Picture Chaos

This past weekend, we set out to take some nice family photos. I researched how to use the multiple settings on my camera, so I could take the pictures in manual mode. Then I could pretend to be a real photography.

There were multiple things that went wrong. One, we went too early and the sun was too low. It was a beautiful day, but I would have preferred cloudy. Two, I need to buy a reflector. Then we could have had pictures with out a shadow on one side of faces. Three, Sydney went crazy and only wanted to play fetch. She had a fun time, that's all that matters. Right?

I was frustrated, Josh was frustrated, and Sydney had a blast. Here are the pictures to prove the chaos.  I'm not ashamed to show my works in progress. Maybe I can photoshop a couple of these to make them frame worthy.

We weren't ready, but Sydney looks good.

The remote stopped working, so I was figuring out the distance.....

Okay, now we are ready. Where is Sydney?

Don't let your husband have the remote when you are adjusting the camera.....

This one is okay......

The sun was in our eyes. Would have been cute......

Sydney look at the camera.

Charge!!!!!!

Where is Sydney?

Maybe she'll take a picture with her favorite person? Her Dad.....

Mom is in the picture...... I'm outta here.

She has her ball and she's happy.

This is Sydney's mouthing off face. If you have met Sydney in person, you know her bossy bark.

Great catch!

I think she's tired now.......

It's a lot easier to be the one behind the camera. Maybe I should practice that way first. Next time I take pictures of ourselves, I'm going to bring a boat load of patience. You live and you learn!

I'm glad Sydney had fun.

Being Thankful

Today in my daily devotional (I use Jesus Calling and I love it because it speaks to me), it was about being Thankful. It is that time of year, with Thanksgiving next week, that I often think about what I'm thankful for more in depth. I thank God everyday for Jesus, the roof over my head, job, food and Josh. Last year I did the Facebook thing where you write what you are thankful for each day until Thanksgiving. I missed a few days here and there and I can't remember if I finished. I've noticed the same thing this year, that "friends" are posting what they are thankful for. I decided not to do it this year, but this morning I got to thinking that it might be a good idea to write down everything that I'm thankful for. When I do this, I can see how great my life is, even if the going gets tough sometimes. So, here is what I'm thankful for in no particular order, just what comes to mind.

 

I'm thankful for Jesus. Knowing that I don't have to be perfect to be loved.

I'm thankful for a wonderful husband. I truly feel blessed to have him by my side.

I'm thankful for Sydney. I didn't want a dog, but now I don't know what I'd do without her.

I'm thankful for all of my parents/in law and that I have a great relationship with all of them.

I'm thankful for all of my siblings/in law. It's nice to know that you'll always have a friend because a sibling is a built in friend.

I'm thankful for a warm house.

I'm thankful that I'm able to buy food to eat.

I'm thankful that Josh knows how to bake, cook and clean.

I'm thankful that I have an able body and I can exercise.

I'm thankful for my church. I have met some great people the last few years that have helped me grow.

I'm thankful for my Monday morning coffee group with some great ladies.

I'm thankful for all the friends I've had over my life time. I always learn from them.

I'm thankful for a job that I enjoy going to every day.

I'm thankful for all my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It's nice to know that you have a big group of people in your corner.

I'm thankful for my nieces and nephew. It's fun to watch them grow up.

I'm thankful for love. It's what makes the world go round.

I'm thankful that we are able to take vacations and see new places.

I'm thankful that I have a car to drive, especially on cold days.

I'm thankful that I live in the beautiful, green, Pacific Northwest.

 

There are a lot of big things I'm thankful for, but I'm thankful for plenty of the minor things in life, because those are things that could be big in someone elses life.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

 

 

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA since July! I couldn't keep up with that darn weekly photo challenge, so I'm just not going to do it and have fun taking pictures. 

We have been busy almost Every. Single. Weekend. since the middle of July. So I'm going to catch you up with pictures of what we've been up to the last several months. 

First up, we got one of these. The boat took up our free weekends and some evenings during the week. 

Our first trip on the boat.

We tested out a toddler on our first weekend out, with Mr. Finn. I think it was a success! Sydney even gave him a ride!

Wedding number one! My childhood friend from dance, Candace. 

Chase and Crystal had a wedding that afternoon also, so they came over to take a quick picture. This was the first time I saw Chase out of his wheel chair!

                           

More time spent on the boat. Sydney and Red Dog enjoying themselves. Sydney learned how to be a boat dog really fast.

Wedding number two! My cousin Ian’s wedding. My first cousin to get married! Ian and Traci make a cute couple.

It was a beautiful day!

Another weekend trip to Prineville. Nice and relaxing. We found a little cove to anchor our boat and it was peaceful.

The watch dog.

We taught Sydney to swim to shore with one of us to do her “business”. This was the first training session that weekend. She followed Josh to shore, went to the bathroom, but then did not want to swim back to the boat. If you know Sydney, then picture her high pitch bark from the shoreline. She was throwing a fit!

It looks like she started to swim back, but she ended up turning around and swam back to shore. Josh came back to the boat and I swam to shore. Josh ended up unhooking the anchor and then came to shore and picked us up. The rest of the weekend she did fine and would swim back to the boat. Hopefully she remembers for next year.

Wedding number three of the summer! My other childhood friend from dance, Sara. We met when we were 4 at dance class.

 At the end of September, we had a date day with our good friends, Nick and Amber, before their son Henry came into the world. We went to Draper Girls farm and loaded up on apples (honey crisp are my favorite!). We went to the Naked Winery, and then had some lunch at Full Sail brewing company. It was a fun day!

We wish we could have taken one of these guys home!

Bachelorette time for Crystal! This started off the festivities for October.

It was a beautiful day at Four Graces winery.

That evening while the girls finished off the bachelorette party, 80’s style, I went out with this hot stud! 

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary. We went to Portland City Grill. It was delicious with a perfect view.

We went to Voodoo donuts for dessert.

Henry came into the world! He is the cutest little guy and couldn’t be more perfect. We love him!

Then the fourth and last wedding of the year! Chase and Crystal’s. We had so much fun! I can’t wish them enough happiness. Welcome to the family Crystal!

We had some fun in the photo booth before the wedding.

Chase wrote a song for Crystal and sang it for his vows. It was so sweet!

Mr. & Mrs. Ivey!

Chase has a crazy sister.

With all the craziness of the wedding activities we even pulled off a surprise 50^th birthday for my mom the very next weekend.

Her awesome cake that Crystal’s friend made.

I got a picture of the birthday girl before she was surprised.

Josh was Jase from Duck Dynasty and I was his wife.

Here are some of the decorations. We decorated the house for Halloween and everyone had to wear costumes. My mom loves to dress up for Halloween and goes all out. Can you tell from her costume?

Josh made this spider web out of a garbage bag.

Then the last weekend in October we volunteered at a CrossFit competition. It was a lot of fun hanging out and cheering everyone on from our gym. Josh ended up being a Judge. He lost his voice by the end of the weekend.

I can’t forget to show you what Sydney wore for Halloween………..For the 3^rd year in a row she was Bat Girl!

We have been very busy as you can see (I didn’t even post everything), I’m glad that I decided to do this post so I can come back and remember some of these special times.

Last but not least for today; it’s Sydney’s 3^rd Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Sydney! We love your company and snuggles, also the free entertainment that you always give us.