Girls, girls, girls

These three beauties come from a family that not too long from now will be adding a fourth sister! While the three youngest will be very close in age, someday they are going to be the best of friends and I'm sure share everything! An added bonus, their oldest sister is way beyond her years and is such a big helper. It's not everyone who gets a second momma and playmate! :) Meet Sierra, Brooke, and Jorden.....

Seriously, can you even look at that and not smile?! Ha! I can't! :D

Thank you so much for braving the extreme heat and trying out a new location for me! I love how these turned out and hope you do too!!!

Maternity Shoot #2

I would like for you to meet my beautiful sister-in-law, Kate...

 She and my middle brother, Orrin, dated for about a year and a half and were married this past December.

He adores her!

Not long after they were expecting their first child and ecstatic. Twenty weeks came and time for the regular scheduled ultrasound.....

 Needless to say it was a HUGE surprise, but one they both had dreamed of! They were parents of twins!!! They both are beside themselves with excitement! And so are the rest of us!!! Here she is looking great with only about a month left to go!

Not ready for summer to be over quite yet, or school to start (in only 3 weeks!!! Agh!), but I am so ready to meet these two sweet little babes! They are going to have some wonderful parents and a whole lotta love!

It's a girl!, sky watch, and other tid bits

From the time I was a young girl, I imagined a daughter of my own someday. That dream has been denied five times over and for the most part I've come to terms with it. Only every once in a while do I feel that twinge of disappointment.

I love each of my boys and wouldn't trade a single one for a daughter!!! I am truly grateful I'm raising five sons and NOT five daughters! However a few days ago that all changed. After almost 12 years of marriage there is now another female in the family! (Oops! I take that back, I forgot we did have another girl for a short time about nine years ago.)

She will be three years old in October and has thick black hair and brown eyes. She loves, loves, loves attention...what girl doesn't?! Ha!  She is so obedient and really has a great personality! We adopted her from a family that's moving to Florida and her name is Palin...meet our "big" baby....

Ok, it was fun to write all that, but honestly, I'm NOT the dog lover of the family. I will give her this though, I love her gentle personality compared to the three hyper overactive German Shorthaired Pointers we've previously owned!!! She's like an oversized cat that loves to rub up against you, hoping for some lovin. :) A real big baby! She's great with the boys and....we won't have to deal with raging hormones or pay for any weddings! ;) LOL!


The sky over our place lately has been absolutely beautiful! I stand in awe of the Creator of such masterpieces! Such splendor...even in the storms...

I'm pretty sure I photograph these every year. I'm not a lily lover, but these somehow catch my fancy.

The undersides of flowers can be just as beautiful!

That's it for now folks! Have a great Tuesday!

Kniffen Wedding

Being a second shooter for a wedding 1 1/2 hours away has some disadvantages, like getting to know the key people before the big day. I enjoy hearing their stories and seeing how they interact with each other beforehand and knowing their names and having them memorized should be a must! Wow! That made it a little challenging at times. I'd go to say, "Angela look out the window" and my brain would be saying was it Angela or Angie, I can't remember! Agh! Not cool!

On the flip side, I don't know them, they don't know me, and I'm likely to never see them again and that gives me a boldness to step out and stretch myself where I'd normally be reserved in my close knit community. It's liberating and I like it! One day I just might bring my gutsyness (is that a word?!) to my hometown! ;)

These images mark my fourth wedding. From the few that I've done, I'm learning that I love how different each one is and all those little details that go into the day and making it unique and special. I love the different locations and the challenges that each one brings. Each place has had it's special "awesome" feature that was unplanned and fit perfectly! This particular wedding had a few, like this couch in one of the church rooms...it matched her cream dress beautifully...loved it!!!

Rings...you can do so many fun things with them!

Here are some other favorites of mine from the day...

And because who doesn't love spiffed up little ones at a wedding?!  Specially when they're being adorable! :)

My conclusion? I LOVE playing second fiddle at weddings!!! I'll gladly second shoot/help in a wedding any day! ;)

My First Mission Trip

***I interrupt my regular blog "theme" to bring you snapshots from a recent mission trip.***

It's been silent in my corner because we've spent the last week in...

Lost Creek, KY to be exact. In seven days time this place became very special to us...

We went with a group of 37 people (including us) from our church. *WARNING* really bright shirts ahead!

In the mornings we did this...

Songs...

 Even Jr. High & High schoolers came! AWESOME!!!

 Visits from Pandamania Pam...

Crafts...                                                                                                                                                       

Games...                                                                                                                                                      

 Snacks...

 And I think this one is just precious! This little guy is praying over the wordless book he made to send to China.

And an awesome bible story time inside the belly of a whale! It was so cool!

Our afternoons were filled with...

And most of our evenings weren't much slower...

We did have plenty of down time though to rest and visit with each other.

One thing for sure, our group knew how to have a good time!

Many friendships were made...

Many faces and places have become dear to us!

I could go on and on as there are so many things to share, but I think you get the idea. We had an amazing week that goes beyond description! This was the perfect family mission trip and I pray we get to go back next year and the next and the next!!!!

Yours truly...

***This post was started the Sunday we got back from our mission trip and was slowly worked on for several days till we took off camping for five days. I had a whole lot more pictures I wanted to share, but I knew at the rate I was going it'd be next month till I'd get it posted! Besides, I'm sure there are plenty already here to give you a good idea of how awesome our week was! ;)