fort morgan happenings..

(this post includes a bit of time all bunched up as i have only been able to work on it for just a little bit at a time)

hello!

first off...it was rocky's birthday the 26th!

happy birthday to you, my snuggle bug! ;-)

i am SO thankful that you choose to spend your life your life with me! i truly am blessed to have you!

Also...we have had so many tornadoes touch down recently at home in tn, and many places in the south, for that matter.
my heart goes out to all those devastated by the storms.
please know that we are praying for you all.!!!!

so...

i came across this adorable video way back when (earlier in the week when i started this post)..not sure where it was taken, but thought it was too precious not to share.

it reminds me (i know this might sound strange) of my sweet hubby. really.

you see this past weekend we spent some time exploring fort morgan in alabama (very cool place, btw).
click here for history information on fort morgan

after visiting the fort we headed to the beach (with our friend jeremy and his son P who were visiting from back home for the weekend).

anywho..while on the beach rocky found lots of wildlife. i loved seeing the expressions on his face while he discovered all the creatures such as lots of crabs and the dolphins in the ocean, which were jumping out of the water almost like they were doing tricks just for us. rocky was like a child in a candy store. okay, maybe not quite as animated (rocky isn't that much so), but i know him...and i could see the joy in his eyes. i love that man! i love seeing him happy!
read on later in the post to discover some of God's creation we enjoyed on this fun day at the beach!

God is so awesome to have blessed us with that time on that beach that seemed to be our own little beach for the day.

i thank Him for allowing me to enjoy my husband's joy with it all.

like i said we saw lots of dolphins out in the ocean and dolphins are so adorable. the video also reminds me how much i

  miss our little cat, yoda.

glimpses from fort morgan.....

glimpses from fort morgan {the beach}

sandy faced :-)

lots of dolphin sightings!

a photo & a song

a simple post...

a photo. a song.

the picture... was taken this past weekend..the photos will be weaved through posts for awhile, i do believe..i took many.

the picture here shows me two things..

one: that i have much more to learn about taking pictures, editing, and everything there in between..but, i am enjoying every second of it.

and two: that i love the beach, especially when the sun begins to set.

the song... i heard this while at the gym this morning. it's a beautiful song.

jj heller has such a lovely voice and the words to her songs are just as lovely.

like i said...simply simple.

have a wonderful weekend!!

we are super excited because we have more company coming into town from back home this evening:

our friend jeremy and his little boy "P".

'P' is leafy's age and is his best bud.

the kids are thrilled!

love,
kelly

double digits..

yesterday was a special day for one of our nieces! she turned ten!

seems like just yesterday rocky was taking her picture (her very first picture in the hospital)...ah, this was before digital for me and that picture is at home (will post it later).

rocky has been teaching her how to play guitar. he's so sweet like that. ;-)
watch out taylor swift! competition is on the way! ;-)

okay...that last picture was taken during "practice mode", where rocky was teaching me fun things about manual settings. yes, i am super excited about learning this and having more control over my photos!! thank you, rocky!!

i thought this picture turned out pretty fun, too! i love her expression!  looks like she was shocked about something...but, maybe you remember turning ten is a big deal and sometimes is cause for some dramatic facial expressions. ;-0. ?

oh, and the lovely (thankfully blurred, as that is what i was learning how to do) lady in the background is the birthday girl's mama and my sister.

these were taken this past weekend..more pictures to come soon. i am so thankful we got to spend the last few hours with this young lady before she turned double digits, the big 1-0. ;-)

*a*, we hope you had a great birthday!!
we love you!

daybook

tuesday (april 19, 2011) *HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY TO OUR NIECE!!*
daybook

outside my window...it is surely springtime, and at times feels like summer. ;-)

i am thinking....that i am happy i got almost all the laundry done yesterday, and that we really need to buy a computer mouse that actually works. ;-)

i am thankful for....all the fun things rocky taught me this weekend about our camera.

i am learning....that there are lots of amazing photographers out there who inspire me. {see here for my ongoing list of talented photographers, whose art iheart)

i am creating....this post {oh, i guess i could have been more creative than that, i suppose}. ;-)

i am going to....(after the kid's quiet time today), will read each of the kids a book of their choice (they just stocked up at the library today. then...leafy and i will then do lesson 50 of 'teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons'. {yep, we are almost halfway through the book}

i am hearing.... kids who are just about done with their quiet times and are ready to be read to and play.

