Monthly Archives: July 2009

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john & janice. wedding. garland, tx

 At the beginning of July, I had the opportunity to shoot a wedding for my dad and his new bride.  I was so nervous and excited.  It is an entirely different perspective to take pictures for a loved one.  I wanted each picture to be perfect. 

Dad and Janice were married at Alexander Mansion in Garland, Texas.  It was great how prepared the staff was.  They were professional, precise, and generous.

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They started with the chairs beautifully arranged for the ceremony. 

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 Janice’s sons, Jace and Hunter, walked her down the isle and gave her away.  It was very sweet.201-copy

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 Tucker and Tanner did so good during the ceremony.  They handed Dad the rings when he needed them.  They were very excited to be a part of the day.  They were even pumped when they were getting ready because they had clothes to wear that looked like their daddy and their Uncle Jason.  222-copy1

 the-ceremony

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The wedding party.  I did not get one with my brother’s head looking up.  He looked down and watched our nephews the whole time, but that is what I love - real life, relaxed pictures!

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After we finished pictures with the wedding party and family, Dad, Janice, and I ducked outside to capture some natural light before it was gone.  I love how relaxed and happy they look in these pictures.

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As we were taking pictures, the staff arranged tables and got everything set up for the reception!  

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Just look how cute my brother is giving the toast!  My sister and I think we have the cutest brother in the whole world!  I think we are right!

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The evening was filled with laughter, dancing and fun!  I love the one above of my sister and my dad.  The little girl looking on and watching them grasps my heart!  I have always thought of my sister as a princes and my dad as a king.  The expression on the girl’s faces proves I must have been right!

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Dad and Janice, I wish nothing less for you than a lifetime of happiness.  

enjoy!

The Dallas World Aquarium ~ Part 3 ~ Baby Jaguar

Like I said yesterday, all of the animals were eating, and were very active.  However, Katherine and the boys were so excited to see the jaguar.  She was up and VERY active.   Remember these were taken through glass, so there is a bit of a blur.

 

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The jaguar’s cage was so cool because we could look her in the eye….she walked right up next to the glass…this picture perfectly shows how close the kids could get to her…pretty amazing!

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Right before this shot, Katherine and I were talking about how we always see the cats lying down.  We had never seen one so active.  She came and laid down right beside Tanner and Katherine.  It was really cool.  This was the only time we saw her sit down.  The rest of the time, she was pacing…

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The faces of Tanner…I have loved taking pictures of this little guy!  He makes the most hilarious faces!  I had to put both of these because I love how his face changes from one second to the next!!  He was watching the jaguar, and I would love to know what he was thinking!

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The last picture of the day!  I am so very sad that I did not get a good picture of the boys with Uncle Jim and Katherine!  I was so very thankful that they went with us!  It was very crowded, and it was such a blessing to have them there to watch out for the boys with me!  Thank you Uncle Jim and KT…I absolutely adore both of you!!  Besides having your help, it was too much fun to hang out with you!  I love you!

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These are the boy’s baby jaguars that they bought at the aquarium.  Look how sweet Tanner looks….oh my goodness, he is such a ham!

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For those of you that don’t know, I am a huge nature girl.  I always feel closer to God when I am in nature, and I always have.  That being said, it is amazing to see God’s handiwork on the animals.  They are amesome!!!  The perfect spots of a jaguar, the pearly pink of a flamingo, the dance of a penguin, the design of all the different fish, the jellyfish that glow….and on and on and on…..He continuously blesses me with chances to see His amazing design!  Plus I was able to share all of that majesty and beauty with my precious nephews, my uncle and my cousin. ….nothing short of AWESOME!  I highly recommend the Dallas World Aquarium.  It was crowded, but it was so worth it!  We had a blast!

enjoy!

The Dallas World Aquarium ~ part 2

Part two continues with very few pictures of Tanner because he is constantly on the go!  That boy is fast!  This post has more of the amazing animals that we saw…

These were some weird fish.  They didn’t look real at all!  Tucker and I were amazed by them.  We HAD to take a picture of them!

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Katherine and the boys at one of the tanks.

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The boys watching more penguins.  These are the ones that we got to see eat.  The keeper crawled down in there with them and gave them fish.  It was very cool!

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Tanner didn’t stay in the shark tunnel very long.  Here he is with Tucker and Katherine, and then he left.  He got Katherine to go “wook” at something else.  He didn’t like them coming and going and popping up.  It was a little freaky to be standing under them while they swam by.

