Ready to Dance

A few weeks ago, K and her friends A and C, were getting ready to go to the Sadie Hawkin’s Dance.  None of them asked any guys out, so they all just went together.  The dance was animal themed.  K went as a cat, A as a butterfly, and C was a snake.  It was great hanging out with them and getting to be a part of this time in their lives.  Such beautiful girls!

A Page In Time…Peek A Boo

Our Little Joy

This little girl has sure stolen our hearts.  Now we can’t imagine what life was like before she came along.  She is such a happy baby.  She makes me laugh when I’m feeling down and want to cry.  She is tenderhearted.  She “cries” right along with you if you are sad…she comforts you.  It’s so sweet. 

She is now beginning to say more words.  For the longest time every adult was “dada”.  Then, when she really could say “mama” she would only say it sparingly and after much coaxing.  After that she learned “papa” (what we call our grandpa), and every man was “dada, papa”.  Now, when I walk in the door after running errands, she will run to me squealing, wave her little hand at me and say, “Ha mom!”  Melts me to the core, I tell ya!

It was two Christmases ago that we found out she was on the way.  Oh, that was a tough time for us.  We were in a really hard place and here we were having a little surprise!  But God knew.  He knew we needed her.  He knew we needed her laughter, her comfort, her joy, her sing-songy voice, her bright brown eyes and wispy curls. 

I also forgot just how much fun age 1 is.  The discovering, the newness of everything, the light in her eyes, the bounce in her step.  Everything is so new and exciting.  It gives me a new perspective as well, teaches me to look at life, circumstances, in a different light. 

Thank you Lord for little Z.  She is such a blessing!

High Time

Hello to all my faithful readers!  I have seen you popping up on my blog here and there looking for more to read.  I’m so sorry I have been so lax lately about posting.  I have been in the trenches, so to speak, learning a new program.  I recently got Lightroom, a wonderful photo editing program and have been trying to learn that in whatever free time I can grab a hold of.  So I have some treats for you!  Here are some of the photos I worked on today.  I found this little girl fast asleep on my couch today. 

She had been sitting there, all wrapped up in a blanket with a book.

And the next thing I knew she was out like a light.  I was so surprised!  She never takes naps anymore.  Must have really needed some extra sleep.

I love watching my kids sleep.  They are so peaceful and beautiful.    

Our 8th Anniversary

It’s been 8 years!  I just can’t believe it’s been that long!  Since my man and I said, “I do.”  This last year has been one of the hardest for us, facing circumstances and trials that have pushed us to new depths with each other and with God, thus making this one of our best years too.  We have grown stronger together more in this year than any other year since we’ve been married. 

We were blessed by some friends of ours who gave us a night at the Silverwolf Log Chalets just outside of Coram, MT.  What a fabulous place! 

The cabin was so cozy!  Just what we needed to get away and be refreshed! 

Once we checked in and had a little snack, it was off to Glacier National Park!  It’s been several years since we’ve been able to get up to the Park, so it was such a treat!

I love this time of year in the Park.  The busy tourist season is over.  The stores are all closed up for the winter.  There are very few people.  And the colors of fall are setting in. 

We drove along Lake McDonald on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.  The evening light was gorgeous!  The breeze was picking up.  Just enough to make the trees begin to dance in a nice soft sway.           We stopped at the falls.  The water was very low, but the sound of rushing water was so sweet.

Mmm…who’s this man!  I’ve got to go check him out!  Even after 8 years, my heart skips a beat whenever I see him!

We went up to Avalanche Lake trail head, by the Cedar Trail.  That is as far as you can go in the highway this time of year.  They were also doing some repairs on a bridge on the Cedar Trail, so we were only able to walk part of the way.  The forest was enchanted!  It was magical!  The green was so green.  The mist was beginning to fall.  It was quite warm.  And we were together!

It was so wonderful to get away together.  It was too short, as it always is.  But we’ve made some more memories, and they will be with us forever.      

Those Eyes

Golly, Miss Molly!  Where’d you get those eyes?!  I took this photo of J when she was laying on the couch watching TV.  The kids do get so tired of me constantly “shooting” them.  But I tell them I have to practice on someone, and they are such gorgeous little models. 

A Few of My Favorite Things…

…Li’l K’s sparkling eyes.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I am going to start blogging a mini series entitled “A Few of My Favorite Things”.  You will see it woven in and around my other posts.  I hope you enjoy. 

 

…my daughter’s smiles.

Playin’ with Textures

There’s a blog that I just love.  It’s called Kimi Kreations.  Kimi does a lot of stuff with Photoshop Elements that is really fun.  She always has great photos to show and tutorials that she finds around the internet to share.

Here are a couple of photos I’ve been playing around with using some techniques I learned from her blog.  It’s really fun and I love the artistic result!

Thanks for checking it out!

Baby G.M.

I finished processing the photo shoot I did last week of Baby G.M.  Check it out here!

Li’l K On the Farm

I did this layout a few days ago.  This photo was taken the day I did the photoshoot for Baby G.M. 

Credits:  Background: Marcee Duggar “Old Bo Back Pack”; Font:  Donnyshand from the internet.

Changes

Changes…sometimes they are good, sometimes not so good.  Well, I am here to announce some good changes!  I have recently set up my business blog, Sands of Time Designs!  Yeah!  It’s been a long time coming.  Please continue to bear with me as I am still doing some tweaking of things on that site. 

So…what do these changes mean?  Well, I will continue to use this blog to talk about our family and the events in our lives.  You will see some of my photography and scrapbook pages here, but mostly family related topics.  I will be posting most of my photography, scrapbook layouts, and photo books on the business site.  I hope you all get a chance to check it out!  I would love to hear any feedback that you might have.  I’m so excited to share these changes with all of you. 

New Pencil Sketch Technique

I learned a new technique the other day.  I love learning new techniques.  This one was a pencil sketch technique.  I’ve tried other pencil sketch tutorials in the past but just never really liked the end result.  They always looked too computerized…that’s the best way for me to describe it.  Just not quite right.  But this one is awesome!

I took this photo of my niece on Mother’s Day this year.  Here’s the color photo:

Isn’t she just adorable?  I love the look on her face here and she’s just too cute with her hands on her face.  What a kid!

The problem with learning a new technique, though, is that I want to use it on everything!  So…you’ll probably be seeing lots more sketches.  You’ve been forewarned.