The Tate's Procreate

This is take 2 of the Tate family photo's and I couldn't resist blogging the post-editing version (which I can't take credit for, Ben is not only an amazing photographer but he also knows his way around editing).  Ben took the above picture of Elliana and I just can't seem to get over those beautiful blue eyes and her never-ending lips.  I got to spend some time with Kristen, Elliana, and Kristen's sister, Katelyn recently over lunch and I just gotta say Elliana's smile could light up a room.  It reaches all the way up to her eyes and they sparkle like little diamonds.  Apparently she is beginning to giggle but only for her daddy...smart girl...knows just who to wrap around her dainty little fingers.  As I said before I'm willing to come over and take pictures of your family ANY time.

Check out those little piggers...just love 'em!!

After a few hundred photo's, poses, lighting adjustments, and interruptions for feeding, Elliana had quite enough of the whole ordeal and decided that NOW was nap time...no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

I know I sound like a broken record here but I just can't help myself...we LOVE our Tate's and are so blessed to have such wonderful friends in our lives!  I'm especially grateful for lunch dates with my "girls" and for Ben's helpful advice on photography...Ben, you're gonna regret giving us your e-mail at some point.  We always feel incredibly blessed after time with the Tate's...everyone needs a Tate in their life...trust me, it's VERY therapeutic as well as entertaining!!  You never know what'll come outta their mouth next.

"So Sadie, what do ya say we go get a milkshake since Mommy and Elli are preoccupied for the moment?"


Sadie's thoughts, "MMMmm, your breath smells quite delicious and since my last meal consisted of eating my own poop, I'm game...let's go!!"

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has arrived here on the buffalo farm and has brought with it color and sunshine...OK the sunshine has been minimal but without the rain we couldn't enjoy the beauty of the flowers.  I couldn't help capturing what spring looks like so far here and as the beautiful sun-filled days are few and far between, I also couldn't resist going out and enjoying the gorgeous weather whenever possible. I love the cold of winter and dread the heat and humidity of summer...my motto is, You can only take so much off...you can ALWAYS put more on.  But I must admit that seeing things come back to life again and enjoying the colors of spring again brings with it hope...hope that although life may have moments that seem bleak, lifeless, and dull, there is still the promise of a new season and the promise that the gray of rain also brings about the color of new life.

I'm not the only one enjoying the beauty of the day, my three furry "kids" enjoy the freedom of roaming our big yard while I'm preoccupied with my camera.

Meet the infamous Bruiser (and his ball)...

Bella...

and Bryn.

"For behold, the winter is past.
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in in the land;
the time has arrived for pruning he vines,
and the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land."
~ Song of Solomon 2:11-12 ~

Faith

Faith...a word I've often failed to put into action in my life.  So many times I've asked God to fix things in my life, prayed for an umbrella in the rain and then fully expected the sun to come out, but I've asked for those things and left out the main ingredient...faith.  How can we begin to ask God to answer prayers or hope for circumstances in our lives to change when we have no faith to accompany the request.  I am called to have faith, even faith as tiny as a mustard seed can move a mountain, but so often I've rebelled against the very idea of faith, I've bitterly thrown away the hope for a miracle.


And yet in the midst of my rebellion, selfishness, and anger, God continues to show His faithful love to me.  He provides moments of comfort and peace when I least deserve them.  I do quite a lot of thinking while I drive, OK on second thought my mind never seems to shut off, but I'm often listening to the radio during these times and I have found a great Christian station that I can listen to for at least half of my drive to work.  On one such "thinking" occasion a song that spoke to me came on.  I instantly had goose bumps, my eyes got a little watery, and my heart began to beat with a glimmer of hope I had long ago thrown away.  God had provided yet another moment of peace in a world I feel I've lost control in.  The more I listened the more my heart began to realize that if I'd just allow God a little faith, if I stand up after I fall, if I can trust God with EVERY part of my life...move further away from the picture and take it all in....that maybe that is my answer...the miracle I've been waiting for.  What if I've spent all this time looking for MY miracle, searched every inch of the room and the whole time God has been standing in another room, calling for me, patiently waiting for me to pull the cotton from my ears, to just stop and quietly listen to Him calling.


