simply

IMG_0287

2009-12-28T14:00:00.001-06:00

IMG_0287, originally uploaded by simplybyaubin.

trying out blogging this from flickr!

7-9-2009

2009-08-11T07:37:00.004-05:00

new logo

2009-08-11T07:24:00.005-05:00

trying out flickr and a new logo.

New website!!

2008-12-09T14:38:00.002-06:00

In the next couple of days (hopefully!) I'll have a new website--I am soooo excited. Until then, this will be the place to go.

CLIENTS: You view your pictures by clicking the link to the right--it will redirect you and the rest is the same from there. Email if you have any questions.

Rachel

2008-11-19T02:52:00.007-06:00

So here's another girl who I think is so awesome. Rachel is in our youth group and is a ton of fun. She really just flat out rocked this photo shoot, making my job pretty easy. I had a great time with her. I absolutely love her sense of style (the vans, the piercing, her most amazing, natural, doesn't have to do to anything to it hair...I could go on). She & I share a love of journalism and photography, so I know it was hard to be in front of the camera--but I don't think you can tell it from these images. Top Model all the way!! I never thought I'd love taking senior pictures but these girls are turning me...

just a little shout out to my friend, Regi...she knitted these gloves for my birthday for me. Check her out.

I love this hoodie. She's hard core, huh?

hannah

2008-11-12T20:30:00.003-06:00

First off, let me just say I love this girl. BJ & I know Hannah through several different ways: she goes to our youth group & church and is my cousin (in a round about way), Kodee's girlfriend. BUT even if there wasn't all of that, I'd love her :) We had a fun time doing this shoot at the run down grain elevator here in town. She kept trying to let me let her go inside and in this burnt building, and how about some railroad shots--nope, sorry, I'm a mom now and that means I'M FREAKING PARANOID!! Okay, not really, but I did find it kinda funny. I kept envisioning her foot stuck in the railroad tracks and well, you get where I'm going. All righty then, RANDOM. Here are some of her pics. I always welcome feedback :)

Brent and Lindsey

2008-11-03T23:06:00.016-06:00

Blogging hasn't been a top priority on my list right now. However...there is reason to come back, even if all I did was post these pictures! I had the awesome honor of photographing a wedding in September of a friend of mine and her now husband. The wedding was wonderful and this couple is so precious! I felt so relaxed with them and it was obvious how much in love they were/are. Brent & the guys were cool with doing some fun stuff shot wise and hello--Lindsey is absolutely GORGEOUS! I said all along I'd have to really stink to not get a a good picture of her. You'll see what I mean :)

I had the amazingly talented April Chandler of http://www.aprildotphotography.com/ assiting me. It didn't feel like assisting at all, though, and I am well aware I got a major score by having her there with me. Some of these shots are hers so I can't take all the credit. You were great, April!

I was completely out of my element shooting a wedding and feel so blessed they took a chance with me. I had a great time, you guys. You're awesome and congratulations on your new life together! Enjoy :)

those eyes!

2008-08-22T14:48:00.006-05:00

These pictures are the daughters of an awesome friend . Carmen was actually in a group of mine when she was in high school and I was a "leader"--scary thought :) But we always said when she was out of school we knew we'd stay friends, and we have. She's a lot of fun to be around and BJ & I wish we lived closer to their family so we could hang out more (and watch Japanese human tetris--duh!) Anyway, Ellie & Eva are beautiful and so obviously photogenic.

sweet family

2008-08-22T14:41:00.005-05:00

These pictures are of our pastor & his wife and their family. I find it hilarious that it was very obvious Shane feels more comfortable behind a podium in front of tons of people than he does in front of a camera! my WORST nightmare!! Too bad for him, though, has to happen for the family photo :) I think we had a good time--going to a historical park they visit a lot made the kids very comfortable. Enjoy!

she's a senior!

