Please Pray...

One of my very good friends Andrea and her husband Jon had a little boy who was born on May 18th with a severe heart condition. Tomorrow her precious little one is going in for open heart surgery. If you would please take the time tonight and tomorrow to pray for her son and family during his surgery (7a.m. May 28th); I would be forever grateful.

Below is an email that was sent out by Andrea with specific prayer requests. I will keep you all posted tomorrow on how little baby Alexander is doing. Thank you all for your prayers...


Dear Friends,

As most of you know, our baby Alexander Daniel was born last Monday, May 18. He was 81bs 13oz, 21 inches and is such a beautiful boy with lots of thick black hair.
Alexander has a congenital heart defect called "Transposition of the Great Vessels" which requires open heart surgery. His surgery is tomorrow morning at 7:00 am at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. His surgeon is Dr. Vaughn Starnes.

As you can imagine, we are so anxious about the surgery and recovery. It is an extremely delicate procedure. We would really appreciate if you all could pray for Alexander tomorrow morning.

Specifically:
1. That he would have to spend minimal time on the heart and lung bypass machine
2 That the switching of his arteries goes smoothly and with no complications
3. That the transplanting of his Coronary arteries will be problem free and that Dr. Starnes is able to attach them with no kinks or stretching and that they would lay as naturally as possible.
4. That Alexander's body will heal quickly after the surgery and that he will be able to come off the ventilator within a few days.
5. That Dr. Starnes will be well rested and that God will give him wisdom and creativity to address any problems that arise during surgery.

Thank you so much, friends. We are so grateful for all of your phone calls, emails, offers to bring us meals, watch Jacob etc. You have been so generous to us and we feel so supported and loved.

Thanks again for praying. Our precious baby is in God's hands.

Love,
Jon and Andrea

When the rain breaks = Beautiful in Washington

OHHHHHHHHHHH Man today was a beautiful day here in the Pacific Northwest. To me, it felt like the first day of summer and well we certainly played like it was. Austin and I had a great day playing in the sun at the downtown fountain, park, and boardwalk. We played so hard that Austin passed out in the car even before starting the car. He had sooooooooo much fun watching all the children play in the water. He got right in there with everyone else and had a blast!!

For anyone who knows my son,they know what these arms represent...HERO! This is a fun game we play with Austin and he had a blast flying through the fountain like a hero!



He never even hesitated running through the water...





Oh YEAH Austin's cool!



Playing at the park, climbing and being silly!





And we're DONE...

Our time has come to an end...

I am crushed, empty, and saddened to write this post, but reality has come to where we have to say goodbye. Yesterday, I said goodbye to the love of my life for another six (or so) months as he heads back to Afghanistan to complete his mission. It took everything in me yesterday not to cry, but that quickly shattered as I held him tightly knowing that I would not embrace his hug again for what seems like eternity. It was even harder to see him say goodbye to our son who he loves more then anything in this world. I have very rarely seen my husband cry, but I visibly saw his heart ache as we drove away for the airport. It was a very emotional day, but I am thankful that we are now on the downhill slide of this journey. It's been extremely hard to be apart, but we know that god has a plan for us and we will praise him for his glory in our lives.

Love is a very powerful word, and I know it's not enough to explain the bond I have with my husband and son. My husband is my soul mate, my best friend, and love for life. Even though it's hard to be without him, I am very honored to call him my husband. He is fighting for a cause, and passion for his country. He believes in the foundation of freedom and security. He is one that I admire for his strength and desire to make a change. He truly is my hero!

Joel, even though we are not together today or in the days to come, I want you to know that I think of you always. I dream of you while I sleep and when I wake I smile at the thought of your love you have for your family. I am extremely thankful to have you as my husband, friend, and father to our son. We are very proud of you and can't wait to see you come home for good. Until then, know that we are here remaining strong and with open arms. We will see you soon my love. I miss you already!

To our family and friends....Thank you for loving and supporting us through this hard time. Your grace has allowed us to call home in both Kentucky and Washington. Your support whether large or small means the world to us and we are forever thankful for to you.

With love,
Stephanie

I Heart Faces Week 18...Laughter!

I promise I am still alive...it' been awhile, but I am SUPER excited for this weeks theme of laughter. I shot this picture of my son this weekend while we were out celebrating mother's day before my husband left to go back to go Afghanistan. We were having SOOOOOOOOO much fun and I just fell in love with this picture...Hope you enjoy this photo and all the other amazing pictures back at www.iheartfaces.com

Great families and friends...

The best thing in life is great family and friends! I love that I have been surrounded by wonderful people. I find at times people take for granted the people that fill their lives, but for me, I take every moment I can with those I love. Yesterday, I had a the opportunity to shoot two of my best girl friends and their families. It was great to capture the love these families had between one another...hope you enjoy!

Our trip to the Zoo....Amazing!

Our time is coming to an end and while emotions are gaining quickly, I had a moment to soak in the zoo with my boys. Austin, Joel, and I packed up for Nashville the other day to spend a couple of days together as a family. While in Nashville, we were able to enjoy the local zoo as a family. It was so wonderful to see Austin so excited about the zoo. I took him last year and well of course he was too little to understand or realize that there were actually animals to see and experience. This time was more then just experiencing the animals, it was experiencing the animals with daddy. The two of them ran around the zoo like children on Christmas eve...around every corner was a new adventure or animal to see. The park was beautiful and of course I took the opportunity to take a thousand or more pictures of my guys together. It feels so wonderful to be filled again as a complete family and as I know the time is coming to end, I am hoping that the days go by slowly. Joel is heading back to Afghanistan on Sunday as Austin and I are back to Washington. It's seems like the time has gone by too quickly (as it always does), but I know we're almost through and in six months time we'll be together again as a family for good. Please keep us in your prayers...we'll definitely need it in the coming days. As for now, please enjoy our pictures at the zoo together. We had SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun!!


As always, I have taken too many pictures to share in one post, so I have found a solution...I am posting my favorite pictures and the rest are in a slide show below...Enjoy:)))

More time spent as a fmaily in Kentucky...

The time spent here in Kentucky has been wonderful! Joel and I have soaked up every moment so far with Austin. We've taken him to the park, fun plaza, and to his great Aunts house to see the horses. We're even planning a trip to the zoo next week in Nashville (stay tuned for pictures)...so much fun! I promise when I have more time I will write more about our time together and how it's been to be a family again, but for now picture will have to do until I have the time to sit down and write...hope you enjoy!!

Joel and I took Austin out to his aunts house to see the horses. He was a little hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up with daddy by his side...





Here is where Austin realized that the horses actually moved...he reacted very quickly to the horse moving into his personal space...lol!





After daddy took Austin up on his shoulder and by the hand Austin was all about visiting with the horses...So cute!





Austin even got to go outside and ride the lawn mower with his daddy...he had a blast until he threw a fit when he had to come back in...







Here is where Austin had to come in...he watched daddy the whole time from the window:)



Well I suppose that's it for now, sorry for the lengthy post...I couldn't just pick one:)))