New Year's Resolutions?

Every year as January 1 rolls around, I, like many of you, make up my list of (overly?) ambitious New Year's Resolutions. However, unfortunately I am not very good about remembering to keep them! So, just today, I was pleased to discover that I had actually fulfilled one! The resolution that I kept was that by the end of this year, I wanted to have some photos published, either online or in a magazine.

Several months ago I was contacted by a representative from Space Coast Bride and Groom magazine, asking if I would like to submit some photos. I sent some in, but then forgot all about it! However, today I happened to check out their spring issue, and was excited to see that 3 of my photos were included. You can check it out by going to the website (see link above) and downloading their spring issue (there is a link on the homepage). I have two photos in the engagement gallery, and 1 in the wedding gallery.

If you are a bride, definitely check out the magazine - it is full of great resources for our area.

Anna Banana

I can hardly believe that my "Anna Banana" is already 2 months old! How time flies! I am sure that I am going to wake up tomorrow and she'll be walking and talking! Anyways, here's a few recent shots:

I finally got a smile on camera!

Here's the shot so we can see how she grows. Here is her newborn shot, and here is her one month picture.

This weekend my Aunt Mary Jo and Mom-mom, my grandmother, came over for a visit. It was a blessing to have them, and I'm so glad they got to meet Anna. They brought some adorable clothes for the baby, and some new trucks for Chris (he's in heaven!). Thank you so much for coming!

Desert Song

Today in church a song was sung that I had never heard before, and it was truly a blessing, encouragement, and a good reminder. The song is called "Desert Song", and it talks about praising God even through difficult situations. After all, as the song says, "All of my life, in every season, you are still God." So no matter what happens in life, God is still good and still loves us.

Here is a video of the song; I hope you are blessed by it as I was! (I tried to embed it in the blog, but for some reason the code wouldn't work).

This song was especially an encouragement, as we are still dealing with Mark's unemployment. It has been almost 7 weeks, and it has really been a challenging time for us (especially him, of course!). He has a few good prospects, but nothing definite yet. But, we are trusting that the Lord has a purpose for this, as He does for everything in our lives. So, we are just trying to hang on to that...

Baby Rachel

Several months ago we met Zeke and Pam through our church, and it is so neat to have a relationship with another family where we can all help one another. Our bathroom was in desperate need of a remodel, and Zeke did an amazing job! We can't wait to have him redo our other bathroom as well (If you are looking for a great contractor, let me know!).
So when they asked me to come and photograph their new daughter, Rachel, I was so excited to be able to help them out. Rachel was born only a few weeks after my Anna (and they also had a homebirth with the same midwife!) and is a beautiful baby! She is very good-natured, and was very patient with the pictures ;) Big sisters Madison and Emma were also around for some shots, and they are so good with Rachel.
Thank you so much, Zeke and Pam, for the opportunity!

These first two pictures are a little different style for me, but they had done the same poses with both of their first two daughters and so wanted the same shots with Rachel. I was pleased with how they turned out!

Happy Fourth of July!

For the Fourth of July, we got together with some friends for a cookout. Our kids are all getting to the age now where they are actually starting to play together, and it is a lot of fun to watch them! We had them out in the back yard with some toys...

Here is Chris with little Jason...

There was a little red car, and Chris had fun pushing Jason and then Dax in it. Good thing he was the biggest one there :)

The boys trying to figure the buttons out :) I think this is my favorite shot!

Fishing with Daddy

I had to take a picture of Anna in her sweet dress!

This is me and Anna with my friend Alyson and her daughter Charlie, who is 4 weeks younger than Anna.

Then we headed out to watch fireworks. Here's the gang waiting for them to start...

I have to say I was rather disappointed in the display. I think part of the problem was that we were too far away - they were so small, and you couldn't really hear them. It totally lost the effect! But, I was still glad to be out there.

Overall, it was a relaxing and enjoyable day. What a perfect way to celebrate the freedom we have!

Congratulations Doug and Jessica!

Doug and Jessica's wedding was a simple, beautiful, and elegant event. The ceremony took place at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, with the reception at the Eau Gallie Yacht Club. Though it was a relatively small wedding, careful attention had clearly been paid to every detail, thanks to wedding planner Kate Hall. She really did a fantastic job - everything went very smoothly.
I hope you enjoy the slideshow!