Hump Day

I was going to start this by saying how crazy this week has been until I realized: I've been saying that for the last two months. Oy! I guess this is just the reality of the season of life we are in. Someone needs an attitude adjustment, someone else needs a special trip to the doctor for an injury, someone's top two big teeth are coming in hard, Papa has lots of work to do at the office, three people come down with sore throats, and the plumber says we need to replace the 26 year old+ toilets upstairs. This just sorta covers the last week.  

But there's some really good and exciting stuff too. I launched an official fb page for J. Swenson Photography. Last weekend was surely my busiest yet. And meeting new families is always a treat. 

 W is taking on a big week of work this week so he can take off the entire next week. It gets tricky when you try to take off at month's end in his job. I'm thankful for his boss swapping some things around to make it work for us.

And I got one step closer to another bucket-list item over the weekend!!! Since Theo's birth, I've added "attending a birth where I didn't have to do all the hard work!!" on to my list. I have this thing for birth. I'm strange but I think it's beautiful. And now with photography taking off, I would really love to capture it for others. It's just such a natural next step. So, of course, I talked my way into capturing a sweet girlfriend's freshly minted babe at the hospital over the weekend. She kindly obliged. ;) It was so wonderful just visiting, and capturing their story as it unfolded that afternoon. Baby girl, less than 24 hours old, and her new parents. Learning about each other and how to care for her. Being nervous and excited and exhausted and delighted. It's honestly so crazy that I'm now on the other side of it. That I would be the one handing out encouragement and advice. How quickly did that change?! 

It was also a sweet reminder to be present. Every day I have a choice. And while photography is a great thing and such a life-giving practice for me; while hobbies, interests, personal buck-list dreams are good, my family and children need me more. I need to make the best use of the day with them. And even though today is yet another day of "I'm gonna need a whole lot of coffee and a whole lotta Jesus" to make it, I want to continue stepping through this holy work of digging in deep with my family. 

So, these last few days of crazy attitudes, teething horrors, exhausted/short tempered Mama, and sick/overworked Papa, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel!!! We are ALL really looking forward to some good, quality family time next week!!! And afternoon play dates and running through the rain have also helped immensely this week. ;)

W Family

Gah, I honestly don't no where to begin with this family. They mean so much to me. I remember when Elizabeth and my paths crossed shortly after Ezra turned one. I knew right away that we were kindred spirits. And I have deeply loved living out life together. Both the joyous and the painful. Thanks, Elizabeth, for not only allowing me to capture your adorable brood, but more for being such a source of encouragement and always pointing me back to the One who created and knows my heart. Love you, sweet Sister!!

 xoxo, 

j

LOTS

Lots on our plate these days with not a whole lot of space for updates. Yikes. But a good yikes, nevertheless. Photography and Nailed It have been keeping me busy on top of three beautiful babes and one handsome hubby. I don't think I've shared here, but I've opened an online shop on etsy with my surplus products from selling at the holiday boutique. I've had a small handful of custom orders since then which is a start! :)

Other than that, we've been spending our afternoons at parks with various dear friends. Especially the BMX park which is the boys' new favorite. And gearing up to visit our sweet family for Thanksgiving. Can.NOT.wait. A full week off is something we're all looking forward to. 

Here's a few favorites from two recent sessions. I feel like I've been learning so much!

Trick N' Treatin'

 The usual suspects.

Our tornado toddler MADE Halloween this year. He was utterly adorable and heart-melting. Totally dug every part of the process including trying to stick his entire head down into his pumpkin to check out his candy every once in awhile. :) Captain America was a hit! {Yes, E somehow managed to persuade switching costumes with T.}

Great evening with our friends.

Happy Halloween 2013

From the Avengers!

Seriously, these two were WAY too excited for gparent day and showing off their costumes at gymnasitcs. Not interested is keeping still for a civilian photo-opp. Gotta take what you can get with these heroes. ;)

We're doing our usual tricking-n-treating with our besties in the next town over this evening. And yes, this year no homemade costumes. The boys have continued to come home from gparent day with a different costume over the weeks and have been so excited about their dress-up clothes that I decided to KISS {Keep It Simple, Stupid.} ;) No need to stress about something if they're content with what they got. Looking forward to celebrating with our little gang this evening! 

Hope you enjoy yours with yours!! 

xoxo,

swenson gang

On the Way Home

 On our way back home Sunday afternoon, we made THE most unusual pit-stop: Bravo Farms

This place has the oddest collection of antiques, hand-built kid houses, shooting range, chicken coop, goats, mini-golf course, and a hand-built seven story tree house. There was also a BBQ jot, creamery, fruit stand, gift shop, and wine and cheese tasting on site. Seriously, this place was a smorgasbord of everything under the sun, and then some. 

 Did I mention it was kooky?!

What we thought was going to be a 20 minute stop, turned out to be well over an hour and a half. We decided to have lunch there too. The wood burning grill tri-tip sandwich was delish. And we grabbed some of our new favorite flavored milk at their creamery! So bummed that Rosa Brothers isn't carried up here! The kiddos passed out before we even pulled back onto the freeway and it was a delightful drive home the rest of the way. 

The weekend was simply wonderful. Just what I needed after the trying two weeks beforehand. The kids were great and loved the adventure. And it was just nice to have something go without a hitch and enjoy the pure adventure of getting away with our sweet family. My cup was filled and my bucket-list shortened. ;)

Sequoia National Park

After getting some rest, we headed out to Rosa Brothers again for their farm tour. I loved hearing about how accountable they are to their community, environment, and herd. You could tell that they run things well and that they were a close family, working well together. The boys got to milk a plastic cow which was a highlight for Ezra. He really wanted to milk. It was hard describing why the animals might not be safe to be around so this opportunity was perfect and satisfied his desire! :) 

We also got to pet a baby calf only a few days old and taste their variety of flavored milks. A.Mazing! Root beer float was my personal favorite. 

We did lunch at a local park for the boys to run off some steam before making the drive to Sequoia National Park. Every part of the way was just stunning. Golden yellow and bright red fall leaves everywhere. 

We drove all the way in to check out the General Sherman Tree-- the largest tree in the world! It did not disappoint.

We tried to find the spot where William had helped with the romantic set-up for Wesley and Carolyn all those years ago. Yup, Wesley proposed to Carolyn in the "Room Tree" here in the park. This is also the general area where W lived while being a youth pastor at a small church. Have I mentioned that this guy has seriously done everything?! He used to ride his motorcycle up to the Sherman Tree for alone time. :) I wished we had more time to explore, but it was getting late so we headed back. The views on the way out were just as gorgeous. 

And the setting sun on the drive to dinner was the cherry on top.