Lately I've been feeling like my life has little meaning or purpose...that if I'd die today and had to look back over my life I'd think, what a bleak and miserable life I've had.  What an ugly way to look at life.  My outlook on life has been sorely lacking.  I look at life and see "I" in every inch of it, but I've forgotten that life isn't about me or you, it's about Him.  Our lives are meant to be an example of Him and His love.  We are to be living, breathing examples of our Heavenly Father.  So if I'm looking at my life and seeing all the failures...I wanted this and don't have it...I thought by now this would have happened...how come it always seems to go just right for them...then I'm missing the point, missing out on the joy that is life.  God never promised that life would be a garden of roses with rainbows floating overhead or full of hearts and puppies...He said life will be difficult at times, in fact count on difficult, but always know that He "will never leave or forsake you".  That's the promise He gives...the joy He provides when life seems its darkest.


I've failed at many things but I've failed the most at faith.  I never fully gave God the benefit of a doubt.  Instead I've doubted that He could change my world because I didn't think He could give me exactly what I wanted because "that's how it always works for me".  I fear giving up my limited control, skeptical that God can change my world and fearful because I don't want to face the realization that God's miracle in my situation may not be in the form of a baby.  But I need to stop wasting my days in disbelief and change my attitude to one of faith.  It's time to believe in the impossible, to hope for a miracle even if it may not be MY miracle, it's time to allow God to have my broken, misshapen heart and have faith that He can fit the pieces perfectly back together.  My life should be the miracle, my faith in Him the purpose, and His love an overwhelming joy that is seen through a renewed life devoted to faithfulness in Him.  Only He can change my world, provide the miracles, and make the impossible, possible...but I can only see His work if I have faith and believe that HE CAN!


If your struggling with faith, if you feel all of the impossibilities of life closing in on you, I pray that this song will bring you peace and a renewed sense of hope that we have a God who can move mountains, change the impossible into a miracle, and provide the strength you need to believe even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed....pick yourself up from the ashes, brush off the aches, fill your lungs with the breath of hope and allow yourself to take a leap of faith....when everything else in life says you can't, know that with God, anything is possible...just have a little faith.

Epic Tate Date

Yesterday was our first Tate Date since Ben and Kristen had Elliana and it had been enough time in between because we were all excited to once again spend an evening together. As things usually go, we didn't really have a plan as to what we would do, but having a date set on the calendar is enough for us most times. We didn't even have a time narrowed down and I think we all do that for a reason sometimes, each secretly hoping that the sooner we can get together, the more time we all get to spend together...then again, maybe that's just me. Either way our agenda had only one thing...to get pictures of the lovely Tate family...including their dog, Sadie Moose. As Ben is usually the one behind the camera they had asked if I would be willing to take some for them. I was more than happy to but I'll admit a bit nervous because Ben has much more talent for taking pictures than I do. But since he had everything pretty much set up for me and all I had to do was point and shoot, I'm not really sure I can take any credit for any of it. As Jamie isn't a part of the Tate family (although I do think Sadie Moose thinks Jamie is her boyfriend cause she always occupies his lap/attention whenever we come over) and had little to do while we got pictures, he decided to "play" along with my camera and these are the pictures he captured. I think he did a great job and I wanted to share it.

Elliana decided enough was enough at one point and she was hungry. So while Kristen fed the baby we took the opportunity to take some pictures of Ben and Sadie. As a photographer you rarely see time on the opposite end of the lens so I hope Ben enjoyed his time "off".

She's smiling...at least a little. I haven't quite decided which parent Elliana takes after yet, but I do know that she is an absolutely beautiful baby! She has sparkly blue eyes and lips that go on forever and her smile is infectious...that is when she has one to offer.

Last but not least, here is an example of some of the shots Ben needed to weed through when we were done. Poor Sadie must have been feeling left out towards the end of the shoot because she kept trying to sit in. She just didn't understand why she wasn't supposed to be in the pictures since she is an important part of the Tate family. We all had to laugh at her...everyone except Elliana that is...she was none too thrilled about this picture thing. We had to "count out" the pacifier for quite a few shots so she'd at least look sort of thrilled about it.

It was another fun, fun evening with our Tate's and again we felt so blessed to have such wonderful friends in our lives. And I can't end without once again giving a shout out to Ben Slabaugh, check out his website, www.benslabaugh.com for some great photography. And stay tuned, I'm sure the next Tate adventure will need a post all of it's own...they usually do.

