braden hits double digits...10 YEARS OLD!!!

Hard to believe our firstborn is a decade old! I haven't been dedicating a lot of time to this blog lately, but I do have to post something about this big milestone! :) I put together this slideshow last year for Braden's ninth birthday, so I've just revised it with some pictures taken over the past year...

Click here to view the show

I have yet to do a birthday session with Braden (or Bella's from September)...been too busy taking pictures of other families. Now I'm just waiting for a nice day to do it, but I will post them when I get that done. Here is a self-portrait that Braden did yesterday. :)



Yesterday, Ringo headed out to take Braden and his friend Tyler (and his dad) to play laser tag. On his fourth or fifth birthday, he asked if he could play laser tag on his next birthday, but we told him he'd have to be older to do that, maybe on his tenth birthday. So he's been wanting to do that on his tenth birthday for all these years. So they got there and all their games were full, so they ended up going to...ChuckECheese. Oh brother! Of course they had fun anyway, so I guess that's all that matters.

Then last night, we took the kids to bowl and we had a blast. The last time Braden bowled was on his fifth birthday, and the other two had never been. We used the bumpers "so the KIDS would have more fun." Haha! Actually Braden had the high score of 102. Ringo came in next...and I came in LAST! Yep, got beat by a 4-year-old! He only beat me by one point though. :D Anyhoo, we did have a great time. The kids loved it, and we are going to have to do that more often.

I will post more pics from Braden's birthday, but for now I've gotta go get the cake ready (actually it's pie:). See you soon!

evan singing in "big church"...braden's soccer season...krispy kreme...

Just wanted to check in here quickly. We've had a lot going on, so we've been busy. I've mentioned a couple of times before that Evan's choir was scheduled to sing in "big church" as the kids call it; but then Evan wouldn't get up there and sing. The last time he even made it right up to the step, but he wouldn't go any further. Of course this is old news now since it happened a couple of weeks ago, but here's proof that he did it and he did a great job!!! I was so excited for him. I could tell the moment he saw me...he broke out into a big smile. Whenever he would see my camera, he would give me a smile. He actually did a little singing and some of the hand motions.

So here he is...first time singing in big church. Wouldn't you know the shadow from the microphone would land right over his face. He's just to the right of the center of the picture...in an argyle sweater vest of course. :)



You can watch the video of these preschoolers singing by

clicking here

. Thanks to Jennie for posting this on her blog! :)

And here are a couple of pictures I took of Braden after his first intramural soccer game at school. I didn't get any pics at the games because I had Evan and couldn't leave him alone to take pictures, so I just took a few of him in his uniform. Our team had a so-so season, but Braden did a great job. He's a good little soccer player if I do say so myself. :)

Goofing around...


Can't believe he's getting so grown up...


And finally, here are some pics from our report-card trip to Krispy Kreme. They give out a free doughnut for every A your child gets on a report card...the kids got all A's, so we got a dozen free doughnuts! This is what being a blogger does to you...you take pictures of EVERYthing!!! :D Ringo posted these on facebook a couple of weeks ago, and I just realized I hadn't put them on the blog.

I'm trying to figure out why my four-year-old looks like Gene Simmons... :S


I actually find this kind of disgusting...


Bella awaiting more doughnuts...


Now I know where Evan learned to make crazy faces...


We are still enduring changes...I ask that you pray for us this week. "Exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think." We would appreciate your prayers! Thanks for checking in with us!

what we've been up to...

This month marks two years of blogging for me, but I guess you could say I have the blogger blues. Just seems like no one else ever updates their blogs, so I just don't get on here that much anymore. Maybe it's because my life has been taken over by facebook and it's easier to keep up with people there, at least on a more personal basis.

Anyhoo, here we are with an update for the month of October. :) Ringo's training will be finished on Friday...praise the Lord!!! I know he will be glad, but I will be REALLY glad! Pray for him this week...he has tests on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. =S

Ringo got a break from studying last weekend, and we got some tickets to the "free circus" which means NOT the Ringling & Bros. or Barnum & Bailey, or whoever they are...but the other circus, the free circus. :D Looking back a week later, I'm glad we went because the kids will always remember it...at least until they get to go to a good circus, and then that memory will take over in their minds for the rest of their lives! Really though, they did get to eat cotton candy and see some things they'd never seen before, so it was a fun adventure for them.

Here are a few pictures of the kids at the circus...but something happened to me that has NEVER happened before. My camera battery ran out, and I had left the backup in the van cause it showed that the battery was fine. The battery died before the show even started! Oh well...







