June 14 Super HOT

Tuesday:  I picked the kiddos up from Kelly this morning at 9:30. The humidity and heat have reached levels that are quite Uncomfortable in my little house; so we just ate a good breakfast, the kids worked on making some home videos on PhotoBooth, we ate a decent lunch, and as the children watched about 30 minutes of "The Roadrunner", I picked up this place, prepped dishes for washing later, and loaded the children up to go to MVP to swim for the rest of the afternoon.

All four of them DID play for a little while,
but even with every single fan I had blowing
on high speed, it was very uncomfortable at my house.

It was a good plan! The pool was refreshing and the kids had a lot of fun. The sun was SO hot, though, I feared staying in the water and out in the sun for more than an hour. I retreated to some lounge chairs, but had to wait another hour before I could find any "shaded" lounge chairs. I did use sunscreen, but I have such WHITE skin. The kids used a special face sunscreen and then a body sunscreen as well; but their swimsuits also offer a lot of coverage and protection.

I was very pleased to see how much fun Aidan had in the water. He used to be (years ago) quite timid and actually a little bit fearful of swimming. He has grown so much! I love to see this brilliant little child playing like a regular person--whooping and hollering, splashing and jumping, making friends--it's a wonderful sight!

Brendan is not pictured--we barely saw him! Brendan's explanation was this: "Oh! I like to stay at the BOTTOM of the pool, in the deep end." Well then. No wonder!

Young Mr. Gregory, life vest on at all times, was also very happy to be in the thick of all of the activity. He is not allowed to go down the huge curvy slide because he is not tall enough yet. He told me he is still the shortest in his Kindergarten class, even though he is the oldest. I don't think he tells me this with sadness, he's just delivering the FACTS.

As soon as we checked in through the gate, Erin's close friend (Emmy) ran over to her. How fun it was for those girls to swim together. I didn't photograph Emmy--but here are Aidan and Erin trying to decide who is going to jump and make the biggest splash.

I regret feeling rather irritable quite a bit of the time we were at the pool. Hopefully, the children didn't pick up on it. I had just been so terribly hot and worn out at home--I do fine in the early morning hours when the air is still somewhat tolerable; but WOW it sure got hot at my house mid-day. When we got to the pool, it was (of course) quite crowded. Why is it that children SCREAM so loudly in the water?!?! Sigh. I hate being grumpy around little ones. Please help me with this Lord.

July 12 More engagement pics

continued:  These next few pictures were taken very far away from Kota and Emma. I am absolutely terrible at ZOOMing anything! I used my photo program to kind of fix these, but I don't think the pixel quality is very good.

They are closer here, so this is a clearer shot ...

Oh to run down the beach again (never in my lifetime will I be able to do this)! I love it when Emma does this. She is a fast runner!

This next series is my favorite. I hope Emma will use these on FB, but she is free to use whatever she likes.

They are just such sweet pictures.

And she's OFF once more ... !!!

 I hope Emma finds these acceptable to use where she wants to use them. It sure was nice to be with these two yesterday. 

We ate dinner out (they treated me!) at Buffalo Wild Wings--YUM! I moaned as I ate. Shock!

Oh, Lord, please draw these two dear people close to Your wonderful heart. Teach them to love you as You alone deserve. Help them submit all of their lives to You. Guard them, Jesus, from the evils of the world around us. Direct them to Your Word and use it to daily cleanse their lives. 

Help us to truly KNOW You, the only True God, and Jesus Christ who You sent to chase us down and show us Who You are. Please guard us from our enemy, help us keep alert, and use our lives to bring You glory, honor, and praise.

July 12 Emma and Kota

Sunday afternoon: Emma asked me last week if I would come with her and Kota and photograph their engagement "event" -- Kota actually proposed on July 2 over at Pioneer Park, so these pictures are just to celebrate that fact. 

We had perfect weather Sunday afternoon and we KNEW the beaches would be super crowded. Where could we go that was beautiful but where we could find less people? We decided on Muskegon State Park because there is such a long stretch of beach there. Sure, people were there--but if we walked far enough we could get them pretty much way in the background. 

I'm going to post a whole bunch of pictures that I have edited--you know, fix the horizon line, sharpen the color, etc. I may make several posts, depending on how I feel about it.

I liked this first picture, especially of Emma, but every time I tried to remove the background people nearest to her face, everything messed up and got all out of line. I gave up trying. I still like this picture though.

I cropped a bunch of people out of this photo (including Kota) but I wish Emma had been smiling ...

I like this one of both of them!

I super like this one. I love Emma's smile, and I love how Kota is looking at her.

Okay ... by now, you have quickly realized I am NOT a professional photographer (as if you didn't already know this!). A pro-photo person knows exactly where to have the subjects stand, which way to face, how to place their hands, etc. AND that photographer bosses everyone around until they get the result they are looking for. I'm not that person!

I do favor this first picture of their hands though (look at Emma's beautiful nails and engagement ring).

I am shooting into the sun in a lot of these pictures, so my fine-tuning isn't exactly the best; however, I do like these pictures--so there!

A very sweet kiss ...

The sun is right exactly in Kota's eyes in the next shot ... he looks pained (because he is!).

He moved just slightly and smiled (below), so that one is better I think.

I did order both of them INTO the water ... I surprised myself ... I'm not good at being the boss.

I think all of these are lovely ... I have more to follow ... bear with me.