Friends from Home

We just returned from a great vacation back in my home state of Delaware. I only make it home once a year these days but so love the time I get to spend there. My parents have retired to the beach area so we are now fortunate to have a great vacation spot to come home to.

We had lots of visiting to do this year. Seeing my friends is always a highlight. I made a point to see as many as possible and had a great time seeing my kids with their kids. Here are a few highlights from some of our visits. Thanks everyone for making time during your busy lives to come and see us. We had a blast!

Funny thing about this picture is I had a great spot out on the rocks just beyond this sign. But sweet Alex was very concerned because the sign clearly stated we were not allowed beyond this point. Since I can appreciate a good rule follower myself, we opted for here and I made sure to include the sign for the memory.

Our Family Has Grown.....

...and I have a new subject!! One week ago we adopted a sweet little kitten. After loosing our cat of 17 years in February my 9 year old has been on a quest to adopt a new pet. After lots of research on http://www.petfinder.com/ we made the plunge. Her name is Ally and she is just as sweet as can be! A true delight to have around. Welcome to the family!

Came home the other day to find sweet Ally in amongst the sea of stuffed animals. She is such a cuddle bug. I guess when no one is home these will do:)

Happy 9th Birthday!

My sweet girl just celebrated her 9th Birthday. Because in her world the celebration would not be complete without animals, we headed to the Yellow River Game Ranch. I packed lots of goodies for the animals and the kids had a blast feeding them right out of their hands. So much fun! It was a super party and just wanted to share a few from the day.

Seriously, is that just about the longest tongue you have seen? Way to hang in there Ans!!

Gotta Love Newborn Babies

My sweet little niece is 2 weeks old and I went over last weekend to take some newborn photos. She is such a little doll and we had so much fun capturing this fleeting time. There is something so sweet and precious about these first few weeks. I could go on and on but I will spare you the gushing:) She is just perfection, if I do say so myself, and I wanted to post a few of my favorites from the day. Enjoy!!

I'm an Aunt.....

..... and totally in love!! I am proud to announce that I welcomed this week a niece!! Her name is Avery and she was born on 8-9-10 weighing 6 pounds 13oz. Isn't that a cool birthday?! She is my first biological niece and we are all so excited to have her here in our family. What an unbelievably special time this is. I wanted to share a few shots I took the other day when I met her for the first time. She was so alert and incredibly beautiful!

Congratulations to my brother Mike and his wife Manndi!! I look forward to sharing in this very exciting journey with you. Love you!

Happy 8th Birthday!!

My daughter turned 8 last weekend!! She absoulety loves animals and really wanted to have an animal party. Her first thought was to have it at the shelter with all of the dogs that needed homes. Since that was not an option and I ruled out her idea of the "bring your pet party", we landed on the Little Red Barn mobile petting zoo http://littleredbarn.us/. The girls had such a great time playing with all of the animals. It was amazing to see my backyard turned into a little farm. It was a big hit and the weather was gorgeous. Happy Birthday sweet girl!! We love you:)

This is my little guy. There were only 6 bunnies so he bonded with this little duck. Too cute:)

Here are the girls craddling their baby bunnies. The bunnies were the big hit of the day. They all really wished they could have taken them home. If only they were the party favors. I would have been such a hit with the girls.....but not the mothers!

Like Mother Like Daughter

Well I haven't done the best of job posting events from my personal life although I have had the intention to a million times. But this week we took a big step forward in my daughter's life and I wanted to share. At 7 my sweet baby got glasses. I wore glasses my entire life up until a year ago when I had Lasik surgery. She was complaining about not being able to see the chalkboard at school. Well sure enough she needed glasses. It is hard to describe the feeling of knowing she is growing up. I guess I always knew she might need them one day but so soon. It felt a little like when she lost her first baby tooth. I wanted to stop it and put it back. It was a way for her body to tell me she is changing and growing into a big girl.

She feels so super special and cool in her new glasses. We think she looks adorable. Just wanted to share a few pictures from our trip to pick up our first of many pairs of glasses.

Here is the before........

And the after:)

I want to send a special thank you out to our friends at Oculist Optique www.oculistoptique.com. They were so sweet and made Ansley feel so special and pretty in her new glasses. Thanks Dr. Jaillet and Troy for all your help. The glasses are working out perfectly!!

Great Friends Great Weekend

We were so fortunate last weekend to be invited up to our friend's home at Lake Rabun. The forecast was a little bit grim with lots of rain planned for Saturday. That did not dampen our spirits. Who knew you could have so much fun in a day of almost nonstop rain and even a power outage for nearly four hours. With 6 adults and 6 children stuck in a three bedroom house it had all the potential to be a miserable day but it great! It stopped raining for a few hours mid day just enough for a boat ride and chilly dip in the lake. We played games and all had a great time. It felt a little bit like luxury, dry camping around a fire and I loved it! I snapped a few pictures of our friends before heading out on Sunday morning. Thank you "A" family for sharing your great home and the great company!

Rain Rain Go Away!

Well after days, and I mean days, of raining we had our first chance to head outside in quite sometime. Due to flooding in the area, school was cancelled today. It was a rain day which felt much like a snow day here in Atlanta. The kids were thrilled with the unexpected day of freedom. It was fun to play with a few of our friends. We headed out to see how our neighborhood lake had held up through the all of the storms. I brought my camera along to make sure it was not feeling neglected. After a few cancelled shoots due to weather over the last week, it was happy to be back in the game!