Lake Trip

I imagine that when I tell my Arkansas friends that last Saturday was our kids first lake experience ever, they have a hard time believing me. We have found that down here, most people have been going to the lake from the time they are in the womb. So, to have an 8 and 5 year old who had never been in a boat, it's almost verging on child abuse. HA! The thing is that camping and lake trips were just not something Mike and I grew up doing. Actually, I've still never been camping. Not once. Never slept in a tent. I know. Most people gasp at that. We just did other things - still lots of fun, but different. We spent weekends at water parks, pools, Cardinal baseball games, the Zoo, Six Flags, etc., etc.

So, when we were invited by our great friends to head to the lake and spend the day and we jumped on it. They live about 20 minutes from Blue Mountain Lake and head there most weekends to play in the water and just enjoy a quiet and peaceful weekend. I wasn't sure what the girls would think, especially Maddie, who can be very unsure of new experiences. But, we strapped them in their life jackets, tossed them on the tube, took off and they loved it! We spent the day playing in the water, grilling out and just enjoying time with friends. It was so much fun. Macie loved it so much that she said she wished she could live at the lake and tube every day! :) I'm so glad they got the chance to go. We don't have a boat or any of the get-up that a lake trip requires, so it was great to be able to go with our friends and let the girls see what it was all about. I like letting them do things that I didn't grow up doing just as much as I like taking them to all the things that I experienced when I was young. I want them to be well rounded in their activities! HA!

Thanks again, Trent and Candy! We had such a great time - glad that the girls can officially say they've "been to the lake"! Now they aren't the oddballs of Fort Smith. :)

Happy Tuesday!

If this doesn't bring a smile to your face on a hot Tuesday afternoon, nothing will! :)

Picture Preview!!

Well, once again, Drew outdid himself! Like I said in my previous post - it was HOT but he was able to get some great shots and captured my girls and their personalities just perfectly! You'll notice that by the end of the session, my makeup had started to melt and my hair had seen better moments, but what can you expect when it's July in Arkansas?!

Thank you, Drew (and Emily) - we love the pictures and will always treasure them!

To see them, click the link below and click on "Enter Client" - then type in code b2b8 and click "Start".

Click right HERE to start!

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!

Sing it with me - I know you are! :)

We had our first family pictures taken tonight since having Mabrie. Yes, that's right, she's almost 1 year old, and we are just now getting around to having pictures taken with all 5 of us. To make it worse, she's 10 months old and the last professional pictures we had taken of her were her NEWBORN pictures! How awful am I?! I snap pictures of her all the time at home, but there's nothing that can take the place of good, professional pictures and I totally dropped the ball there.

So, tonight we had our great friend, Drew Hill and his sweet wife (and assistant - HA!), Emily, meet us and take our pics before they move to Dallas, TX this weekend. (I really don't like typing that last part). It was sweltering. We met them at 7:00 p.m. and it was still 103 degrees. Thankfully, there was a breeze, so that helped. Drew snapped pictures for an hour and got a ton of great shots of the girls and the family. Mabrie did awesome. I was a little worried that she wouldn't cooperate because her bedtime is around 7:30, and usually by that time of night, she is just done. But, she really did well. We started with her individual pictures and she just grinned and acted so sweet! I was so thankful.

Macie and Maddie looked just adorable, too. They LOVE having their pictures taken, and were posing and smiling like they were on America's Next Top Model! HA!

By the end of our session, I could literally feel the sweat dripping down my back. Hopefully that doesn't show up in the pictures. Thank goodness for editing software, huh? :)

I'm excited to see the preview shots and share them with y'all! Drew is really an awesome photographer and an even better friend! He and Emily will be missed, that's for sure. Thanks to you both for a great time tonight and for sweating it out with us to get some pictures that we will always treasure!

Be on the lookout for a post with the preview link! Should be coming soon!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! I plan to spend part of the day thanking God that He allowed me to be born in America and have the freedoms that we have and so often take for granted.

But, more than that, I'm thankful for the freedom that I have in Christ! That is true freedom!

My little Patriots! HA!