livin' like a rockstar!

okay...i know it's been a long time, but holy moly we have been busy. busy, busy, busy. we have done so many things, gone so many places. and while i feel tired and unable to catch up, we are lucky. sooooooo, sooooo lucky.

i'm not the 'churchy' kind of girl, meaning i don't preach, go to church or have very strong opinions on the subject, but boy do i know how to get my prayer on. girlfriend prays...LOTS!!!! i have noticed that i have ended each prayer the last few days..."thank you for protecting my family...for allowing us this time to be together...we feel so fortunate...(the kicker) please, God, help me stop complaining at how tired i am."

laughing out loud now, even more than i do after i do my praying. there you have it, the jig is up,...i'm nuts and God is totally cool with it too!

last week, we had jeff's family golf trip in petoskey. i ADORE petoskey and have so many pictures to share, but left my external drive at home, so those will come next week. had a great time, weather was cool and crisp just the way i like it when i am on vacation, and the kids played with their cousins for hours until they collapsed exhausted into their beds each night. more to come on that later.

right now we are in canada on our 'dirty dancing' trip. i call it that because if you have ever watched that movie, the family is staying at place where they ring the bell at certain times of the day, where the people come running and join together to eat in an old rustic lodge. where the day consists of swimming, tennis, hiking (adventure walks as my kids call them), ping pong, eating, watching movies, roasting marshmallows, doing a sing-along, rehearsing for the end of week talent show, where sticky bun night falls on the same night that we do line dances and the kids play musical chairs,...


it goes on and on. my family has been going to evergreen since i was 8 years old. the same people come every year, so it really is like a big ole family.

it's a place where we let our kids run a little further from us, stay up a little later, and eat more candy in a week than they have all year. it's that place that feels like home...safe, cozy, and welcoming regardless of how long since our last visit. i wish that everyone we know could come to evergreen with us.

when i walked into the lodge this year, as i do every year, i am welcomed by the aging smell of rustic pine and the cross between the ever standing tuck shop that serves french fries everyday until midnight and the antique pool tables. yum. it is...years and years of happy memories all rolled into one single smell. it is so comforting.

here's a small sampling, but will have more to come throughout the week...

jeff and jon playing shuffleboard!!!

raining off and on=rain boots.

and a few photo shoots...

one graduation shoot with the beautiful jade!!!

and this little adorable little sweetheart...isabella. i wanted to take this little one home with me. i love her dark hair and her sweet little bird squeaks. precious.

she looks just like her georgeous mama...harley. way cool name too!

this shoot tugged a little more than usual at the ole' i-want-another-one heart pang...i wanted to run away with this one...pretty sure her papa wouldn't have let me get to far though...:)

thank you for letting me capture her little-ness. she is a love.

i have been getting to spend lots of family time with my mom and my sisters this week...loving that because i really do miss them so much when i am in florida. here is a photo my mom said she needed for her house...one of her and all her girls.

on another note...I HATE TECHNOLOGY today. everything i am doing with my photoshoots, emailing, copying, pasting, software learning curves, gigs, rams, drives, externals,...i am about ready to PULL MY HAIR OUT, or dump my laptop into the lake. i truly wish i had a little computer wiz about the size of a little (remember the cartoon The Little's...one pc of popcorn could feed the whole Little's Village). anyway, i want one to live in the disc drive of my pc...would love that!!!!!!

miss you guys. and more to come.

xoxoxox