Family Photos Fall 2015 Edition

Back in October, before all of the leaves fell off and we were graced with temps in the 30s, our lovely photographer was able to snap some new family pics for us to cherish for years to come. C was about midway through his 17th month with us on picture day, and full of little boy feistiness. No joke, at the end of our session, T & I were BOTH convinced that it was highly unlikely that we got a single good picture with everyone smiling or even just looking at the camera after C decided about 30 seconds into the hour-long shoot that he wasn't really all about getting his picture taken. Well...I'm happy to report that our photographer is an rockstar, and somehow managed to walk away with a surprising amount of good options to choose from. 

Just in case there is any confusion that our photo shoot went exactly as planned and turned out just perfectly, think again. Here are a couple that made it through the editing process...just so we could remember how much fun we all had!

'So you want a knuckle sandwich huh?'

'Must escape!'

'If I resist hard enough, maybe she'll loosen her vice grip.'

'I'm not impressed.'

I'm convinced that C knew that I needed horizontal pictures for my gallery wall, and therefore choose not to cooperate in any of them that we were all actually looking at the camera and smiling. Ugh.

Of course, when C got to be the center of attention and have a picture by himself with three of us entertaining him, he was perfectly at ease with giving us all a great big smile. Go figure.

At some point, you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening.

Throwback Thursday: A Day at the Beach

In this week's addition of 'Throwback Thursday'...I give you a day at the beach. Earlier this fall...before the temps dipped to freezing and the first snow arrived, C & I ventured out to the beaches of Okoboji for a little exploring. As expected, C loved playing in the sand and getting his hands all dirty. He is too young to grasp the concept that cooler weather means cooler lake, and after the initial excitement of being at the beach, couldn't resist crawling straight for the lake to see if I'd let him go for a swim. Patience C...we've got some cold months ahead before we'll be doing any swimming in the lake again!

Of course, no trip to the beach would be complete without throwing...and possibly even 'tasting' some of the sand. Really though...how could I refuse such behavior when it brought a smile like this to C's face?!

'There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.' 
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Thanksgiving 2015

After accidentally leaving my camera at my parents after the Thanksgiving holiday, I was finally able to rescue it during a return trip over the weekend while T was busy making the trek to the Big 10 Championship game in Indy. No jokes, while we love to be on the go, we are all feeling a bit burnt out on constant weekend traveling lately...I think I can count on one hand the number of times we've actually been home on a weekend since September. Between high school and college football games, baby showers and birthday celebrations, and visits to family, our fingers are crossed that we'll be able to stay local until Christmas festivities pick back up in a couple of weeks! Here are some highlights from our Thanksgiving holiday!

First up was a visit to Grandma and Grandpa W's. C had fun playing legos with Grandpa D and we all enjoyed catching up with T's siblings who we don't get to see on a very regular basis.



 

Next stop was a road trip to Grandma and Grandpa N's where we enjoyed our second delicious Thanksgiving feast and spending time with family.

...And just one more because this little munchkin's smile is just too cute!