Family Camp

Athens, TX is sacred ground for me. It's where my camp journey began. I met friends there in 5th grade and am still really close to them even now. That feeling I got at camp was a mountaintop high every year. It's unexplainable but so so meaningful.

Justin took Nolan two years ago when Justin lead music at a camp but this year we heard about Family Camp. I was a little nervous about how it would go with Landry. The thought of bunk beds, play pens and more had me a little worried about the logistics of it all.

But it was amazing, in so many ways.

Seeing my husband play guitar for the camp always warms my heart.

I want my kids to love this place like I did. It's not like it's hard. It kind of just happens when you open the car door.

 Watching my kids eat s'mores....well it's on my parent bucket list.

Watching my kids sing camp songs and loving every minute of it. Another check on my list.

Even though it was a weekend camp, we filled every minute of that time with family time. And even better that we made homemade ice cream. It was more like a sugary liquid but you know I didn't turn it down.

Painting a family portrait, which now welcomes you as you walk into our entry way.

Swimming in a lake and pool had us worn out in no time but something about camp...it's like the trees give off a little bit more energy and you breathe it in and can't help but keep going.

 For that entire weekend, we bonded as a family. TVs were not around, phones were put away, video games weren't anywhere to be found. Although board games were played. It was glorious.

 

And it ain't summer without some watermelon.

So grateful for this place for what it's meant to me and my prayer continues that my children will have this place mean as much to them as it has to me.

The weekend reminded me that family time is sacred time, it's holy time.

Amen.

Making lemons out of lemonade

It's no secret of mine that my least favorite season in Texas is the summer. It's miserable. I'm talking I need a shower after checking the mail at the curb.

I think my true hatred of summer was official after two of my 3 kids were born in September. Having to make it through the brutal summer with double cankles and toes that resembled plump sausages has me a little bitter still.

So when I began my journey into photography full time officially in June, I knew that I needed to come up with a mini session that would be short and sweet because of the heat but would scream summer.

Here's a little video of my little sunshines.

I made lemons out of lemonade and dreamed of doing lemonade stand minis. My friend, Kelly, just replaced her fence and had a yard full of old fence wood that was perfect for the job. Justin amazed me so much by building this stand. It was exactly as I envisioned and I am so so thrilled with how it turned out.

These flowers are actually weeds but perfect for the location and with the sun coming through, it almost made me forget that we were doing a session in 100 degree heat. What you can't tell, is that this field is pretty much in the ghetto, but hey, it works.

We decided at the last minute to do these with my family and I did a trial run first before I did sessions with clients. It's a good thing, I realized which props needed some tweaking and used an inhumane amount of hot glue, super glue and velcro.

 

And wouldn't you know in complete Forced Family Fun fashion that after our session was done, what doesn't start? My car. It's dead...like really dead. Fortunate for us we had a guy who was riding his bike introducing himself that he was straight out of prison ready to help us. Say what? That was a little frightening to say the least.

Luckily, even in the ghetto, you can get a jump and be on your way soon. How is it that our car batteries die at the worst times i.e. bring Landry home from the hospital.

I joked that God was smiling down on me on catching this pic. There is NO head swapping on this pic. Even with props blowing all over this field and the car battery dying. It was worth every single second.

Amarillo by morning

Early this summer we planned on taking a trip to Colorado. Justin's grandmother who had been ill for over 6 months suddenly took a turn for the worse. We decided to cancel our trip because we had a feeling she wouldn't make it long. Our instinct was right and our dear sweet Rosie passed away.

As part of our trip to Colorado, we wanted to stop in Amarillo and visit my grandparents. It had been since last summer that we had seen them so it was definitely time. So since our trip to Colorado was cancelled we took another weekend just to go and visit them. I'm so glad we did.

We made it in really late Friday night, but we filled our weekend with some quality family time. My grandmother's yard is amazing. She works so hard on it everyday and it shows. Her grass it like carpet.

And my kids love it too. They play like crazy barefoot and all because when else can you feel like you're walking on carpet outside in Texas?

It warmed my heart to see my kids playing her in backyard and loving on my grandparents.

 

And can you believe that I grew up in Amarillo and I've NEVER been the the Big Texan?

That's blasphemy in those parts. While we waited for what seemed like eternity for our food, they had some really great music and the kids loved it and we even got to see someone attempt to eat the 72 oz steak in under an hour. He didn't make it by the way. 

 

Losing Rosie really helped remind us how precious our grandparents are to us and I feel so lucky that I still have some of mine.

My grandmother is so beautiful, trendy, lively and so generous. She's always volunteering at her church and to help others. I hope I can be her when I grow up.

We love you Great Grams and Grandpa! 

Family Fun on the Fourth

We started our tradition of heading to our neighborhood pool early on the 4th. Normally this is a blast. However, Campbell recently went through a pretty traumatic experience at a friend's house where I had to jump in after him with my coverup and shoes on (I somehow managed to save my margarita). Last year, he was a fish. Jumping off diving boards, swimming under water with no floaties. I guess he got a little rusty so that understandably really shook him up.

