Moments from this week...

Life gives us brief moments with another...but sometimes in those brief moment we get memories that last a life time... 

  - Author Unknown

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

 {why I love summer evenings...}

Sunday Snapshot {not sure what she is thinking...}

I am taking Lisa's class and have been really enjoying everything I am learning. This past week we talked about lighting. This picture was taken of our daughter sitting on the floor in our dining room looking out the sliding glass door with the natural light on her face.I had no idea until I started taking this class how much a difference focusing on eyes can make in pictures. This picture is directly off the camera, I only cropped a little on the right side to remove the white door trim.

 Taken with a 50 mm fixed lens - ISO800, f3.5, shutter 1/250

Shot with a Canon T1i

Stop by Stefanie's to check out some other amazing pictures!

A lesson in Snake ID & planting blackberries...

Saturday morning when I headed out on my morning walk with Clara in the stroller, Lenna decided to come a long too. We were walking along minding our own business when she spotted this...

 Being the good mama I am, I decided I needed to figure out if it was a not so friendly rattlesnake, which we find here a few times every summer or something else. I had my camera along so I decided to take a few pictures! Lenna was a bit freaked out because I didn't have my big lens on my camera and she was afraid I was getting way too close.

After I got a good picture on my camera, I was able to zoom in on his take on the camera and confirm that he did not have rattles, so we left him a lone and headed home.

We determined that he was a "gopher snake" also known as a "bull snake." They are great snakes to have around (just not where I am walking or in my yard:) That was our big excitement for the day!

The other excitement was daddy planting our living fence of blackberries along the backside of our garden. At our old house, we had a blackberry patch and loved it each June when they were heavy with fruit. Earlier this week, I picked up several nice bushes at a nursery and Shawn got them planted. We won't see much fruit this summer but we are hoping they establish well and next summer will produce a lot!

 Shawn's garden has been doing well- we have enjoyed broccoli, lettuce and peas so far!

He has tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beans, egg plants, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, strawberries and a few more things planted!

 Look at his tiny peaches! He planted 2 trees at the edge of the garden last year and they are loaded with fruit, I hope they make it to picking time!

 Hope you had a great Saturday!

The evening light...

We had a beautiful evening yesterday. The kids helped their daddy work in the back yard where we are getting ready to plant 6 blackberry bushes. I took my camera out to practice taking pictures with natural lighting for my class. Here are a few I got...

My farmer girl was helping her daddy turn the compost pile, that was more exciting than mom taking her picture. (ISO800, f 2.5, 1/125)

This little guy came and ask if I could come tuck him in...

(ISO800, f 2.5, 1/125)

And this was taken this afternoon, the girls were watching a bird on our back patio through the sliding glass door. (ISO800, f2.2, 1/400)

 Have a blessed weekend!

{Abigayl}

I am taking Lisa's Photography class (Visions of Hope)online right now and learning so much. This was a picture from this week's assignment... How we love this girl...

As I looked at it this morning I was reminded of Jeremiah 29:11...

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future

 He has AMAZING plans for you sweet girl...

Almost Wordless Wednesday 
 {A girl and her grandma...}

Bear Cave Trail and saying goodbye...

We have great memories of our time with the Choates and at Petit Jean State Park. Goodbyes were hard on our kids but knowing that our friends are close for the next 12 months made it a little easier, if fact our kids said "see you later" instead of goodbye and we are looking forward to our next visit! 

We took one last hike together, a short one on Bear Cave Trail then headed back to their house to help unpack a little more. Bear Cave isn't really a cave but instead, huge boulders you walk through and can climb on...

The girls, minus Clara on top.

 

 This gives you a better idea how high they had climbed!

One of the "caves" underneath.

 a critter we found in the rocks...

Making their way up to the higher points...

 Eli and B on top.

 Two friends and a porch swing, smiles and conversation. What a blessing!

 We miss this sweet smile already.

 The girls were sad to leave their cabin bunk beds, they loved spending the week in this bedroom!

  Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 

     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs. 

 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

  Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.  

 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100 

I read this Psalm a couple of times while we were enjoying His blessings last week. We had much to praise him for and to be thankful for!

  "Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?"

                                         C. S. Lewis

What a blessing last week was with our friends, the Choates! We laughed, caught up, celebrated birthdays, watched our children play together, unpacked, went hiking, enjoyed s'mores, played at the park, fed fish and just shared life together!

How thankful we are that the Lord crossed our paths 8+ years ago... and to be together while Aaron and Joanna and their children are in the States on Home Assignment from the Solomon Islands with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

This post is very picture heavy but since I print my blog into the family scrapbook, I added a lot here!

Such sweet moments we do not want to forget...

Playing Headbanz on the front porch.

Opening packages, bear hugs and Lenna's necklace project (thanks again for your help, she raised over $400 for gift cards for their family to help while they are in the States. She has more necklaces that I will get posted now that we are home if anyone is still interested!)

All the kids feeding the fish at the little pond near our cabin...

9 treasures that we are so thankful for!

These just made me smile... trying to get 9 kiddos to all look at the camera and smile at the same time...

Being silly together...

 

sweet friends...

more sword fighting... a favorite activity of our days together...

 

 Couldn't not post this smile... 9 months ago... an orphan...

now a daughter, a sister, a niece, a granddaughter, a friend...

right where she belongs and she's loving it!

Colossians 3:12-14 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Thank you friends for sharing life with us!

Sunday Snapshot 

{Hiking at Petit Jean State Park...}

We spent much of Tuesday hiking in the State Park. It was beautiful and the kids loved just being outdoors. 

  I thought this little flower along the river was beautiful!

 We headed down a trail that led to the river, the kids had fun splashing in the water, watching crawdads, climbing rocks and pretending that they were in far off places trying to survive!

 resting on a rock...

 Clara was all tuckered out! She loves to ride in the pack though and sleeps in it pretty easy!

 After spending the morning by the river, we headed back to the cabin for lunch and to play outside there for awhile. Then when Clara and daddy decided to take naps, I took the other 4 and we headed out to the Rock House Cave on the other side of the park...

The kids thought this area was awesome, these formations are called Turtle Shell Rocks...

 

  

A narrow path to the Rock House Cave...

 

Nate kept our trail map to make sure we didn't get lost! Every so often, he'd sit and check out where we were.

 Rock House Cave, really isn't a cave at all but it is a cool place!

 Daddy and Clara had a great nap while we were gone!

 All pictures were taken with a Canon T1i Camera and are unedited (because we just got home!)

The first picture of the kids silhouettes was taken in Manual mode with the focal point being set on the kids.

I had a great time trying lots of manual settings with insects, flowers, cool rocks and the kids to take pictures of while we enjoyed the outdoors last week!