Caleb's Dedication

Last weekend my nephew Caleb was dedicated and it was a beautiful day to spend not only dedicating a child to the Lord but also wonderful time spent with family.  My camera just had to jump along for the ride and I didn't want to waste the opportunity to catch a few pictures.  I was really hoping to get some good family pictures of both my brother's family but I seemed to be the only one interested in that idea, so I got some of Papa Smurf with the kids.


Somehow Isaiah seems to always find his way into Papa Smurf's arms...I have no idea how that little guy works his way in there, but never-the-less that's usually whose arms I need to pry him from if I want any of those sweet smiles.  I love all my nieces and nephews equally and they all have an age where they just get me going...Isaiah just happens to be at that age.  He has that fun infectious smile and then the baby laugh that follows, it wins me every time and I think he's secretly got Papa Smurf wrapped around that little baby pinky too.  These are some of the moments I love to capture.  Those raw, unposed, smiles that capture my heart.  Papa Smurf has always loved kids and Isaiah clearly adores Papa Smurf as well.

Ok guys, smile...uh, ok, I'm just going to take the picture because only Papa Smurf got the "smile" message on this one.  It was time for naps, either that or after lunch all the kids changed into their cranky pants.

I was so hoping to share the powerpoint Mudder and I worked so hard on last weekend for Caleb's dedication but unfortunately it doesn't want to upload as a movie, so your left to your imagination on that one.  Maybe I can post a few of the pictures since some of them are too good not to share.

To end, I have to share a story about one of Caleb's crazy sisters.  While at my mom's on Saturday, Jason and the family stopped by to check on the progress of the powerpoint. The girls of course had to find their way to "Gwammy Mucker's" toy closet upstairs and so when it was time to leave they worked hard to get all their toys put away.  The problem was, we all waited too long to leave and they grew impatient and ventured back upstairs to revisit Gwammy's toy closet.  Jason had seen them heading that direction and called up to Rachel to stop.  When she didn't listen he began counting, "Rachel, that's 1......2..."  To which she immediately began to bawl her eyes out.  I happened to be upstairs getting ready to leave and just looked over to see Rachel covering her mouth and falling to the floor.  Thinking that Jessie had hit her, I walked over to console Rachel and find out what happened.  I asked Jessie if she did indeed hit her sister and I was given a nod yes.  Still unsure if she really knew what she was saying yes to, I just sent her downstairs and sat a sobbing Rachel on my lap.  When I pulled her away and asked if Jessie had hit her, this was her reply, 

"NO!"

To which I asked, "Then why are you crying?"

And she responded, "Because Daddy got to 2!!"

After attempting to control my laughter, I informed her that she should have listened to daddy in the first place and he wouldn't have had to count.  But oh, how my heart was laughing inside at the innocence of a 3 year old's mind.  After telling Jason about the incident a little later on that day and sharing another good laugh over the whole thing, I also asked what happens after he gets to 2, his response...I go to 3...and you don't want to get to 3!

A Night to Remember

    

This past Saturday night was truly one to remember!  Jamie and I spent the evening with 3 other couples...I say the word evening rather loosely as our dinner reservations for The Melting Pot were for 8:15 pm.  We had planned to enjoy a fun dinner and then spend the remainder of the night/wee early morning glow bowling...we got home at 2:30 am...and yes, I took a Sunday afternoon nap, my body doesn't do late nights without a nap any more.

If you've never eaten at The Melting Pot, it's quite a different dining experience.  Everything except for the salad involves using a fondue fork....but then again in Don's case, even the salad can be eaten with a fondue fork.  I've always said food tastes better when eaten with a fork, maybe it tastes even better when eaten with a fondue fork.

Jen can put a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue...my tongue is definitely not that talented.  I thought the steam added to the ambiance of the picture.  Love it, Jen!

Our meal started out with a choice of 2 cheese fondue's with bread, granny smith apple's, and veggies to dip...the apple's and cheese were my favorite...trust me, it's a yummy combo.  Then we moved onto our salads, another yummy combination.  The main course was couple's choice and we chose the shrimp, pork tenderloin, filet mignon, goat cheese and ratatouille ravioli, chicken, and duck, as well as a few veggies to cook in our pot.  After cooking, the dipping process began again as we had more than enough choices of dip to dunk our meat in.

And following all of that...DESSERT!!