around the house...the sound of kids conversing fills the air.

i am reading....anything i can get my hands on about photography lately.

i am praying....that i get sometime to go back home to tn and work on some major spring cleaning (aka purging) at the home front BEFORE we go back there to stay sometime in july. 

a few plans for the week....organize papers for filing, maybe sell a thing or two on craigslist (or at least post them and hopefully sell them), beach time, pool play dates, and other things which have escaped my mind at the moment.

a picture... from this past weekend (one of the few i have had time to edit thus far) when my sister was in town visiting us. stay tuned for pictures from that weekend coming soon. 

sunshine smiles...

for those days when sunshine is lacking {not just caused by a literal cloudy day}...remember to smile anyway.

we ALL have reasons to smile. i call them blessings. some blessings may be great big giant blessings, while others may be teeny tiny ones, all are blessings, just the same...smile makers.

i often forget that a smile can be like sunshine, not only to the person smiling {aka happy endorphins released in the body} but also to those whom the smiler comes in contact with.

i wish everyone would smile more and help make the world a bit more sunshiny. ;-) how about you?

a smile is like sunshine...
{remember, i often forget this, too..so this is reminder to myself, as well}

so, go light up some one's cloudy day with your smile..

you may just find that, by doing so, your day is a bit more sunshiny, too.

"It is the artist's business to create sunshine when the sun fails."

~Romain Rolland

God, the ultimate Artist, gives us countless sources of sunshine, as well as, countless ways to be sunshine for others.

have a lovely, blessed weekend!

<3, kelly

a spring nature hunt

a time to explore some of God's creation in nature.

leafy, specifically, wanted to look for lizards...the thing about lizards, though,  is that they are quick..thus, we did not "catch" any lizard pictures..

here are some of the pretties we saw and appreciated...

Shout joyfully to God...How awesome are your works.
Psalm 66:1,3 

linking up with...a beautiful mess

daybook

april 12, 2011 tuesday

{daybook}

outside my window....a cool breeze blows. it is a smidge chilly this morning.

i am thinking....that i need to figure out what to make for the picnic this afternoon after library story time.

i am thankful for....my sweet, sweet husband. He works so hard for his family. I admire him greatly.

i am learning....that i talk too much. really need to work on that. it is something i pray about daily.

i am creating....photographs of happy memories, which i cherish.

i am going to....take the kids to the library this morning and then to the park for play and a picnic with friends.

i am hearing.... the kids getting ready for the day and it sounds like they are talking to one another about planning a trip to colorado {we do love colorado}. leafy also mentioned he wants to go to the middle east {there is a type of lizard he wants to see which lives there} ;-)

around the house...my once tidy living room has been taken over by little people who like to "unclean" the clean. ;-)

i am wanting to read....well, still hoping to read Sacred Marriage. Still can't track it down via free. ;-(

i am praying....for our engineering company {the possible projects}

a few plans for the week....research homeschool curriculum, picnics in the park, sandcastles in the sand, cleaning, and continue getting up early to exercise (i haven't been so good about this). i heart sleep. ;-) 

a picture... a precious moment in time featuring daddy and lily.

have a wonderfully, blessed day!

love, kelly

lunch at lulu's...

last weekend continued...

so, naturally...since we had company we just had to go to lulu's restaurant.  (owned by lucy buffet, who is jimmy buffett's sister, in case you were curious) "lulu" was a childhood nickname. i love this place!! great fun for the kids...oh, and the food is great, too!

i did not take any pictures of the food (food photography just isn't my thing..well, not usually), but i can tell you the food was yummy and i look forward to coming back here when my sister is in town in a couple weeks. they even offered vegetarian options for us veggies, but i'm sure asking them to leave the meat out of an entree would work as well. rocky and i enjoyed the veggie burrito. delish!

so..here is another reason i don't take food photos too often anymore...i am too busy taking pictures of the people i am eating the food with. ;-) people are so much more interesting than food..;-)

so sexy, yet so silly all at the same time. ;-)

love this picture of my love...like it in b & w.

here is a picture of me trying on a pair of sunglasses in the gift shop. what do you think? too big, too white for my very fair skinned, freckly face? i kind of like them, but am not sure if they "work" on my face. ;-) do they look clown like?

