Photo shoot!

I had a fun photo shoot with my friend Kate's beautiful kids yesterday! Here are a few of my favorites.... Phoebe......

Max........

This and that....

I wanted to put a quick mention in here about Russ and Alyssa's recent mission trip to Mexico. They just got home this past weekend, after working in a children's home/orphanage for a week with a group from our church. They had such a great time, and are already talking about going back next year. Now they know why I have to keep going back to China to care for the babies and nannies in Heng Feng! If you want to see pictures or read about what they did there, you can check out their blog here. I didn't mention their trip before now, because I wasn't real comfortable putting it out there that I would be home with just my 2 kids for a week! :) So........yesterday I had the chance to spend a little time with a bloggie friend Gretchen and her kids Elise and Carson! They were in our area visiting family, so we were able to meet up for lunch and a quick walk. Addie and Elise are from the same orphanage in China. After getting to know Gretchen through her blog, we also came to realize that we both graduated from the same small college in Illinois. Talk about a small world! Anyway, it was so fun to spend some time together. You know how there are some people that you just feel that instant click with and you feel like you have always been friends? Yep, that's how it felt! Thanks Gretchen, for squeezing us into your busy schedule. We hope to do it again next time you are in town. Our two Jianxin girls! They were SO cute together. And it was fun to learn about their similarities, including their hair. It is exactly the same! Carson, Addie and Elise in front of the sign where we went to college!

Spring is in the air....

I love this picture of Riley and Addie...they were fishing in the pond behind our house. Have I ever mentioned what a GOOD big brother Riley is? He is so sweet with his little sister. (most of the time!) And Addie wants to be JUST like big brother......soccer and all! My latest assignment for my photography class was "sports shots".......it's a good thing I had a willing participant to let me practice on! Here are a few of my favorites...

Time for a break....

Is it just me.......

Or does my baby not look like a baby anymore? She is becoming such a big girl......

Bubbles....

I'm taking a photography class with my neighbor, and am loving it!

So these pictures were more about me playing with the settings/lighting, etc on my camera, then the bubbles.

But I still thought they turned out pretty cute. So here they are!

A weekend getaway...

It has become a tradition for us to go away every President's Day weekend. We usually end up at our favorite beach town in Michigan.

Here are a few pics from our weekend away....

The kids wanted to go back to the dunes and beach on our last day, but we made it far enough to snap this picture and then left. It was SOOO cold! We are ready for summer!!