2008-08-22T14:39:00.002-05:00

Next up, pictures of my sister, Alex. Not hard to get a good shot of her--she's gorgeous. I'm not done editing all of them, but here are a few for now.

boys will be boys

2008-08-22T14:30:00.005-05:00

First of all, I am soooooo behind on posting pictures from recent sessions, it's not even funny. So in the next 20 minutes I'm going to get myself updated!

Anyway, these pictures are from a session I did at the beginning of July. I've known this family forever, we're related through my stepdad and the two oldest guys are in our youth group. I love this family. So down to earth, considerate boys and just awesome all around. Needless to say, this session would not be categorized under "boring"--I had a great time. You'll see what I mean :)

yes, it's a real frog. Ah, life with boys--love it

love this one, it cracks me up!

McKenzie & Jordan

2008-06-13T00:49:00.005-05:00

During our last trip to Georgia I had the opportunity to photograph these sweet girls. I've heard their mom's name many times but this was our first meeting. She's an awesome lady and her daughters were so sweet. On the storyboard you'll see I wrote "McKenzie, teddy & the Truth". The reason I did that was when Stacey asked McKenzie what the Word of God was, McKenzie replied, "The Truth!" It really stuck with me and so I just had to put it on there (along with teddy who makes his way into quite a few pictures!). Jordan is the sweet baby with the brightest eyes and the most precious disposition. We got a few shots of mom & baby at the end and I really love the one on here. Beautiful girls! Stacey--hope you enjoy!

mother's day

2008-05-11T23:42:00.008-05:00

Let me start off this entry with a little announcement. Up to this point, this blog has been a combination of business stuff and personal life. I've made the decision to split those up. This blog www.simplybyaubin.blogspot.com will stay my BUSINESS blog. My new, personal blog can be found at www.growntoglory.wordpress.com (check it out to hear why I choose that name and a little bit (or a lot) more about what I am personally all about). I would love to have everyone subscribing to both blogs, so please don't feel obligated to choose one or another. I just feel like this is the best way to do it--hope you don't mind! The new blog is a work in progress, so be patient with me :)

Well, it's about midnight so that means it is STILL mother's day, so I can post this blog with my original intent and it still be legitimate. I have had the honor in my own life to have an amazing mom, three wonderful grandma's, an incredible mother-in-law and numerous sisters and friends who are unbelievable mothers. Maybe you have, too? I am blessed beyond measure by these women in my life and for that I am so grateful.

Since the focus of my photography is usually on children, I get to come into contact with a lot of moms. Some of the pictures I take (or at least hope to) catch some of those in between moments that often get overlooked by so many. I wanted to share a few of those today and some of my favorite pictures of moms with their little ones.

Thanks for all you do, moms, to make life so wonderful for the children in your life. And remember- www.growntoglory.wordpress.com -there will be a lot more on mothers on that page in the next hour or so.

pure & faultless

2008-03-29T16:12:00.005-05:00

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

I had to start off this next post with that verse because it is completely central to the pictures you're about to see. I've known Joy (the new mom!) forever. She comes from an amazing family--her mom was very influential in my mom's salvation, her sister is my sister's best friend and two of her other sisters are in our youth group. So needless to say, this family is dear to my heart.

Matt & Joy have become parents in the last few weeks to three siblings who they've adopted out of foster care. The girls--Justice & Jordyn--have been living together but separate from their brother, Kamrin. I love that they are reunited again. I know they are going to grow up in an incredibly loving & Godly family and we could not be more thrilled for everyone. So keep scrolling down to see the newest family photos :) Thanks for giving me a peek into your life guys. I had a lot of fun.

isn't Joy just glowing here?! I love it.

