Bainbridge Island

Our family just got back from a wonderful long weekend on Bainbridge Island. It was the first road trip I think we've taken since Jude was a baby. I wasn't sure how everyone would do in the car for a 4 hour trip, but they did well! Our 4 hour trip turned into a 6 hour trip with bathroom breaks for the kids though, haha! But as Josh reminded me, "it's the journey, not the destination." I don't know, my lead foot really wanted to get to the destination! :) But we made each stop fun, even sat outside at a little coffee place until we got chased off by aggressive bees, but even that is a sweet memory in my mind. :)

We were spoiled with gorgeous weather up there, and I got to do an engagement shoot at the Bloedel Reserve with the sweetest couple on Saturday. Fun, fun!

We stayed in this really cute cottage right by Fay Bainbridge Park. It was a wonderful place to stay, complete with a relaxing garden in the backyard, that the kids picked zucchini and blackberries from. I'd love to stay there again sometime!

(Selah unaware of the shark sneaking up on her.)

The kids did puzzles, played go fish, made up games with scrabble pieces, and we got outdoors to play a bunch too.

Selah LOVED this sea glass! (And this is the face Benjamin makes when I'm comin' for him and saying, "I'm gonna get you!") :)

Saturday morning we went down to the beach and spent time throwing rocks into the water and collecting shells. The kids played on a great little playground down there too.

That afternoon I photographed Scott & Libby in some beautiful places! Can't wait to share their photos later this week.

And thank you Scott & Libby for sharing a piece of your beautiful world with us! We loved Bainbridge!

That evening after dinner we drove into town to get sorbet at Mora Ice Cream. Such a cute spot. It was warm enough to sit outside and eat ice cream! Selah dropped her ice cream right off her cone as she was running for the table and burst into tears. Josh, being the most selfless person I know, didn't skip a beat in handing her his, and taking her empty cone. I love that man. xo

The next day we woke up to rain so we drove around exploring the island a bit, and then the dark clouds blew out in a jiffy and it was blue skies! I was so excited! So we went to the Bainbridge Harvest Fair. It definitely ushered in fall for me. I had kind of been dragging my feet about fall, because summer was just too short this year, wasn't it?! But everything changed when we arrived at this little farm and walked through the orchard looking at little booths, watching people make cider, and watching the kids go down the giant tin slide... hello fall!

Jude, our little photographer, took this picture of us. :)

We thought it would be fun to take the ferry over to Seattle before driving home. The kids loved it!

I thought this was so funny, us trying to get a photo with the city in the background. Just a tiny. bit. windy.

Seattle is beautiful on a blue-sky day!

I'm so glad we got to spend a long weekend exploring such a beautiful place!

day 140 - hello from sunny phoenix

Hello from sunny Phoenix, Arizona.



Did I get you going there?

We didn't move. We're in Phoenix on vacation for a family wedding.

We left for the airport in the middle of the night and flew out first thing this morning. Words can't describe how excited Ava was when she was told she could have Hickory Sticks for breakfast.

Ever seen what happens to a bag of Hickory Sticks at 35,000 feet? Halfway through the flight I was stressed to discover the bag had filled with air and was busting at the seams. I spent the next hour praying to god it didn't explode or I would have been arrested in the air.



Ava's first flight was a big hit. Her favourite part of the entire experience? Turbulence.

And the tiny red straws.



We arrived to hot and sunny 30 degree weather with no humidity. To quote my new sister-in-law, my hair loves Phoenix.

Here are some more pictures from day one:

Baby Bump in the Road...

We can do our best to plan ahead, but we never know what we may run into when we get there. :) I'll explain a little further below.

Our family took a much needed long weekend away to the beach. Ah, so refreshing to get some rest, read, play in the sand, soak up time together and just enjoy simple things. And what amazing weather we got to enjoy all weekend! My brother Matt joined us too, which was a lot of fun having his company! His wife Gina was out of town and my younger brother Caleb had other commitments, and my Dad & Janet were hosting a special birthday party for Janet's mom, so it was just us and Matt for the weekend. But we had a great time! Thank you Dad and Janet for letting us stay at Cornelius House!

I rested a lot this weekend, more than usual, because I've been taking it easy much more these days. I thought I'd give you a quick update on my pregnancy, since there's been a change in my shooting schedule for the rest of the year.

Basically, long story short, I've been receiving progesterone injections to help remind my body that I'm pregnant. I've had some pregnancy complications in the past (losing our first baby around 22 wks due to my water breaking prematurely and then also going into pre-term labor twice when pregnant with Jude & going on strict bed rest), and I received 20 progesterone injections weekly when I was pregnant with both Jude & Selah. Thankfully there were no complications when I was pregnant with Selah and it was really wonderful to experience a first "normal pregnancy!" with her!

We began the progesterone again with this pregnancy at 16 weeks, just like normal, but 4 of the first 5 injections I was having reactions/side effects to. The doctor said that I was most likely developing an allergy to progesterone, which is clearly not a good thing. So we stopped the injections and I'm being monitored weekly through ultrasound to just check and see that everything is ok. I'm at a high risk of pre-term labor now, but so far, the past two weeks of ultrasounds have shown that I'm doing fine. But, since stopping the progesterone, Josh and I talked and prayed and decided it was in the best interest of this baby and my clients to cancel all of my photo shoots from mid-September through the rest of the year (baby is due Jan 3rd) so that I can rest and take it easy. Everyone I had to contact has been so wonderful and understanding and supportive! Thank you!! :)

I'm wrapping up a bunch of editing (which has gone slower than planned due to extra dr. appts. and resting) and will finish up shooting these next two weeks. I'm sure you'll see a lot more of my kids on this blog the rest of this year. :)

I feel good, and am confident that God has this little baby in His hands and we are so excited to meet this little man come January! And he has a big brother and a big sister who are already enthralled with him. :) I'm really grateful for the care I've been receiving and the amazing husband I have, who I couldn't think higher of! {heart}

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!!







Thank you Matt for snapping this family photo for us, and a little belly shot of me too! You have so much natural talent.













Pretty funny... Jude just learned how to play a video game. Uh-oh. :)