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This is my favorite series of Tucker from the day.  It was very hard to get a picture of the sharks because they would just come out of the deep water and go so quickly.  However, these pictures show his wonder and amazement of the shark tunnel.  His eyes get so big when he has something so important to tell you!

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The Dallas World Aquarium ~ part 1

 

 Uncle Jim and Katherine bravely joined the boys an I at the aquarium on our last day together.  The boys were so excited.  We had been talking for a couple of days about the sharks, fish, turtles, etc.  However, it is always fascinating to me to see new things through these guys eyes.  They loved every minute of it!  This first part has some of the first animals we saw.

 I absolutely love this picture of Tucker.  He was too excited, and his little smirk there is what the whole trip was about.   He watched everything.  Here he was watching the first penguins that we saw.  I am not sure any of the details of the animals…don’t judge.  I have no idea what kind of penguins they were or where they are from.  I was too busy watching out for two little boys in a very crowded aquarium, taking pictures, and enjoying the moments.  ANYWAY, he was hooked!  We will definately have to go again really soon!

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 This little guy greeted us as we first entered.  He came down off of his tree and looked directly at Tucker and Tanner.  It was really too funny.  This is him down by the glass checking the boys out.

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These guys were HUGE!  This picture does not do them justice.   

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I love this one!  Tanner was really listening to Uncle Jim!

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My favorite!!!  One of the main reasons that I love the aqarium is the manatees!  I could sit and watch this tank forever.  It was feeding time when we were there so everything was swimming around and eating.  These guys had a lot of lettuce to snack on.

 

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 Look!  My favorite!  Barbara Manatee!!!!  (Yes, that is a Veggie Tales reference!)

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 The boys in front of the tank!  Tanner was of course laughing and enjoying Katherine and Uncle Jim!

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Sister, I added this just for you:

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part two of the aquarium is coming tomorrow!

enjoy!

Our Friend, Mr. Monarch~ A memorial…

One day, on our way to the pool, we met a new friend.  His name is Mr. Monarch.  The boys were so excited to find him.  He was laying in the flower beds next to the pool.  He didn’t have much strength left in him, but while Tucker was letting him perch on his finger, Mr. Monarch did flutter his wings one last time.  Tanner also got a chance to hold dear Mr. Monarch.   The boys were so very gentle with him and were precious looking at his unique features.  It was really cool to watch their fascination with Mr. Monarch. 

 After a close examination of his beautiful colors, we put him back in the flower bed and we went swimming…

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I hate to tell you the end of our story.  However, when we came out of the pool (2 hours later), Mr. Monarch was still lying in the flower bed.  This time, there was no flutter left in his wings.  We decided he was just too beautiful not to snatch him up and show Tucker and Tanner’s friends at school.  So, he was put in a mason jar and driven to Lubbock, where he is on display at the boys’ school!

As you can see, we had many wonderful adventures!  Stay tuned tomorrow for our journey with Uncle Jim and Katherine to look at sharks!

enjoy!

Swimming, Swimming!

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is swimming.  I love it!  I spend the summer making sure that I have from 10 to 12 to be in the sun!  It is glorious.  When the boys are here with us, they get as excited as I do to go swimming.  The first summer Tucker stayed he was two.  We kept him in one of those swimming life jackets.  Last summer, Tanner had to stay in the life jacket, and Tucker took his off a little bit.  However, he was still using it quite a bit!  Here are Tucker and Tanner’s pictures from last year. 

Well, this summer we are advanced!  The boys both took some swimming lessons before they came to stay with us.  They still have more to take, but they were doing awesome!  I was so very impressed.

 First, we have Tanner, aka “the little frog”, he is such a dare devil.  The reason I don’t have any pics of him showing his big arms is because I had to be right there with him.  This was VERY frustrating to him.  He wanted to be able to do just like his big brother, but he couldn’t touch like Tucker could.  So, I took a few of him playing with the football (he has an amazing arm on him) and going under the water!

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Tucker got to show off a little more for the camera.  Here he is showing us how to make a bubble of air in his mouth.  I am not so sure that he actually takes air in…but he makes an amazing bubble!!  The other one I got of  Tucker is him showing off his mad underwater swimming skills.  He was all about showing off how he could swim under water.  He got new goggles when he was here ( I wish I had a picture of him in them) and he loved how clear they made the water.  He one of my best buddies, and I see many years of swimming ahead of us!

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These make me want to go to the pool right now!  Happy Summer!

Check back tomorrow to see pictures of our friend that we met at the pool!

enjoy!

