south fork

Michael and I were married at my Uncle's beautiful property in South Fork, Colorado. It has been nearly 5 years. It's wonderful there...and special...and peaceful...and perfect. It made for a great wedding...









and it makes for a great get-away.

We went this past weekend and took Hunter with us for the first time. Nana and Papa came too.


Papa ranks right up there with Mommy in Hunter's book...somedays I think he actually ranks higher...much higher :)


It was great.

And I have waaaaayyyyy too many photos of our 5 day vacation...

There will be more posts with many more pictures to follow. sorry. Just can't help myself.

Sure brought back A LOT of memories.


Things look very different now...





This is the meadow Michael and I were married in...

then...

and now...





With all the changes through the last few years, one thing has stayed the same..."Magua the Bear"







Isn't that the coolest bear you've ever seen? Hunter asked to go see "naga bur" (a.k.a "Magua the Bear") often and even blew him a kiss as we drove off.

So thankful for my Uncle Blaine and his willingness to open his home to us. He is so gracious and loving...and we are so grateful!

best day ever

I'm pretty sure today was Hunter's most favoritest (yep, it's a word. I'm sure it is) BEST DAY EVER.

He woke up to a huge tractor digging in our backyard.

The tractor was moving LOTS of dirt in preparation for the retaining wall we are having put in.
(pictures coming soon)

He watched it ALL morning.

Then he took a nap.

When he woke up we took a walk with Nana and Daddy and camped out at the end of our street to watch the Thunderbirds do an amazing fly-over for the Air Force Graduation.




He LOVED it.




It was pretty stinkin' amazing.


And Hunter wished he was a plane...he was pretty good at pretending to be one.


They were so close I think we could have hit them with a rock.


Then it was back down for another nap...only to wake up to more digging in the backyard.

After dinner we let him run around and play in the yard...I mean, the dirt.

Phew. What a day.

Pretty sure it was Hunter's best day ever.

memorial day

Remembering and honoring our heroes on Memorial Day was extra special for us this year.

We decided to bring Hunter to Grandpa George's grave site yesterday.

It was time for Hunter George Moffat to see his name sake and bring a flag to honor him.

Grandpa George served in Vietnam and received a purple heart.

He was a hero.

And still is in our hearts.






Thank you to all who have served our God & Country. We are forever indebted to you. And for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice... we are eternally grateful. It is because of YOU fine men and women (and your families) that we are able to live in the land of the free.

playdate

As usual, I'm REALLY behind on posting..but this one is better late than never!

My husband has had a great group of buddies since highschool and now that they have all married, the wives have become friends and our children have become friends (at least they are working on it!). We try to get together every so often for a playdate. It keeps the mommas happy and the babies happy :) There are 7 kids so far...two new baby girls within the last few months. This play date was extra special because Lindsay lives out of state and she came to Colorado for a visit while Nate, her husband, is in Kuwait.

Here is a picture of Lindsay and Alyssa (they get special treatment because they traveled a long way and we miss them!)


and here is a pic of The Fiersome Five (not counting the newest additions)...



We really wanted to get a cute picture of all 7 munchkins but we weren't very successful. Do you know how hard it is to make 7 children under 3 sit down for a photo?? You can visit my friend Mandy's blog to see our fantastic results.

So...since all 7 didn't really cooperate I thought I would capture the kids individually.

Here they are...in no particular order.

Hunter (LOVELY picture of my son. sigh.)



Alyssa


Asher


Caiden


Avery



And the two newest additions...
Ashton (Avery's sister)


and Rylan (Caiden's sister)


These little kiddos are a handful all together...but I think they like each other. You can click on the picture to make it bigger and read all the exciting conversations :)


I'm looking forward to many more play dates with these wonderful ladies and their darling kids!

I think next time we should try to get a picture of all the moms! I'm pretty sure we would sit still and smile. :)

postponed

My brother-in-law, Ryan, was supposed to have his open heart surgery tomorrow morning (Monday). As of last week, everyone was gearing up and ready to pray him through the long surgery and recovery.

