enjoying the process » loving the journey, not just the destination

Well, I’ve been putting off my blog long enough. Warning: lots of photos & lots of words to follow (don’t say I didn’t warn you).  Okay- Where to start?  Well, we took a little vacation to Palm Springs at the beginning of the month and I came home with 5 photos on my camera! Can you believe that? Every now and then, I need a break from being the family photographer. The problem is… James doesn’t know how to use my camera. Oh well, it was relaxing and not much happened anyway. 

Then… the Christmas photo season started… and it’s still going… it’s fun, but I’m tired!

On Saturday the 20th, we went to the Pumpkin Patch- the Lombardi Ranch pumpkin patch that everyone is Santa Clarita visits at least once in October.

So glad we went on Saturday because on Sunday the fires started. It seemed as though overnight Southern California was on fire. They broke out everywhere. Almost everyone we know was evacuated- at least for a few hours. Sadly, Lombardi Ranch burned- the fire truck, the police car, the huge haystack my kids climb on every year- gone.  Fortunately, it is back up and running at this point. We haven’t been back yet to see the damage, but it is still sad.  Later that night we carved pumpkins, colored pictures and made pumpkin-chocolate chip bread.

On Monday, we took a field trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific. James took the day off and ventured to Long Beach with us- he’s such an amazing dad. He LOVES to be with our children and takes any opportunity he can to spend time with them. Makes me love him even more.

Had some girls over to scrapbook on Friday, Trunk or Treat tonight at church (along with Awana) and can I brag a little about my son? He (Cade) at 5 years old is already reading (just about everything) and has earned all 4 of his red jewels in his Sparks handbook  & 2 green jewels. SO SO Proud of him! Saturday night is our 2nd annual Harvest Party at our house and October is officially over! I can’t believe it!  I’ll leave you with some funny photos of Kennedy’s various faces. I almost hesitate to post them because they make her look a little pouty and bratty and she is the TOTAL opposite of that. She is happy and funny and always singing and (almost) always wants to please us. She is such a delight. SO don’t let the faces fool you- she is a HOOT!  Until next time.

This post will have no photos- I’m sorry.  I just re- read something that is so true. I want to share it here:

"We condition our minds to value whatever we watch and study and contemplate most. John Piper has taught me to think of it like this: we become what we behold.  What absorbs our interest, what we give our attention to most, shapes our thinking and trains our affections.

We must resist the seductive lie that someday in the future we will give up our workaholic habits or our sinful addiction or our trivial time-consuming pursuits and enjoy God and His Creation and His purposes like we should.  The truth is that if we spend too much time focusing on lesser things, someday we will wake up to find that we have lost our ability to find great things delightful or even interesting."

For more information like this, go here:  www.desiringGod.org   

Hopefully everyone is safe from the fires. So far we haven’t been evacuated- though many of our friends have. Gathering our belongs in case of evacuation is eye-opening. It makes you think about what really is important and what’s just "stuff".

By the way- I felt the baby kicking today (and last night) That made me very happy.

The kids were playing in the back yard tonight & it was actually pretty cold. So… Kennedy grabbed this hat & oh man! She is just too cute for words.

I know it probably seems like I favor Kennedy, but really it’s just that she’s the most willing model. The boys won’t quit their Jedi battles long enough for me to get a crisp shot. 🙂  Happy Weekend Everyone.

I had the privilege of photographing the most adorable family last night. These kids are beautiful and they made my job really easy!  I have 6 photo shoots in the next month – 4 more than I usually schedule in a month- so if you’re interested in Christmas photos, you should contact me soon 🙂

I will be on vacation from October 5th- October 14th. I will return all phone calls and emails when I return on October 15th. Have a fun Fall Break (for those of you who get one).