Happy Birthday Uncle Jason

I have always dreamed of making a big deal over family member’s birthday with my own children.  I have thought about how we would create magical presents, sing, and make the most of each birthday.  So,with the boys here, we could do just that.  I learned from my mom how to make a fuss over someone.  She made us feel so special on our birthdays, and children love to help out.  So, with Tucker and Tanner here for a week and Uncle Jason’s  (my brother) birthday falling during the week, we made a fuss over him. 

I bought some picture mats and frames.  I had taken some pictures of the boys with their Uncle Jason at my dad’s wedding.  They were perfect!  We had one of each of them.  So, we had those printed up.

First, Aunt Mandy got out this stuff:     (and yes, I did wonder if I had lost my mind…markers, three and five year olds, and my most valued stickers…but that is what happened when I became an aunt….I lost my mind!)

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They used all of the fun markers and stickers to make masterpieces!  Tucker wanted Aunt Mandy to write his message on the paper so he could look at it while he put it on the mat.  They each turned out so fun!!  Just look at those serious faces!

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The finished pieces!  Didn’t they turn out awesome?

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The boys wrapped their presents all by themselves….now wait, I have to be honest.  Tucker wrapped his all by himself….Tanner had a few melt downs.  However, finally, he did get it all wrapped up…actually he did it.  I just handed him tape.  Then they wrote their names on them so Uncle Jason would know who it was from (honestly, it was so Aunt Mandy would know which one to let each boy carry).

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The morning of Uncle Jason’s birthday, it was cupcake time.  The boys helped do it all!  They were excited about cupcakes.  They share this love with their Uncle Jason!  We had planned it out with Aunt Kristen, and we were on a time schedule.

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Then we had to add sprinkles to the cupcakes!  We just had to! 

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Finally, it was time to go celebrate with Uncle Jason.  The boys were so excited to take their cupcakes and presents to their uncle.  The light was coming through his office window, and I love how it looks like the present is lit up.  The boys felt like it was the most perfect present in the world!  I have to admit…I did to! 

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Renewal - Andy & Lori

blagg-1Andy and Lori met on a bus at Texas A&M in 1995.  She asked him what time it was while hiding her own watch…just so she could talk to him.  Impressive skills, Lori!  How do I know this story?  Well, I have been blessed to know this couple since the beginning.  Andy and I met as Fish Camp counselors in 1991, and Lori and I both grew up in Paris.  However, we did not meet until she came to A&M in 1993 and lived with a very good friend of mine.  So, as you can see, we have a VERY long history together, and I adore this couple.  They have had their ups and downs just like every married couple I have ever met, but they have chosen to follow God and honor him with their marriage.  When they decided to renew their vows, I knew I would be one of the people there to celebrate with them.  However, what a  delight it was  that they asked me to take the pictures!

Andy & Lori, I love you both so much!  The history we have shared and the memories we have created are such blessings to me.  Nabors and I wish for you many years of wedded bliss….and we will always be here to “do life” with you!

love you! enjoy!

 

 

 

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They had an amazing cake and had it catered by Freebirds!  WHOOP!  A celebration is complete when there is some Freebirds involved!  I love me so me barbecue sauce!!!  YUMMMMM! 

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These are napkins that were left over from the origianl wedding in 1997.  In that one, I was a bridesmaid!  I wish I had borrowed some pictures from the original wedding to put into this blog, too…that would have been a nice touch, but alas, I didn’t think of all of that.  Anyway, back to the napkins… Rita, Lori’s mom, had these left over at her house…and she brought them to give the wedding a perfect reflection and vintage feel!  Awesome detail!

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Putting It All Together

Dad, Brother, Nabors and I worked on getting Keegan’s bed together.  Dad and Brother did most of the work, but what a fun time to be with family and hanging out!   I am so very excited about this little guy.  Anything I can do to help Jason and Kristen get ready for my new nephew makes me so very happy!

enjoy!

Brother is going to be such a GREAT daddy!  I can’t wait to see him with Keegan.

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Daddy, had such a serious face while he worked!  He is so cute!

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This is the finished crib!

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The Scotts

881-copyTiffany and Jeffrey are precious together, and it is too much fun to watch them transition from an amazing couple to an adorable family.  We were blessed with extra time together the day we took these which allowed us to capture some amazing images of the love that this family has for each other.

Tiffany & Jeffrey, thank you so much for spending time with me and allowing me to shoot your family!  I adore you guys!

enjoy!

 

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