Go BIG

A lot of people get pictures taken and order a few 5x7s and 8x10s, I used to do the same thing but not anymore! I LOVE a big print, it makes such a statement and really looks great on the wall. This canvas is 30x40 and belongs to my photographer friend in Philidelphia (she has THE cutest kids). So when in doubt - go BIG!

Little Miss Jane

She was one of the happiest one year olds I've ever seen! It was such a blast.

Practice, practice, practice

Finding ways to practice taking pictures is a little challenging when you have no kids, two very well documented cats, and a camera shy husband. So I wrangle my sisters into it every once in a while.

Ha! Caught him while he wasn't looking!







Where's Paige? Probably doing something like this:




Or this:



Love you Paige!

We like him

Melissa's boyfriend, Justin, met the whole fam when he flew to Florida to come on vacation with us a few weeks ago. Brave guy! We had heard so much about him from Melissa so we were excited to meet him. Well, I have to admit, I was more cautious than anything. My mom kept telling me not to grill him first thing - I'm protective of her!

When I first found out she was dating him I heard that he had a video on YouTube of him singing so we checked it out. She said he could sing, but she didn't say he could SING! Like can seriously sing. That was cool but I thought "Here we go, some good looking guy who knows he can sing - I'm sure he's going to be completely obnoxious or obsessed with himself, probably both." But I decided to meet him with an open mind, be nice, and let him prove me wrong. And he DID!

I have to say he is the nicest, most down to earth person and I am so glad. We had a great time with him on vacation with us all week. He got along with Jared really well, it was funny because they were always up to something - surfing with mini-rafts, grabbing the nets to go catch jellyfish and blue crabs, throwing the football - it was great because Melissa and I got to rest!





Anyways, he came to Tyler last weekend while we were all up there and sang in church and it was really unbelievable how good he really is. I was going to do a duet with him but my throat got hoarse and I didn't want to have to sign autographs after - it was a whole thing, so I just let him go solo. Here's the video of him singing:





He's trying out for American Idol next week so we could actually KNOW someone on the show this year! I think he's going to win, I'm just going to go ahead and put that out into the universe.

Good times...

So I did lug out my camera a couple of times while we were at the beach, it was a perfect chance to try out a couple of new lenses. Good times.

Mmm, vintage-y goodness.

























My dad telling Kellye that virgin margaritas are the appearance of evil.




Oh well.




They're just so tasty!



And this is Kellye's reaction when she realizes I'm taking pictures of her:









Work it.

Dear Destin, I love you

We got back from our family trip to Destin about three weeks ago and I just started peeling last week, how is that fair!? Oh well, my goal of being as tan as Jared probably just isn't realistic. We had an awesome time though, my parents rented a house on the beach and we all met there and spent the week relaxing and having fun.

This was actually the first trip with both son-in-laws and Melissa and Paige's boyfriends (they are cool, we approve). That meant a lot more activities and less shopping, both of which my dad was probably happy about! It was one of the best weeks ever.

**Most/all of these pictures were taken by Melissa, I was too lazy/paranoid to drag my giant camera around everywhere, so thanks Meliss!!

I love this picture of Kellye. This was on the way there, she needed advil and Melissa dug these crusty bits out of the bottom of her purse. Hilarious.




Gotta represent.




Again with the representing.




I have pretty sisters.




Paige, rocking the turban, and Will being himself.




Plaid shorts, so hot right now.




Umm, I don't know what I'm doing. This was probably meant to be of the raft in the background, that thing was awesome.




Jared and Justin (Melissa's boyfriend). They are BFFs.




Jared can make any situation more extreme.




Ahh, sweet nectar of the gods.




The whole gang.


Deep sea fishing adventures and more to come!