He wants your heart

You know how Facebook tells you what you were doing "on this day" in the past? Every once in awhile I am actually surprised and don't remember posting some thing or another. Yesterday I came across a quote that I posted 4 years ago. It came from my pastor, Scott Miller, and a recent message he had delivered. (Click here to listen.) And while the circumstances around the day that I posted this are fuzzy, I know the truth is still an important one and I was stuck again by the core of the words. 

"Whatever trials you might be going through, wherever life is taking you, God is in control of this. He is orchestrating your life, but He WANTS your heart. He wants your heart. More than anything else He wants your heart."

He wants me! He wants my heart and whatever He allows in my life is to bring my heart closer to Him. Wow. This gets me thinking about all the things I know my friends and family have gone through. I can't explain the death of your child, or why he suffered disease and disability for his entire life. I don't know why God allows the pain of a husband who struggles with addiction that crushes your soul. I am at a loss for words why some children live a loveless life with abuse and others are rescued to be loved deeply by a new family. And I don't understand why I was chosen to live an incredibly blessed life with everything I could possibly need and want, while others are called to live in war-torn countries with poverty, destitution, and lack of clean water.  But I do know that God uses the trials in our lives to draw us close to Him. Just like a loving parent pulls their crying child close, He desires to hold us in His arms. To embrace us through our trials and pain. He wants nothing less than our heart. ALL of our heart! "More than anything else He wants your heart." Share

2016 Spring Mini Sessions

It’s that time of year again! Spring mini sessions!! 

DATES: Saturday, March 26th & Sunday, April 24th 5-7 p.m. (5 slots available on each day)

PRICE: $75

What does my session include? It’s a 25 minute mini session (it can be family, senior, just kids, couple, etc). Family can only be up to 5 children (you can pay an additional $25 per child if you have more than 5 kids after you purchase, just let me know you do).

You will receive 15-20 fully edited images (Digital download) from your session within 3 weeks of your session date.

*PHOTO SHOOT WILL TAKE PLACE IN A COUNTRY LOCATION: most likely in the Knox Butte area of Albany.

Click here to book your session online! Click on the date you'd like to book to see the available appointments. 
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It's 2016!

I am excited for this new year. I know who I am and what I want. I know that I will succeed and also that I will fail, and that's okay. There will be great happiness as well as sorrow. I will laugh and I may cry. I won't dwell on loss, or pain but will look at the good placed before us. I refuse to belittle others who choose to live their lives differently than I do. Instead I will choose to love them even when I don't agree with them. Ultimately, I have been chosen; and I choose to live my life in a way that will point others towards the Source of happiness, peace, love, and joy. I choose joy! Happy 2016!
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Large Family Sessions

This is a family of 9 with twin boys under two...lots of busy bodies! We just started shooting and never stopped until we had lots of images to choose from. Looks like they turned out okay! :)

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Adoption Celebration

Photo Credit - Dawn Renee Photography
It's been nearly six months since I last posted about our adoption plans. We have been blessed to have so many people stand beside us during the process. There have been prayers, financial support, and continued moral support. (It takes a village!) As we were waiting for paperwork to go through the court (everything is official now as of October 2014)

we begin to think about how we wanted to celebrate when everything was finalized. We realized that we really wanted to celebrate with everyone who had been part of the process along the way. So the idea of an adoption celebration began. 
At first we thought we would plan something at our home, but then my friend (who happens to be our pastors wife) suggested doing some sort of blessing ceremony since we wouldn't be able to take part in the actual court ceremony. I loved that idea and everything kind of sprouted from there. 

Of course I search Pinterest to find many ideas (fun!) And I decided that it would be fun to have all the pictures we had taken of our girl (from before she was ours even) all around. Since I have lots of windows around I decided to add ribbon and twine to them with hot glue. Then I came across these mini clothes pins and we clipped her pictures to windows and frames. These were scattered throughout the celebration. (I think I ended up with 7 windows and window frames.) We placed a few of them on display easels. This one was near our treat tables. 

We have a large "Welcome Center" at our church and I placed the "family" banner I made from burlap pre-cuts I purchased at Hobby Lobby across the front of it. Then we just added some fabric squares, chalkboards, and the picture frames. (This inadvertently turned into a gift table...as I didn't specify "no gifts" on the invite and never even thought about the fact that people would bring gifts.) 

My mom printed out labels with our family photo on it and then stuck them on top of duct taped water bottles which turned out adorable. 

I found the idea of a fingerprint tree on pinterest and knew I wanted to do something with it. So I found a canvas and painted a brown tree on it. Then I bought various shades of green ink pads (they were kind of like paint pads) for the "leaves." This might be one of my favorite things we have from the ceremony. Honestly. So many people have been a part of this adoption that it is neat to have their fingerprint on our lives...and the canvas! :)

The sign says, "Our fingerprints cannot be erased from the lives of those we have touched, please leave yours for us" 

I also found so many quotes, Bible verses, and things I wanted people to know that were in our hearts. (You can see lots of them here) So I started collecting boards (thanks in part to my in-laws) and began spray painting them with chalkboard paint. I think I might have an addiction to that now. I LOVE how smooth they turned out. I did prime them first, and then immediately painted two coats of chalkboard paint. 

For the mini pennant banner I used parts of two sets I got at hobby lobby. (The best place!) These wer inexpensive die cut sets that I glued to jute string. I thought they turned out adorable I used them on the windows, as well as this chalkboard sign. The two sets together made about 15 mini pennants. (You can see the sets at H. L. here and here.)

I found all kinds of fabric in the colors we were using. Some is from Hobby Lobby and some is from Joann Fabric. I can't believe how expensive fabric is! I rarely purchase it, and now I know why! My mother-in-law sewed many squares, a table cloth and 4 pennant banners with the fabric. Which turned out adorably. (See the pictures coming up!) In the background of this shot you can see that we had some curly willows which we covered in lights and then used the mini clothespins (from Joann though this link brings you to some pins that are bigger than the ones we used.) and put more pictures up. Unfortunately we don't have a straight on picture of this since our church had a special table set up with food collection on it and we didn't want to take it down so we just decorated around it. 

And now the fun part. I definitely wanted this event to be kid friendly. So we offered a candy buffet and cupcakes. (Maybe not parent friendly though!) That was a lot of fun. I tried to find various shades of the colors we liked from an online candy store. 

So thankful for my sister-in-law who made all the beautiful cupcakes. They turned out SOOO cute!

We shared the story of how our daughter came to be in our lives and the about the past 6 months process. Our pastor shared some thoughts and verses about adoption. We wanted everyone there to hear the good news that WE are adopted into God's family. That God CHOSE each of us! And each of our dads shared a few words and then prayed for our family. Sweet girl fell asleep in daddy's arms about 5 minutes before the ceremony started, slept through the entire thing and woke up as papa was finishing praying.

It was a very special time.

Overall the day was a huge, celebration that will be a special memory. Thank you so much to everyone that made this day and process such a miracle celebration.

Thank you to Tai at Rocketship Graphics for the images!

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