Kamrin

Justice

Jordyn

it'll keep

2008-02-28T21:46:00.003-06:00

So I mentioned my trip to Georgia. Well, there is no way I could leave it at that without adding some highlights. After two days with the nieces & family, my girlfriends & I went to the Georgia Mountains and spent the next couple of days. We had a sweet time together...like out of a movie, really. Good times, a lot of laughs, some sadness & tears, honesty, coffee, food, sleeping in, friendship...FELLOWSHIP. It was really an awesome time. We watched a great movie (ha!) but it sure has provided for a lot of entertaining comments between the five of us. Most of the same group went away last year together and we decided then to make it a time where we do all of the above, but we also each bring a project to do, something you are dying to get done but little feet are making it impossible. I love the whole concept behind it and it was so nice to feel like I can check something off of my list.

I know a lot of people think this, but I have been blessed with some of the greatest people as my friends. Each person in that picture has truly been iron sharpening iron in my life. These are girls truly passionate about God and He is everything to them--I am amazed at the depth of each one of them. I love you guys!!

a trip to GA

2008-02-28T21:23:00.004-06:00

Well, here she is, our newest niece. Isn't she sweet? I've just returned from an amazing trip seeing family & friends in GA. I got to love on little Naomi and let me tell you, she is every bit as adorable in person as she is in these pictures. The day I left for Georgia BJ had a fever of 103! My mom had to take care of my whole family while he got well and now she has it--I feel horrible. But oh, it was so good to get on a plane by myself--I read a book! Seriously. What is cool, though, is about an hour & half after being gone, I was ready to come home. I felt lost without my little chicks around my ankles. It's good to be back for sure.

I did a few little "mini" sessions with my friends & their kids, and here are a few of them just to show off. I'm telling you, my family & friends don't have ugly kids. Aren't they beautiful? Most of the time when Zoe was little I knew no one with little girls--these pictures would never let onto that, huh? Where are the boys?! They're all in the Cole family and we already did their pictures around Thanksgiving :)

no!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-17T11:15:00.006-06:00

Okay, I just had to start this blog off with that and here's why...

You would never have guessed that much of the time when this little guy Tarin saw my camera he yelled "no" but friends, it's true. Okay, maybe not MOST of the time, but it was pretty stinkin funny to me. Even funnier now that in spite of his love for my camera (or lack of) I got some pictures that I think are pretty sweet.

The best part of Tarin playing guitar is that he was seriously not just strumming but changing chords. And look at his mom--go Spring! (I think Matt is just in AWE in this picture of how talented his family is at the little red guitar)

rock out, guys.

so meet "Teddy"...I've been told that Tarin's favorite thing to do with Teddy is to chew on him--yep, looks like that's what he is doing.

thanks for letting me invade your lives for a couple of hours :)

some new pics...

2008-02-17T10:01:00.012-06:00

Well, I'm learning I'm not the best blogger. I have a long way to go. Here are some recent pictures of some photo shoots I did. First, my nephew Talan who is about to be one--happy birthday sweet guy! This is the one that sooo many of you prayed for last year when he was first born--look at him now?! He has the sweetest personality, he LOVES his momma (and so do we) and he's just adorable.

_____________________________________________________________________
I've been blessed with some new friends since moving to Kansas and Becky is one of them. She has four kids, the baby in these pics being her newest. She is the most relaxed mom and it's so refreshing to be around her! We knew each other from high school but proximity and stage of life has provided for a nice reconnection. Her husband has been awesome to get BJ side work and we're renting our new house from them. So yeah, we like them :) Her kids are adorable, huh?

two new nieces!!

2008-02-10T20:01:00.001-06:00

BJ & I have been blessed with two sweet new nieces in the last couple of weeks.

Jay & Aimee had a little girl, Naomi Gray, today at 7:18 a.m. She was 8 lbs. 4 oz., 18 1/2 inches long. It's KILLING us to not be there and love on her, but lucky me, I get to fly down next week--yeah. Here's a sneak peak from Jay's camera phone.

