Benny and Lambers

Everlasting love.  (Thank you Aunt LuAnn for such a loyal friend.)

Let's go fly a kite

This past Easter was very tender for us all.  Just a year ago we had come to my mom and dad's house to celebrate Easter with them.  Just nine months before we had moved to Utah expecting to spend most holidays with my parents.  Life is messy and that was not meant to be.  We enjoyed a quiet, happy Easter together with my mom and then decided to try out the kites the Easter Bunny brought us.

One of my first memories is of my dad running through the house fishing out a kite because it was perfect kite weather.  It was an exhilarating feeling to hunt through the basement for the kites.  I honestly don't think I even knew what a kite was during that search.  Then we were off for the school behind my house to fly.  My dad loved big moments.  He loved making things special.  

A few months ago I was looking for something in my mom's house.  I honestly don't even remember what, but I do remember looking next to a wardrobe cabinet and finding the biggest, blingiest, most exciting looking kite in existence stashed there.  It warmed and broke my heart.  That happens to my heart a lot since my dad died.  Of course my dad had a ginormous, awesome kite.  Of course he did!  And of course he would have taken my boys out to the park to fly it.  I love that about my dad.  And I deeply miss that about my dad.  He was a wonderful dad and a totally kick-butt grandpa.  

I felt so close to him as the boys flew their kids in the most ideal kite weather ever recorded.  It felt like the best way to remember my dad on a holiday such as Easter.  To remember that he is not really gone.  That we will see him again.  And that life is about moments such as that.  I am so looking forward to him telling me that he was out there running next to my giggling boys.  I'm pretty sure that he was.  

Lovely

These were taken in January and I can't believe the change I see in the kids in such a short time.  This was a perfect afternoon.  In some part due to the all expense paid trip to McDonald's that hung in the balance for those smiles.  

I couldn't be more grateful for these photos and especially for the people in them.  Love.

Thank you Xan for such an amazing experience and such beautiful photos.

Everything

I love everything about this picture.  Liesl's a dedicated finger sucker who apparently likes big bears.  I can work with that.  

I love it when I find moments like this one

So much better than potty training moments.

Joseph Smith Hair!

Oh, this girl

Nico go goolo?

I used to ask my mom if my sister, Jana, was at school each day by saying, "Jana go goolo?".  Here's my Nicholas ready to "go goolo" as it were.  I love this Nicholas.  He is spunky, sweet, and thoughtful. Oh my dear man, your sweetness is a gift.

Nicholas and Ben waiting at the window for his "goolo" carpool.

Because of my dad's sudden passing we are living with my mom until the summer.  It's been a special and important time for us to help each other in meaningful ways. And I have to say, there's something sweet (and definitely surreal) about sending my boysies out the same front door I marched out of each day as a child.  A bizarro full circle that somehow works.

Beautiful Morning

Sometimes a sweet baby, her big brother, the lighting and cleanliness of the room, and the blanket and outfit all come together.  And sometimes I remember to pick up my camera and document it all.

Ben is a wonderful camera man and singer and Liesl is a wonderful subject and audience.  Baby girl has softened her big brothers.  If only that softening would work brother to brother, too.