4 years ago today.

I started this blog on the eve of my 30th birthday. 1,684 posts later I've accomplished what I set out to do with blogging - Enjoy my family as much as possible and record as many memories as I can. The unexpected bonus along the way has been the friendships I've made with so many wonderful women. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to stop by BearCountry, for your comments, for your friendship, and for hanging in there with me when I take long breaks from writing.

Just for the fun of it....
When did YOU start blogging and how did you happen upon neck of the woods?

The next generation

We were blessed with an extended visit with my friend Owen and his family a couple of weeks ago. Owen and I go way way back. We met in sixth grade, went to youth group together, walked together for high school graduation, he was an usher in my wedding, I photographed his. He and his wife, Staci, are Sam's Godparents. We are their son Joseph's Godparents.

Now Sam and Joseph are making their own memories as friends.


Sam and Joseph (who Sam kept calling Moses) are 4 months part, but his little sister, Moriah, is only one month younger than our Julia - not to be confused with their Julia who will be two in October.


Ginny, their oldest, was so helpful with the water feature. It was fun to sit back and watch them 'work' while we caught each other up on what we've been up to since they moved back to Wisconsin.


It was nice to not be rushed. They camped in our campground for four nights so we had lots of opportunities to visit, to play disc golf,

and to eat treats....


Since our 15 year class reunion is next month the goodbyes we said when they pulled out after their (buggy) stay wasn't as sad as it otherwise would have been!

Sweet

The food was sweet

The the company was sweet

The strangers who helped us out of the ditch were sweet

My welcome home was sweet (PapaBear had left the light on for me & the door unlocked so I didn't have to fumbled with armloads of stuff to find my keys & Sam squealed & jumped into my arms)

The the bag of cookies I had forgotten I stashed in my pillowcase (and subsequently slept on Saturday night) taste very sweet as I reflect on what an amazing time I had spending about 24 hours with other bloggers, most of whom had never met in person before.

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments - Day 13

Today's ornament has a story and is a perfect example of why I wanted to record the stories behind our ornaments.
I remember watching Home Alone 2 in high school and hearing Mr. E.F. Duncan, Owner Duncan's Toy Chest tell Kevin to take two turtle doves. "I'll tell you what you do: you keep one, and you give the other one to a very special person. You see, Turtle Doves are a symbol of friendship and love. And as long as each of you has your Turtle Dove, you'll be friends forever.

I bought a pair of turtle doves that year and gave one to my friend Becky. Now every year I put my white turtle dove on the tree, I think of her and the years and years of memories we share.

Fast forward a decade and I bought a second pair of turtle doves. On one of them I replaced the string with an orange ribbon before placing it in the box to give to my friend Jennifer. I have been blessed in my life to be surrounded by great friends and these two ornaments symbolize that.

Speaking of friends, I've had several requests to see pictures from the night I had a group of friends over to decorate gingerbread houses.

I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked because of how busy I was constructing a house for my kids to decorate and getting dinner on the table, but I won't soon forget how much fun it was to have a house full of friends, their kids, and a whole lotta candy!

It's a blog (m)eet blog world

It all started a couple weeks back when I met up with Brittany. Then this past Thursday I met Jennisa, who writes the first blog I ever read that was written by someone I didn't know in real life. Did you follow all that? If not. Here's the gist: I've had the privilege of meeting two of my long time blogging friends who are as sweet, real, & funny in person as they are on their blogs and hang out with my my dear friend MckMama at the same time.
Yesterday I made some new friends at the MckPicnic that also happen to blog. Sure we talked blogging, but it was more about connecting with other moms who share common interests. Jenna and her husband Aaron will be coming out to our campground next month with their adorable daughter Camille. Can't wait!

Sam made a new friend too. Caleb happens to live one block away from our cousin Caleb way on the other side of the metro. Small world! (I'll save the really small world story for when I post the group picture from the brunch)
All the activity wore Julia out so I had her take a nap in the Kozy.
An hour later she was back in action again....

The cool weather didn't stop us from having a blast with our friends, both old and new.







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for real

Recognize these cuties? I gotta tell you that they are just as cute in person as they are on Brittany's blog.
Correct me if I'm wrong Brittany, but that's Eliza in front and Nolia behind her.

If you read my tweets you know by now that I met up with Brittany and her family during their road trip to the Farm. It took us almost 24 hours to connect, but when you've been waiting 2 years to meet - what's one day?
No idea which is which here...That was one of the first questions I asked after we hugged and sent our kids off to play on the nearby playground equipment - "HOW do you tell them apart?" It has to do with the sounds they make, the curl of their hair, and their expressions. My secret? - I used the smear of red nail polish on one of their legs to keep them straight. :)



Sam and Gavin played together for hours...



He even named his toy killer whale Gavin. :)But Julia is at the age where she's content do her own thing and prefers it that way. (As long as when she yells "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!", and I praise her climbing ability.)


Small Fry liked to keep a watchful eye on the twins...
Of course our time together went by too quickly but we managed to snap a picture of the crew before parting ways....

Thank you Brittany (and Paul!) for taking the time out of your busy travel plans to spend the afternoon with us! I am so grateful and blessed to count you among my real life friends.
May God bless your family during your adventurous summer!

Florence & Friendship Revisited

Eleven years ago today I was in Florence, Italy.



