Autumn light

It is hard to deny the arrival of autumn as the air becomes crisper, the leaves begin to turn golden around the edges, and the softer sunlight of fall dances around the house. I love the signs and gladly welcome the change. I get excited when I pull out my comfy sweaters, open the windows in the early evening to invite the brisk air into my home, and flip through my cookbooks trying to find the perfect fall dessert...apple crisp...no pumpkin bars. Yep, pumpkin bars with brown butter icing it is. We have spent the last few days enjoying the autumn as a family. I wanted to share the recent photo bounty with you. We recently took a trip to a nearby barn that sells tons of locally grown fresh produce. We scored a ton of good fruits and veggies and these awesome pumpkin shots.


I went chasing the autumn light throughout my house these week. I found it in some unusual places.

Left top and bottom: Karis' room.
Right top: Autumn harvest outside my front door.
Right bottom: My office.













Despite the lovely fall temperatures over the last couple of weeks, today warmed up to more typical summer temps. We scolded central California for its moody temperatures and headed straight for the coast with our friend Katie. It was an unusually clear day there, as well as hot, making our efforts to evade the heat seem quite useless. At least we had fun eating at our favorite restaurant, good conversation with Katie, and scored some always appreciated beach shots.

Finally, this week I got to stretch my photography muscles a little more professionally with a friend. I took his senior pictures and had a fun time doing it. He has such a great personality which made the experience very enjoyable. Here are some of the highlights.



Here is the view of the tree behind our house but taken from the park on the other side of the tree a couple of miles away at the park where I was shooting David's pictures.

Blog break

Yeah, so I have been on a little break lately. So much going on around me with the start of school and hard adjustments to a new baby. Month 2 has been the hardest so far. All the lack of sleep accumulated over the last two months has come crashing down and hit me hard the last couple of weeks leaving me feeling tired, occasionally depressed, and sick. Everyone told me once you reach the six week mark things will get better. Well, I rounded that six week mark and agreed with the prophecy. But then came week eight and nine and things got exponentially harder, much to my surprise. With the persistent help of friends offering babysitting and Matt's gracious offers to help out around the house, I feel like I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. So now you have my excuse for the recent silence. I love this picture of Karis. Here she is napping with Dad at the youth retreat a couple of weeks ago. We put that ridiculously large and hot hat on her head because we were sitting under a tree that was dropping acorns everywhere. Leave it up to her paranoid parents to worry that an acorn would fall and damage our little baby! Well, it makes a cute picture! (by the way...look a that face she is making, her lips all puckered up...adorable, huh?!). I wanted to post some pictures from things going on around the house the last few weeks. Enjoy!

I found Keller sunbathing in the laundry room the other day. Yes, you read right...the laundry room. Depending on the time of day and the season the sun will shine in different parts of the house. Sometimes it is my office, the bedroom, and today it was the laundry room. I snapped these shots of her basking in the slivers of light.

I snapped this picture of Matt singing to Karis. When she is crying he will often pull out the guitar and sing to her. Does it work? Check out her contented face.

For Grandma

I am a big fan of...

...this guy! I can't help it. I even married him for lack of ability to control just how much I like him. Well, he has stepped it up yet another notch this month. He has added something new to his resume. His resume used to read: husband, father, friend, doggie dad, worship leader, youth pastor, computer whisperer, organizational genius, bargain shopper extraordinaire, and coca-cola connoisseur [please note there are many other items available for mentioning but the writer has kept the list concise, highlighting the main attractions, for your reading pleasure]. But Matt has stepped it up "another notch" this month. Add actor to the list. That is right, my man is going to be starring in our local community theater's production of Oklahoma this October. He has a few solo pieces and will have to do a few group dance numbers. What was something Matt has only dreamt about trying has now become a reality. Have no fear, Dear, I'll be there in the front row cheering you on. Watch out Hollywood...here we come!

Another Hollywood moment last year as Matt performed at the piano.

Calling all espresso lovers...

My coffee dreams came true yesterday! I feel I must share my good fortune. Apparently Starbucks is doing away with their Barista home espresso machines. I saw it a few days ago advertised for $199. Wow...that is $250 off the original retail price. I went back yesterday to purchase one (after much consideration on mine and Matt's part) only to discover they were reduced again to $99. Folks, I am not kidding. I got this $450 espresso machine for $69 (ok, I got extra money off because it was the demo machine for the store). I have wanted one of these machines for a long time but could never justify the cost. I have thanked Jesus a few times in the last 24 hours for his generosity and lavishness. He finally said yes. So I am telling you all this so you can rush out to your local Starbucks and ask them if their machines have been reduced and if they have any left (stores may vary by region). Good luck.

Oh, and let me know if any of you score one!