Thursday, August 25, 2011

Not So Little Anymore...

Our little guy Ethan just turned 8. Where did the time go? He's almost as tall as me, sheesh, but skinny as a rail, yet eats ALL the time. :) Odes of things to come, I'm sure. Ethan is such a delight to our home! I love his sensitive personality, his gentleness, his love for legos and dinosaurs and his readiness to forgive. We are so proud of how well he does in school and how he relates to his friends. His love for Jesus just amazes us, wanting to read the Bible he was given in Sunday School all on his own! We love you, Ethan, thank you for making us see the world through rose colored glasses... :)


Blown Away by a Busy Summer!

So...my little venture into branching out in my photography has completely snowballed into this busy work schedule I never even dreamed would happen. It started out trying to expand what little portfolio I had by doing photo shoots for free for my friends so that I could experience working with different types of people outside of my family. And from there it has just grown, word of mouth, FB has been a great source of free advertising. But referrals are the biggest compliment to me, not only did they like the work I did but they enjoyed their experience with me as well. My entire summer I have been booked solid. The only times I've taken a "break" I was traveling out of town. And I'm still booking jobs well into October, even November. I can't thank my wonderful friends and family for letting me "practice" on them, for spreading my name and love for photography to their friends and family. And to those who have helped guide me on the professional side, as well as the technical side. I am so appreciative to everyone's help and love, it has not gone unnoticed. And to my family for their patience, all the babysitters and time in front of the computer editing photos! It means the world to me. Thank you God for the gift, unknown talent and time to do it!

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

Soon after school got out we were able to go visit my parents for a little bit up in Whidbey Island, another lovely and peaceful place. The weather was pretty chilly so we bundled up most of the time. Highlights were playing at the awesome park they have in town, and my dad treated Ethan to a golf camp at the local golf club. He had such a fun time. Me, on the other hand, got a tad worn out traveling with 3 little kids alone, but it's worth it for them to spend time with their grandparents and see my grandmother, Grandma Layne, now and then! :)

A Day at the Beach

We just love Canon Beach, OR, so we always make it a point to get out there with the kids. It's so quaint, it never changes and there just aren't as many tourist as in the other Oregon Coast towns, and that's how we like it. We were just able to spend the day there with the kids at the beginning of summer, and while it wasn't super warm (which is rare anyway), we had a wonderful time, enjoying the sand, the sound of the waves and spending some uninterrupted time together. Ahhhh, my favorite place EVER!!!!

Family Photos

After a 3 1/2 year hiatus from good family photos (and the addition of another child) I FINALLY wrangled the troops together for some pictures. My awesome friend/photographer Angela, of Diamondheart Photography, took some time aside to shoot our photos. They turned out so cute. We went to an awesome location and just had a blast. It's harder to be on the other side of the lens than I remember. :)

Catching up...AGAIN!


I'm going to attempt to fill in the blanks of the past 6 months! The kids ended school great and enjoyed playing soccer in the spring. Reagan was on the Purple Hornets team, along with one of her best friends from school and Ethan played for the Golden Lions and was AWESOME. For a little guy who's kind of clumsy, he's a star on the soccer field, handling the ball aggressively and playing so well. Reagan shined on her team as well, and was SO excited to get her trophy at the end of the season (2 years ago when she played, her coaches never gave out trophies and she was pretty bummed about it). So Ethan successfully made it through 2nd grade and Reagan flourished in PreK. I'm so proud of my little people. :) We'll hear more about our summer (and Miss Jordan) in my next post. I gotta break them up a bit. :)