I am VERY lucky to have a friend and neighbor that is a phenomenal photographer. She has once again taken some GREAT pictures of Drew and Em. I love these pictures so much, I can't wait for Christmas cards to share them. So here's the early preview.
To see more of Cory's work check out her site. I'm sure you will also find more pictures of Drew and Em there from past sessions. http://www.footprintsofgrace.com/
The hay pile - one of Em's favorites! I heard another parent say that instead of paying thousands for a backyard playset they were just going to order a few dozen bales of straw for their backyard. The neighbors might not like that idea so well.
Em and Drew again.
I've taken this shot every year we've gone to Stony Creek. Wow, my baby has grown! I miss those curls!
2006...
Me and my kiddos.
Em and Daddy "shooting things into the water"
These next two are yet more examples of our easygoing Drew. He is just along for the ride and happy wherever we take him. When he's had enough, he simply goes to sleep.
And this one is just for Aunt Sarah to get a great laugh out of. Rockstar!
Emily's preschool does a hayride to a "pumpkin patch" every year. I was able to surprise Emily and go with her again this year. I was so glad I did. She loves having me do school activities with her. (If you're thinking Drew looks like he lost weight in this picture it's because it's not Drew - it's my friend Sarah's little guy Luke)
Last Friday evening we went to Ritchey Woods for their annual Halloween Hike. We were so excited to actually go this year - we were rained out the last two years. Actors dress up as local animals, birds, and insects and come to life in the woods. It was very interesting and Emily really got a kick out of the characters. 
Can anyone guess what these guys are?
Our church, Northview, just concluded a six week series, Life on Loan. We've been studying what it means to live a life on loan from God. It was a great series and I learned a lot. I've been reminded that my actions speak much louder than my words about my heart and about my faith. Every day I come into contact with dozens of people that I have the ability to impact, even if in just a small way. Going forward I want to strive to make that impact a reflection of Christ's love. During the study the illustration of our lives being a dot on the line to infinity was brought up several times. It's so easy to get consumed by our lives here on Earth. If we could just remember to keep things in perspective. Importance should be placed on the things that affect us on the rest of that line to infinity. Paul states in 2 Corinthians Chapter 4:
17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
As part of this series, everyone was encouraged to join a life group. At the prompting of a few friends, Don and I decided to host a group. It was so evident to me that God had his hand on the forming of our group. I am so excited that our group has decided to continue meeting beyond our initial six week commitment. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us. Below are a couple of pictures of our group from our service project at Northview's urban church, Brookside. We took a tour of the church, met some of the people, and then helped them clean up the streets surrounding the area. It was a great experience, yet I don't want to look on it as a one time experience but rather a stepping stone for doing more work like this to demonstrate God's love and my faith. Below are a couple of pictures from Brookside.
Weekend before last we went to Spring Mill for a fall camping trip. At least it was supposed to be a fall camping trip, it felt more like summer. Here's the gang.
The park and the campers at Spring Mill really get into Halloween. Emily loved it. Our daughter has a thing for all things spooky. I fear she will decide to go "goth" as a teenager. For now she's a pretty fairy. I would like to keep her that way for as long as possible. The park had a costume parade - there were at least 100 kids in costumes that paraded around the campground including our fairy and princess kitty. (And I might have been dressed up as a firefighter thanks to my brother-in-law).
The park has a Pioneer Village - like Conner Prairie on a smaller scale. The best part about this shot got missed on camera. The water came splashing on the wheel and sent Drew and the kids running for dry ground.
Uncle Ryan spoiling the girls with candy.
Drew didn't find the Pioneer Village as entertaining as the rest of us.
Saturday night they turned the Pioneer Village into a Haunted Village. We had to wait in line for 1 hour and 40 minutes! Look at the picture if you don't believe me! The line keeps going and going and going....
Emily was practicing scaring the monsters.
Uncle Ryan spoiling the girls again. And showing off his strength.
My friends are such a riot! We had a smartie-pants, a table runner, white trash, a hippie, a chicken, me dressed for a masquerade, little red riding hood and the big bad wolf, spa girl, hot pirate, static cling and a colts fan here. Of course Vicki got the award for most creative, that's always a given! But little red riding hood and the wolf were pretty cool too! I love you girls!