Here are some pics we took at the playground last weekend:

Bella braving the jungle gym...


Some dramatics for the camera...


She has just recently mastered the monkey bars...


Some b-ball with Daddy...


Evan wanted his picture taken upside down too...


He was just singing his little lungs out, motions and everything... :D


All Braden wants to do anymore is play football or watch football or talk about football. It's enough to drive me (not interested in football!) crazy. He loves every opportunity he gets to play catch with Daddy. :o)




And finally here are some pics of the kids dressed up for the mission banquet last night...

happy birthday to our little girl...

Okay, folks, I have the best excuse of all...no internet service! It's really good to be back. :) Is there an InternetUsers Anonymous?!?

Anyway, while we were offline, Bella celebrated her seventh birthday. I've posted these on facebook too, so many of you have probably already seen them. :) I have yet to do the traditional birthday portraits, but that's coming. So Bella had a fun birthday. It was on a Saturday, so there was no rush to get gifts opened and pictures taken before school. No, we experienced the opposite...she kept trying to wake me up EARLY so she could start tearing into her presents. I was a little tempted to let her start without me, but then what kind of mother would I be??? :D Later in the day, I took her with me for a surprise...she didn't know we were going to pick up her best buddy Libby for a sleepover. That was her favorite part of the day of course.



Other than the fact that she didn't get a bunny for her birthday, she had a great day. She for some reason was sure she could spend her birthday money on a rabbit, and she's still telling people she's getting a rabbit. Just for clarification: she is NOT getting a rabbit!

I created a slideshow last year on Bella's birthday...I can't really top that, so I'm including it here again. I love looking at it myself! We are blessed to have such a beautiful little butterfly...she brings lots of joy, laughter (lots of laughter), and dramatics to our home! :D We love you, Sweet-sweet! (as her Daddy calls her)

Click here to view the show

In other news, after two long months of interviewing and waiting, Ringo GOT THE JOB! It's really a miracle how this job came about. He first sent out his resume in February, so this was quite a journey...though it's definitely worth it. I won't even go into all the details, but he started looking for and praying for what we consider to be the PERFECT job, knowing that there wouldn't be many positions available around here. Mostly that is because no one ever leaves this job. Anyway, we were looking at making a move to OKC for this position, then it looked like the company would hire him for south Jersey. We were praying that he could get this same position here in Knoxville, but the company didn't have a position in Knoxville, period.

Then all of a sudden, not so coincidentally, the company needed someone for the east Tennessee region. At that point, he had already interviewed in New Jersey and we knew they were going to give him one of the positions...after weeks of waiting, finally, we got an answer! He officially starts next Monday!!! He will be working as a field adjuster for an insurance company based in Cincinnati. They provide a car and a lot of other stuff, plus he works from home, makes his own appointments, and will travel throughout the east Tennessee area.

God answers prayer! I certainly want to thank the Lord for the peace He has given me throughout all of this. It's been quite a trial, especially the uncertainty of where we would be living in the near future. Now we must recuperate from the last few months, which I will not elaborate on, but please continue to pray for us. I know so many of you have been praying with us and encouraging us, and I want you to know how much we appreciate it! God has been good in so many ways, and one of them is knowing that we have caring friends and family who are holding us up before the Lord.

Well, my thoughts feel all disconnected and I hope I've made sense, but I think we are caught up now. I hope to be back soon! :)

first day of school...

It's official...summer break is over. :o{ We certainly enjoyed it. We usually do a lot of running around and cramming all sorts of fun into our summers, but this year was much more relaxing. We had a couple of big trips, so we took it easy the rest of the summer. I've noticed over the past couple of weeks that the kids have definitely started getting bored and ready to go back to school. Here are a few pictures from drop-off this morning:

Braden with his 4th grade teacher Mrs. Padgett...


Embarrassed to be having his picture taken...


Bella with the 1st grade teacher Miss Qualls...


The snaggle-toothed first grader...(she's quite proud of those gaps, by the way)


And Evan thought he should have his picture taken too...


And here are some I took last week. The kids were still in their jammies, and they begged me to get the camera out and take pictures of them playing...

Braden and Evan run through the house shouting, "Fire in the hole!"


Bella doesn't play with her dolls too often so I'm glad to have a picture of it...


Blackmail material to be used in about ten years...


Some Olympic training in progress...practicing their entry into the pool... :D




I know I need to do a better job updating my blog. We have had a lot going on and many changes taking place over the course of the summer...all for good. We will know something more definite about the next step in our lives on the 26th of August. For the last two months, I have been praying for "exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think." God is real and God is good.

