Photography happenings

I have had the priviledge of being able to grow in my hobby of photography over the past month. I have had the opportunity to do my first senior portraits, my first family (outside of my own!), and my first wedding. I have been very thankful for these friends and family to take a risk and allow me to capture their important moments. It has been a lot of fun and done nothing but encouarge my new love. I am also looking forward to my first materninty session coming in a couple weeks. (and no, it is not a self-portrait!!) I look forward to being able to serve our friends and our church, especially with my great new camera!

Scobell Wedding

So I was so excited to photography my first wedding (Brian performed the ceremony), and to make it better it was on the beach in Florida. However, the weather turned crummy. We had rain, and wind, and cold temperatures. The bride and groom were troopers for our pictures, but none the less it was not as easy a task as I had anticipated. I did manage to get some good shots, here are my top favorites.

Spraul Family Pictures

I was able to take some pictures for Brian's sister Beth and her family. They are using them for their Christmas card so I have not posted any of the entire family, however if you care to see more of them, check them out at sprauls.com. Beth has posted several of the pictures over there!!

Chelsea's Senior Pictures

Chelsea and I had a ton of fun and ended up with a TON of pictures. Here are a few of my favorites, but it really was hard to narrow them down.

For all of you gymnastics followers out there.....

Abby competed in her 2nd meet of the season this weekend in Lexington, KY. It was a HUGE meet with almost everybody from the state participating. Results: 4th on Vault and Bars, 3rd on Floor, 1st on Beam, 2nd All Around. We have a few videos from the meet and will post them soon! We are really proud of how hard Abby continues to work and God has been gracious to reward her for her efforts.

Happy 10th Birthday Samuel!!

I can hardly believe my son is 10. Officially double digits! In the past year Samuel has grown- definitely physically as he is almost as tall as me and Brian, but he has also grown spiritually. Samuel is everybody's friend, and much like his daddy, never meets a stranger. His taste in movies has grown as Star Wars is now his favorite thing to watch! He has grown in his choice of toys- Legos- but not the easy ones, the big complicated ones, which he quickly finishes without help! His life ambition is to be a storm chaser and a pastor- while working at Subway until he is finished with school. His likes and dislikes have changed dramatically this year, however he still loves his family and friends- that has not changed just grown stronger. We are so thankful for the work that God is continuing to do in him. We are so very thankful for our son and thankful that God has continued to sustain His life another year!



Age 10!!

Age 9

Age 8

Age 7

Age 6

Age 5

A Great Homeschool Resource!!

To all my fellow homeschoolers out there I wanted to let you know about a great resource. It is file folder games. They are easy to put together, and easy to use. The kids love them and it's a great way for them to learn and reinforce the concepts we are trying to teach. Shanna Clark has put together these wonderful games. And she has some for all ages. These are especially great to take with you on all those errands where you have to wait or when you are traveling in the car. Right now she is having a Christmas Sale so check out her website. Happy Homeschooling! ~Cara

http://learningathisfeet.blogspot.com/2009/11/christmas-sale-on-our-website.html

Floor- 1st place.

Bars-3rd place

Vault- 4th place.

I missed the first vault so this is just the second one.

Abby's 1st competition of the season!!!!

Though a little later this year, Abby had her first competition of the season this weekend. We are very proud of how hard she has worked so far and it payed off today. She started a little slow, had a terrible first vault, but didn't let it bother her and had a great second vault. From there she just continued to improve. The overall results were: 4th Vault, 3rd Bars, 1st Beam, 1st Floor, and 1st All-Around (which earned her a nice big trophy!) Here are the videos to go with the results. (as a side note- I did miss the very beginning of her beam routine because I forgot it was my job to video tape!) Abby's team also won 1st place for their level. This is a first for her team as last year they were last most of the season. Everybody did really well today. Thanks for your support and cheering us on! (and yes, Abby's fire has been lit- she is eaten up with gymnastics right now!)
Beam- 9.0, 1st place


Due to technical difficulties this is the only video I can get posted, will try posting the others soon!

Adobe Lightroom- Fun with Editing!!!

Ok, so Brian let me purchase some new photo editing software that has been lots of fun to play with. These are pictures taken at my mom's house this week. (don't know why Claire is kissing everybody- then again do we EVER know why 2 year olds do what they do?????)






Nice to see my Aunt still gets told what to do by her mother!! (it runs deep in my family)

Fun with Family

My Grandma and my Aunt LaRee and Uncle LaVern are in town from Minnesota. My oldest brother threw a little get together at his house today so we got some fun pictures of my family. My mom and her sisters wanted a picture of "the girls", we managed to get 2 good shots and a bunch of shots with each telling the other what to do. (FYI- if you want to know what I will look like in my 60', 70's, and if I make it 90's this is it!!!!) My grandmother is 97 in this picture. Love you Grandma.


The other highlight is that Uncle LaVern LOVES to play cards, and so does Isabelle. They found each other perfect company for a large portion of the afternoon.

Happy Birthday Brian!!!

There are so many things we love about you, Brian! I love that you have been such a loving, caring husband. The kids love that you have been such a caring and supportive father. We love your silliness!! We cherish each day we get with you and are thankful that you have made us your priority. May God bless you greatly today, your birthday! We love you!

Birthday celebration pictures..

Lots of cake,cupcakes, and smores (yes, not a typical birthday dessert, but still yummy)...but most exciting.....getting ears pierced! (and she didn't cry!)

Happy Birthday Abby- 8 years has gone fast!!

We are so thankful for Abby. God has done such a wonderful work in her life and we continue to see evidences of Him changing her heart. She is still a determined girl, but is learning to couple that with serving and caring for others. We love you very much Abby and are proud of the young lady you are becoming. For fun here is a little walk down memory lane- will have birthday pictures to post later- including her ears getting pierced!! (pictures go from this year down to her 2nd birthday.)

this past spring

7th birthday

6th birthday

5th birthday

4th birthday

3rd birthday

2nd birthday