And Jan. 29, my step-sister, Audrey, had her little girl, Adeline Marlene. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. We can't wait to meet her. Don't know when that will be, though. Audrey's a strong girl--her husband, Josh, is in the Marines and he didn't make it back for the birth. I know that was difficult, but if anyone can handle it, Aud can. He's met her now, though, so that's awesome. here's little Adeline...

thinking...

2008-01-16T21:18:00.000-06:00

These sweet little footprints are my niece's--Micaiah Rose. Most of you who read this blog know her story, but for those of you who don't: Micaiah was the first daughter of BJ's sister, Aimee and her husband, Jay. She was born at 28 weeks, Oct. 15, 2005, because her cord was in a knot. It was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever experienced and cannot even begin to grasp what they have gone through and will continue to go through. However, God has been so amazing and they have sought Him every step of the way and we've been blown away at how God has turned this around for His glory.

A friend reminded me of a foundation I had read about awhile back and just never felt like I was ready to offer my services. The foundation is called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. Their mission statement is below.

Their website is www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org and basically it is a foundation for parents whose babies have died and they have a volunteer database of photographers who will volunteer their time to come and take portraits of your baby in the hospital. I love it. You also receive a dvd of the pictures at no cost. The sitution is so hard and you can't imagine in that moment maybe even wanting photos, but it's so worth it. Anyway, I was ready so many of the families' stories and was just crying at the computer screen. Thinking about Micaiah, about these families--about ME who has never had to go through something like this with one of my own children. I just thought I'd pass along the website. I hope no one ever has to go through this but if you do or someone you know does PLEASE call this foundation.

On another note, a blog a friend led me to over a year ago that has really encouraged me even in the sadness of it all is www.noahsteven.blogspot.com Be prepared to cry your eyes out AND to be amazed at the gift God has given Adrienne to really grow herself in her faith and relay it to those of us on the other side of the computer screen.

a tribute to my mom

2008-01-13T14:36:00.000-06:00

The title makes it sound like this post is going to be a sappy read, but don't worry, it's not (although there may be one in the future). Really, I was just fooling around with some pictures that I love and I came across the first one of my mom holding Shiloh DEBORAH Ruth Skipper (emphasis via Grama Debi, aka "Deborah") the day after Shi was born. I just love this picture of my mom. I love it because any time she tries to tell me that she doesn't think she's pretty, I'm going to flash this RIGHT in her face! I love it because I couldn't wait to tell her that we'd named Shiloh after her. I love it because she's such a great mom and a great Grama (not a Great Grama, but great as in awesome). I love it because it reminds me of when we lived in Georgia so far from her and now we're RIGHT UP THE ROAD!! So here's to you, Mom. We love you!

Another picture with props to mom--this is Shiloh a couple of weeks ago in an outfit I wore when I was a little girl. Mom saved it all these years and when she saw Shi in it she said she looked exactly like I used to. Wish I had a picture of me in it--actually there probably is one somewhere--but for now, just picture in your mind :)

just a couple--more I'm trying out frames--any preference?

an awesome family

2008-01-07T20:21:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday, I had what I would consider a REAL photo shoot. The best part was the pictures were of some great friends of mine and their sweet little guy. Haley & I were in one another's weddings and it was so great to reconnect with her--she married a BJ, too! (that name just seems to equal quality guy). I was nervous beforehand, just hoping & praying things would go well, this whole thing of actually taking pictures FOR REAL is very, very new. So, needless to say, I'm honored they trusted me. Here's a few from that day, hope you guys enjoy...

how cute are they? I love you guys!

can you believe those blue eyes?!? he's as sweet in person as he appears in the pictures

I love this one because BJ kept referring to himself as the "overprotective" parent--Little E isn't walking yet, but he's so close--and there's Daddy's hand just in case he needs him. It just reminded me of our Heavenly Father, not overbearing--but not missing a beat.

