russ+ashley=caleb

caleb is here! these pics were taken on his one week birthday.
he was so hungry when i got the camera out.  he wanted to eat those little hands.  it was so nice visiting with ashley and getting to hold caleb.  i just LOVE newborns.  


ha ha a SMILE! this kid smiled the whole time i was there.  gas of course. 

sebring- labor day 09

yep, just getting around to labor day pictures. a lot going on here at the wid house. like every other house that has children in it i suppose. we werent able to get a summer vacation in with the family b/c of a busy camp season (which is a good thing) but i was really longing for our family to get away for a little while. slow down, say yes to the kids more then we say no, jump on the beds, sleep when we are tired and eat when we are hungry. i have been going to sebring for 20+ years now! and dave almost as long. that is crazy, but it is one of my most favorite places in the world b/c of all the things i just listed above. i love that we can share this with our kids now too. so packed up the kids and headed out of town on thursday. we stopped in charleston to see kristin and hang out for the night then hit the road again on friday. it was a lot of driving through the kids awake time and it was a really hard trip. dave and i both decided we would be driving through the night. when we got to the hotel we went right down to the beach and let the kids play. we had subs on the beach for dinner that night. it was a great kick off to a relaxing fun filled, sun filled weekend. on to the pictures. donuts for breakfast every morning, thanks to daddy.
my parents came and met us there too.  it was so nice to see them and for the kids to spend time with them.  i think both the grandparents and the grandkids enjoyed it equally.
the water is so clear and clean.  it was also very shallow so the kids could play in the water about 100 ft from shore and it was only up to their knees.  it felt SO good to just let them play and not be correcting them. 


brenna is just a few weeks away from being 2!  she is starting to look more like a big girl and not so much baby anymore.  
clean white sand!  
daddy still has the moves.  he is barefooting backwards in this picture!  look at how awesome the calm the water is.  perfect for barefooting. 
kenzie knee boarding backwards, practicing her 360's
garret was brave and tried knee boarding for the first time too.  he did great. 
princess of the boat.  rae is still such a little peanut.  she fit perfect up on the arm rest of the boat so that was her little perch for the weekend. 
all the kiddos, mackenzie included.  she does a great job with the kids. 

the wid kids... i took a lot of pics to get to this one.  some are pretty funny.  when i have some more time i will share them.  

thanks for reading

we've got eggs!

a couple of weeks ago our chickens started laying eggs. we got just one for a few days and now we are up to 4 a day. we have 5 chickens so we are hoping to get all 5 laying. the chickens all lay their eggs in the same nest. it is so funny. we made a box for each of them to lay in but they all choose to lay in the same one. maybe this is normal? i am not sure. but it wasnt what i expected.

 
the kids LOVE going and collecting the eggs. raelyn likes to go out first thing in the morning. you can tell by her jammies. 


we have made a few things with the eggs. we have scrambled them, made an egg casserole, and cookies. it is so fun to use something that OUR chickens produced. it is such a cool learning experience for the kids too. they know that the chickens are here to do a job, provide food for us, not to be our pets. dave has even talked to them about eating one of the birds. not sure we will do that, but the kids seem to totally understand. 

i cant believe i am writing a post about the chickens in our backyard. never thought i would see the day

family shoot

my friend malinda asked me to take some family photos for her. of course i said yes! i just love doing this. i met malinda through MOPS. she is beautiful inside and out. i enjoyed meeting her husband and the cutie kiddos. so here are some of the pics.



gorgeous blondies...







squishing berries and holding on to that feather for dear life.  boys!  

lady in waiting

i had the pleasure of photographing some of our new friends the other night. russ is the music minister at our church and his wife ashley is due to have their first baby in about a week. she is a beautiful mom-to-be. they were super fun to photograph. here are some of their pictures.

i samuel 3

vs 10 "then God came and stood before his exactaly as before, calling out, "Samuel! Samuel!"
Samuel answered, "Speak, I'm your servant, ready to listen"."

God speaks to us in different ways these days. But he DOES speak to us. think about the last time the lord shared with you, either through a spoken word, His written word, or a word of encouragement from someone in your life. Lord keep me always "ready to listen"

psalms 22:30-31

"Our children and their children
will get in on this
as the word is passed along
from parent to child.
Babies not yet conceived will hear the good news-
that God does what he says"

two things hit me today...
1.) God does what he says! period, thats it, no gray areas.
2.) this great news is passed from parent to child. what a huge job we have as christian parents to live a life that passes this great news on. not only with our words, but with our life style and actions.