To the Zoo, To the Zoo!

Poppy's first trip to the zoo! I'm excited to be in this new stage of exploring with her. I was babysitting Beckham that day, so he came along too. Thank you to Lori and Javon for taking us. It was so much fun. I probably enjoyed it even more than the kids. Those animals are incredible.

The beginning of our zoo adventure

The sea lion putting on an underwater show for us

We found animals that matched the kids: The wild red-haired tiger for Poppy (look how close we are to that thing!)

And the cute brown bear for Beck

Pointing out the animals to Aunt Javon

A hug for Nana by the giraffes 

And a hug for Beck too. This picture is so typical of them. Poppy being annoying and getting too close and Beckham looking at her with obvious disdain.

A quick stop to see the elephants before catching the dolphin show and heading home

Serenity

God grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

My grandmother, Carmela Frances, slipped away quietly on September 15, 2011. She always loved the Serenity Prayer. It hung on the wall in her old house that I remember so well as a child, and it hung beside her bed in the nursing home. When her daughters asked her if she was all right if that day was her last day, she told them that she wanted whatever should happen to happen.

When I came to say goodbye, I couldn't believe how her face glowed. She was beautiful to the end. I'll never forget my last conversation with her. And I'll never forget her pink nail polish and pearl earrings.

I was so thankful that Poppy was able to meet her elegant, fiery, New York great grandma and bring one more smile to her face.

Hilton Head Island

 Another good year. The annual family vacation continued with more laughing, talking, devotions, eating, reading, making a mess of the house, swimming, sunning, shopping, making of memories, and kids running around! The adults are soon to be outnumbered, as you can see from the following pictures...

Christian, Noah, Adrian, Jude the Dude, and Luca showing us what the crabs looked like after night-crabbing on the beach (yes, they even have headlamps...it's that official)

Christian and Luca doing some serious playing on the beach

Alesa and Miss Ellie looking good

Avo, Willem, and Andria

Greyson

Kurt and Clint...on baby duty even in the ocean

Poppy and Bry

Her first big waves

Poppy and her Mama

Love this face

...and this one

And those little toes

Making pasta for our dinner

Our little family

Goodbye Hilton Head house that we love so dearly! 

My Beautiful Friend

A couple of weeks ago, one of my best friends in the world married a very wonderful boy. It was an absolutely breathtaking weekend. They are two lucky duckies with an amazing story of how God brought them together. And I was lucky too because I was asked to be one of the photographers. I had so much fun with these pictures. And not to brag or anything, but I think they're pretty stinking good. Yes, it helps when you have such beautiful subjects...

I won't post them all, or even most of them. So this is just a little peek. But they will be on my mom's web site if you are interested.

The Wedding of Christen & Chad: as seen through the camera lens

*The following photos are property of DeLisa Photography*