(it was great seeing you guys--love ya!)

a little sad

2008-01-07T19:15:00.000-06:00

okay, as the day goes on I am getting sad about his hair. THEN, BJ came home and he is sad. He thinks it looks great and most of all is happy Judah loves it, but it just doesn't look like our Judah man...who knew you could be so attached to HAIR?!?

say goodbye to the Skipper locks!

2008-01-07T14:11:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official. Judah no longer has long hair. I can't believe it--BJ hasn't even seen it yet, he isn't going to know what to say because he looks sooo different!

Just a few facts before I post the pictures:

1. Did we like his long hair? Yes

2. Did we make him keep his hair long? NO! (this always throws people off. But I promise you, we've always told him if he wanted to cut his hair, he could. We just always prayed he'd want to cut it for the RIGHT reasons, not because some older person in Sam's told him he looked pretty or a random individual called him a girl, to which his response was, "I'm not a girl, I'm a boy!" love it...)

3. Did he cut it for the right reasons? YES! We were thrilled when Judah came up to us and told us he wanted his hair like Jaron's. Jaron is a friend of his from Georgia, our best friends' son. He looks up to Jaron, thinks he's cool, thus, right reason. Also, he has mentioned he wants to look like Knight Peter from Narnia, so we're doing good.

4. Do we like his hair short? Yes! I do at least, BJ hasn't seen it yet, but I know he will. He looks so stinkin cute, I don't know what to do. Now, off to Wal-Mart for some decent hair gel.

5. Who is that gorgeous girl cutting his hair? That would be Aunt Ali, aka, my sister. Didn't she do a great job? You gotta love talented relatives.

okay, here goes...

BEFORE

DURING

THE FINAL CUT!

Doesn't he look adorable? To quote Zoe & Malachi, "he doesn't even look like Judah!"--he really does look different.

a new(er) and final (hopefully) look

2007-12-31T13:31:00.000-06:00

BJ says I'm moving backwards, not forwards. I fear he may be right--and yet, I'm so much happier with this look! It's so much more me. I guess I had to make the first one to end up at this one. Let's just pray along with BJ that this is the last one. I don't think my butt can handle sitting in the computer chair one more minute, I can't ask my sweet husband to watch our kids for one more hour and my brain can't come up with one more creative thing (in the next few hours, at least). Anyway, the website is up and going and the address is http://www.simplybyaubin.com/ I've asked for feedback and some have been so sweet to give it to me. I haven't made a lot of the changes, but I think if I don't just tell people to look at the site and get my name out there, well, I never will. Fear is overcoming me but I'm going to press through it (thanks to God and and some seriously encouraging family & friends). I am a mom, a wife, a christian, a lot of other things...but I am also a PHOTOGRAPHER! There, I said it. Now I'm signing off due to my lack of commitment (did this blog make sense? If not, comment--or if it did)

a new look

2007-11-24T15:49:00.000-06:00

I've spent the last couple of days getting a new logo and I like the way it's turned out. Next up, my website. It should be ready in about a week and when it's ready, I'll post a link. Let me know what you think. I'm really praying this will be a way for me to bring in some extra money and grow in an area I really enjoy.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We stayed here in Kansas. We did lunch at my dad's and dinner at mom's. My aunt and uncle and cousins came in town and we played an awesome game of liverpool rummy and a vicious game of spoons! It was great.

This week, we are praying so hard that God would open the doors for us to move into this rental house we have been inquiring about. Please pray with us if you feel led! We so appreciate my dad's generosity, and yet we desperately want to be in our own place.

Hope your holiday was great.

Halloween

2007-11-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd add some pictures of the kids from Halloween. We had a great time, and I loved how their costumes turned out. Shiloh was a butterfly, Judah was a surfer with a wave in his hair (and Cody Maverick in the barrel, thanks to Daddy. Zoe was a flower garden. You can't really see it here, but she had a fence in her hair and a butterfly and flowers all over. They are as I type this devouring their candy. My theory is let's have one major meltdown and get it over with. What do other people do? I'm sure good parents throw some away so they don't have the dentist bills later. I guess I'm not there yet. We're heading to Georgia next week to visit our family and friends thanks to the generosity of some amazing friends--it should be a lot of fun. Judah was just telling the drivers license lady how much he misses Georgia and all his friends, poor guy. Still praying about a house to rent--keep that in prayer for us.

