Selah . 6 months

A few of my favorite shots of Selah at 6 months:

She's so cute!

Sweet face

Good Friends Kim & Ken

We had a great time hanging out at Ken and Kim's new place in Hillsboro the other night. We became friends with them about a year and a half ago and I knew we'd become close friends after the first time we hung out with them. We saw life the same and they're in full time youth ministry as well, so we have a lot in common.

So the other night we had dinner at their new home, put Jude to bed and then Kim and I hit the local clothing stores while the boys stayed home and vegged out on game cube soccer. It cracked me up to realize that Kim and I wear the same size shoe, jacket, and pretty much pant or dress! She's like a blonde sister!

Well, Kim was looking for a jean jacket, so we ran to a nice store she'd seen one at recently. Wait until you hear what an excellent shopper she is... they had been marked down to $6.97!! It was shocking! This is one of those spectacular deals you only come across on occasion - so we each bought one!! It still cracks me up thinking about our $7 jean jackets. We went back to their home and modeled them for the boys.

Old Friends...

This afternoon we had some dear friends come by for lunch. Aaron and Val brought their baby girl Ayla for us to meet for the first time, and our good friend Michael brought his son Ethan, who we've known since he was born on our 1st wedding anniversary. Ethan will be 4 this year! (Michael's wife Danya and daughter Brooklyn were in CA and couldn't make it).

We had lunch and just spent time together in the living room today, enjoying the company of our children too. It's a special time in life and it was extra sweet being with these old friends.

Josh went to Multnomah Bible College with both Aaron and Mike and we use to live in the same apartment complex with Mike and Dayna in Wilsonville way back in the newlywed days... good old days.

Josh and I have noticed something strange about our life. All of our close and dear friends always seem to move away. It's so sad. It feels like it happens with every close relationship we develop with another couple. Even recently after Aaron and Val had moved to Washington we made friends with Ken and Kim, but then a few months later they moved to Salem... so, we're always looking for new friends that have no desire to leave the Portland area! :)

Here are a few more photos from our time together:

Life through a new lens

This last week was momentous for me. I got a new lens! I now see life "more clearly" or fuzzy, however you look at it. With my new 50mm lens I'm able to have a more shallow depth-of-field and produce the kind of portraits I like.

Josh, Jude and I went to Pro Photo Supply, downtown Portland, and I got to try a $2,500 lens on my camera. My first reaction after looking through that lens was... awe! I told Josh it was like going from looking through a dirty windshield to a pristine, shiny piece of glass! What clarity and color and beauty! Uh-oh, now there's something else I want to buy! And who would stop at just one new lens? (photo: Josh's reaction after I looked through a $$ lens). But I put it back and bought my more affordable 50mm.

Our good friends Dustin and Sheri Cook came over that night and we shot 300 photos in our living room of one another testing out my new piece of less-expensive glass. As you can see it was serious business!

I feel blessed to be able to pursue my photography dreams. Josh is so supportive and Jude makes a wonderful test subject!