Saturday evening we had a great time at a hog roast at my sister Julie's house. Her husband Dustin raised a few pigs over the summer and couldn't wait to have a hog roast. (They live on the farm I grew up on). I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of Dustin and the roaster he made himself. If anyone else has a shot of that be sure to email it to me. Here are the pics I did manage to take. Me and my lovely sisters.....
We barely saw these two all afternoon or evening they were so busy playing.
Sis Kristi cuddling with baby Drew.
It was all fun and games until they started trying to run people over!
A few of the guys. The one in the middle is not family but sometimes it feels like he's an extended party of the family, I hear so much about Abel and Elizabeth.
We ended the night with some dancing in the barn. Definitely reminded me of parties growing up.
The kids in Emily's Owls 3 class were asked to decorate a page all about themselves for a class album. The kids will each get to take the book home for a week to look through it. I thought this was a great idea. It was a lot of fun to think about Emily, her likes and dislikes, favorite activities. Even at this age she is a unique little person with her own opinions (and strong ones!). I'll admit actually putting the page together was a little tedious and time consuming (the reason I gave up scrapbooking before ever really starting), but Em and I are pleased with the end result.
Without further delay, I present our Disney pictures! Turn back now if you don't want to see all 30 of them (still only about a fourth of the pictures I took are shown here!) We had a wonderfully exhausting time. We did follow our daily itineraries for the most part, with some minor changes as we went along. Overall, we all thought they helped tremendously. We did six days of parks, although one day in the middle was at the water park and it was a much more laid back day.
Emily's Fave Five:
Tower of Terror
Thunder Mountain
Spash Mountain
Princesses, Princesses, and more Princesses
Waterslides
Liz Fave Five:
Tower of Terror
Lion King Show
Beauty and Beast Show
It's Tough to be a Bug 3D movie
Family water slide
Anastasia and Drizella
(I know that's six, I can count)
Drew's Fave Five:
Being pushed in a stroller all day long
Lots of bright lights to look at
Sleeping in mom and dad's bed
Pulling Pluto's whiskers
Trying to get that bug hanging from my seat
Don and Mom - you both should post a comment with your fave five.
One of our many encounters with Cinderella. I think we spoke to her three times and saw her at least a couple others.
I just love the castle. It is so beautiful...
Aren't they a pair. Em had just as much fun goofing around with Mickey and the gang as she did being a princess.
Emily asked every princess what her favorite food was. See their answers at the end. Very cute. Thanks for the great idea Kristen.
We were very fortunate to get one on one time with every princess during the week, several more than once.
Emily wasn't the only little princess at the parks!
With my princess...
Don may not be too thrilled with me posting this, but I love this picture. They had the coolest thing at Epcot where music played in response to moving your hands. Don of course wanted to see what happened when he moved his arms and hands as fast as he could.
Emily dancing in the spotlights...
Cinderella again. This time we dined in her castle and saw the Fairy Godmother perform Bibbidi Bobbidi
We had dinner at 1900 Park Faire with Cinderella and the rest of her family. Anastasia and Drizella were hilarious!!
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Anastasia and Drizella got into an argument. Before Prince Charming came over to break them up our own Princess Emily walked over to them, put her hands on her hips, and said "Stop fighting" Their response - "Well, she started it.." So funny.
An example of what a doll Drew was. He seriously could not have been any better. Perfect I tell you, just perfect.
Oh the shows - loved the shows!! They were all fabulous! The costumes amazing. Unfortunately we were only allowed to take pictures at Beauty and The Beast. Lion King and Finding Nemo both were just indescribable!
Don and Em about to ride Tower of Terror for the fifth time.
I forgot to put this on my fave five - shopping at Downtown Disney. I seriously almost did not have enough room to bring everything back with me.
Try as we might, we still had unused snack credits at the end of the week. We saw a t-shirt that said it best "Eating our Way through Disney - Free Dining 2008"
Another picture of our perfect little guy and that bug he spent a lot of time with.
How darling is this, a princess driving a race car.
You can see where Drew's attention is.
Thank heavens for gramma. We would not have survived without her. Thank you mom!!!
Drew really loved Mickey and the gang.
Pluto almost lost a whisker here...
Goofy was hilarious. He startled me when he came to our table. I jumped a little and he jumped a lot - so much so he fell on the floor. He had Em giggling up a storm.
These eyes just say it all, magic.
Our last night in Disney we stayed out REALLY late to see the Illuminations show. Em was wasted by the time we got back to our room. She practically collapsed on the floor and said she was too tired to even get into bed.
And now for the princesses' favorite foods:
