Who wants their picture taken?

My love for photography is beginning to branch out to my friends and family. This weekend I went to downtown Paducah and took over 750 pictures of my friends and their families...here is just a few to show off!









If I am lucky, my brother in law may just use one of my pictures for his new album...wouldn't that be cool!



I had a great time with you all this weekend...thank you for letting me capture the moment:)

Happy Thanksgiving...

This year I traveled to Kentucky to be with my husband's family for Thanksgiving. Now I know what some of you are thinking and that is, you must be crazy to go to your in laws by yourself for two weeks. Well, this is one of the many things I am thankful for. I have a wonderful relationship with my in laws and truly they are my second home and family. I am blessed to have them in my life and for that I am thankful. We had a wonderful time over at Aunt Vic's house sharing stories, memories, and of course stuffing ourselves with all the wonderful "fixins."


Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away."

Information Overload...

Ok, so I have been super busy here in Kentucky visiting friends and family and I feel terrible (not really) for neglecting to update my blog. SOOOOOO with that said, I am ready to update my blog with an information overload...I hope you enjoy all the new pictures and fun things! Take care:)

Simply Amazing...

As I watch my son from afar play with the most oddest of toys, I find myself thinking how wonderful it is that a child is amused by the most simplest of things. Here I am going out and buying $20+ toys for my son to play with and he is content with a couple of bowls, a spoon, and muffin pan. I would have never thought in a million years that you could have so much fun with the simple things in life (i.e. a kitchen strainer..lol). I just thought I would share this moment with you as I thought it was funny to watch him play. These pictures make you wonder what their little minds are up to...Enjoy!

Rain...Rain...Go Away...

Rain...Rain...GO Away...Come Again Another Day!



Here in the beautiful northwest, it's been raining for the last three days. I suppose with growing up here, I should be use to it, but apparently I am not. Poor little Austin has been stuck inside to play with his toys and mommy. I guess with the winter season coming up I should get creative and plan some fun things for us to do inside...any suggestions? Well, I thought I would share this picture I captured of Austin looking outside at the rain. SO CUTE!

The free spirit is off on another adventure...

I dropped my sister Christy off today at the airport for her year long adventure in Australia. It was so hard to let her go, but I know she will be making some wonderful memories to come home and share. My sister traveled last year with my cousin Sarah in New Zealand for six months and then on the way home traveled Australia and Fiji. This time around she is going with one of our really close friends Amy. Amy went out and visited my sister in New Zealand and while she was there caught the travel bug like my sister. Their plan is to travel the beaches in Thailand for eleven days before heading out to Australia for a year...so much fun!

The last couple of months have been wonderful having my sister home. As kids we were close in age, but always seemed to be going different directions. Now as adults we are super close and more like best friends. I am going to miss having her around to hang out with and talk to, but I will hopefully be seeing her soon when our family goes to visit in the coming months (keeping fingers crossed).

To my sister and Amy, be safe, don't talk to strangers, and have the time of your life! Love you both...MUAH!









If those of you who read this blog could keep my sister Christy and Amy in your prayers that would mean the world to me!

Missing You...

It's already hard enough to miss the love of your life, but it's even harder to watch your little one miss his daddy just as much. We were playing today at the mall's play area with our friends Kristen and Mason when Austin decides he's going to take to a complete stranger. I didn't think anything of it at first until Austin kept going over there several times. The last time I took Austin away from him, I took a long hard look at him and thought, Austin must miss his daddy. The man who was sitting and watching his daughter play, had similar features like Joel. He was tall with dark hair and facial hair. It broke my heart after I realized what he was doing. I finally had to tell the man, that his daddy was overseas and apparently he thought you looked similar to him. I know it's just as hard for Joel to be aways from us, but today I realized how much I/we miss him and how hard the next couple of months are going to be. We love and miss you daddy to the sky!

We are so proud of you!

First Birthday Extravaganza...

Well, the birthday celebration is officially over and yes we are all tuckered out! Austin had a wonderful weekend celebrating his first birthday with his friends and family. Friday, we kicked off the celebration with my parents, sisters, and grandparents. We opened presents, had a wonderful dinner, and finished with cake and ice cream.

I love the idea of a personal cake. Austin had his own 4" cake to dive into and boy did he ever!


He loved us singing Happy Birthday to him so much that we sang it twice...silly boy!






He really didn't know what to think of the cake at first. After a couple pokes to the frosting and a demonstration from mommy, he caught on real quick:)


What a mess he made...We went straight to bath time after he was done digging into his cake. What a sight!


So let me tell you about the lesson I learned with cake + baby + bedtime = NO SLEEP! Austin was up all night (until 4 a.m.) with a sugar high from eating cake before bedtime...I should have known better...needless to say Austin will never be having cake or high sugar contents before bedtime...lol!

The Next Day...

On Saturday November 1st we celebrated Austin's birthday at Charlie Safari with thirteen of Austin's little buddies and close family friends. For those of you who don't know, Charlie Safari is a fun recreational place that allows children to play till their hearts desire. We had a great time playing, eating pizza, and interacting with Stormy the clown who painted faces and made fun balloons for the kids.

Austin met his first clown Stormy at his birthday party. I was so surprised to see that he allowed her to paint his face...he sat so good for her as well.




Austin had a blast playing with his friends at his birthday party. They even had a designated playing area for the little guys so that they wouldn't get run over by the older children...such a great idea!






We ended Austin party with cupcakes and presents. This time around, Austin was a pro at eating his cake and opening presents.






It's so funny to watch children open up their gifts. They are more interested in tearing the paper and playing in the bags then they are with the toys. That's not to say that we haven't had a blast playing with all his new toys, but you catch my drift!




At the end of the day, Austin and I were spent! We were both so tired that we went home and took a nap together! After our nap, it didn't take long for Austin to dive in and play with all of his new toys.


Thank you so much to everyone who came and celebrated with us this weekend for Austin's birthday. For those of you who were not able to come, you celebrated in spirit and we wished you could have been there. Also, a big thank you to everyone for his wonderful gifts. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Thank you!!

I can't end this post without the mention of our loved and very much missed daddy. We missed you very much this weekend and wished more then anything for you to have been here. We know though that the hard work and sacrifices you are making will forever be held close to our hearts. We love you daddy and hope that you have enjoyed the pictures. MUAH!