13 Years Ago...

This crazy journey all began 13 years ago with a simple I do. 

Two little words that changed my life forever.
 

  It was one of those anything but ordinary days. 

 

Keys locked in cars. 

 

Traffic tickets.

 

Band-aids.

 

Odd songs being played by DJs.

 

Flights nearly missed.

 

The list goes on.

 

But we made it, and...

 

If anyone would've told me that this is where we'd be in 13 years, I never would've believed them...

 

Living on a farm as a family of five.

 

There's been ups, and there's been downs.

 

We've seen each other through thick and thin.

 

The blessings are too numerous to count.

 

By the grace of God, three little special beings joined us on this amazing journey!

  

I could not imagine my life any other way!  

 

Here's to the next 13 20 50 100 years! 

 

And...

 

I'll leave you with the one single image...

 

The one single image that always flashes through my mind whenever I think about our wedding day.

 

I can't recall the occasion, but shortly after our wedding I received a gift from one of my "new" relatives.  Excited to open the shiny present, I eagerly tossed aside the wrapping paper and revealed a lovely picture frame.  At that point, I became a bit nervous by the chuckling and snickering made by the bearer of this wonderful gift.  As I turned over the frame, I saw the world's most unflattering wedding photo...EVER!  It was snapped by a relative who shall remain nameless for the time being.

Lovely, huh?!

 

This photo has been in hiding...until now. 

 

There. Are. No. Words.

 

Not sure what that cake did to me, but if looks could kill, that would be one flattened cake!

 

So my advice to all future brides, ALWAYS smile on your wedding day....throughout the entire day...for you never know when images like this might emerge.

 

Or just elope to a far off cave with no lighting whatsoever to avoid scenarios like the one above.

 

And this, y'all, is why I avoid being in front of a camera! 

 

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

 

 

In Their Natural Element...

The weather was quite nice the other day, and I wanted to capture some 9 month pictures of the bebe.  Yep, that's right...the bebe is nearing the one year mark!  I'm starting to hyperventilate now!  Breathe...just breathe...breathe!  It'll be okay.

Sorry for the brief self pep talk! 

Back to my point...

So I thought "Hey, let's go outside and get some quick photos of the boys!" 

Let me show you how that went.

I sat Levi down on a lovely blanket.  Thought to myself "This should be easy.  Little babies are such hams."  Stepped back and said "Smile, little bebe!" And this is what I got...

Okay, that wasn't the reaction I was planning.

I consoled the sadden bebe and got a few smiles that were not captured on the camera.  He gave me the look of "Let's try this again!" so I obliged.  I positioned him on the beautiful blanket and stepped back once again.  This time the bebe was distracted, but by something other than my shiny camera...

REALLY?! 

I thought babies DESPISED grass like a cat despises water!  My mistake!  Guess when your grass is mostly of a field of dandelions, who could blame his curiosity? 

I decided to move on to Logan.  However, there was a huge distraction in the field.  All he wanted to do is talk about and take pictures of this...

See the field of DANDELIONS?!

Okay, taking individual pictures of the boys wasn't going so well.  Let's try a group shot!  I'm thinking "Pure genius, Lianna!  What a brilliant idea?!  Just ONE decent picture.  This shouldn't be too difficult."

Ha!

Remember...the bebe wanted on the grass to play with the purty DANDELIONS and Logan just wanted to sit still so his mama would let him hold the camera...he's wanting to take pictures of the TRACTOR!  In their eyes, neither child was cooperating with the other.

Granted I was jumping up and down in front of these kids like a wild baboon trying to capture their attention.  It seems to work for REAL photographers.  But alas, MY kiddos were not phased. Guessing this behavior must be typical for me so they were not entertained!

I'd like to leave you with some GREAT, magnificent shots, but you just saw the best ones!   I'm thinking I'll frame these anyway. 

Photography is the art of capturing others in their NATURAL element, right? 

Well, then...Mission accomplished!

*Disclaimer:  Yes, the lighting is way wrong in all of the pictures!  At this point, I just try to take pictures whenever I can...even if it's when the sun is bright and beaming!