Say Cheese

Family photos became very important to me after we adopted Hosanna. I think it was because of the long journey it took to become a family of four that I wanted it saved forever and ever on film (or the digital version, anyway).  So the first month our girl was home, we had our pictures taken in our home. We were finally a family of four! 

It was very intimate to have the black and white on our bed, in our home. You have no idea how insanely happy and content I felt in that moment! Our photographer was sweet enough to come back once summer arrived to take some outside pictures. I love that we're photographed in front of the home we have been raising our children in. 

The next photography session came a few years later thanks to a local friend of mine who at the time was honing her skills. I was so thrilled with her artistic vision and I went along with everything she recommended... like taking our living chair and hauling it to the location where this blessed event would take place. Oh - and I failed to mention to dear husband until we were walking out the door - ah, could you grab that chair and put it in the back of the van? To which an explosion of words were exchanged between us that made smiling for pictures a slight miracle.

Don't you just love the sunset?!!! And the chair looks awesome, by the way. I can see how maybe it was hard for "someone" to see the vision ahead of time but he got it eventually. Don't worry, we made up:)

FYI - the quilt pictured is the one that my aunt made us for our wedding. It has maple leaves all over it in different fabrics of red. 

Wayne picked the location of the shoot. He had always been impressed with the size of this enormous tree across the street from the Agriculture Museum. It was the end of May - and it was freezing! I still wore sandals. 

Years passed and time was soon approaching to send Will to LPS. I had always wanted a fall picture taken and if we were going to do it, now was our last chance. So in the fall of Will's grade 8 year, we met my friend again this time at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec for an iconic Ottawa view of Parliament. 

You have no idea the stress it is to coordinate your family but not be too "matchy, matchy".  It is the hardest thing about family pictures. I am grateful that all my family members have been agreeable to being dressed by me when the occasion calls for it. 

I am so in love with these fall pictures! I love the fall colours. I love the beauty of Ottawa! In these moments my family is perfect despite our many imperfections. 

Which brings us to our most recent family photos and their debut (assuming you don't count Facebook). 

Since Will is now taller than any of us and Zanna is on the cusp of puberty, we thought now would be a good time to capture our family. 

My friend just birthed her number six so I thought I'd give the gal a break and not bother her. Pretty nice of me, eh?

After some light brainstorming, I remembered that a member in our church up in Poltimore, Quebec has a photography business. I contacted her and got the ball rolling. It didn't take long to agree on a location. We thought that since we've done the home pictures and the iconic Ottawa pictures, that it was time to capture some moments in the area of the other church that Wayne serves. 

Poltimore couldn't be more different than the city/suburban life of Ottawa and I kid you not - despite the extra work it takes, it helps to keep him sane. These people are the definition of salt of the earth. They're friendly and fun and laid back and happy to be in the house of the Lord's. Weddings up there are a blast and all about friends and family and starting a life together in the Lord. Babies are born and brought to the font of baptism. The sound of the little ones rock the country church on any given Sunday challenging Wayne to preach as loud as his voice will allow! 

Out here in the country of rolling hills and a little white church with a graveyard in the back would be our new photo shoot location. 

Unfortunately the day we had scheduled to trek up there the hour and fifteen or so it takes, we were due for a wicked thunderstorm threatening to roll through at exactly the time we would be out. All day we looked up at the blue sky and wondered if the weather channel really knew what they were talking about. After going back and forth about whether we should go ahead as planned, we got dressed and ready and prepared to head up anyway. 

We didn't get very far and it started pouring rain. It rained all the way up there along with the promised thunderstorm and occasional lightning thrown in for fun, I guess. Here in our vehicle we were nice and dry, our outfits coordinated and everyone on board to get their pictures taken. To reschedule would be so defeating!!! I prayed all the way for a miracle.

Turning the corner to follow the hill up to the church the rain stopped as if on cue. The storm moved off to the side and the now setting sun came out! Thank you, Lord!!

