~Sunday Snapshot: My Guy Garrison~

Today I was able to pull Garrison out to snap some shots of him. We also had a party with some of his friends at the house this evening. His birthday was two weeks ago, but his first party had to be canceled because he had gotten a bad ear infection. :(

Garrison is quite the guy. He's super nice and very polite. I love having him around!

He's now a teenager. If he's anything like his older brother and sisters, he's going to be an AWESOME teenager! Teenagers always get the bad rap. But in my experience, teenagers are the bomb!

He's recently been  more aware of and more opinionated about his clothes. I love how he tucks in just the front part of his shirt. I think this is the cool thing. It looks cool on my Garrison. :)

I wonder what I'd look like with just the front part of my shirt tucked in? That might not be so cool with someone....ahem.....my age. :)

~Sunday Snapshot: My Guy Gannon~

I need to get better at this Sunday Snapshot. My life is crazy sometimes and I have to slow down just a bit to do this. Today I did just that and snagged my oldest son, Gannon, and took him out and snapped some photos of him.

About Gannon.

Gannon is growing like a weed. Like a weed I'm telling you! He's grown almost 2 feet in the last year. No joke. And you can only imagine how much food he's eating. Lots. This boy can eat! And not an ounce of fat to show for it either! Enjoy it while it lasts Gannon! HA! .....sigh.

Gannon has one of the most tender hearts of any young man I've ever known. He's just like his Dad! He is also so incredibly good with children. I'm believing it's a gift. And kids really like Gannon too!

Gannon also loves all things furry. This pic has way too much light in it (need to run it through Lightroom*), but I liked it nonetheless. Here is Gannon and our sweet Sophie dog.

Gannon and Mabel have been pals for almost his whole life. Gannon will be 15 in March and Mabel will be 12 in April.  Gannon always loves on Mabel, even when she's smelly. :)

And Mabel adores Gannon right back! :)

Gannon is a blessing in our family. I am so thankful for Gannon!

~Sunday Snapshot: My Katie~

Stefanie at Ni Hao Y'all started Sunday Snapshot and I thought it was a great way to focus on taking pictures of my OTHER kids! :) I do have other kids you know. Four of them. Well, actually five of them counting my son-in-law Blake.

I decided who better to start with than my oldest daughter, Katie!

Katie is an awesome kid. Everyone will tell you that! Not only is she beautiful, but she's got an incredible heart. And she can talk. I mean this girl can talk. And the wonderful thing about Katie is that she can talk to anyone! And everyone falls in love with her. My sweet Katie.

Katie is my first K.M. :) Her legal name is Katherine Mary Alice. She was named after my grandmother, Mary Alice. Katherine also means "Pure", which when I named her this I really didn't know what it meant. But God did. He's so cool when He shows Himself like this. You see, I had Katie when I was only 16 years old (a month from turing 17). Obviously because of this fact I didn't remain "pure" before marriage. As a young teenager, Katie made the decision, on her own, to remain pure before she married. She knew that doing this for herself was a wise decision, but she also wanted to do it for me. How do I know this? Because when she graduated from high school she told me this. I cannot begin to tell you what a gift this was/is to me! She saw and understood the pain of my past decisions of my life and redeemed me in a way. Yes...she restored my honor. My darling girl Katie.

Katie even took it a step further than most people. She made the decision as a young teenager that not only would she remain pure, but she would not kiss until she married. People, I'm thinking the same as you!!! Wow!! The incredible part of this is that she started dating her husband when they were only sophomores in high school. And then they went to the same university. They even studied abroad together in Oxford.

But oh, what a sweet wedding it was and when the time came for their kiss, everyone was watching! :)

I say all of this because this gives a mere glimpse of the strong woman she is. When Katie thinks of doing something, she does it! She is one of the most reliable people that I know. I wish there were more Katies in the world. A lot would get done. :)

In high school Katie fell in love with photography. She especially loves taking pictures of people. Her dream full time job would to just be able to do this. The Lord is slowly blessing her and she's keeping busy doing what she loves.

This past weekend we had Thanksgiving At The Beach with my whole family! I mean....my WHOLE family! It was all my side of the family AND Karl's side of the family. People, I'm telling you I'm a blessed woman. Who can do that? sigh. Me.

Katie took pictures of everyone's immediate family (I can't wait to show them all off!). I got some shots of her in action.

I like this one 'cause you can see the chaos on the side. :)

I have to give Lex the credit for this next photo. LOVE this picture.

And because Katie is the photographer, she needed someone else to get behind the camera to take some pics of her and her husband Blake. I loved being able to take these shots of them. Katie also has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. A smile that lights up any room!

Aren't the newlyweds cute!?