Our Vacation at the Lake {Part Uno}

 In July, my family was up at my grandparents for two and a half weeks- only coming home for a few hours for the funeral of Mrs. D. It was a wonderful family reunion and we had a wonderful time holding babies, waterskiing, eating amazing food and watching the Olympic trials.

Pictures will probably stretch into two or three posts... don't worry, they're quite interesting. :)

The sunset our first night... it was a great return. :)

Holding Pax for the first time

Reading to Zoe and Gus

Curious George

Red, White and Blue Popsicles!

Ellie and a baby doll

Pax and I hangin' out one morning

Riding the four wheeler with Pap (Hannah in blue, Ellie in purple)

Myself with Pax, Jenna with Ty

The mens' fishing party

"Helping" push Ty

I painted all three three year old's toes

A family picture :)

A second post coming next week. :)

Cataloging Life

I've started carrying my camera around more. It sounds so simple- so easy. and it is. I mean, it takes a second and a half to clip my camera case to my belt loop.

and yet, that extra second and a half allows me to capture little moments that I might miss otherwise.

No, my pictures aren't perfect. Sometimes they're blurry and sometimes they turn people's faces yellow.

But they always mean something. They always carry a memory, they capture a moment in time.

Whether it's the feeling of my friends' arms around my waist, or the girls' excitement about milkshakes, every moment is worth the memory space it takes up.

I'm cataloging life.

And that is truly bliss.

Greta Face

This is Greta... affectionately called Greta Face instead of Greta Faith because of her thousands- literally - of expressions. This girl is going to do great things someday, and she has quite the story. She's already inspiring!

 

She loved the Oompa Loompas so much- so when we had a pair of Oompa socks with holes in them, Mrs. W cut the feet off and gave them to her. She was a very happy girl and went around singing "Oompa. Oompa."

You're daring to take my picture- again!?!?!

Posting this one again because I love it so much. :)

This is her gorgeous big sister- one of my dearest friends.

 Isn't she adorable? I love her so much and can't wait to see her grow up. I'm praying that she'll be on fire for Jesus Christ.

I think I only have one more post about Wonka... but we'll see. Are you tired of it already? :)

A Peek Behind the Scenes... (Part 2)

So here we go again! I apologize for the quality of some of these pictures... the lighting kinda stinks in the Colt Center.

Praying before the show

The bed had rolled over her ankle. It was bruised for about a week, but she was fine.

Three of the flower mommas

I kinda love what having my camera on "no flash" did here.

Giving God back the glory before even leaving the stage

Fly Guy

And thus starts the Eli manipulation...

hahaha

So did you enjoy seeing a bit of what life was like? I wish I could have captured everything, the private jokes, the edifying conversation, the flurry of the hair and makeup room and the peace of quiet time. But one can only seize the moments that they don't fully participate in, and I was in the thick of things most of the time. I'm not upset I didn't grab those things, those fleeting moments- I feel so blessed that I could lift my camera and snap the shots that I did take.

Here's to more memories, improved camera skills, and a whole new show coming in late April- early May! I can hardly wait. :)