Prom 2012

The weather was wonderful for Bedford High School Prom 2012.

This was Kyle's first prom and the first time he got to wear a tuxedo.  He spent most of the day cleaning up his truck.  It looked beautiful.

 Kyle's date was Danielle.  Danielle's parents and I were in the same class.  I was joking with her mother last night that 26 years ago when we were in high school we would have never believed that some day they would marry, that we would live in the same small town 30 miles away and our kids would go to prom together.  Too funny!

 Danielle looked gorgeous!

 Kyle looked quite handsome also.

It is hard to believe how far we have come since Kyle's transplant 3 1/2 years ago.  So much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to as he finishes out his junior year and gears up to be a Senior! I am so proud of you Kyle!

Taking Family Photos

Photography has been a great hobby for me. Most of what I have learned I have learned on my own from books or online. I don't have fancy equipment but have tried hard to master what I have. I am still working on it.  Last fall I took some picture for some of our friends and family. I don't have a lot of confidence yet so friends and family have been great subjects to work with because I know they won't be afraid to tell me what they really think. Christmas came and went, life got busy, and I never got a chance to post these to my blog. Now that Spring is finally here my interest in photography has been rejuvenated and I am excited to get back to taking pictures.   I have posted some of my shots from last fall with these two families. The first set are our friends, Krista and Jeff, and their three great kids. We had a ball taking these photos. The kids were game for anything and had some great ideas of their own. They are such a photogenic family. And the weather and light were beautiful that day.

I took these pictures of my brother, Dan and his family in early December. It was so cold that day but they were troopers and hung in there. I love family photos and getting some shots of his family was important to me. I loved getting to take pictures of my nieces and nephew.

You don't need a wonderful camera (although I would love to have one)!  Take your camera out and get some shots of you and your family.  Family photos are always enjoyed and are a great way to decorate your home.  Here is to the beautiful weather and I encourage you all to go out and take some photos!

Around Here

It has been a while since I have done an "Around Here" post and so much has been going on I thought it would be the best way to update the blog.  So here goes:  

Around here....

Toy Story has always been one of our family's favorite movies so we were all excited when Kaleb recently fell in love with it also.  He got Buzz Lightyear for Valentine's Day, and got Woody right away after that.  We already have the Potato Heads, Mr. and Mrs. with a couple little potato pets and today we added Jesse to our group.  One of the great parts about having a little one later in life is that you get to enjoy these sorts of things all over again!

Around here Jess and her boyfriend, Kyle were home for the weekend.  They started Spring Break.  This picture turned out pretty blurry.  I am not for sure why which leads me to:

Around here I am still working on my photography skills.  I will be so happy when it finally gets nicer outside.  I hate shooting indoors and am more of a natural light kind of girl.

Around here we are busy in calving season.  Last weekend the boys and I went down to help Kenton take care of a new baby.  Right away Kaleb wanted to help feed her.

Around here I finally finished a canvas class I took online at Brave Girls Club.  They say it should take about 3 hours to do this art project.  I hate to say it but it took me more like 3 months but I don't think that I should count December with Christmas and all.  You can not tell from this picture but the edges of the canvas are done with gold leafing and then painted over it to make it look more aged.  Gold leafing was a mess to do but I loved how it turned out.  Someday this will go in my art/craft/photography studio.  It fits me as I have lots and lots of ideas, but sometimes that is about as far as they get!

Around here it rained today.  It was pretty cool temperature wise outside but when Kenton said he was going to feed the cows Kaleb ran for his new rain boots and coat so he could go along.  We had to get pictures of him playing in the mud puddles for the first time.  I swear that he is the hardest child to photograph as he never stands still and won't look at me and smile.  He is always too busy!  I love this picture anyway.

Around here life is busy and I am having a hard time keeping up!  There is so much more that has been happening but these are a few that came to mind tonight.  Wishing you all a blessed week.  The weather is suppose to get warm here so we are super excited!

Sheep

This past Sunday we visited my parents and and then went down to my brother's to see his sheep. I was lucky enough growing up to live within only a few miles of my Grandpa and Grandma Luke.  We spent a lot of time at their house.  I have lots of great memories of them.  One of them was that my Grandpa Luke raised sheep.  Not too many people around did.  For several years the kindergarten class would come out and watch as they sheared the sheep.   My brother, Dan, raises sheep on the same farm my Grandpa raised his sheep on.  I am so glad he has them as they remind me of my Grandpa. I always thought it was so peaceful to watch them grazing in the pasture.  I was excited that Kaleb was getting to see the sheep and especially the baby lambs.   

Uncle Dan finally got one little guy caught so Kaleb could pet him.  I wanted to get some pictures of the sheep as I have an idea to decorate Kaleb's room.  I will try to share once I get it finished.  I just loved the little lambs and am thinking of adding raising a few sheep to my life list, but they would have to wait until I am no longer working as Kenton has no desire to have sheep and I would have to care for them myself!