I think this was my favorite part of the meal...although it was all quite delicious.  We chose between the white chocolate creme brulee and the milk chocolate and peanut butter combo.  (I was thankful the creme brulee was on my side of the table as chocolate and peanut butter don't taste nearly as good.)  We had our choice of strawberries, marshmallows, rice krispies, cheesecake, pound cake, brownies, and banana's to dip in our scrumptious warm chocolate.  After the chocolaty goodness was all melted in the pot, our waitress topped it with the fabulous sugar, sprayed on a little alcohol, added a flame and 

wa-la...some caramelized, ooey-gooey chocolaty, finger-lickin' yummyness.  MMMMMmmmm....there's not much more to say about that.

We finished our meal with barely enough time to make it to the bowling alley for our 11pm reservation.  But before we could leave, we needed to pay our bill.  We were the last couple to get our check and after opening the bill to check for the "damage", to our jaw-dropping surprise we found a note that read, "Your meal has been taken care."  I looked around the table trying to figure out who had paid for our meal and for the life of me couldn't understand why.  It appeared that everyone else had to pay for their meal, so it was just us....but why?  We didn't want to make an announcement and make those who had to pay uncomfortable, but I didn't want to just leave without saying thank you...so what do we do?  We didn't say anything but headed to bowling alley, but it was bugging me.  I had to know who and why....

We had 2 lanes reserved and it was boys against girls...none of us really cared a hoot about who won or lost...well, except for maybe Amos.  Amos and Sonya were also the brains behind the names.

Jenny Jen is eyeing up her shot...

Great form, Amos!  (Especially that tongue sticking out...is that part of your technique?)

Our fabulous, Sonya or Pinky...looking fantastic as always in pink.

Jenny Jen and I practicing "shaking hands" in our attempts at keeping the ball out of the gutter...it's favorite place to be when I bowled.  K-K kept telling me to shake hands when I bowled...I tried, the ball was just more interested in cuddling with the gutter.

At least my hot pink bowling ball was purty...if I'm gonna lose I'm gonna lose looking good!

It just so happened that there were moments when each couple was up to bowl at the same time...how stinkin' cute.

Amos and Jamous (better known as Studly after Matt read Mudder's blog and thought the name Studly was hilarious) up to their usual antics.  Jamous, get that thing outta your nose, you don't know where it's been!

Jamous also had a little difficulty with a runaway bowling ball.

The girls...and some random dude in the back.  Funny thing...Matt was the one who took the picture and when he looked at the picture did a double-take himself thinking he was also in the picture.  For a change, Matt can't claim the rights for ruining this picture.

The smallest and the largest represent...as well as bringing rolled up jeans back in spectacular style!  (Honestly, I just didn't want to find myself making out with the greased bowling alley floor after tripping over the bottom of my jeans.  Dear God, a few more inches wouldn't have been a bad thing.  Love, Vertically Challenged with Shredded Jean Hems)

My lovely Sonya and K-K

Me 'n Him...Studly & Strawberry Shortcake

Matt & Kiersten....Amos & Hartysgurl (Just for informational purposes, this was like 10th picture we took of them because Amos can't seem to take a picture without acting up, which drives K-K nuts...it's good we no longer have film because I'd have to charge to take pictures of the 2 of you.)

Don & Sonya....D-Duck & Pinky

Brian & Jen...The Poet & Jenny Jen...Brian comes up with the most hilarious poems that are far from romantic but with this group it isn't always about the romance.  We all can't wait for the next get together to hear more poems.

        

...so to finish my story from earlier...since Matt and K-K were driving the same direction we were, they met us at my parents house where we were staying for the weekend.  My curiosity got the better of me on the way home and I had to ask them about it.  They both denied knowing anything at first, but they're terrible liars.  A few weeks ago Jamie and I had paid for the meal we all had at the Japanese Steakhouse, but it didn't come without it's protests and they refused to take their money back, so Jamie slipped it into K-K's bag that night without them knowing...or so we thought.  We had completely forgot about it...they hadn't.  They had been scheming about how to give us the money back and I must say, they got us good.  We also gave them a good show because they were watching our confused expressions after getting the bill and apparently had a difficult time keeping a straight face...we were too involved in trying to figure it all out to notice their amusement.  I just couldn't figure out how they told the waitress without us knowing...Matt had "gone to bathroom" at one point and found his way to kitchen, hollered for our waitress (a show I'm sorry I missed) and got her in on it...sneaky, sneaky...when you least expect it, Amos and K-K...when you least expect it.

Until the next event to remember...