Our Weekend

{1} Dr. Suess.  My entire immediate family was in town this weekend, plus a few cousins and an uncle.  We started the weekend off right as soon as Nana arrived with Go Dog Go,  Avery's current book obsession. And I mean she's obsessed. The book was read several more times before everyone went home.  I took this pic with my new DSLR from Taylor's parents.  I'm learning as I go, and opportunities like this are great for practice!

{2} A walk.  It was 61 degrees, sunny, and gorgeous this weekend.  In the middle of January.  Beautiful.  We went on several sunny walks.  Here Avery is walking with Aunt Jo and Ross.  I was on this walk, too, but who wants to hold mama's hand when these two are around?  I don't know if there is much else I love more in life than a good walk.  They're just good for my soul. 

{3} Play.  Could have lived outside...  It was so nice to get outdoors and just breathe.  Avery found a prickly ball and was fascinated.  We call them gumballs here, but I don't know if that is necessarily the correct term.  I love this shot of her.  I also love how she shares every discovery with me. I'm finding that's just one of the many sweet things about one and a half.

{4} Radio Flyer.  Nana and PawPaw gave Avery a wagon for Christmas and we got it up and running this weekend with the help of my uncle.  Jo's dog Penny was less than enthused to be along for the ride, but it sure made Avery happy.  She hasn't gotten out of the wagon except to eat and sleep since Saturday morning!

With such a fun, family-filled weekend I am disappointed to not have as many pictures as I usually do.  Could have something to do with the fact that with such a full, busy house I couldn't find my iPhone 3/4 of the time.  I especially regret not having any pics of my cousins I so rarely get to see.  On the flip side, not having a phone or camera around can allow you to enjoy what is going on around you like you're supposed to.  Catching up and just enjoying the moment is how we spent our weekend.  It was wonderful.  The weather helped:) 

Today I linked up to Annapolis & Company.  Check it out.  Positively inspiring.

Red Boots + Photographs

What's going on around here?  Nothing much.  And that is a good thing.  The highlights of the new year for us have consisted of minimal kitchen backsplash tiling, two episodes of Downton Abbey, lots of fireside reading in the evenings, and some garden planning for the spring.  Pretty exciting if you ask me.  One of the things I have enjoyed the most lately is learning how to use my new Canon Rebel T3.  Taylor's parents gave it to me for Christmas.  I felt like such a lucky girl when I opened it and have had so much fun figuring it out.

One wet afternoon last week, I put Avery in her first pair of rain boots to go outside so I could practice shooting.  Getting to know my new camera has been a blessing.  I have always snapped constantly on my iPhone, but this is different.  The quality and the art are so much better.

I have always loved pictures because they bring me joy.  My mom and Granny can vouch for me here.  Photos capture memories that are precious.  Since before I can remember, I've poured over pictures at my grandparents' house, committing their stories to memory- old family portraits, yearbooks, snapshots.  Sometimes pictures so old they were tin-type.  It was precious time spent with family members, hearing about their lives, essentially meeting ancestors that were gone long before I was even born.  Photographs from the past build a history for a person and and a family to pass onto future generations.  

And then there are the pictures of myself- the ones my parents have of my sister and I in shoeboxes stacked in a closet at their house.  Those helped me discover things about myself that I couldn't remember.  Like how I broke my wrist at age two, or how I've always loved reading, even before I could actually read.  

Want to make your child feel loved?  Sit down and flip through a bunch of their old pictures.  Tell them what you see, what you remember.  Trust me.  The process of recounting what life was like for you when they came into it will show them what sometimes words cannot.  The stories you tell to them about the things they are too young to remember will make them laugh (or horrify them:), and will give them a better understanding of how they came to be who they are.  For me, this has always been the meaning of the phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words".

When I take pictures now, I imagine that I am capturing and building that same record of existence, happiness, and love for the future.  That someday when I am old, I will look back at the pictures I've taken and they will enable me to remember some of the things I've forgotten-  what my wedding dress looked like, exactly what year we bought our first house, which was Avery's first Christmas, how much fun we had on family vacations, or even just little play dates in the front yard .  I hope that I can sit on the floor with my children and grand-children to explain the who, when, and where of the pictures they are looking at.  I hope that the pictures I have take will be cherished by my family and continue to build a history for my loved ones.

Snapshots: Looking Back on 2012

Looking back on a year's worth of pictures took A LOT of time, but it was also a wonderful reminder of the blessed life we live.  We are thankful for every family member and friend that helped us with our move and experienced life with us, big or small in 2012.  It was so hard to pick just 16 pictures to represent our favorite memories and most significant life events from this year...

1}  Baptism.  This was a special moment for us.  We baptized Avery at our church and took vows as parents and members of the congregation to nurture her into a relationship with Christ.

2} Girl's Weekend. Got to spend a fun-filled girl's weekend with some BFF's from college in OKC.  Unfortunately this only happens one, maybe two times a year.  I sure do love these girls.  We went to the movies, ate at great restaurants, did some outlet shopping, had a fun game/wine night in, and of course participated in lots of sharing and laughing!  Can't wait to see what kind of girl's weekend 2013 brings us.

