m a g i c


hi! i hope you had a wonderful labor day weekend! we were in estes all weekend for our yearly trip with my family. per usual, we soaked in all that is estes, ate too much, and spent quality time with ones that we cherish... more on that later though.
the beach, golden hour, family photos, boom... THAT is magic.
these are a few of my favorites but the link HERE showcases alllll of them if you are interested :)
this was such a special shoot for me! i am always behind the camera capturing life, which i love (obviously) but i also love having pictures WITH my kiddos + with chris. i think it's important and want my kids to have pictures with me to look at too when they are older! maybe they'll be nostalgic like me + want to know how i dressed or did my hair, or maybe they'll just love seeing how much they were loved + hugged + kissed by both chris and i. i looked so forward to this session, being able to play + enjoy + not have to set a timer and ruuuuun to get all of us in haha! having someone capture us all interacting together was so awesome, and i highly recommend you doing it too! i know someone who could take them for you ahem ;)  ---- a shameless self promote (link at the top of this page, and a monkey covering it's eyes to go right beside it)
family is the best, my sweet little family is life's cake, and for me there is truly nothing earthly that is better than what we have going right now. thank you Jesus. + thank you Sarah Grunder for these gorgeous photos, i'ma frame every one of 'em!


one year of sweet lucy


this blog is slowly, but officially transitioning into books.
i've had this goal in mind forever and a half, and finally started working on my first book through artifact uprising over the past few months... it's going to take foreverrrrr to get them all organized + designed, but SO worth the time, because their products, partnered with this special space that holds so many of our memories + very best photos, makes for an unbeatable combination...
the point of me telling you this is because it's been fun reliving + "back blogging" posts like this one HERE (along with a million others) + relishing in how good it was, and also where life has taken us since.
lucy is one year old on sunday...
it came faster than it did with abel + i truly can't believe we are celebrating ONE again, with our second child, our daughter. i read through posts like the one above + remember being so scared about what adding a second would be like. would abel feel sad or lonely? could i love this new child as much as i love him? how will i go to the grocery store, or anywhere for that matter?... so many fears + thoughts ran through my head, (right alongside excitement too of course) and now we've had her for a year and i don't even know how we lived without her before that...
lucy, our light.
abel couldn't be more filled with joy on a daily basis by anyone or thing more than her, and she reciprocates that 100%. she literally wakes up smiling + giggling- as if she were only pretending to sleep + is ready for whatever the day brings. she is the sweetest + most gentle little soul... she gives kisses + love + snuggles, comforts your sad and her big round eyes show concern if ever you cry; in the exact same breath, she can hold her own... abel headlocks, wrastling to the ground... she's a tough cookie. she is my saving grace when the toddler-ing feels like too much, she's busy as can be. climbing, running, chasing, unloading drawers. she already has a handful of words like mama, dada, hi, wee!, yay!, she makes the ba sound for her baby doll, and she answers "uh huh" whenever you ask her something. she toddles around cheersing popsicles with abel + is overall the easiest, laid back, kind, smart, and beautiful child. people warned us that because abel also had many of these traits, that we wouldn't get lucky twice, but again "they" were wrong... we definitely struck gold, AGAIN. lucky us. 
...except i know that it isn't really luck + that we were chosen. 
we were chosen for them, they were chosen for us.
forever thankful to our Father in Heaven that He felt us worthy of such a task. parenting isn't a walk in the park. it gets both easier + harder as you go along. i am not naive to the fact that we are raising people, the next generation, and in a broken world... so i pray, A LOT, and i dream. SO many things i dream for both of our littles, i wonder who they'll be + what they'll love, i pray we raise them with good heads on their shoulders, joy in their pockets + Jesus in their hearts. they are the very best, and they deserve the very best.
happiest of birthdays to our littlest love.
you've given our lives a joy unspeakable + every day with your presence is a gift. thank you for being you + for encouraging us to be the best versions of ourselves. we love you forever, you are so special.
we didn't know life could get better, and then we had you...



a walk down memory lane :)
she's here!    --   one month    --   two months   --   three months   --   four months   --   five months   --   six months   --   seven months   --   8 + 9 months   --   ten months   --   eleven months



C A M P I N G


huzzah! a post about something that JUST happened, vs. the usual two week delay (embarrassed monkey emoji). i am seeeeeriously trying to come up for air, get more organized + post more regularly again. blogging has been such a huge part of our life these past 5 years + i miss it dearly. so, here's to more posts... three times a week? i hope, but i make no promises :) 
A N Y W A Y... we camped! 
i took a million photos + ate an obscene number of s'mores... 
why are they so stinkin' good?!
we hiked all the way around that lake you are seeing there, abel walked most of the way (such a little trooper).
we watched the sunrise + set, smelled like campfire + for the most part, unplugged from the rest of the world. it's so good to get away... got us even more excited for estes park this coming weekend (a few past trips here + here + here)! thanks for having us frys! we love you guys!

^^^my little fishy loving boy... his face says it all... he was nooooot so sure about this. firstly, who is this stranger + why is he talking to us? and second, why is he waving a fish in our face? i've only ever seen them in the water... i don't think he understood at all (thankfully) 
^^^is it considered "glamping" when your linens are this pretty?
^^^well two mickeys, of course
^^^lucy climbing rocks! sooooo cute. she'd climb up and then i'd hold her hands and count 1-2-3 + she'd bend her knees like she was going to launch off, and say "weeeee"
^^^climbing to the "top of the world" --- and then jumping off, duh.
^^^tylar won best s'more
^^^abel had no interest in actually eating the marshmallows or smores, just the chocolate bars. he was our number one roaster though :)
& welcome to the coolest moon ever + my best try at capturing it...
^^^the sunrise on our last morning... SO gorgeous. thanks Frys! we had a great time :)

**lastly, suddenly blogger has started compressing my photos making them all pixely... anyone know how to fix this aside from saving them all as pngs? whoooo has time for that?!