2007-10-25T08:41:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to add some pictures, mainly of Shiloh with her piggy tails! She's a riot, but this girl has "spirit" as we like to call it! I've heard people say that about the third and so far, she's proving them right. She climbed up a slide as tall as me and went down it all by herself at the park last week. She flew right off the end, landed on her butt, got up and went right back to do it again. It was great. She is definitely brave.

Zoe is loving school and is learning her letters. She's made friends there and we've entered that world where I know all the friends she has don't have Christian parents and we've got to teach her how to not judge her friends, how to share Christ with them and yet to also understand that she needs to surround herself with friends that know Jesus. Wow, I felt so overwhelmed at the thought of all we have to guide her in. Thank you God for the Holy Spirit who promises to do that because it would be way too much. I've met with some other moms who want to homeschool (one of them already does) and we're going to get a group together, so that is a huge answer to prayer.

Judah is very into "bunkin" bulls (aka bucking bulls from the rodeo!) so he's definitely embracing life on the farm. The other night for the first time since we left Georgia, he thanked God for bringing him to Kansas. Leaving Georgia has been the hardest for him and it has broken my heart. He misses being able to work with his Daddy whenever and I think change is just something he doesn't love.

BJ is liking his job a lot, thank God, because Kansas has been hard for him, too. Not Kansas itself, but leaving his own company and the freedom of it (although he totally appreciates the weekly check). It's just an adjustment. Pray for him if you think about it--he needs encouraged. But he'll be going with some guys from Georgia to Charleston, SC in a couple of weeks and he'll get some time at the beach and this is crucial for him! Hopefully he'll start seminary in January--keep praying about that too.

I'm loving being close to my family. Living with my dad has been great and it's strengthened a relationship with him that I wasn't always sure about. The kids spend a ton of time with Malachi, Ali's son. It's awesome. Grama Debi is right up the road. It's just what I've always wanted them to experience. Ali bought a house so everyone has been fixing that up together. I am also trying to get my photography/card design company going. It's slow with three little ones, but it would be such a great way to make some extra money.

As for our living situation, we feel that God is asking us to lay down the buying a house again. It's the hardest thing to do but we do feel that God has promised that to us, but just not for right now. We're actually going to look at a house to rent tonight, it's small, SMALL, but if we can get it for cheap and pay down some of our bills and have $ for seminary, who cares? People live in things way smaller than this and we'll manage--it'll just mean less stuff and "closer" family time (and you know I am giving double meaning for closer!)

so this ended up being a longer update than I thought. see ya!

embracing the grey

2007-10-07T16:05:00.000-05:00

I had a funny thought the other day. So, I am all about embracing my grey hair. I feel like I just need to be cool with it (and for the most part I am). But what made me laugh was how I can totally embrace age and the greying of the hair, but I CANNOT embrace the darkening of my mustache!!! I bleach, I will continue to bleach and can't imagine being natural in this area. So, embrace the grey and not the black? Just brought a smile to my face.

On that note, you've asked, you will receive. Here are the bangs. Not as drastic as maybe it sounded, but choppier than most other times I've cut it--doesn't my sister do a great job? Watch for her, that girl (Ali), she's gonna be a famous designer someday!