Thanks for stopping by!

seaside park, nj...

This past weekend, Ringo was in south Jersey with his mom, sister, and her kids. Here are some of the pictures he took on the boardwalk...

still going...

Well, I'm still working on wedding pics, but that's not all I've been doing. I have taken more pictures during the month of July than any other month ever, and I thank the Lord for it! Here is a sampling of some recent sessions...

Had a mini-mini session with Baby Jackson and family...but he's not a such a baby anymore!


Here is a sweet one of adorable Baby Lindsey at three weeks old...


And two-month–old Baby Timothy...I love this child!


Here are a few from the session I auctioned at the charity auction benefiting the academy...thank you guys for the opportunity!











As for our family, we are all doing well. The kids and I have pretty much just been hanging out; it's been a relaxing summer. I just can't believe it's almost gone! I will be glad to get back into the routine though. It's good to be done getting school supplies and uniforms together. I guess we're ready! I took some funny pictures of the kids the other day, so I'll have to post those soon.

For all of our friends and family who have been praying for us, we thank you. God is good. See you next time! :)

haley + jason...

Last weekend, I had the privilege of shooting Haley and Jason on their wedding day. They were married in an outdoor ceremony at the local botanical gardens...I could shoot there ALL day! Everything was beautiful, and I am honored to have been a part of it. I am still in the midst of processing, but I wanted to go ahead and post some of my personal favorites.

A few of Haley before the ceremony...






And a few of the bride and groom--after several hours in the heat...






Thank you, Haley and Jason, for the opportunity...I enjoyed every minute!

trip to the ER...

It's been several months since Evan had a breathing treatment, but yesterday he had an asthma flare-up that landed him in the emergency room. He really seemed to be just on the verge of needing to go, and I really think he would have been fine if we could have taken him home, but doctor's orders. :)



On Wednesday, he had a runny nose, and by the time he went to bed he had a tight cough. He woke up at 5:30 the next morning in definite need of a breathing treatment. He had a very rough morning including a trip to the doctor. He was somewhat better by the afternoon, but we took him to the doctor to get his oxygen level checked and they sent us to the ER.

As far as emergency room visits go, this one was pretty simple. He didn't have to have an IV or any injections of any kind. (Praise the Lord...this kid is not a good patient...he doesn't deal well with adversity, period.) Basically he had a triple breathing treatment and then they watched his oxygen level for a while. We watched Cars while we waited and it went by quickly. We were only there for about three hours, and we tried to make it an adventure, so that's what Evan thinks it was. :D

It's been a year and a half since we had to take him to the hospital (for the peanut allergy), and we kept wishing we had taken the camera with us. So this time, we made sure to get his picture. :)

On a Xopenex high...


100% oxygen...that means we can go home! :)


Goodbye hospital!


Please pray for us as we are making some really big decisions right now. Thank you for stopping by. :)

happy anniversary to us...

Two posts in one day doesn't happen very often around here! Just wanted to share a picture from our wedding...twelve years ago on Sunday! My scanner is not high-quality, but you get the idea. You can also click on the link below to view a slideshow I put together for our anniversary last year. So if you didn't get to see it last year, here it is...

Click here to view the show

Thanks for visiting!!!

congrats to haley & jason...

Today is the big day for Haley and Jason...I'm headed out for the wedding in just a few minutes. Thought I'd share some shots from their engagement session...

(Click on the picture for a larger view)






Hope you all have a great weekend!

all around the town...

While Braden and Bella were gone to NJ, we took Evan downtown one evening just to do something different. We had dinner at a quaint little restaurant and checked out EVERYthing at the general store. Here's a glimpse of the fun...

He's our clown...


Window shopping...


Vintage stuff...
(Aunt Cheryl, the "Happy Everything" is especially for you;o)


The old soda cooler...


Love this little sequence of events: Discovering something he wants...


Asking Daddy if he can have it...


Flying his new airplane through the skies...


Have a great week!

they're back...

Well, the kids, got back home from NJ on Sunday. They had such a good time. They were definitely worn out. They've been home for two days and Braden still slept until almost 10:00 this morning! Ringo's mom did take some pictures, so I'll include some of them here.



The thing the kids did the most is swim, either at Grandma's house or Aunt Giselle's house. They also went to a birthday party, went to a county fair, and toured Giants Stadium. Of course we don't have any pictures of that...wouldn't that be something! They also had a trip to Toys R Us, where they were told they could pick out anything they wanted. Of course, they picked out stuffed animals of all things!!! Don't we have enough of those around here??? But that really is what they love, so that is what they chose. They came home with all kinds of stuff...had to bring an extra suitcase back with them. :) A great big thank you to Grandma and to Aunt Giselle for taking care of them all week. I know Grandma was really glad to be going back to work! She said she was going back to work to get some rest. :D At least I got a vacation out of it! I think we should do this on a monthly basis.