3} For Sale.  We listed our tiny, Brookside charmer in March.  Looking at these pics makes me miss our first house.  The neighborhood was quaint, located near Riverside and walking distance from great restaurants.  The trees were abundant.  It was the house we lived in when Avery was born, and it will always be special because of that.  It was listed under 100 days before it sold in July.

4} Growing Girl.  I can't believe all of the growing/changing Avery has done in the last year!  I'm definitely grateful for beautiful photos like this one (taken by my friend, Lori) that helps me hold onto all those precious memories.  We spent a beautiful April afternoon with Lori and my sister at the Dallas Botanical Gardens, and left with some amazing photographs.

5} Church.  Our beloved church acquired its own property in the summer after being a thriving church-plant for six years.  We wish we could have contributed more blood, sweat, and tears to the property than we were able to because of our own renovations at home, but it has been amazing to see the place turned around.  A place our church family can call home.  We had our first worship service there the week before Christmas and we cherish this place.  

6} One. These are just one of the many "One Year" photographs my dear friend, Shari, took of Avery to commemorate her 1st birthday.  "How big are you? Soooooooo biiiiiig!!!"  What a fun summer!

7} Pilgrimage.  Taylor lost his granddad in February.  The entire family gathered in June from all over the states to make a trip to Northwest Oklahoma to spread his ashes in their family plot.  We made an entire day trip out of it and saw many of the old family houses, including this one where four generations of my husband's family are pictured together.

8} Homestead.  On that very same trip, we saw the family's original farmhouse built circa 1900 on the piece of land that Taylor's great-great- grandfather acquired during the land run.  It was an amazing experience, as most of the grandkids had never seen it.  I have aspirations to frame some of the photos I took on this trip, as well as copies of originals, to hang in our home.  

9} Walking.  Avery started walking this year, which was just one of the many firsts that took place in 2012.  First swim in the pool, first time to feed herself, first halloween costume, first busted lip, first words, first time to get sick.... The list goes on.  Yet another reason I'm so click- happy with the camera.  These pictures help me remember all that has happened! I don't have the best memory, you see.

10} Moving Day.  Longest. Day. Of. Life.  It started as a bright, beautiful day.  It ended at 2 a.m. the next morning with mommy and daddy crawling into bed wanting to sleep for days and never wanting to move again.  Ever.  Although the move was awful, it was monumental nonetheless.  I thought it would be hard to say goodbye to our first home, but it wasn't.  We had lived so happily in that teeny house, had grown out of it, and had found the perfect place to move onto.  Where I had expected tears and longing stares, I found so much joy and anticipation in getting into our forever-kind-of-home.  So I guess all in all, it was a pretty positive experience.  But, I'm not moving again. Ever.

11} The New Haven Home. We had always loved this house.  Amazingly, it was for sale at the same time ours was.  It sold several weeks before our home sold and we were disappointed.  However, it went back on the market the week before our house sold, and low and behold everything worked out:)  We are this home's third, proud owners.  Taylor and his family knows the family who built the house, as well as the family who lived in it before we did.  It's so neat to know the history and the love this house has been home to since it was built in the 50's- another reason we are so excited to settle and grow our family here.

12} Home Improvement.  A new home has meant TONS of home improvements.  We have loved making this house our own.  And it all started with our kitchen the day we closed.  To me, this picture symbolizes all of the hard work we've put into our house since September (although we didn't actually paint the cabinets ourselves).  It serves as a great reminder of how far we've come.  When I find myself being picky about our house and becoming discontent, I think of where we started and how much fun we've had in the process.

13} Chicago.  I was incredibly blessed to be able to jet-set to Chicago one September weekend with some girlfriends.  It was such a great little vacation after the stress of the move. It's such a wonderful city.  Doesn't hurt to be there with people you love:)  More about that trip here.

14} The Zoo! Another first for Avery and I this year was the zoo.  Taylor surprised us one day in October by taking the day off of work to take us to the zoo! Avery didn't have nearly as much fun seeing the animals as we did.  She was more interested in the kids and the toys the animals were playing with in the cages, but oh well.

15} MS 150.  Taylor participated in the MS 150 bike ride for the second year in a row.  It is a two-day  150 mile bike ride from Tulsa to OKC that raises money for Multiple Sclerosis research.  The cause is close to our heart as we have family and friends who are burdened with the disease.  Taylor also really enjoys it, as he rides with some buddies, eats tons of free food, and ends the race at the capitol building.

16} Stillwater. As always, we spent a good chunk of time in Stillwater cheering on the Pokes this fall.  We share a box with Taylor's parents and family friends.  The Cowboys weren't spectacular or anything this year, but that's really not what it's about for us.  We cherish the time we spend with Taylor's parents, seeing our friends at tailgates, and being back in Stillwater in general.  It's a very special place to us.

Happy New Year!!!