{November} Happenings

For the most part, November was very busy for my photography business!  You can view photos from four of the seven sessions I shot  here (two were boudoir, so for privacy I did not post those & one was volunteer work for my bible study group).   If you are not a follower of my photog blog or Facebook please become one!

I was able to enjoy seeing my sister-in-law, Lauri and my niece, Emberlyn & nephew, Ethan the day before Thanksgiving!  I haven't seen them in nearly 3 years; WAY too long considering they live here in SoCal!  Well, actually, now that they've recently moved to Arizona, we find a chance to get together!  I took the opportunity to snap this photo of the cousins since I have no idea how long it will be before we get the chance again.

Our Thanksgiving was bountiful and a major blessing to us.  We were not planning to have a traditional meal due to finances being tight but we had been referred to our kids' school to receive one of the many  "Thanksgiving Baskest" they hand out each year, full of traditional side dishes to be prepared as well as desserts to bake & complete with a TURKEY!  

God has really been showing himself to me through the love of others in my life a lot lately!  And it couldn't be happening at a more perfect time of the year either!  Since my extended family all moved away from California, the Holidays have been very lonesome for me.  God has chosen this year to not only bless me and my family so abundantly by showing me just how NOT alone I am but also by blessing me with a large family Christmas! 

My sister, Lauren Gather, is the subject of a November Maternity Session I shot and is due December 18 - because of her pending motherhood, Mom & Jim, Bonnie & Ryder AND April, Lillian & Liberty are all coming to Cali for the birth and STAYING for Christmas & New Years!  My heart is so very full over this that I can't see through the tears of joy that fill my eyes as I type.  With just one week to go before the family starts trickling in I'm very emotional and excited to host a big family Christmas and welcome a new member this December.  We began "decking our Halls" on Thanksgiving DAY! 

-Oh!  And you can bet your bottom dollar that there. will. be. pictures! so stay tuned (and bear with me if I'm MIA again for a while; now that I'm all caught up on my blogging!)-

{November 1} Tristen

At Discovery, the school Tristen, Seth & Garrett attend, they have someone come in twice a year to test each student's hearing and vision (for free).  Now, you may recall back in January 2010 Garrett was diagnosed as nearsighted and had to start wearing glasses; now it's Tristen's turn.  Apparently the combination in mine and Brad's genes cause nearsightedness in our children!  I find it odd because neither of us wear (or need) glasses.  I suppose it is what it is and we'll deal with what life throws our way. 

 We allowed Garrett to choose his own style of glasses when he had to get them so we gave the same respect to Tristen, after all, they are the ones who have to wear them daily.

{October} End

I have a ton of pictures from the boys' Halloween fun at their prospective schools but haven't gotten around to editing or resizing them and it's keeping me from continuing to blog so I'll post the raw photos here and you'll just have to adjust! LOL! 

Brad and I both volunteered at Hayden's school, Kaleidescope Children's Center, for thier "Fall Carnival" (but I was still able to cature a ton of shots 'cause I'm cool like that)!

 It was real neat the way they had it all set up.  The kids had made their own bags in advance and played games for prizes and candy to fill them with!

 Brad worked the fishing booth while I worked on the egg toss.

 The games were easy enough and helped build possitive self-esteem because the kids were able to accomplish the simple tasks without help.

 Hayden got a lot of stuff and had a good time!  We all did!

Meanwhile, at Discovery Schoool of the Arts, Tristen and his group of K-Kids were diligently working on their Haunted House that was to be a main attraction at the Second Annual Trunk or Treat event! 

The line was long but it was moving quickly.  They had vendors and a DJ too!  It was awesome!

 This little girl sorta invited herself to walk with us, aparently she and Garrett are chums.  It was so cute watching them interact.

 We put our names in the drawing for free Tae Kwon Do AND WON!!!  For the WHOLE FAMILY!!!  And Sonic was there handing out coupons for FREE drinks!!!

We finished trunk or treating for candy then hit up the carmel apple vendor!!!  We got to make our own!

 Tristen was finally released from duty in the Haunted House and found us eating our apples... 

 But when we told him we had filled his bag in his stead he was thrilled and started dancing around and singing that he gets all the candy with none of the work! 

 Then he went and made his carmel apple and we headed home with smiles on our faces.

Two days later we trunk or treated at HDC and enjoyed an illusionist's show.  We never did go door-to-door so explain to me why we had candy coming out of our ears!!!!

{October 28} Getting Batty

Just in time for Halloween, I got this brilliant idea from a blogger friend of mine.  I took all of our old broken crayons and with Hayden's help, we made them into something useful again!

 

{October 17} Proverbs 22:6

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." (NIV) Proverbs 22:6
My God-Daughter's Dedication:

 Alyssa-Alaura

{October 16} Pumpkin Patch - It's Tradition!

Well, every year we take the boys to this Pick-Your-Own-Pumpkin Patch.

It's great!  They have a corn maze we walk through, little shops with hand painted & hand sewn seasonal items and pumpkins galore to choose from!  Mom really wanted to go with us on our trip there this year but her flight left on the 14th of October and they didn't open for business until the 16th so these photos will have to do!

Seth is constantly commenting on how I'm always the one taking pictures so there are never any pictures OF me so he asked if he could be my photography assistant; he took the photos of me!  Isn't he great!

 Waiting on Brad to load up our pumpkins so we can go into the corn maze!

 Then when he got back HE offered to take a photo of me with the boys. I love it!

 As soon as we entered the corn maze the boys took off running and Hayden called dibs on being the leader. (see his little foot there in front of Seth?)

 Every time we bring them here they have to get a picture in a pumpkin!

When we saw these storm clouds rolling in we loaded up and rolled out!

 Our picks

 Hayden felt the need to "keep them safe"

 I just can't get enough of that face!

By now I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Doesn't she have four sons?"  The answer, of course, is "YES!" but Tristen is growing up really fast on us; he was invited to join his friend, Max, at Knott's Berry Farm for Max's birthday and opted out of going to the pumpkin patch with us : ( ...and so it begins...