It was a memorable trip because it was where we celebrated my friend's 21st birthday. In a few weeks I'll be traveling to Wisconsin to celebrate that same friend's wedding.

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!

11/ 11 11: 11 111

Today holds a special place in my heart. I can trace it all the way back to my freshman year of high school when my friend Owen and I created this silly tradition where we'd meet at Dawn Benkowski's locker (#111) at 11:11 am on November 11th. I know it's odd and quirky - you don't have to tell me. With the possible exception of when I was in Santiago, Chili on 11/11, we've made the effort to reconnect on this day for the past 16 years. Well, except for the meeting at Dawn's locker part. Instead we send letters, make phone calls, or write an email.
I'm happy to share that today we were able to mark our tradition with a gathering at Owen and Staci's home.
See, they happen to have a daughter who was born on November 11th and today was a big day for her - a first birthday and she was being dedicated during the family's home church gathering.
After some warm up songs with the kids Moriah was dedicated to the Lord. It was a powerful time of prayer for this little girl and her family. It was a privilege to be a part of it. I am so thankful for the lasting friendship our families have formed. What's that Michael W. Smith song? Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them...or something like that. That pretty much sums it up. Great faith, great connection, great fun. How lucky I feel that they only live twenty minutes away now! That's the closest we've lived since we were kids.

While we were there I borrowed their wedding album to make some copies of the pictures I took for them over five years ago. I wanted to get some of my previous weddings on my photography blog for potential clients to view. It was 5 and 10 years ago that I photographed weddings. Where has the time gone? I'm more than happy to take up shooting weddings again now that we've entered the digital era. It was pretty scary not knowing if the shots were turning out or not. Everything was manual - apeture, focusing, film speed....
Here's Owen and Staci on their wedding day.
I love that she wore my veil. :) You can see more here.

Happy First Birthday Moriah!

11/ 11 11: 11 111

Today holds a special place in my heart. I can trace it all the way back to my freshman year of high school when my friend Owen and I created this silly tradition where we'd meet at Dawn Benkowski's locker (#111) at 11:11 am on November 11th. I know it's odd and quirky - you don't have to tell me. With the possible exception of when I was in Santiago, Chili on 11/11, we've made the effort to reconnect on this day for the past 16 years. Well, except for the meeting at Dawn's locker part. Instead we send letters, make phone calls, or write an email.
I'm happy to share that today we were able to mark our tradition with a gathering at Owen and Staci's home.
See, they happen to have a daughter who was born on November 11th and today was a big day for her - a first birthday and she was being dedicated during the family's home church gathering.
After some warm up songs with the kids Moriah was dedicated to the Lord. It was a powerful time of prayer for this little girl and her family. It was a privilege to be a part of it. I am so thankful for the lasting friendship our families have formed. What's that Michael W. Smith song? Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them...or something like that. That pretty much sums it up. Great faith, great connection, great fun. How lucky I feel that they only live twenty minutes away now! That's the closest we've lived since we were kids.

While we were there I borrowed their wedding album to make some copies of the pictures I took for them over five years ago. I wanted to get some of my previous weddings on my photography blog for potential clients to view. It was 5 and 10 years ago that I photographed weddings. Where has the time gone? I'm more than happy to take up shooting weddings again now that we've entered the digital era. It was pretty scary not knowing if the shots were turning out or not. Everything was manual - apeture, focusing, film speed....
Here's Owen and Staci on their wedding day.
I love that she wore my veil. :) You can see more here.

Happy First Birthday Moriah!

Please Pray for Jennifer

No, the baby isn't here, but she is in the hospital.
You can read about my friend's condition here.
Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Please Pray for Jennifer

No, the baby isn't here, but she is in the hospital.
You can read about my friend's condition here.
Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Three for Three

Over the past year Jennifer and I have become rather close friends. For months we've been discovering more and more things we have in common. Today was no exception. Hilary can back us up on this Twilight Zone like commonality since she was there to witness it: Sam was hungry while we were at the splash pad so I pulled out a whole wheat sandwich and a banana to feed him. Kieran spied Sam's lunch and wandered over to investigate. He decided he was hungry too so his mom pulled out what she had packed for lunch- can you guess? Yep, a whole wheat sandwich and a banana. Wait. It gets better! The boys spend ten minutes munching away on their food. Sam let me know he was still hungry so I pulled out a fruit leather for him. (This is where it gets really crazy.) Not only did the third item she'd brought for Kieran turn out to be a fruit leather, it was the SAME brand and the SAME flavor. What are the chances?!

Three for Three

Over the past year Jennifer and I have become rather close friends. For months we've been discovering more and more things we have in common. Today was no exception. Hilary can back us up on this Twilight Zone like commonality since she was there to witness it: Sam was hungry while we were at the splash pad so I pulled out a whole wheat sandwich and a banana to feed him. Kieran spied Sam's lunch and wandered over to investigate. He decided he was hungry too so his mom pulled out what she had packed for lunch- can you guess? Yep, a whole wheat sandwich and a banana. Wait. It gets better! The boys spend ten minutes munching away on their food. Sam let me know he was still hungry so I pulled out a fruit leather for him. (This is where it gets really crazy.) Not only did the third item she'd brought for Kieran turn out to be a fruit leather, it was the SAME brand and the SAME flavor. What are the chances?!