He acts like he's never been swimming in his life and is quite ok with never swimming again in water over 6". So pool time has been pretty torturous this summer until last week. It seemed like with Nolan we always had to start over every year but Cam was pretty fearless. We tried not pushing him but he would just cling to my neck like I was sticking a cat in water.

Finally after about 6 trips to the pool, we're back to at least wearing floaties. Hallelujah. Baby steps....baby steps. I didn't get too many photos of our pool time because he was so terrified and all hands needed to be on deck.

What do I love most about the pool? That it wears my kids out!

I've been eyeing this skirt on Pinterest since Landry was a baby but I knew it was well above my skill level. My friend Kristen is way more talented than me and decided she was ready to tackle it. So we did a crafty swap. She made the skirts and I made the shirts and bows. I got the way better end of the deal. But I do vote them as the cutest patriotic outfits ever. I'm glad Landry's is a little big on her because that means she can wear it again next year!

 

I mean...seriously? 

 

My mom made the cookie patriotic pops and they were a bonus cute photo opp. The kids were eating them faster than I could take pictures though.

Grandma always comes with cute pinwheels and decor to make it feel festive.

  

My brother moved to town and lives less than 10 minutes away. I've seen him more in the past month than I have in 3 years. It's been great!

  

I love that you can just smell the grill throughout the day on the 4th of July. Burgers, dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad...it all just feels American. 

I'm so thankful for this country, for our freedom...I do take it for granted way too easily.

And it's not the 4th without loading up the kids to watch fireworks. We have definitely had our mishaps over the years trying to watch them but we've finally found a great place that has a 360 degree view of all of them across town.

Glow sticks, pinwheels, and patriotic colors blazin'.

 

Landry really couldn't have cared less about the fireworks. She was completely content with her blowin' pinwheel and glow sticks. 

While the fireworks weren't as close as they normally are, the kids loved being up so high that they could see about 10-12 firework shows going on a once. There's something so American seeing all these mini celebrations going on all around us.

And I think we have a little pyromaniac on our hands. Should I be scared?

Happy 4th of July from our family to yours!

Kentucky visit

We weren't planning on going to Kentucky this summer but Justin's amazing and remarkable grandmother passed away. Without thinking twice, we changed our route to go to Colorado for family vacation to head to Kentucky to be with family.

Rosie...what an amazing lady. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've never met a more positive person in my life than our "rosy" Rosie. She always saw the best in everything....I mean everything. She was pretty remarkable and quite a spunky, lively thing right up until the last 6 months of her 92nd year of life. She was the type to wave at the door until she saw your car gone and even stick her head in the window of the car because she loved that we visited her. It was so precious.

When we knew that Rosie wasn't doing well, we talked to the boys that she would be passing soon and Nolan opened up about how he was scared about dying. I told him that was nothing that he needed to worry about now. Rosie was nearly 100 years old and had a long happy healthy life. Then he said, "Yeah, and I'm only in the ones place." We went from sadness to hysterical laughter in seconds. I love that about my children and I know that Rosie was laughing in heaven about it. 

It really was a celebration of her life and the boys loved seeing their Kentucky family. They love visiting Gram and Pop's house. While we were there we decided to make a real trip of it and spend time with the fam and just hang out.

We took the kids to the Kentucky Horse Park and it was a blast. We packed a picnic on a gorgeous day.

And the boys always pick up right where they left off when it comes to their cousins. 

 

I'm not sure who's crazier about who when it comes to these two. Pretty sure, it's mutual.

 

After our lunch, we caught the horse parade and even had a chance to pet them. 

 

This horse was HUGE, but Landry didn't seem to care. Be careful, Daddy, she might just ask for one.

 

All in all, it was a gorgeous day and just what we all needed days after Rosie's funeral. 

And it's not a Kentucky visit without an ER visit. In case you're wondering why Landry has a boo boo on her head. She had a fight with a solid oak wood chair and the chair won.  Her 4 stitches prove it. Of course my baby girl is the first one of my kids to get stitches. I can't believe how great she was during the stitches. She cried more about the numbing medicine than the stitches.

 We also made some time to go to some new places in Lexington that we've never had time to do. And this next series of pictures were part of a sneaky photo shoot of the kids for my sister-in-law's birthday. They are some of my favorites of them as cousins. 

And this one of my nieces...oh my goodness. I can't handle how precious. 

I just love how the 900 miles between them doesn't keep them from playing with each other like they see each other every day. 

Our Nolan and Neala...

Neala Rose...named after Rosie. And how appropriate is it that she's perfectly rosy too just like her great-grandmother.

We managed to squeeze in celebrating Melissa (my sister-in-law) and Campbell's June birthdays too.

And even in a game of corn hole.

Our little crew is learning to become travelers after all. Well, everyone but Landry. One day she'll watch movies and sleep, right?! Lord, please let that happen one day.

So grateful for this time in Kentucky to celebrate the beautiful long life of Rosie and to see family.