She makes for a good model, too

Well, I was feeling guilty.  Coupled with the fact that I needed to try out that location for an evening shoot, I decided to give Audrey her equal share.  She was more interested in exploring the old train depot, but I managed to get a few good shots of her.  

I do NOT have a favorite!

This week I am going to do a little photo shoot for a nephew and thought the old train depot in Canyon would be a good place to do it.  Of course, I like to go out and practice before hand.  Well, Audrey is obviously in school during the morning when it would be good to take pictures, so I used Judah as my model.  Now, just because I take a lot more pictures of him does not mean he is my favorite, but I think I am putting a dent in that whole stigma about second kids not having their pictures taken as much.  I just had to share because I think some of these turned out so cute (I know, I am biased!).

Catching Up Part 5: January

January 1st saw my sister flying in from San Antonio for a visit.  My kids absolutely love their Auntie Heather!  One of Audrey’s favorite things to do with Auntie Heather is to roller skate.  Please excuse the blurry pictures, since winter rolled around I’ve not been as diligent with my camera and my skills (not that I have much!) are a little rusty. Judah thinks it’s pretty cool to play on her laptop: Audrey and Judah also enjoyed getting to play with their cousins Eden and Salem for about a month.  Judah is absolutely smitten with Salem and told me one morning how much fun it would be to have a baby in our house.  Then he told me what would be even better is if we had TWO babies.  Ummmm, I sure hope he’s not jinxing us!  Here’s Eden trying out the storm trooper outfit: And just because I can’t resist, here’s a sweet picture of Audrey busy building her newest creation with Legos:

Catching Up Part 4: Christmas

December was a whirlwind of a month for us chalk full of family gatherings, food, and lots of fun.  As my kids have gotten older I have felt each year more and more the importance of stressing the reason for Christmas.  I want them to fully understand that Jesus is the greatest present of all, and that he came to be a servant and a sacrifice.   This year, I felt there was no better way to express the love of Jesus than by helping out a family in need.  Now please don’t think I’m tooting my own horn.  I say this not because I think I have done something great.  I just wanted you, the reader, to understand that even though the following pictures represent most of what Christmas has become in America and even around the world, I tried hard this year to help Audrey understand the true meaning of Christmas and that we, as the privileged, have a responsibility to help those in need and share the love of Christ.  It also helped her to think about someone else (outside of her family) and consider buying a gift that someone else would enjoy.  Judah will probably join us in the efforts as he gets older, but this year I wanted to focus on Audrey and make this a special thing between the two of us.

And on to the barrage of pictures.

We hosted a Turner Family get-together at our house about a week before Christmas, but for some reason my camera got left in its case and forgotten about.  To see  some pics of that gathering, see here and here. 

Then on to Perryton for a few days to spend some time with Matt’s parents and siblings.

Audrey and Judah sporting their new digs: Judah proudly showing off his new pop gun: And Audrey with her soft and cuddly Webkinz leopard:Aunt Bekah put her awesome art skills to some canvas and painted Audrey and Judah’s names.  Judah’s is in Hebrew (as was their cousins Eden and Salem’s), but poor Audrey is the only grandchild in this family that doesn’t have a Hebrew name.  I think she was born before that trend started! :) Kevin trying out Judah’s new gun, and practicing for a day of hunting.  (To see more about that, check out April’s post.) Be afraid, very afraid!  Haha, this picture is so funny of Bekah and Kevin:

We were back home by Christmas morning, and the kids enjoyed trying their new toys out:

I love this picture of Judah doing his happy dance:And the surprised look on Audrey’s face:

Catching Up Part 3: Pictures

Back in the fall, I took some pics for a few families.  Most of the time, I like to practice beforehand to make sure I know what the lighting will look like and so I will have a bit of a clue what I’m doing.  Well, who better to practice on than my kids?!  I haven’t taken the time to edit these a whole bunch, but I think they are just too cute not to share.

 

This is what happens when one’s just woken up and doesn’t feel like being a model: Pleased to pose, as long as “Little Ali” can join in the fun: Now this handsome boy could be on the cover of some magazine (I’m not biased or anything!).

Catching Up Part 2: Thanksgiving

Hey, I never claimed to be good at blogging, so give me a break!  At least I’m going back and trying to catch up on the past few months.

My parents came out from North Carolina to spend about 10 days with us for Thanksgiving.  We made a trip to Roswell to visit my Gran and go to our old church (sorry, no pics from that!).  We spent Thanksgiving Day at Matt’s Aunt Jeri’s house for some good fellowship and yummy food.

Me and my folks: Some of the gang taking the kids for a walk to release some pent up energy:

While my parents were here, they went ahead and bought us our Christmas present, and Matt couldn’t help pulling it out and playing with it:  A Wii!

Here are my parents bowling:And the kids taking a crack at baseball: And some other cute pictures: The kids enjoyed getting to sleep in the same room and would crawl into bed with each other after waking up in the mornings:  All Aboard!

And this is totally worth blogging about:  Matt built himself a fire-starter for the fireplace over Thanksgiving break.  We have never lived in a house that has had gas hooked up to the fireplace, and he has gotten tired of starting fires like a boy scout (although he has perfected the art!).  Being the expert in combustion that he is, he went to Lowe’s, then the fireplace store and WALAAH, he has himself a fast and easy way to make fires!  And we have totally been putting that puppy to good use this past week! Like I said, he is an expert in combustion, so when I questioned the safety of having the grill’s propane tank inside our house, he just scoffed at me.  Oh the joy of being married to a genius! :)