Meet Luke

He’s our anxiously awaited, easy to smile, sweet sweet boy.

He’s a cowboy at heart, here he is wrestling his longhorn.

Plum wore him out.

We think he’s thoughtful

and full of personality

and did I mention how sweet he is?

Here he is wrapped in his homemade blanket from cousin ‘Sassy’ Rose Bloom in front of his homemade pillowcase from ‘Auntie’ Jackie Hobbins.

Brother Jack, what a surprise this turned out to be.  We assumed this would be a tough transition with many appearances by the green eyed monster.  Instead we find ourselves melting each time Jack gives him a kiss on the top of the head, which is just about every time he sees him.  He called him ‘gook’ at first (yikes) which evolved into ‘elk’ and now we’re at ‘ook’.

‘Diss’ he says, which means ‘kiss’.

Then there’s Grace.  From the moment she laid eyes on him she’s been in love.  She loves to hold him, to burp him, help change him and more than anything to get him to smile at her.  That last part comes easy.

My heart is bursting.

October 21st

October 21st is a special day for me. It’s my 1st wedding day. No, I’m not hiding any extra husbands in the closet…it’s just the day that Jared and I were intended to wed in an intimate beachfront wedding in Akumal, Mexico. But despite my willpower (albeit naive) and sheer tenacity to hold on to that dream of mine, hurricane Wilma squashed my hopes like a tiny bug  as she landed on my ‘would be’ alter.  Yep, a hurricane literally crashed my wedding.

Here’s near where we were supposed to have the ceremony (beginning of the storm):

Despite this, no electricity and being locked in our rooms for nearly 4 days straight, Jared and I chose on that day to wed in our room with some impromptu vows in the dark, God himself our only witness and a can of lukewarm DosXX  for a toast.

Our first wedding photo (notice the romantic ’emergency candle’-light)

But I like to think that besides being a good story it was a wedding gift in itself that God gave, showing us that there is literally nothing that will tear us apart as long as we honor him and invite him along.

This past October 21st proved to be another amazing day as one of my oldest/dearest friends Diena and my cousin Devin got married in an intimate ceremony in Estes Park.  They SO BRAVELY trusted me to be their wedding photographer.  I admittedly *love* photography and part of me wonders if someday I won’t pursue it on a more serious level, but this was a teensy bit daunting for me.  I know how much my wedding photos meant to me (thank you Jamee!!!) so I was equally elated and anxious.

Here’s what I now know:

#1 a good photographer is worth their weight in gold, I bow down to you all!

#2 I will be buying better lenses ASAP

#3 I need practice, lots

#4 I LOVED this, thank you thank you again D&D for trusting me!!

Ultimately, it’s hard to mess up when the couple is this in love and well…gorgeous.  Here are just a few (or more) of my favorites:

By the way, this is our friend Travis Kaker who sang at the wedding. Turns out his anniversary is ALSO Oct 21st and he just so happened to have written a song called…wait for it…Oct 21st, which he is pictured below singing:

Love you so much D & D, thank you for making me a part of your Oct. 21st. May God bless you two with as much love and adventure as Jared and I (oh, and kiddos too 😉

For pics of the reception visit this blog post on The Cupcake Tower website.

 

Jack’s 1st Haircut (and first sucker)

I’ve been anxiously awaiting Jack’s 1st haircut ever since it dawned on me how LUCKY we are to have a ‘Papa’ (my Stepdad Gary) who’s an authentic barber. He works in the oldest Barbershop in Colorado, ‘Elite Barbershop’ in Longmont.

Check out these original chairs

And Jack’s throne

I love just about everything about this shop!

Even the mascot ‘Howdy’

Here’s the shaggy ‘do’ before.  Recently he’s been called a hippie, told he has the ‘Beib’ haircut (bad Aunt Jackie…bad 🙂 and most often a little surfer boy.  When I had to actually use his sister’s detangler the other night I knew it was time

Oh-oh here we go!

He did so great at first..chill as can be

But as soon as this face came out…

So did the sucker (Papa’s no dummy)

Which then produced this face for the rest of the cut

Of course sister gets a sucker too

Finishing touches…lookin sharp!  What do we call this haircut? Very technical: “Little Boy Haircut”

You’re the best Papa Gary

Are we done???

Lookin’ good (I think they look even more alike now)

My two handsome boys

***This post was also inspired by this post from my Wedding/Family photographer Jamee.  Love her!