Ariana Reading Austen

For the last couple of months I have had the pleasure of introducing my daughter to the wonderful world of Jane Austen. I so truly enjoy the escape that a wonderful, well written novel provides. And few writers have ever so eloquently and profoundly captured the truth of girlhood better then Jane Austen.

Tonight, as I listened to Ariana read Pride and Prejudice out loud, I realised how very sweet these moments with her have become. The joy of opening up a hidden and unknown world that reading brings to my daughter, mixed with watching her grow and develop skills she at one time could not even imagine having, is so completely rewarding. It is beautiful, a simply beautiful life moment.

While I may, at times, be tempted to hide from my life, I do enjoy it and continue to be so very grateful for it.

Ovidah Playing

Seriously, I think I could photograph babies all day long. I love what I do.

Ms. Ovidah came over tonight to give her opinion on how the packing and sorting was going. She rattled our cages a bit (haha;)), but I think we passed her inspection.

In all seriousness though, going through everything you own is quite an eye opener on several fronts. I find myself wanting to get sidetracked by taking tangets down memory lane as I wade through boxes of stuff. Some of the stuff is precious, some is not worth hanging onto for as long as I have, and a lot is just not needed. The thing I find brings back the most memeories—are you ready for it— is the pictures. In fact, it kept my girls in stitches most of yesterday evening. How exactly do I explain why that perm sounded like a good idea back in the day? Or the pictures of their father skinny as a rail with big ol' glasses teetering on his nose?

The beautiful thing about photography, even bad photography—which many of my pictures were, is that it really does sum things up with no explanation needed. Nothing bonds a family together quite like memories, espcially memories captured of you as a family together being the wonderfully unique people you are. And one thing this project of mine has firmly re-taught me is that it is pretty difficult to get those moments of everyone unless someone else is behind the camera. So, the first order of business after we have moved and unpacked is to finally get around to my own print order of my family to grace our living room walls and maybe even a new family photo session. ;)

Ah, photography, how precious thou art. Truly, you are one of the rare gifts that increases with value over time.

silhouettes and Shadows

After taking an impromptu bath after an intimate encounter with our lawn, which I am highly allergic to, I was sitting on my bed when I noticed the influx of yummy light that was hitting our living room wall. Then I noticed Emily, oblivious to her shadow or the fact that I could see her playing blissfully in the living room. I grabbed my camera just in time to capture this moment. The yummy light mixed with an Emily moment made for a very fun silhouette. I love these fun moments. Now if that Emily could just return instead of the tantruming one screaming in her room right now, life could be close to perfect. Ha. ;)

Rainbows

Rainbows are so beautiful. This afternoon the girls and I stopped to take a moment to simply gaze upon the color filled sky. Impressive. It was a big bummer that I missed capturing the double rainbow that showed up right before this though. ;)

Easter

By far, Easter is my favorite holiday. I love everything it stands for and the promise of the hope by which I live my life.

Today, Ariana informed me that it is an Easter tradition for me to take a picture of the girls all dressed up...this must have begun before I became a photographer. ;) So, not wanting to disappoint, I grabbed a few shots of our girls looking all adorable.

However, in those in between moments I had to smile to see how very sweetly Emily was hanging onto her sissy's arm. Emily believes that she is safe in sissy Ariana's arms. She trusts her and sees nothing but every reason to. It was a tender reminder to me of that child-like faith that God asks me to have of Him. Do I trust Him? Do I keep my hope focused on Him and not on the circumstances of this world? Or have I forgotten that the one who was powerful enough to conquer death is big enough for me to put all my trust in?

My heart has been heavy this Easter as I think about everyone who has lost someone they love to either death or broken relationships. It can make the heart sick with grief longing for that which is no more. And so today, as my mind thought of those I have lost and my oldest estranged daughter, I found a renewed gift in the promise of the gospels. This is not the end; the story is not over. The hope I have will not disappoint.

It is my sincere prayer for each of you today that you would be swept away by God's relentless love and find assurance in a peace that only He can give. Happy Easter!