Birthday Girl!!

Unbelievably, our "baby" Sierra has turned 14 on August 8th!! It was cool cuz this year it was "08/08/08"!! We had the youth group from Church over for a surprise party with cake and games and stuff and it was sooooo much fun!! Here's a shot of Sierra just as she figured out there was an entire youth group crouching in our kitchen! [the arm in the shot belongs to Caroline Kipp, who in her exuberance, thrust her arm directly in front of my camera at precisely the worst moment possible. I thought it added something to the pic.. :-) ]

We took a vote and everybody voted unanimously that we are ALL glad you were born! Thanks for being a great kid!! We love you!!

Hunter turns 17!!

On Mar. 12, 1991, our lives changed when Deana gave birth to the cutest baby boy in the world. And here we are, 17 years later, and although he's not too cute anymore (just kiddin'!) he is still making us proud and filling our lives with laughs and joy. We all got together to celebrate at Cypress Creek Canopy Tours for a little zip lining and it was a blast!!!
Here's Hunter zipping into his 17th b-day!!

A special morning with Kat...

This morning Deana and I took our niece, Katheryn, out to take her bridal pics. This was not like ANY of our other times with her. Over the years we have taken her shopping, swimming, skating, to eat pizza....all the stuff you do with your nieces....but NEVER have we done this before. I suppose this means that we have to start dealing with the fact that she's growing up! We love her fabulous fiance, Michael, and can't wait for their big wedding this summer!

This beautiful red door brought out the color in her bouquet...and the weather could not have been more perfect for this!

It was a terrifying honor that she asked me to take her bridal pics, given that my only experience in taking pics is at the kids' soccer and basketball games or band concerts! But how can you go wrong with a bride-to-be like THIS one, right?

She's absolutely beautiful and she's going to make a Katalicious bride!

We took all of these in various locations on the campus of St. Edward's University here in Austin. People driving on campus were stopping to watch!

I thought I'd post these eight which I think are my faves...it was hard to narrow it down.

By the way, don't tell Michael these pics are here! He's not allowed to see her in her wedding dress before their wedding day!! So mum's the word!

Bethlehem 2007

What does this picture have to do with Bethlehem, you ask? Everything, actually. Every Christmas Eve my family gets together and each of us reads aloud a section of the Gospels which details the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ. I took a moment to sneak outside and take a picture from outside looking in. Very few things change year after year about this little gathering. The old antiques on the wall....the old red bricks on the house...the modest Charlie Brown Christmas tree...Boston Brown bread....hot chocolate. I could almost recite it word for word. The only thing that NEVER changes is the reality that someone was born for the purpose of dying for me. And He DID it. So if you ask me for my favorite Christmas picture it will look something like this....quiet, humble, modest, unpretentious....just like that night in Bethlehem.