Jenness

Last weekend we went for a little family trip to Jenness Park. I love spending time with my little clan and we had such a great time. I enjoyed the fact that even though our cabin had a kitchenette we opted for their meals, it made it really feel like a break instead of still having to cook and clean. The weather was perfect and last week's kayaking with the cousins meant there was no learning curve for kayaking here. The kids loved fishing too, although James was the only one to catch anything. Looking forward to visiting again next year.

It was a bit of a drive, but we made it.

Our cabin and the kids loved being able to serve themselves in the dining room.

Inside our cabin. The kids slept up in the loft and had great fun jumping from the stairs.

We drove to a nearby beach with hopes of better luck catching fish. Didn't quite work  out like that.

Fun with friends

Our time with the Saxbys was short, but I think the kids would say we had saved the best until last. They got to spend the morning playing and although I had anticipated leaving earlier, they were having so much fun that we ended up staying for lunch too.

All five kids playing together.

 What is it about boys and cars? Do they ever outgrow it?

 I FORCED them to stop playing, for maybe 10 seconds to get a group shot. This was as good as it got, they had much more important things to be spending their time on, thank you very much! Still cute!

 There was more chess to be played and everyone wanted to get in on the action.

 That camera is in my face again!

 Finally the little ones could get down to business, very serious business, just look at that concentration!

Unfortunately, we did have to end up dragging ourselves away. Of course I had to get a quick couple of family shots on our way out...who knows when we will see these guys again?

 Goodbye dear friends, we miss you already.

We were headed back to Grandad and Nanny Pam's where a wonderful roast dinner awaited us, before our final hectic day in England.

A weekend away

Last weekend was a wonderful, beautiful, exhausting weekend. Friday morning we loaded the kids up in the car and got ready for a road trip to Orange Cove. It was a four-and-a-half-hour drive (which the previous night a certain website had led me to believe was a three-hour-and-twenty-minute drive), so we ended up driving straight through, stopping briefly to pick up lunch, which we ate as we drove some more. We had a deadline you see.

Fifteen years ago I did a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (Youth With a Mission), in Scotland. It was an amazing six months of my life and I made some wonderful worldwide friends. I immediately liked Karen, she had a lovely smile and we laughed about the same things. We ended up going to Portugal on outreach together then she returned to California. Well little did I know, at the time, that I would marry a Californian and after a couple more years in in England, move to California myself. Our friendship has continued through the years, it is low pressure and without expectation, sometimes we have LONG gaps with no communication but we can talk to each other or see each other again and that gap disappears in an instant.

She Facebooked me back in December to ask me about photographing a wedding at her family's ranch this past weekend. It actually took me a moment to realize she was talking about her own wedding. Well she twisted my arm, is the long and short of it and I was there to capture her big day, my family in tow. I had been a little reluctant to take it on, but in hindsight am so glad I did. Weddings are so busy, with so many friends and relations to say hello to, but I was able to spend extra time with my friend as we had the rehearsal and she got ready the next morning, catching up for the last few years.

Arran was so cute; as Karen was getting married, he told James that she looked so beautiful, he wished that she would have waited for him to grow up and then he could have married her!

I could not be prouder of my children and how well they behaved. I was so happy to see them whenever I would take a little break, their smiling little faces, ecstatic every time I could spend a few moments with them. They just bless me.

I love, love, love my little family.