutes on end... while all three of us (Alia included!) just stand there and tell her how cute she is!

There's never a shortage of toys for Larren to play with. If she makes even the slightest peep that would indicate she's bored, then Alia brings her a new one in a swift hurry!


Oh my gracious, I'm glad we have two girls! I so much enjoy having two little loves around!

We're Wireless

Call us old school... but we're finally wireless! We've had a laptop for years, but just never got a router. We got a new and improved laptop at Christmas, and I've been hinting how fun it would be to check e-mail on the porch swing, skype anywhere in the house, listen to sermons in the kitchen, and watch Corner Gas in our bedroom.
Now... it's reality, and I'm having a lot of fun!

Big Girl Bed

Alia has moved into her "big bed" for nap time, but she's not so sure about it for nights yet! We made a big HURRAH about washing her brand new bedding and sheets, putting it on her bed, and about her sleeping in it for the first time! She keeps asking when Larren can sleep in her room, so I think that's pretty good motivation for her to move to the twin bed on it's own. She doesn't even need my cheer leading abilities!
But, I'll be honest with you... I'm not quite ready for either girl to "move up" yet, so I'm not going to push this by any means!!

The girls hanging out together one morning...



Yeah... don't ask! I'm hoping this isn't a new habit!!!

Our View...

... before a storm!