We headed out with some good friends of ours who also happen to be talented photographers for our annual family Christmas picture. This year we went to a beautiful place near our home. The background was so gorgeous, someone actually asked me if it was a pre-made backdrop! Nope. Just God's gorgeous creation. We tried a bunch of other pics so we would have a lot to choose from and ended up having a lot of fun just walking around the place.
The first test subjects (for lighting)...
+1
+ another one
OK, we're all here now...
Lochlan "helped" get a few shots too!
And Kaiah took this one of us
but not before Lochlan ran by...
and then a tractor... and Mason.
We are so blessed to get to raise these kiddos up for these fleeting moments.
And here's the photo we settled on as a family (thanks to the Korenthals for taking it for us)...
though this was a close second.
Highlights (H) and Low lights (L) of 2011
This year we reflected on the past 12 months and wanted to share our best (and worst) memories.. As a family we were blessed to be able to take several fun family vacations. In May we went to Disneyland. Summer was filled with camping, Nerf Wars with friends, backpacking as a family of 6 and with friends, Alpine Slides, trips to the coast, and a first for our family, a Japanese exchange student! And in September we went to Yellowstone!
Cliff:
(H) Hiking in the Eagle Cap wilderness with a friend, taking Mason and Kaiah on an overnighter to Mirror lake, canoeing down the Snake River @Sunset, and skydiving.
(L) Eating Polenta with Goat Cheese... (what a hard year he's had!)
| Becky: (H) Cooking experiments, planting flowers, homemade cleaners, photography, picking berries, running Hood to Coast, and skydiving. (L) Fracturing and spraining my ankle in Dec of last year... my ankle is still a little swollen! |
Mason (10):
(H) “Getting my Bible” (he got a new one that he loves and can understand much better), bird watching on Sauvie's Island, the Tetons, and Yellowstone, basketball, tackle and flag football, “my cockatoo” (I made him a freaky looking bird that ended up in almost every picture this summer), Space Mountain, Boxing with Dad “specifically hitting him in the face”, rescuing a baby swallow from the water, Isaiah's raft party, and the ultimate of wonder, A TRUMPETER SWAN!
(L) Running the Starlight Parade run while sick.
Kaiah (8):
(H) Kayaking at the coast, anytime a dog was near, flag football, the fast rides at Disneyland, horse camp with her cousin Katelyn, seeing the moose and beaver in the Tetons, canoeing, the national parks Junior Ranger programs. (L) Losing 2 Webkinz for a year. (Remarkably having diabetes and all the finger pokes and site changes are not on her low light list. Type 1 management is going great this year.)
Cambria (5):
(H) Rapunzel, learning to ride a bike, Zumba and dance classes, losing her first tooth, drawing (especially stick figures with really long hair and really big smiles), learning to read, meeting all the princess at Disneyland and the roller coasters too, s'mores and homemade ice cream at Yellowstone, and cutting 12 inches off of her curly hair.
(L) Anytime Lochlan messes with her toys.
Lochlan (3):
(H) Children's museum and other outings, going “up and down” on the Dumbo ride, “wide wain” (riding the train around Disneyland, pretending he's a rock star, Potty training, TALKING (he never stops...I'm not kidding.)
(L) When Mama leaves and when Cambria won't let him play with her toys...
We've had a very blessed year and are so thankful for supportive family and friends and to our Savior who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made humbled himself and came to earth to be born as a man and to die for our sins.
Merry Christmas!