We met Shelley and hightailed it across the street to a field so we could get this show on the road! Off in the distance, a herd of scattered cows grazed and did their thing (whatever their thing is). We positioned ourselves in front of a fence and started smiling. The cows were apparently curious and all came over to get a closer look at what we were doing.

We got photobombed.

It was hilarious! And of course, they took turns peeing which is always a pleasant sound.

Next we went into another field. Although it wasn't raining, the grass was obviously wet. Considering how it was a half hour previous, I wasn't going to complain. But my kids are clearly city folk and so between wet, tall grass and avoiding cow pies they were put out. 

I was thrilled we weren't dealing with black flies (a local nuisance) or mosquitoes, etc. There were however, little bright green bugs in the grass that were jumpy. They didn't bother me but Zanna kept complaining that they were going into her cowboy boots. I told her to suck it up and keep smiling! 

Which explains the look on her face here that clearly reads "I've got bugs in my boots". 

She did in fact, have bugs in her boots I realized shortly. Her boots seemed to gap more than mine and sure enough - they were in there! She powered through and we got a few more pictures before she couldn't handle anymore!!

Finally we headed back over to the church where I could shake the green bugs out and were able to get a few more photos in.

So thrilled with how they turned out! And very grateful to have these photos that reflect another meaningful aspect of our life here! 

Summer Love

I am totally in love with summer. And even though the first day of summer only started this week, I'm personally a month in. I'm loving every minute of it!

I love that the windows can be opened and the house aired out. 

I love that I can serve pudding with a good conscience that I'm not heating up the kitchen and that at least it's a dessert with milk in it. 

I love that I can get up in the morning and have a whole hour to myself before everyone else gets up. I establish my quiet routine and sit down to write things I've been thinking and studying about for awhile - a project that's been part nemesis and part greatest gift. 

I love that things are growing in my backyard. And not just the weeds!

I love that Will's home and we're all together and I can enjoy what a great kid he is!

I love Zanna and her neighbourhood gaggle of girls playing on the slip and slide in the backyard and making pictures with colourful chalk on my driveway. 

Yes, Will is driving me around so just call me Miss Daisy. Except that I'm not elderly and I don't sit in the backseat but other than that...

These are a few of my favourite things:

• Spotify - thank goodness I have a teenager who lets me know about these things! Now I can avoid listening to the same music over and over again on the radio. I'm loving the "Dinner Music" and "Coffee House" mix for my salon. 
• Tim Horton's Maple Iced Capp. Just when I thought they couldn't really improve on the regular iced cap, they went ahead and added maple flavour, whipped cream and this lovely little crunchy topping of maple tidbits. Delightfully Canadian!
• Downton Abbey - getting in on this late in the game but oh.my.word. I'm addicted bad. Thankfully we don't have to wait a whole week between episodes or longer between seasons. Will calls it "Downtown 'N Crabby" and is not amused at all by it. 

I've stepped outside my own comfort zone this summer to try something new - an online mentor/accountability group lead by one of my favourite bloggers I've been following for years. I'm really, really loving it and can't wait to get to the end (in a good way) so I can glean all I can from it! It's been challenging, encouraging and eye opening for me. Dare I say, life changing? More to come on that! 

Otherwise, we're filling this summer up with fun, local outings in-between Wayne's work commitments, my salon appointments and whatever the kid's commitments are.  When we're at home the daily rule is no screen time until 4pm and that's after you've exercised your body, read your book and contributed to the household in some way. 

This past weekend our ladies church group hosted a tea. It was so much fun to transform the basement into a feminine space to gather ladies in fellowship and fun! We shared great conversation, multiple cups of tea and too much food - haha!

 It's hard to believe we've been here 14 years this summer. Surrounded by these precious women who have such varied backgrounds but connected by grace through faith, I am blessed to know each one of them. I am humbled when they open their hearts and share a bit of their past, their personal struggles and their greatest joys. In the absence of blood family, they've become our family through thick and thin. 

Summer also includes birthdays around here - mine and Wayne's - along with our wedding anniversary. Granted birthdays aren't quite as exciting the older you get, they are still a special day and an occasion to make the one you love's day extra special. We're approaching 18 years of marriage which pales in comparison to my Grandparents who are celebrating 70 years next week!!! 