A combination of "God moments" led Kendra and Ryan to make the decision to postpone the surgery until they can find out whether or not Ryan can, indeed, qualify for a study that will allow doctors to replace his valve without having to do open heart.

For now, the surgeon feels that it is better to try to avoid another open heart surgery. It was originally thought that Ryan would not qualify for the study because of the clogged artery but the cardiologist they have been working with has been talking with the doctor in Boston who does this experimental study and he doesn't seem to be concerned with the artery. They will have to review all of Ryan's test results to see if he will qualify and then they will proceed from there. That will take approximately 1-2 weeks.

Please pray that Ryan would qualify for the study (thus avoiding another open heart surgery), their insurance would approve the procedure and agree to cover the expenses (the procedure is not FDA approved yet), and that Kendra and Ryan would have peace and wisdom as they make decisions in the next few weeks.

Thank you all for your prayers and concern! I'll keep you posted!

inspiration and revelation

I've needed a little inspiration and revelation lately and yesterday it came in the form of baby Maya.

Maya is the adorable and sweet new addition to our friends, Karen & Joe. She is perfect in every way.

She entered this world on a very bittersweet day.

March 5th.

The same day that baby Cora was born. The same day Cora would have turned one.

I remember getting the news that Maya had made her entrance on my way to Kansas. I cried. I cried happy tears...and I cried sad tears too.

Bittersweet.

Yesterday, Maya, her momma and proud big brother came over for a visit and a photo shoot.

It was a bit of a whirlwind keeping track of two adventurous little boys (Hunter & Maya's brother, Jared), making a newborn happy, and conducting a shoot. But after they left and the dust settled, I had a moment of inspiration and revelation...a moment that continued late (or should I say early) into the wee small hours.

I poured over the photos and worked on them until I was too tired to sit at the computer any longer.

While I worked, I thought about the end of a precious life and the beginning of another. I thought about how both would make their mark on this world. I thought about how I would make my mark on this world. I thought about just how valuable life is. How fragile life is. How PURPOSEFUL life is. And I thought about the Creator of it ALL and just how PLAIN and OBVIOUS his handiwork is.

Meet the sweet little blessing (& her momma and brother) that gave me a new sense of hope, inspiration, and purpose yesterday...











And there you have it.

My new revelation?

I'm back folks.

After almost 2 1/2 years off, I'm renewed, ready, and inspired.

LIFExpressions Photography is now...


I'm all about babies and kiddos.

Why?

Easy.

Cause that's what I love.

Sweet Cora Paige has touched me deeper than most will ever know and I have struggled with how short her precious life was...but I was reminded yesterday with both Cora and Maya that it is in those innocent baby faces that we can SEE the mighty and magnificent face of God. He alone brings about life and He alone takes it away. HE is what this life is all about. And I don't know how it can be any more PLAIN and simple.

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is PLAIN to them, because God has made it PLAIN to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been CLEARLY SEEN, being understood from what has been MADE, so that men are without excuse."
Romans 1:18-20

happy birthday, dad

Well, we pulled off a great SURPRISE 60th birthday party for my dad this past Saturday and I think it is safe to say he was genuinely surprised...he showed up in his house shoes! Family and friends came from all over and blessed my dad and our family tremendously. I have lots of great pics but my iMac has decided it is time to quit and I can't transfer any more photos onto it until I "dump" a serious amount of photos off of it. Argh.

Today is my dad's actual birthday. It's also his brother's birthday. May 5th, cinco de mayo. They were born on the same day...two years apart. weird. And even weirder...their brothers were born on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. Same day...two years apart. CRAZY.

Happy Birthday Dad and Uncle Blaine!

I will leave you with the only photo I can access right now...a family portrait that my good friend, sandra, took after the surprise party. Sandra and I were wedding partners when I was deep in the photography biz and we surprised dad and hired her to do a big family portrait with the kids and grandkids. We are missing my oldest niece, Jasmine, but otherwise...the gang is there! Phew - it took A LOT of shots to get this one!