big toes and big woes

So today was a very traumatic day for me at the Conner cabin…. We were playing Perudo this morning on the front porch, when I got up to get a refill on my cup of coffee…Two seconds later, I was on the floor, wincing in pain. Yes, that’s right. I had tripped over our rocking chair and fallen, knees first onto the wood floor. Thanks to some ice and eventually some ibuprofen, I am going to be okay… I think. To top it all off, my dad and Tony were replacing the faucet this morning and told me to come try it out. Tony, my wonderful husband, had tied down the handle on the sprayer so I got soaked from the waist down b/c for some reason, I was standing quite a distance from the sink. What a morning! 

Because I am beginning to miss loved ones in Holland already, I thought I would post a few pictures from our last few weeks in Holland. The first picture is my brother-in-law Max and I standing outside his house in Grand Rapids, saying goodbye to him until CHRISTMAS. =(

The other thing Tony and I talked about was how many wonderful kids we have gotten to know at Engedi… So it seems only fitting that I would post a picture of a few kids we will miss!

And a few memories from Tony and I’s 10 day cultural immersion into family life:

 

And below, are a few more pictures of some fun moments we shared with engedi kids…

Maybe now you can begin to understand why saying goodbye has been so difficult…

“Do you know you smile when you are taking pictures?”

This is what Theresa asked me while I was taking pictures of her beautiful family out at Lake Michigan. I honestly didn’t realize I did that – but once she pointed it out, I knew that I have smiled alot while capturing expressions, moments and relationships on camera. It brings me so much joy to pursue photography and be able to give close friends images that will help them remember a moment or two or three… I think the other reason I smile is because what I see through my camera are beautiful people that love each other and love God. I can’t help but smile or even laugh when something happens while I have the camera in front of me.

I want to share a few different images from a few family portrait sessions I have done as well as a wedding I went to as a guest while trying to remain as out of the way and unobnoxious as possible! However, I realized that my sensitivity to wedding photography etiquette was not shared by everyone else. Someone with a point and shoot was moving around during the ceremony taking pictures, following the primary photographer… I couldn’t believe it!! Below are some images that are unedited since I do not have access, on the road, to my final edited versions of these photographs.