Talking Heads

Posting Vacation Days

We arrived in the Outer Banks of North Carolina today with my family. I'm going to try to do the same as our last family vacation and post a photo a day as a way to keep me using my camera and to document the trip.

Maxin' and relaxin'...

Elijah Turns Six

We saved all of our big vacations for the end of the summer and now are in the throws of packing, unpacking, and repacking. Let me tell you, there would probably not even be a blog update were it not for a foot I injured in San Francisco that has to be put up at times.

Steven and I had a "get-away" vacation on the west coast that I'll blog about at a later date. And one week after arriving home, we will be headed with my family to the beaches of North Carolina.

In the midst of the chaotic week in between vacations, my favorite little red head turned six. So all work was put on hold, as we celebrated Elijah's birthday. I felt so blessed that day as I recounted God's unexpected gift to me only 14 months after my first baby arrived. God knew Elijah was exactly what our family needed. Elijah is my tender-hearted little boy who is always thinking of a new thing to the thank me for. I honestly don't recall meeting a more grateful child. On his birthday, he squeezed me tight a couple of times and an whispered things like, "Thank you for my boat ride" or "Thanks, Mom, I always wanted a bike." I love my boy!

Hanging with his buddy Jack and being chauffeured around Burke Lake by his Uncle Tyler:

His new bike:

Family Portraits

Getting family portraits done when you're the photographer, photo subject, and mom is a serious pain. I knew we need to get some done for 2009 but was procrastinating and dreading the job. Then it dawned on me- surely I was not the only photographer out there without a recent family photo that actually included them. So I contacted a friend who is a local photographer and asked her if we could swap family portraits. I thrilled when she agreed, and we had so much fun with the whole project. Here are some of the beautiful shots she took of our family:

Thanks so much, Janelle!