Heidi's senior pictures!

This was my first senior picture shoot of the year and it was a good one. We were able to get into my old high school to get some pictures of Heidi in the gym and then we headed to "downtown" Rich Hill and one of the parks. It was a sunny day but not too hot and I am happy with how the images came out!

Contest!!!

So I have decided to award one lucky person with a mini portrait session... all they have to do is become a follower of this blog and then comment on a post. Simple.

The contest will end in a week and I will them randomly draw a name for the winner!

If you are wondering what I mean by mini session... well I mean 30 mins of shooting with me, which will be at least 20 images. It can be a formal shoot (get that old prom dress out) or something goofy, maybe even with a prop or animal??

It's your choice! Thanks all and good luck!

Cooking, bubbles, tea and a raptor ;)

How could you not read this post after reading the title? ;)

Anyways, lately I have been channeling my inner Martha or perhaps its Julia... either way I have been C-O-O-K-I-N-G!

Check it out... first I made homemade buttermilk batter chicken strips with corn:


That was a few days ago and just tonight I made a homemade pizza. I have made the homemade pizza before but the dough was a little different this time but STILL delicious!



Soon I plan on making some Asian inspired dishes in honor of my BFF Jenny visiting this weekend. When I was 12 I actually made up a recipe for crab rangoons that is FANTASTIC and I have been craving some Kung Pao Chicken, so it looks like that will be the menu. :)

Besides food, I also wanted to share that Micah and I have received an early wedding gift this week. I am more excited than he, seeing as how I wanted this item more than him! Its a beautiful little green tea kettle from our friend Aaron Leppin.



Speaking of the wedding I also took a little time tonight to tackle the tedious task of tying ribbon to the 180 bubble bottles that we have. Fun right? Luckily, it really didn't take that long. :)





Lastly, tonight while running errands I bought some yummy fruit and vegies, some tea (that I am excited to try out with my new kettle) and also found the COOLEST Christmas ornament E-V-E-R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, check it out... its a raptor. It was at Hobby Lobby and I intend to make it mine one of these days. ;)

Fun with the family!

So this weekend I went home to visit my family. While there I also got a chance to shoot some senior pictures for a girl who is going to my old High School. It was a fun experience and I will definitely be sharing those pictures soon... BUT this blog is about the family and most importantly the fact that my grandpa's 91st b-day party was this weekend.

My family has a tradition of having a sort of reunion/giant party every year for my grandpa's b-day. It is always a great thing to look forward to and I have NEVER missed it!!! I have missed MU football games over it, so you KNOW its a big deal!! haha ;) I was even able to make it the summer I lived in Beijing because it turned out that I arrived back in the states just days before the big party. :)


Here are some highlights of the day!






ALSO my family has a new edition :) Her name is Penny and she is a terrier like pup whom my mom and dad have recently adopted. She is a small, smart and ornery pup. The pictures aren't the best quality but they were taken with a camera phone. Also don't mind my father's expression in them... he just LOVES getting his picture taken. Oh! And by the way Penny is the white pup... the other is Chuck (whom I have blogged about before).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!

If you know me at all then you know that I am completely nuts about my grandpa, Clyde Hawks! He is my hero and I love that man dearly. This past 4th of July in my hometown I actually performed (for the first time) a song I wrote about my grandpa. So he is a pretty big deal to me and my family. :)


Today he turned 91 years old and so I HAD to dedicate a post to him. He is an extraordinary guy who has lived an amazing life! He was born in 1919 and through his life he has went from riding a horse everywhere to seeing computers and cloning. He was born in such a different time that it is unfathomable to think of the changes he has seen and lived through. For a moment just give thought to all the things he has seen and lived through in his 91 years. He was born the same year that the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I; he saw the rise of the car; The Great Depression; the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge; fought in WWII; Pearl Harbor; the atomic bomb being dropped Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Civil Rights movement; The formation of NASA, The establishing of Alaska and Hawaii as states; The Kennedy assassination; the first moon landing; Martin Luther King Jr.; Vietnam War; fall of the Berlin Wall; Gulf War; Oklahoma City bombing; cloning controversy; September 11th terrorist attacks; and the Iraq war. There is so much more that I didn't mention but how impressive is that list? Stuff that I only know about from history books he lived through, maybe read it in the newspaper, heard it on the radio... wow.

He grew up a farmer. He lost his mother when he was only about 10 years old and worked hard everyday for less than a dollar. He only went as far as the 8th grade and was drafted into WWII when a young man. He lost his dad while overseas and didn't even find out until he got back to the camp where his mail was sent. He was catching up on letters and had just finished reading a letter from his dad saying he was ill when the next letter he picked up was a notice that his father had died. His dad had been buried two weeks earlier and grandpa had had no idea. In the war he was a scout in Burma for Merrill's Marauders and saw a lot of combat. He was awarded the purple heart after being wounded in battle when shrapnel hit and got lodged in his arm. After the war and four years he returned home and shortly after met my grandmother, Norma. She was more than 10 years younger but by that time my grandfather was nearing 30 and in his words " All the girls my age were already married". They married and proceeded to have 4 daughters- Jeanie, Janie, Judy and lastly, my mother, Janet. My grandma passed away in January 1986, the same year I was born and its touching to see how in love grandpa still is with her.

Our family has now grown IMMENSELY (as you can see in the below picture) and is still growing today. Since the photo below we have added a baby or two and a couple husbands including our newest addition, Aaron, who just married my cousin Kayla in June and we will soon be adding my fiance, Micah, in November when we get married.



This all started with a hard working guy named Clyde and a sweet crafty girl named Norma. Grandpa is still here with us and is pretty much the foundation of our family. He is such a special guy and I just feel sorry for anyone who doesn't know him. He is pretty much the best. :)

Part of the family...

A lot of people consider their pets part of the family and my family is no different. I have posted about my dog, Jules, several times but today's post is dedicated to one of the best little dogs that my family has ever had... Stubby.



Stubby has lived with my family since she was born. She is actually the baby of my second childhood dog, Penny, who was a Shih-tzu. The dad was one of my father's hunting dogs, Shorty, who was a short haired pointer. Stubby, as you can tell, was named after her dad. She is a funny little dog who looks like her dad but is the size of her mom... just a miniature hunting dog. When she was born I remember my brother picked her out right away to be the one we kept. She was his dog after all. She was the runt, the only one that wasn't fuzzy and pretty much the ugliest little dog of the litter. She even had a defect with her eyes that caused small pink growths in the corners of them. Eventually, she got big enough to take to the vet to have her eyes fixed. Other than that she has been a healthy, energetic dog.

She has pretty much been the leader of the pack at my house since she was born. She is one of the best hunters ever too. She and my brother would go all over hunting and exploring when he was growing up. She may be small but she is the toughest little dog I have ever known. I wanted to write about her because she is finally starting to show her age. She is starting to get arthritis and slow down. She has had a good long life and means a lot to my brother so I decided to have a small photo shoot with her last time I was home. I wanted him to have some good pictures of her before its too late. This post is for you little brother. Love ya!