Family Photo

Family Photo

About Us

My photo
We met over 8 years ago at church as Shaun was walking in and I was walking out. The few words exchanged sparked an interst that kept Shaun coming back. When we FINALLY began dating 4 years later we soon knew there was something special here. Our first year quickly flew by and we both decided we never wanted to spend another year with anyone else or without each other. We married in the place where it all began on January 1, 2011 (1/1/11) and gave birth to our beautiful daughter Ava Marie on September 22, 2011 our next little one, Clara Rose came 16 months later on February 11, 2013. This blog began with our preparation with our wedding and has entered into recording the days and events of our newlywed life and new motherhood.

The Happy Couple...

Daisypath - Personal pictureDaisypath Anniversary tickers

Ava Marie

Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Third Birthday tickers

Clara Rose

Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Second Birthday tickers

Gabriel's ticker

Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Angel and Memorial tickers

Twins ticker

Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Pregnancy tickers

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Backyard days...

Cari has a great theme this week, "Girls" (it's my daily theme)

You all know me and "pictures"... I take a ton.  I have to tell you that partly is because our house/apartment burned down when I was 13 (later that year my grandmother died.  Yes... we were VERY close).  It was a tough year.  Day after Valentine's day our house burned down (we were lucky to make it out alive) Finished Junior high.  Later that year I started High school and after moving at least 5 more times as we struggled to pick up the pieces (yes... in one year) my beloved Grandmother died.  Tough year.

When our house burned down we lost ALL of our photographs.  Baby pictures... everything.  Since then we have had some returned through family members, but I still remember losing all of the originals and there are whole periods of my life where there are no photo records of (some would think this a GOOD thing I suppose).  I think that even though I always loved pictures... this is one of the reasons I REALLY love to record my days.  I know all too well how frail my memory is and how quickly time goes by and don't want to miss it or forget one bit.

Yesterday I went out quickly to water our little garden and took some pictures of the girls while we were outside on a beautiful June afternoon.  The temperature was just right, the breeze was blowing the laundry on the line and it was all together lovely. 

Because we live in the city for now we have almost NO bugs here.  No mosquitos.  No ticks in our backyard.  So little Clara was placed down on the soft grass as Ava ran round her in bare feet (much to the distress of my Portuguese neighbors who get very concerned when they see me outside in bare feet ALL the time.  I hate to tell them that I've always been a toes in the grass kind of girl...allllwaaays ...and it's probably not going to change) and I watered our vegetables. 

Just a lovely memory and some beautiful faces that I simply had to capture!

My Mother's day gift from Shaun (there are two!)

Look at that little one in the background...
 
 See her?  What's she doing?

Her new favorite thing...

Picking flowers!
(On any of the night's Shaun comes home early, he takes Ava for a walk through the neighborhood while I make dinner.  It's one of their special times together.  When she returns she comes clutching stems and heads of flowers she's collected along the way in her little fingers.  We give them a "drink" of water, place their straggly heads plucked so lovingly into a small vase and they who would have bloomed and perished without ever being noticed at all ...become our bouquet for dinner ...more beautiful to me than the most exquisite arrangement.)
 
 See Clara on the grass?
 
(The baby stroller was a gift from a neighbor...)

Barefoot in the grass!

The scooter was a recent gift from a friend who's girls outgrew it
 

(Hand-me-downs are great reminders of how fast they grow)

We would have never seen this little flower, but it's importance did not escape her...



Can't you just hear the squeals of laughter!?





 
How's it going baby?

Doing good, big Sis!



Here's a hug for the road...









Everything is new.  She was mesmerized by the sound of the birds and airplanes and blue sky and laundry flapping and Ava laughing and grass beneath her... ALL becomes new in the eyes of a child...



Enjoy your summer days!

28 comments:

  1. Your children are so beautiful! And those photos look professional! What great memories :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Evita! It's amazing what the right time of day and a good camera can do.

      Delete
  2. For all the sweetness in the world you get to behold every single day. Oh, Marijanna, you are blessed (as am I). Your girls ALWAYS make me smile (and tear up a bit).Thank you for sharing your girls with us. I know how hard living these days can sometimes be, trust me, but they truly are fleeting. You'll be happy later for all the wonderful photos you took of your days together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sarah. I know they are blessed days and will go by too fast. Makes me a little (a lot) sad to think of how fast it goes.

      Delete
  3. YUP, totally agree.them be beautiful babes.

    I just love their dark hair and crystal blue eyes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OH Christine, thank you! Your babies too are stunning.

      Delete
  4. Oh Marijanna...I love this post. It captures the beauty of so many things...your sweet babies, your love of home and motherhood, God's gift of nature, and the simplicity of an ordinary day. Without this, these precious moments, while stamped forever on your heart, would be lost in the mix of so many others.

    I am like you in that way...I love to capture these moments and hope to save them forever.

    Have a wonderful day, bloggy friend!

    Oh....and I am a barefoot in the grass gal too. Except we do have ticks here and they freak me out!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Billie Jo, I do love my home and motherhood. Shaun joked today that I "upgraded" when I became a stay at home Mom. I agree.

      Ordinary days... they are beautiful and full of life and memories.

      Ticks... ick. HATE them.

      Delete
  5. You are so right, excellent, sweet, simple moments to capture. SO beautiful, and I love their eyes, they have a serious look about them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rebekah! They definitely have a serious side for sure... then there are the other sides ;)

      Delete
  6. Barefoot in the grass is the best way to be!! And those girls, oh so adorable. And that photographer knew just how to capture their spirit. ;-) Way to go, Marijanna!! Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Cathy! I love being barefoot in the grass.

      Delete
  7. So totally sweet! I love all the color in your yard!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Maia! I just love flowers. Someday I'll surround myself with flowers (uh oh... I just had a casket image come to mind, but that's not what I meant... I meant more like a secret garden type of "surrounded by flowers"... just for the record!)

      Delete
  8. Sisters are the bestest! Your girls are sooooo lucky!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes they are! Sisters in Christ are pretty awesome too (wink)

      Delete
  9. What cuties you have! I love the hair on your younger daughter and the eyes on the older one! You've taken some lovely pictures of them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Laura! Clara actually looks almost identical to her sister at this age, funny, huh?

      Delete
  10. I literally gast when I see that baby! My Gabriel had dark, dark hair and blue blue eyes like that when he was a baby. Then his hair went and changed to BLOND on me! Argh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ava's is doing a Gabriel! I agree they are stunning. I only make one kind of baby so far, though. FYI, Gabriel is one of my favorite boy names.

      Delete
  11. Your children are incredibly beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  12. You take gorgeous photos! I love them...they are so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Amelia. They're easy to photograph (and I received a great camera as a gift a few years back from an old boyfriend)

      Delete
  13. they are absolutely beautiful!! Oh and I have some books and childrens clothes hangers (if you need them) my kiddos clothes are getting too big to stay on them :( And Payton said that Ava has to have her board puzzles!! lol

    Guess this means we're going to have to schedule a visit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely! I still have your container from the Kale Soup you brought me! xo

      Delete

Go ahead and say hello! I love comments!