embrace the camera

the happiest of happiest birthdays
to a one-of-a-kind friend, KS!

 

 

i sure wish i was on a
surprise plane flight
coming to see you right now.
but i’m not.
so don’t be disappointed.
i’m really not.
on a plane.
coming to see you.
but i am realizing
that i if was going to surprise you again,
this would be the perfect setup.
but i’m not.
you’ll have to enjoy feddy’s without me.
which isn’t hard because freddy’s is amazing.
(check out my wild adventures
here and here from last year)

 

and, i have been
so completely and incredibly inspired
by this gal
and what she is doing this year
with her sisters-in-law.
she has invited everyone to participate,

so i have asked my two sisters
and my newest sister-in-law
to join in
(my other sister-in-law
is a homeschooling mother of nearly six
i don’t think i need to say any more…).

we are

all women,
all wives,
all followers of Jesus.

oh, how blessed we are.

 

  

     

 

one newlywed.
one army wife.

one has her own letterpress studio.

one attempting to capture motherhood.

 

i will put each of our daily
thankful photos
on my blog.
to share with all of you.
i invite you to join us in this journey.
here is our first set.

 

  
  

 

Your compassion is great, O Lord;
Psalm 119:156a

 

2456. parades
2457. delicious meals
2458. getting rid of the dust
2459. sisters
2460. mellow nights

 

it’s those
in-between moments
that have been missing around here.
but not any longer.

 

and i am relishing
and soaking up
and (trying oh-so-hard)
to be present in
each
and
every
one.

 

and L has been blossoming.
oh, how he has been progressing.
like we’ve never seen before.

 

i think he’s been doing this
for a little while now
but we have been so busy
hurrying and scurrying around
that we haven’t seen it.

 

but it’s there.
in those in-between moments.
those little beautiful things
just waiting to be discovered
and noticed
and seen
and witnessed
and observed
and picked up on
and realized
and found
and uncovered
and caught
and brought to the Light.

and we have glimpsed God’s goodness
right here.
in those in-between moments.
oh, how He’s right here.

 

 

Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.
Hosea 6:3

 

2446. constant jabbering
2447. incredible, incredible new therapists
2448. seeing the bigs at school all the time
2449. so, so, so much clarity
2450. the in-between moments

 

for my dad’s birthday
(be sure to check out his blog here),
my sister,
(who by the way has this
adorable Christmas card for sale on minted!)

 

so my sister came up with the brilliant, brialliant plan
to surprise my dad with a family trip to disneyland!

 

now, if you know my dad,
you know that he is basically
(and quite possibly)
in the CIA.
thus, it is nearly impossible to surprise him.
(it’s even reported that he may have had
GPS locators put on all of our cars…
would you like to respond to that at all, dad?)

 

 

 

but guess what?
we did it.
we surprised him!
and, we even had matching t-shirts.
(designed by my sister.)

 

 

 

millie even came by
with a telegram from Mickey
that said “you can go on any ride if you wait in line.”
that was so nice of him.

 

 

                    

 

My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing and make music with all my soul.
Psalm 108:1

 

2431. a calendar that is coming together nicely
2432. time
2433. leftovers for lunch
2434. almost not having anything to do
2435. music in my ears

 

 

 

oh, goodness.
these photos are from june.
and it is now august.
well, this is real life.
my real life.

 

my family really loves celebrating birthdays.
like, it’s a big, big deal.

 

and since L has to go to bed so so so early (6:15pm)
it’s sometimes easiest just to have it at our house.

 

we had ice cream cake
because that’s my favorite.

 

and D asked my sis to give him the recipe for it since
he wanted to eat it
every.
single.
day.
so she did.

 

needless to day,
he was not satisfied by her explanation
of how to make ice cream cake.

 

Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
Psalm 63:3

 

2356. water cold from ice
2357. such a great family movie
2358. one photo shoot that turned into two
2359. spending the morning at the beach
2360. dessert with B

 

so my brother just got married
one month ago.
(i promise i’ll post photos soon.
just need to edit them, first.)
but, i did find this photo
of B and me.

 

 

(thanks for taking it, W!)

 

more to come.
much, much more.

 

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness and patience. Bear with each other
and forgive whatever grievances
you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
 And over all these virtues put on love,
which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:12-14

 

2286. shark week
2287. crossing things off of our summer list
2288. going berry picking. again
2289. clicking “send”
2290. L sleeping