Monday, February 25, 2013

Eleven

I'm squeaking this in here, but it's not midnight yet, so it still counts! :)


Someone turned eleven today! Hard to believe he's that old and nearly as tall as I am! One size away from wearing the same size shoe as me, this kid is growing up way too fast!


We were in a rush to get these pictures this morning so they could have been better had I caught the fact that he was squinting throughout most of them.


The flying Superman pose!

Dear Elisha,

You have grown leaps and bounds this year, Kid. I love the things you say and the way you think. God is at the top with you and you're not afraid to let your friends know it. Keep praying for them, son, and don't lose sight of who you are and where you are going. God's got big plans for you, but never forget you can't do it in your own strength. You will always need His guidance and power. 

We love you so much! Don't forget that as you grow we are right here with you, offering our love, guidance and support. Happy birthday again, Son! I hope it was a SUPER one!

Love,

Mom and Dad


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Our "Super" Photo Shoot

Last year we decided to take a family picture on New Year's Day (2012) and this year we figured since we liked it so much we wanted to do another. I thought of doing our Super family pictures and we all dressed in Superman (or girl) clothing. Bethany actually borrowed one of my shirts and we tied it in the back. Elisha wore his pajama shirt, as he did not have a regular shirt and Yohn's looked way too big on him.

So on New Year's Day 2013 this is what we did...


So setting our camera on auto, we went to the park and took some pictures on the bridge.


We had a hard time getting the bridge to ourselves, as it was a beautiful day and it had been cold, cloudy and rainy for the whole month leading up to New Year's. Everyone was out and about strolling around the park.


Most of these photos are just as they were taken, unedited.


My camera was not behaving much, so it took a bit to get the photos we wanted. 


Because the sun was in his eyes, Elisha kept hiding in that shadow on me.


Despite having lots of trouble with the camera, and a few difficult moments with our daughter, we got some decent pictures. As you can see Elisha and Yohn both really got into the character.


And we got some fun ones, even though I wanted to do so much more, it was not worth trying to make everyone wait for the camera to cooperate. 


The kids both really loved the pictures at the end and we have even had their friends comment on the pictures as they appear on the screensaver.



The other day groupon was running a special on aluminum prints and so I ordered our favorite pose:


I can't wait until it gets here!

Once again, I hope you are having a "Super" Year!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

School Pictures

These were taken back in October, but my brilliant self just found them and decided to put them in frames. Ya know, about four months later, no big. What makes it even better is that last year's pictures didn't even make to the frames so at least I improved some, right?


Elisha ~ 10 years old, 5th grade


Bethany ~ 9 years old, 4th grade

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Snow Day!

No, we didn't have some crazy freak snowstorm hit our area suddenly, causing panic and chaos. What we did have a family day with some friends a few hours drive from our home where there really was snow, and lots of it!


This picture of Bethany is before she got hurt.

Elisha went down a steep hill that already had a sled path on it and had a blast. Bethany thought she would try it too, but didn't fair as well. Needless to say she had a painful day, but was a trooper and did not want to leave as we had only arrived a half an hour before.




Since we live in the Bay Area where there is no snow, except for on the mountain tops, we had virtually no snow gear. Only nice thick jackets, but no gloves, boots or snowpants. Our friends had pants to fit Yohn and I, and gloves for all members of the family. Yay!


We found snow pants on clearance racks at Sears and Sports Authority for the kids, paying more than 50% off both times. Unfortunately we struck out on the boots. Our friends had a pair that fit me. Yohn had boots I swore he told me were waterproof. Bethany also had boots I thought were waterproof. But our poor Elisha we found nothing for (not on short notice anyway, the internet would have come to our rescue should we have had the time to have them shipped). 


You can tell in this picture she is in a bit of pain. She hurt her tailbone on that very first sled ride (I don't have a picture of it).




By the way, I did not take any of these pictures with my "obnoxious" camera. I used my bloggy touch which is made for taking videos. It's small and fits in my pocket. I took a lot of video and a fair amount of photos, mostly of Bethany because she stayed close by. The only draw back to the bloggy is that it is made for outdoors, which was good for a day like this, but not for recording or photographing indoors. 


We stayed fairly warm all day but when stopped to have our picnic lunch we got a little cold from lack of movement. It was at this time that both of my kids had a meltdown as their feet were freezing. Elisha only had his tennis shoes with extra socks and lining and Bethany had her boots which weren't water proof after all. But when faced with the decision to go home or stay they both decided they'd tough it out.


My boys thought this picture of them was pretty funny!


Elisha attempting to make a snow angel.


At one point in the afternoon there were several small rainbows in the sky.





Bethany's injuries included a bruised tailbone, and a stiff neck the next day. Then Monday her ribs starting hurting after she played her clarinet and went to worship team practice. Thankfully, after an x-ray the doctor concluded that they are just bruised too and she should be feeling much better by the end of next week. Poor baby! I wish I had the sense not to let her go down that hill in the first place. She still said she had a blast and did not want to leave, even when the sun was setting and we had to call it a day.


Elisha had the best "run" at sledding but was only able to do it once. Here he is at the top, and was able to cruise several feet through trees and small hills down into a clearing. When he tried to do it again he wasn't as successful and kept skidding sideways. I wish I would have recorded it for him, as he was so excited over his victory!


We attempted snow men at the end of the day, but the snow wasn't really the best for packing. Still we pulled off several snow ball fights through out the day. This snow man really is quite tiny, despite how he looks in the picture. :)


We decorated the trees too!


Since I wasn't in any of the other pictures, Yohn took this one of Bethany and me on the way home.

It was a great, exhausting day and we all went to sleep early that night. Too bad we had church the next day because I am convinced we all would have slept until noon!