My Kids Today

Parenting isn't for cowards... I remember that being the title of a book my parents had when I was growing up... I get it now. :) Whew, this week has been a challenging week for me. I've been discouraged. The perfectionist in me gets fooled into thinking that perfect parents somehow exist. And I know I'm far from it, I see myself flop all the time. But thankfully there's grace, lots of good grace, and I will do my best and continue to pray for God's help. :) Do any of you other parents out there feel this way sometimes?

On the upside, Jude is in this totally precious stage where he comes up with these great sentences that melt my heart. He can be bossy and opinionated (have no idea where he gets that, ha, ha) but he can also be so deeply sincere and sweet and I just want to kiss him to pieces. I love you Jude bug. You are an amazing, priceless gift in my life!



Here he is being "up-side-down".




I have a connection with my Selah that I have been surprised by. She loves to be by her mama. I feel like she communicates so much through her eyes and many expressions. You know how girls can tell you what they're thinking by just a look, and most any girl can interpret it? I feel like we've got that goin' on. :) I just love her sweetness. I know the independent toddler phase will be arriving next year, but for now I am just loving her innocence, hugs, and constant delight in life! I love you baby girl. You are a true treasure!

Thank you God for these little lives you've blessed us with.

Shana & Greg: Engagement Session Sneak Peek

Greg & Shana are ridiculously cute together. Greg does so well to show just how much he absolutely adores Shana. It's really sweet to see. I have a ton of shots from their engagement session, but I just have a couple to post tonight... I've got to go to bed! More to come later.

This & That...

I can't fall asleep tonight for some reason, so I'm up at the wee hours typing away, talking to you blogging world. :)



I've been reminiscing a lot this summer, about my childhood. I keep hearing all of these 80's songs or 60's songs that take me back... I just loved summer as a kid! I grew up on a big piece of land and my cousins lived about a 1/2 mile down the road, so us kids got to play together a lot. Chelsi, Sasha & I would make up dances to music and we always had the radio on! "Turn that radio up, for that sweet sound, hold me close never let me go..." Sorry, I got carried away just then!

Anyway, I had a great childhood! And I have so many fun memories. I'm truly grateful that my parents worked so hard to give my brothers and I the gift of a rich childhood... rich in friendships, rich in connected family, and rich in putting Jesus at the center of it all, giving me a clearer perspective of what matters.


We've been having a great summer so far with the kids, soaking up all of their cuteness! :)





This is a tree house out at my dad and step-mom's place (above). Isn't it cute?
And here's Selah playing with her Granddad on the slide...


Jude's kind of past the Thomas the Train phase, but we still had fun going on a train ride last weekend. :)


And finally, when we were down celebrating Father's Day with family, I noticed our old trampoline out in my dad's side yard. I had forgotten about it and overlooked it sitting there the past few years. My brothers, Dad and I all ended up out there jumping around and we had such a great time remembering all the fun "tricks" we did on the trampoline (14) years ago! Oh my goodness... I started jumping and just had to flip. I wondered if I could even do it, and it was like riding a bike... I must have done 30 flips. :) We were laughing a lot. I forgot what a work out it was to jump around for an hour too! Family snapped these photos of Matt & me and I just love the memories they bring back...
Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Baby Evan

Little baby Evan is a baby I love to hold! I've seen him a couple times since he was born and I just can't get enough of his sweetness. He smells like a perfect little newborn.

Look at this face... this shot needs a caption. :)








A kiss from Dad.

Rachel & Josh: Portland Wedding Photography

If you remember Josh and Rachel from their engagement shoot, they were the couple that loved to laugh together. Laughter, as expected, was a big part of their wedding day. They have amazing family and friends, and it made for a truly fun, relaxed wedding! And didn't they pick such a great color scheme?

(For those of you who love photography, we shot this entire wedding indoors without flash. The 5D Mark II rocked. The sanctuary had a black ceiling, and the ceremony was mostly candle lit, so I didn't think it made sense to have flashes going off all over the place distracting guests. I obviously bumped my ISO up quite a bit, but I was impressed that the grain/noise wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.)

I was so happy to get to be a part of this event and I'm so glad Rachel & Josh asked me to capture it. Blessings on you two!!




The guys cracked me up with their kung-fu pose...

Katie & Zach: Engagement Shoot

I'm really looking forward to Katie & Zach's wedding this summer! I can already tell it's going to be fun! We're going to take their wedding portraits downtown Portland on their big day, so they wanted to mix things up and do their engagement session in a greener setting. And Katie showed up looking so beautiful in her dress and heels.
I just love love how these two interact. They're definitely best friends!

So Free

When I was growing up we had horses and I loved it! I loved all things horses. I use to spend hours in my room tracing pictures of horses. And my friend Jeana and I would ride horses in the pastures by our house, and even got so brave as to ride bareback and slide down the necks of our horses to dismount. It was a lot of fun. Eventually life changed and we didn't have horses anymore and some years went by before I got on a horse again. One summer I went with a friend to Sunriver and we went on a trail ride and I ended up with a wild horse that took off running from the slow paced trail group with me holding on for my life. That spooked me enough to not want to ride again. Since then I've only been on a horse one or two times to my mother's dismay because she eats, sleeps and breathes horses. :)

Anyway, this weekend we were down visiting family to celebrate Josh's 30th birthday and just as we had arrived at my mom's house in the evening, her friend Jennifer went out to the pasture and was riding her horse bareback. I had to take some pictures. I also snapped a couple shots of my mom's horse Pia (the blond hair horse).







This is Pia.







And I just liked these two random shots. :)