CATHERINE'S PHOTO SHOOT

 My cousin Catherine gave me a fun opportunity to shoot her children (whom you've seen on here before)....4 year old Jackson and 10 month old Hannah. Love these little ones! And it turned out to be a perfectly beautiful and comfortable afternoon for the shoot at a local public garden. Despite a few drawbacks....like the parking lot being closed due to a wedding reception and having to walk across a country mile through a busy thoroughfare with all our stuff and children.....the afternoon went amazingly well. It's always hard to get everybody to do just what you think they should do for a picture, but that's what makes life interesting! Facial expressions are golden....ALL of them. I didn't post the crying pics even though we had a couple of those! These are the edited ones out of over 300 shots taken.

Oh....the white gown that Hannah is wearing in some of these photos was Catherine's baptism gown. Love that! The old washtub belonged to Mama, mine and Catherine's great-grandmother. Very sentimental and special. Thank you, Catherine, for giving me the chance to stretch a little further in my learning about photography. Super fun!! (Of course it makes it easier when you love your subjects like I do! xoxoxo)

PHOTO TRIPPIN'

A few weekends ago, Tom and I decided to take a Sunday drive (actually on a Sunday afternoon) sans children - who didn't want to go with us anyway - so I grabbed my camera to capture the sights. Had no idea what I would see. So it was a nice little adventure date....brief but cheap! We live in the suburbs of Birmingham, so for those of you who are familiar with the area, we drove out Hwy 280 to Harpersville, looped around through Leeds and came back home down Hwy 119. We detoured down random roads and checked out a small part of Lake Purdy. Tom has a convertible which made the drive even nicer. And Tom was sweet to stop wherever I wanted to stop. He's a good sport!  

These are just a few shots I found interesting. The header pic is one from this Sunday drive as well.

I also had a little surprise photo shoot of my boss' thoroughbred while she (my boss) was out of town. Her horse is 24 years old and beginning to slow down, so I wanted to do something nice for Anne because I know how much she loves her Wonder. Her daughter took me out to the barn one afternoon to shoot. Not the best of scenarios with high, hazy sun and a plain, boring ring and a horse who kept slumping. But I made the best of it! And Anne loved them.

Then yesterday we were driving home from the river, flying about 70 mph through downtown Birmingham, and I decided to snap a couple of shots of the city....just to see how they would turn out!

I've taken many, many more pictures than these over the past few weeks....but these are the only ones NOT of people!  I'll save those for another day.

A VERY BELATED BIRTHDAY POST....

for my oldest daughter, my beautiful Julianne!

She was born on July 6, 1992. My baby is 17. Wait, let me say that again and hope it sinks in......S-E-V-E-N-T-E-E-N. My word, where was I when THAT happened! Life just flies by so fast. *Blink* and your baby bundled up in a soft pink blanket in your arms is a junior in high school, a young woman of 17. Oh my.

 And what a beautiful girl she is, inside and out. We have seen her grow in her relationship with the Lord, leaning on Him for His guidance and His strength, making wise choices in her friendships and activities and loving those around her. And FUNNY! I love hanging out with her, that is, when I see her. She spends a lot of time away from home between school, her part-time job and her ever-so-full social calendar....and I wouldn't have it any other way. We prayed for that in her life for years. Thank You, Lord for her Youth Group and dear friends.

On her actual birthday, the family went out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory plus her best friend Abby. Wonderful night! Hilarious night!

She had another celebration taking 3 of her close girl friends to Six Flags over Georgia plus one chaperone (younger and cooler  than dear OLD mom):  my friend Meghan. I would post some of her pics from that trip (so fun) but I can't find them. I know they're on her Facebook.

I am so honored to have this young woman in my life. I love her so much. She is a JOY, a BLESSING from God. She is and always will be my special first baby.

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On a side note, thank you to all of you who have graciously lifted up my sister and niece before the Throne for healing and comfort. My sister Ginger is having a rough time emotionally following this latest miscarriage, still trusting God in His sovereignty but humanly grieving and longing as 5 of her babies are now in heaven, never being held in her arms. We are unbelievably thankful for God's gift of continued good reports that cancer has NOT returned to her daughter Meredith's body! Meredith is now 2 1/2 years old and will be having major surgery on September 10th for kidney reflux, unrelated to cancer, so please keep her in your prayers if the Lord brings her to your mind.