Life List and I Know That I Have Lived List

Today is my 44th birthday.  I got the best birthday gift by getting to stay home from work and spend the day with my little man, Kaleb.  I thought while he napped it would be a great day  to talk about my life list.  A fellow blogger and nurse that I follow, Jenny Meyerson, has been documenting about her life list and encouraging others to make a life list also.  I think after we go through tragic or hard times in our lives, we realize how short life really is and it is time to really LIVE our lives.  Jenny fought breast cancer several years ago and won, similar to the ordeal we went through with Kyle's heart transplant.  We were forever changed by the experience.
  One great thing that came from our experience with Kyle's transplant was Kaleb.  Before Kyle's transplant Kenton did not think that he wanted children of his own but the experience changed him.  We spent weeks in St. Louis surrounded by sick children, many who were fighting for their lives and some who didn't make it.  We seen the joy they still found in life despite their illnesses.  Through what we witnessed through those children and through Kyle, Kenton changed his mind and I put aside my worries about what people would think about me having a baby at my age, and we went for it.  Now we have Kaleb.  What a great decision we made!  He has brought so much joy to our lives!

  So like I said, thanks to Jenny's encouragement and guidance, I have started a "Life List".  It is a list of things I want to do or accomplish before I die.  Not to be confused with the "I Know That I have Lived List" which I had started a while back to remind myself that I have lived a good life, and if it all ended tomorrow, I Know That I Have Lived.

I won't list them all from either list but here is a little bit from each:

Life List:

1.  Have an art studio/photography studio/craft room.

2.  Run a 5k. ( Working on this one now.)

3.  Build on and remodel our home.

4.  Become a better photographer. (Working on this one now.)

5.  Record a day/ week in our family's life,either photos, video or both.

6.  Take our family on the Boone scenic railroad train.

7.  Take my picture at one of the Covered Bridges of Madison County.

8.  Sleep in a tent under the stars with my boys.

9.  Become better at baking. (Working on this one now.)

10.Raise some chickens and have a cute little chicken house for them.

11. Go on a Mission Trip.

12. Go back to St. Louis with our family to visit the transplant team who took care of Kyle.

13. Take a trip to Disney World.

14. Have a large lilac bush.

15. Go on an art retreat. 

As of today I have over 40 things on my life list and know I want to add more!

I Know I Have Lived List:

1.  I have experienced the joy of pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood.

2.  I have sat under the stars and talked for hours with the man I love.

3.  I have watched a baby being born,( makes me cry every time!)

4.  I have held the hand of someone as they died and have been honored to be there with them. 

5.  I have hugged and wept with strangers.

6.  I have flown over and seen my house from an airplane.

7.  I have put my feet in both the Atlantic and Pacific ocean.

8.  I have laughed so hard til my belly hurt.

9.  I have seen a double rainbow and shooting stars.

10.  I slept a night in a convent. ( put this because seen it on someone's life list and realized how peaceful and
spiritual it really was).

11.  I have shopped for diamonds! ( Thank you to my husband, Kenton, who let me pick out my engagement  ring.  That night I felt like a princess trying on all of those rings.)

 12.  I watched my daughter Jessica sing and act out "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.  So beautiful that I cried.

13.  I have had a loyal and wonderful dog for a pet.

14.  I have been camping in the mountains.

15.  I have sat in the front rows of an exciting basketball game with my son, Kyle and watched him have the time of his life!

Theses are only a few things that are on my lists.  As I complete some on my Life List I will move them over to I Know That I Have Lived List.  

I encourage all of you to write a Life List and a I Know That I Have Lived List.  If you do I would love for you to leave a comment about some of the things on your lists.  You will feel so good after you get started!

Project Life Week 5

So here is Week 5 of Project Life.  I like that I am keeping up with the process, for the most part.  I am finding I am getting more of our lives recorded, more pictures taken and more stories told by using Project Life.  This is the left side of the layout.  I included a little note to Kaleb about how I hate Mondays and having to be away from him after getting to be with him all weekend.

This is the right side.  Here I included an insert and added two quotes I found this week on Pinterest.  I love that site!  Lots of snow pictures and the coyote that was down by our pond.  Pretty sure he has been the one keeping our dog up barking at night.

The other side of the insert is Kaleb at 20 months.  I love how I have been able to quickly document the little things he is doing each month.

This is the right side after the insert is turned.  I included a favorite picture of my mom.  On the 3rd of February it was 36 years since she passed away.  I miss her still so much today.  You can also see us with Kaleb's first real snowman.  Kenton and Kyle built him and I provided the accessories.  Kaleb was too

busy roaming around but enjoyed him after he was built.

Excited to try to join Ali Edwards this week to document a "day in the life".  Should be fun!

Marilyn

Cupcake #2

 Life has been really busy lately thus the lack in posting.  A few weeks ago I decided to jump on the cupcake bandwagon.  They are so popular right now.  I see cupcakes all over Pinterest and other people's blogs. I have been especially inspired by jenny meyerson.  With little Kaleb around now I know he will appreciate cupcakes.  Kenton's mom gave me a cupcake/muffin cookbook right around Thanksgiving so I decided to try it out.  I have been photographing and recording each type of cupcake we make.  This was cupcake number 2.  Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes. They went over well.  Kyle rates the cupcakes for me and he gave this one 4 stars!

Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes


1 package white cake mix,
1/4 cup raspberry pe filling
 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup shortening   
1/3 cup milk
fresh raspberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
mint (optional)

Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Drop 1/2 tsp of pe filling in the center of each; swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
In a large bowl, beat shortening until fluffy. Add milk, vanilla, salt and comfectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Garnish with raspberries and mint if desired.

I am doing a pretty good job keeping up with Project Life.  Hope to post week 5 tomorrow.