Summer days are fleeting and if we only get "18 summers" a kid, the clock is ticking on the 16 year old. Trying hard to cherish the moments ... 

Beginnings and Endings

Another high school year finished and another niece graduated! Just a year ago we all sighed in relief that we made it through a year of such a huge transition. It was rough. Attending last year's graduation service put it all into perspective for me and reminded me why it was all worth it. 

Will made it through this school year with just one roommate (as opposed to the 3 he went through last year) who actually shared the same birthdate. Since their 16th birthday fell during the stress of final exam week, they went in on take out pizza and ate the rest of the York Peppermint Patties I had sent through Amazon. 

We were also impressed with how much Will liked his professors - regardless of how much he enjoyed the actual subject that they taught! His marks reflected how much he was learning and growing. He continues to enjoy football and even works at staying in shape during the offseason by participating in track during the spring and lifting weights and running in the winter. 

Most of all, we're just so proud of the young man he's becoming. We've observed his growth of character and knowledge of Biblical doctrine and it's application. We continue to be grateful to Luther Prep School for guiding his education based on God's Word, providing opportunities for students to serve in worship, and for an atmosphere of peer relationships disciplined by a healthy balance of law and gospel. Praise God! 

This year's graduation service was no different than last year's in the perspective and encouragement it offered in it's worship to God and it's message found in Isaiah 30:21 "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it."'  The class hymn was Abide with Me which in and of itself is a tear jerker but add to that the fact that these 17/18 year old kids are singing it in four part harmony and I'm a wreck! The four class speakers were all full of their own personality and personal experiences but had a common message - we are here to serve: serve each and serve God out of a thankful heart for what Jesus has done for us! I was so impressed by the spiritual maturity that they showed and I know that the Holy Spirit has been active in their lives and in the lives of all the students through the means of grace offered through their education. 

After last year's packing debacle I encouraged Will not to pack ahead of time. I spent another 2 hours at the local laundry mat washing a Rubbermaid container full of all his stinky clothes and wondering why some of his clothes were missing, some of his clothes weren't his at all, and what is the great mystery of the mismatched socks? I guess having put in 5 years of dorm life myself, it's not such a great mystery but frustrating as a parent none the less. 

Unfortunately I still wasn't there to actually look over the packing of the suitcases. So he ended up bringing home for the summer his flannel shirt (I know we live in Canada but it's not cold ALL the time), left a stack of t-shirts that I had just washed and left his leather sandals in dorm storage. He did manage to pack his "slides" that he found and "refurbished" from the dorm trash. 

 Our Wisconsin trip overall was lots of fun! We stopped first at my parent's log home and spent a few days there sans my mother who's been in Germany with my brother and his family. That meant extra bonding time with my Dad that included evenings of Downton Abby and some fancy dessert martini that sneaks up on you if you're not careful - haha! My grandparents were awesome and had our crew over twice for dinner. I love that we can talk politics and who we think should win Dancing with the Stars. 

After the excitement of graduation, we spent one day in Milwaukee. Since we're pretty classy people, we choose to forgo the art museum and just go to Sprecher's Brewery. The tour took all of about 8 minutes and then proceeded directly to the sample bar/lounge. Since they make both beer and pop, we were all happy and had way too much sugar!

It was Zanna's mission to try all the flavours they had to offer! 

We celebrated Will's birthday once we got home. We picked up the obligatory Dairy Queen cake. He also went and took his driver's written test in order to start the long Ontario process of driving. Since then he's been driving us around which is weird!!!! He also doesn't stop eating. Yesterday he took a picture (with my phone, thank you very much keep your grubby paws off of it ...) of a sandwich he made that he was so proud of. Not for a meal or anything but for a "snack" in the middle of the day. I've been to Costco twice in less than a week! I'm not complaining ... it's worth it to have him home! 

Now it's the beginning of June - my favourite month - the start of summer and a new year for me!