Shiloh's birthday

2007-10-01T23:25:00.000-05:00

So, we had an apple party for Shiloh. It was very low key, but still sooo cute. I love seeing her with the apples. It was great to have my side of the family be able to be a part of her party, but there was definitely a void without our Georgia family and friends. I guess you can't have it all (or you just have a bunch of different parties, right Chris?!) Here are some of the pictures from that day... Why is this in blue and underlined? I have no idea. Anyway...

the birthday girl (I made her little kimono...gotta brag on myself a little, you know)

three wild kiddos

Shi's apple cake

apples that I sewed for her

no broccoli cake for this little lady :)

We are starting to feel more and more settled every day. I think it's just hard to get our heads around that this is home. Which is strange because I'm from here. Who knows what that's all about. There is still a lot to figure out...exactly where we're going to live (we're living with my dad for now), when bj will start seminary, how long will we really be here, how are we going to be involved in this church (oh and friends, it's so different. I can't even begin to describe how different--but very biblical, and we love the pastor and his wife. We are fairly confident this is where God wants us).

So I guess that's it for tonight. I'll try to be better about more posts, but don't count on it. How's that for commitment?! I'm trying to get more pictures to load, but they won't, so I'm going to try later. See ya

fishing with daddy

2007-09-09T11:01:00.000-05:00

here are some pictures of Judah & BJ fishing--Judah caught
his first catfish!

2007-09-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

First day of preschool--I can't believe it!

I'm a walker now!

2007-09-08T08:27:00.000-05:00

Look at my new shoes (thank you Wal-Mart, $10!) because I'm a walker!!

Shiloh started walking about a month ago, but now she's all over the place. I don't know if the pictures do it justice, but it's more like running at you than walking to you! It's so much fun. She's so great and we just enjoy her so much. Zoe & Judah are great with her, they get as excited over what she does as we do and she wants to be wherever they are. I love that. They are all great--how dull our life would be without them.

the oz arrival

2007-09-07T15:37:00.000-05:00

I took this from my dad's deck a few weeks ago--what an

amazing reminder of God's promise and a reminder that

in the midst of everything, He is STILL and will ALWAYS

BE--GOD.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, this started out as a "business" blog and the conclusion I've come to is this: I am much better at setting up all the details of businesses than I am at actually starting them :) But who knows, maybe this will be the launch of it all.

As much as I'd like to think I will e-mail everyone and let them know all about what is going on in our lives, I'm becoming more and more realistic so I decided maybe a blogspot would be the best. sidenote--I did once believe that blogspots, myspace, etc. would be something I'd NEVER do, why not just have a real conversation with someone and really enjoy one another? A husband, three kids, a move, a lost dog and much, much more later, I am a blogger.

So we're here in Kansas. It's been one heck of a ride, but we're surviving. I think we're on the brink of not only surviving but actually living. We came here to my dad's flooded house and it's so close to being put back together. We feel so blessed to be able to stay with him and cannot even imagine what it's like going from being the only people in the house to adding a family of five! BJ is loving his job and it's great being near our family. On the flipside, we so miss our family & friends in Georgia. We couldn't even have imagined the void that would be left. Well, we imagined it, it's just a lot greater than we'd thought. As I said to a couple of you, sometimes it's almost easier to not even think about it at all, it just hurts too much. But we have never once doubted or questioned our calling to come here so in the midst of the chaos we've had that to stand on. I don't know what we would've done otherwise.

So this is a short one, but it's better than nothing, right? Below are some pictures I thought would be fun.

not a great pic, but an example of bj's type of work

this is one of the kids on the drive here & if you can see in the truck, it's Rusty...man, we miss that guy

this is a picture of some of the flooding at my dad's...it's hard to picture it, but basically there is normally 8 feet or so below this deck and never any water on this side. You can see those vehicles in the far upper right...it was about halfway up them, halfway up the rails of the deck. Crazy

happy 5th birthday, Zigga!

yee-haw! We have most definitely arrived because we have attended the county fair & rodeo!! Zoe & Malachi were in the calf scramble (for all you city folk, picture an arena full of kids in their cowboy boots chasing a bunch of calves, the first one to pull a calves tail wins. yep, that's right, we let her run with calves-- next up Spain--with Uncle Dave!)