ANSWERS

Today the Lord saw fit to take Ginger and Tom's baby home to be with Him and their other four unborn babies. We are thankful this time it happened early and naturally with no d&c. We have closure. And we have peace. Our God is sovereign over all circumstances....and in that, we rest through the grieving.

God also blessed us with some wonderful news! Meredith's oncologist called Ginger on Saturday to tell her that the labwork was back and showed that her urine within normal limits and no cancer was detected! She is still scheduled for surgery on September 10, unrelated to her cancer....this is to correct her kidney reflux.

Thank you, dear ones, for your faithful prayers. We are encouraged by the love and support of the saints. To God be the glory!!

UPDATE ON MY PRAYER REQUESTS

I'm sorry for being out of the loop here on xanga. I've been busy posting to Facebook, and to be quite honest, it's quicker for me to upload/post there than it is on xanga. However, when I do actually sit down to work on my site, I enjoy it so much. (Key words here are "when I sit down"!)

I would like to say THANK YOU to all you who are prayer warriors in the Body of Christ. This is not just to uplift those in need, but it is to glorify God as we are called to bring it all before him with thanksgiving.

My sister Ginger had an OB appointment yesterday. The levels they have been checking all along have been very sluggish, indicating a problem with the pregnancy. She has miscarried 4 times before Meredith and knows what to expect and how things work. On this visit yesterday, the lab reports indicated that she is probably carrying an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy....and she's had one of these before but did not lose her tube. An ultrasound was scheduled to confirm.

What the doctor found in the ultrasound was a normal 6 week old fetus (baby) with a strong heartbeat IN the uterus, not in the fallopian tube. But this came as a shock to the doctor and nurses, so labs were run again on Ginger to check for error. But the lab reports remained the same. The doctor was quite surprised there was a good heartbeat.

What he did find to be very disheartening was that the sac for the baby was unhealthy and shaped oblong, not round and healthy. Ginger's doctor is not just a kind and compassionate man, but he is also a man of God whom we greatly respect. He wanted to be encouraging to Ginger, but given her history with miscarriages, he could only tell her that without a miracle, this baby will end up in another tragic miscarriage at some point.

So sadly, given the medical knowledge we have, we are simply waiting on this baby to die due to the incompetent sac.

But we also know that our Father is the Creator of this baby. And He may choose for this baby to die. And we don't know why. It doesn't make earthly sense. But He also may choose for this baby to be a miracle and be born healthy and strong.

Please pray for that miracle. But please pray for strength for my sister and her husband Tom....that they will have peace in this struggle. Right now, they are confused and hurting and mourning....as we all are.

Regarding my other prayer request, Meredith is scheduled for surgery on September 10th. The urologist will reconstruct her ureters (tubes from kidneys to bladder) with "tunnels" to prevent the reflux she's been having for so long causing so many UTIs. This is major surgery and not to be taken lightly....but it is also proven to be very effective. Lord willing, she will not get another UTI before the surgery date because if she does, he will perform this procedure on her emergency. She is facing serious kidney damage now.

Keep in mind that though her last post-cancer scans were clear (THANK YOU LORD!) something unusual did show up in her urine that made her oncologist want a second check of her urine. Ginger took a sample to the hospital today, and we are praying he does not find traces of cancer. Note:  her cancer and the kidney reflux are unrelated conditions. The reflux is very hereditary....one of our close cousins had it and had surgery when she was 12 and my daughter Haley had it as well, though she grew out of it after a year of antibiotics and observation.

Either one of these situations is a HUGE burden and heartache for any parent.....by my sister and bro-in-law are going through them at the same time. Plus she goes back to teaching tomorrow after a summer break of enjoying being "just mommy". Please, please continue your prayers for Ginger's unborn baby and daughter Meredith as the Lord leads you to do so.

To God be the glory.