note: this is a rare post in that there are actually pictures of me..that almost never happens..

i will probably go with a simple black pair of bole's i have spotted on sierra trading post. but, we'll just have to see.

so...after we ate we played in the sand..yes, even the adults.

so cute!

can you hula?

then it was time for our sweet friends to board their plane to head back home...

naturally..a family photo was in order and in front of their plane seemed like a great place. our friend;s shadow is in the photo as he snapped the photo for us.;-)

bye bye for now!

isn't their airplane adorable?

makes me look forward to rocky getting his pilot's license.

so...it was a fun filled weekend with sweet friends...i am so thankful they got to stay with us and also thankful that they own their own plane so that the trip here for them was just two hours instead of 7. That meant more time at the beach.;-)

oh...and i added a page to the blog entitled, 'our story',,,it's pretty much our story via a few words and lots of pictures..go check it out. ;-) i will be working on this section as i get time..i will have to scan in pictures when i get back to tn to add to it (for those "before digital" photos. ;-)

till next time...
many blessings..
<3, kelly

reverse thinking

came across this video this morning and thought it was eye opening.

sometimes we just need to reverse our thinking.

my goal is to live my life according to these beliefs...

with God i know i can.

sunshine, sea, & smiles

this past weekend we had some fabulous visitors...they came to see us from back home in tn. they even offered to bring someone else with them since they had an extra seat on their plane. Rocky's mom was going to make it, but at last minute couldn't so...Rocky's dad hopped on the plane.  

we love having visitors while we are here on the gulf coast! plus, i love having people stay with us. the more people, the better. love the company!

so, though we knew and appreciated they were here to see us, we also knew that the beach was also bringing them here. works for us! off to the beach we went!!

leafy was totally diggin' his splash!

the swimsuit lily was wearing made me giggle..it was a hand-me-down (first time she wore it) and it kept riding up and coming down..she had to re-adjust after just about every move she made. ;-) good thing she has other swimsuit choices. 

The two lovely people in the above picture are the friends who came to visit us..they are super sweet people with such a sweet daughter. we are thrilled they chose to spend their weekend with us.

hey, check out their camera...they own the same camera as us...the nikon d90. love this camera, btw. what is even more of a coincidence is that it turns out we both bought ours about two years ago and we use the same 18-105mm lens for most shooting. the difference: they own something we have been wanting to get for a while now and just haven't yet. they own the fabulous nikon speedlight SB-600 AF.

so..needless to say, rocky and i had to test it out and explore the world of extra fill light. ooh la la!! loved it!!

i am thankful we had the opportunity to experiment with with the fabulous flash! now, i am sold and intend to save the pennies to possibly get one someday. gotta love fill light!

she really is happy, really.  i had her see if a flash came out of the speedlight..she was looking for a flash. {testing testing}

more pictures to come from the weekend..i'd say these shots give a good idea of how fun the beach was this weekend.

God is so good. what blessed, fun times with lovely people!

blessings to you,
<3, kelly

never alone

i love this song! 

i feel it is a good reminder for me for those moments when i feel as if God is far away from me...sometimes it can be difficult to always remember that He is there for me, as He is an invisible Love.

 i,do know that is where faith comes in...

but, being that i am human, and imperfect for that matter, those moments do occasionally creep in when i feel that He may not be that close to me, but in reality it is me not being close with Him. He is ALWAYS there, and i am never alone. 

what an amazing, humbling thought.

i am so very thankful for prayer...what an amazing way to communicate with God. 

coming from someone who can get pretty wordy (and sadly, usually, talks way more than i should) God is the only One i know of who is capable and most willing to listen to my heart's frequent out pouring. Sure, Rocky is most willing to listen, but he is human, and his human ears can only take so much....understandable. 

i am thankful for God. the more i pray and study His word the more i realize that i am never alone. 

some randomness {via phone photos}

is a caption really necessary?

she is so silly, yet too adorable for words...

sometimes i get the feeling he wishes his mama wasn't a pathological picture taker. ;-)

at the pool...watching the kids swim (i do believe kids are made with different built-in temperature gages)..it's still too chilly for us, parents..but we will jump in soon!

what little man recently read in 'teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons'. (he is progressing right along) and yesterday we did lesson 42, in fact. only 58 more lessons to go.