Swimming at Aunt Giselle's house...


Bella and her "favorite" cousin Nikki...


Bella with Grandpa...


Braden with his cousin Ronnie...


Swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's house...


The kids with their cousin Michael...


Bella, our little dog lover, with Grizzly...


Bella with Nikita...


Bella with Aunt Giselle and Bailey...


Braden did end up with a bad case of swimmer's ear, which has now turned into a double ear infection. He is doing much better now, but please pray for him. We have to get his ears checked again on Thursday to make sure they are improving.

Thanks for visiting us...enjoy the rest of your week!

v-e-r-y quiet week...

It's been a little while, so I need to catch up. Braden's baseball season started a couple of weeks ago. He seems a little more interested this year, but baseball really isn't his thing. He thinks it's boring (I have to agree:). So here are a few pictures of that.

Braden and his friend Tyler...


Batting...


Getting ready to head to 2nd... :)


On Monday morning, Ringo's mom and our friend Candy from NJ flew in to pick up Braden and Bella. They left back out for the airport on Tuesday morning at 4:30, and were back in NJ at 8:30! The plan is for them to fly back on Sunday afternoon. They are doing lots of fun stuff and I am sure, being spoiled rotten! :o) Yesterday they went to the county fair, so I didn't get to talk to them at all (I was also at work). The other nights we have been able to video-chat with them, so we can talk about what they've been doing and pray with them before bed. It helps me a lot to be able to see their faces each night.

So that's why it's been SO quiet around here this week. We miss Braden and Bella a lot, but wow...the laundry, the ironing, everything. My house is still clean since they left! Evan and I have been having a fun week together. I was planning to take him and do some fun stuff with him, but we decided to get him a "personal-sized" pool; so we've pretty much been home all week playing in the water. For me, it's been very relaxing and for Evan it's been a blast. He seems to be really enjoying his time alone with Daddy and Mommy.

If you think of it, please pray for the kids. They are having fun, but they seem very tired. If we get any pictures from NJ, I'll post some. Until next time...

before cancun...

As part of our trip to Cancun, we flew out of Atlanta, so we were able to stop by and spend some time with some dear and precious OLD friends who happen to live there. :)



When my parents dropped me off at Crown College, I didn't know a soul. Julie and I met at registration that very first day of the very first year in 1991. We were taking all the same classes, so we kept running into each other. I was supposed to be in a certain room in the dorm, but another girl (Kristy) that I had also just met, asked permission to see if I could be in her room. So this room just happened to be the same room Julie was assigned to. I remember the heartsickness of watching my parents drive down the street, leaving me behind in a whole new world. Thinking about it now, it was the weirdest thing how the moment they were out of sight, Julie and I became fast friends and it was like we'd known each other forever. We were inseparable all through college and she has been the dearest friend a girl could want.

After we both got married, we still spent a lot of time together, making sure we got to see each other at least once a year. We still did a pretty good job of staying in touch after having two children...but when that third child came along, that's a different story. It was five YEARS ago that we last saw each other. Not sure how we let that much time get away, but it sure did.

So...we made plans to have dinner and spend the evening with them the night before we flew out of Atlanta. We had a great time; it was so good to catch up and we enjoyed spending time with them just like we always have. We did an impromptu photo shoot with the girls...they quickly changed clothes and we spent about 10 minutes shooting. Also, since we missed our early morning flight and didn't get to leave til the next day, we were able to have dinner with them again the next evening. The kids hit it off right away, so they had a blast too. Anyway, here are a couple of those pictures and some of the kids together. Okay, enjoy...

Three beautiful little blondes...


Lauren, Natalie, and Sarah...


Here's one of Julie and me...we're older, but better. :D
Actually, Julie hasn't changed a bit since the last time I saw her.


We gave birth to all three of our children within three months of each other, so we had to get a picture of each set. ;)

Braden and Sarah, both 9...can you tell they were embarrassed to have to sit together?? Haha
(Braden is three months older)


The 6-year olds, Bella and Lauren, hit it off and became fast friends...
(Bella is three months older)


Natalie and Evan, age 4...can you say third-child syndrome???
(Natalie is 6 weeks older)


Ringo said I've written a book...I hope you enjoyed it. I should dig out a picture of Julie and me back in the day. Now that would be funny! Thanks for visiting.