Our Family Photo Shoot

I don't tend to be a spur of the moment kind of guy; I'm a pretty big thinker so usually when someone asks me something, I need to process. Every once in a while, though, I can be pretty spontaneous (though not often :). SO when we were having breakfast Saturday morning and Em said she wanted to go out and do a family photo shoot (she's typically the more spontaneous one :), I thought it was a great idea. We really needed to do some pics with the kids and capture their cute little faces. This isn't because their faces are going to eventually not be so cute ;) But if you are a parent, and even if you aren't, you can appreciate the fact that life is BUSY and things get in the way. It's so easy to take your eye off of what really matters, and for me that is my beautiful wife and my other 2 loves, my son and daughter.

A few months ago, I was driving by myself and listening to a radio show at night while I was headed home. A guy whose name I couldn't tell you was talking to a group of guys at a conference called Promise Keepers about raising kids and the importance of not taking fatherhood for granted. He was talking about how he hated the idea of being a dad until the very moment his daughter was born. But the moment he saw her precious little face, he was filled with this incredible joy . He said lots of other things about her but what really grabbed me was this. He said "I was immediately in love with that little girl. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. And then I made a huge mistake... I blinked... and when I opened my eyes, I was dropping her off at a college dorm and driving away." I was so impacted with this that I almost stopped the car I was driving. I realized I was NOT taking every moment in; I was so focused on other things that I was missing my baby girl grow up as well as my new born son (he kinda just laid around like a log, but still :). I don't want to get so busy with life that I take those little moments for granted and think "I will see Temple tomorrow... that thing that she does that I love, I can watch her do it later. Wyatt can slobber all over me some other time." ;) I am so glad I have seen my baby girl grow to be a sweetheart of a 1-year old and I am so excited for these new stages in life that our kids are going through :)

So here are our family pictures... Let us know if you want us to capture your family moments as well :)

All I can say is WOW...

She LOVES this little guy... she is always so excited in the morning to give him kisses :)

Our 1st family photo :)

This little smile could get me to do nearly anything :)

She is in a MAMA phase...

If you take this one seriously, you probably don't know me :)

nnn