Visits from Family....

B* and I are always disappointed that no one ever wants to come and visit us.....I know we are the only ones out of state but hey it's not that long of a drive and we have SO much room! Our home is plenty big for get togethers but we just never have visitors:( Well that changed during the month of July!

It started out on July 11th when my cousin D* and his gorgeous fiance came in town(on their way to a camping trip with friends)....they let me have the priveledge of creating some beautiful engagement pics at one of the parks not far from our house......

(to view a few more teasers from their session check out the blog for Details Portrait Art, LLC.)

then his sister and her family stopped by on July 20th on their way home from a camping trip and we had the opportunity for a quick visit with M*, her husband S* and their adorable little boy N*......

and during that same weekend Grandma and Grandpa stayed with us for a few nights while on their way to Nashville which was such a blessing! K* and C* do not get to spend enough time with their grandparents and they both had soo much fun! Grandpa and B* enjoyed a game of bowling on the Wii.....

while Grandma and the kids made yummy brownies!

After devouring half the pan, we sat down for popcorn and a movie. We watched Spiderwick Chronicles which had a few scarey parts but they didn't seem to bother K* and C*(probably becuase they had Grandma and Grandpa there for extra protection:)

Chocolate Doughnuts

K* and C* are very lucky because their Nan came across a recipe for the chocolate frosting used by bakeries to make cake doughnuts and passed the instructions onto their daddy. Well, Mommy has watched them make these doughnuts numerous times and yet I STILL can not make them! Every time I attempt it becomes a runny watery mess of sugary chocolate:( So I leave it up to Dad! Then again- he always has K* and C* helping out- they love to help pour and stir and rattle off the directions(which they know)......although I think their favorite part is licking the spoon and bowl clean!

K* chose a doughnut that was double dipped in chocolate and then coated with chocolate sprinkles.......

while her little brother C* went for the red/white/blue sprinkles. He decided to do a little dance in his chair as well which had the four of us in huge roar of laughter! He is quite the little ham when he wants to be.....

Downtown....

So B* had Monday off so that he could recoup from our family reunion and we decided to spend the day downtown. We had a lot of fun! K* especially loved feeding the pigeons while C* really enjoyed running around. After spending a while at the circle we ventured through town and ended up at the canal where we enjoyed a paddle boat ride----

enjoy the sites from our adventure!

I know you must be wondering where the pics from the reunion are....well....I haven't had a chance to go through all 828 of them....hehe! I suppose I was a little camera happy!

Coincidence or Godincidence? You decide!

I was reading an article this morning in my Popular Photography Magazine and am amazed at how our Lord works.....the writer was given an assignment to write an article
"The Photographer's Guide to the Eye". The writer was personally fighting a personal battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma which had caused severe dry eyes- he went on to say that his eyes had not produced tears in three years causing enormous amounts of pain. So while he was doing research for his assignment he came across an article that spoke of a treatment/study overseas that uses the plasma(serum) from your red blood cells mixed with a saline solution to produce a customized eyedrop to sooth the pain of the dry eyes. At the end of the article he talks about what a miracle it was that he was chosen to write the article which would lead him to find a treatment to his own sufferings.

So he never gives God credit in black and white but as I finished reading the article I smiled for having been witness to one of God's many miracles:)

If you want to read the article by John Owens- it's on pg 14 of the August 2008 issue of Popular Photography.

Happy 4th.....a little late.....

So I have realized that I don't like blogging without pictures.....is that crazy?

I don't know what my problem is but for some reason I feel as though everyone is more interested in pictures of my kids than reading what I have to write! So here are a few shots of the family spending time with our dear friends for the holiday!

As you can see- C* did NOT like the fireworks. Ok- that is a little bit of an understatement! He was TERRIFIED of them....I'm talking screaming, crying, covering his ears, and literally shaking! It was so funny- well, not funny but cute....you know what I mean! It was better when we went to watch the show after sunset but when B* and our friend K* were letting them off in the backyard- wow- you would have thought we were torturing him! We had a good time with our ex-neighbors and feel so blessed to have them in our lives! They have become our extended family- we spend Christmas, New Years, Easter, and the Fourth together every year! It is so nice to know that we have "family" here in Indiana:) Let's just hope they forgive us for last night.....I'll fill you in later- but for now I have errands to run!

Sad:(

Those of you that haven't heard- we miscarried:( Just as we were getting used to the idea of another baby we lost it. I don't want anyone to feel sad for us as I know that God has a plan and no matter what that is we will continue to be happy and grateful to have been blessed with two amazing kids! I know that having had so many of you thinking and praying for us has helped to dull the pain. It's funny because I've always known how much I love K and C but never knew that I would feel so much sadness losing a baby that I wasn't expecting?! Anyway- we are not going to "try" for another as I know that if we are meant to have more children we will. I struggle with remembering that it's "God's plan" and not mine! Thanks for all of the love and support.

D

Starting to sink in.....

Well- I think it's finally starting to sink in! I am very excited and yet equally nervous! I feel like I'm not the most organized person with two kids and I just can not imagine having three! I know, I know- yes I did watch two little girls that were just a few months younger than C* so realistically I should be able to handle it.....but- I won't be able to give two of them back to anyone at the end of the day!!!
I have been on the hunt for a new ob/gyn and hope to find someone that I will be comfortable with. I wasn't impressed with the doctor that delivered C* and the doc that I have gone to recently is clear over in *ville. She is very nice but with the way gas prices are I think I'd like to find someone closer. Well, I should go I have MANY sessions to proof!