A blushing thank you for my Blushing Bag

Today when Lyla and I drove past the house on our way home from Gymboree we saw a parcel sitting on our step. With hopeful anticipation we raced to the front door and saw a box addressed to "Kelly Photography". Quickly my eyes darted to the senders return label and sure enough it was our prize from the Glimpse photo contest.



Here is my Blushing Bag which I won with help from all of you! Thank you so much for your support and votes. I am so eager to start using this awesome bag!

Memorial Day 2009

This past weekend was the Memorial Day holiday weekend. We returned back home on Saturday after being back at Ryan's hometown for his Grandma's funeral. The ride with a one year old leaves something to be desired, but that is another story. I worked on Sunday and then we got to relax together yesterday as a family.

First thing in the morning we went to the school and attempted to fly a kite. We had gotten Lyla a kite for her birthday. It was just a cheapie and not really the best. But Lyla still enjoyed chasing after her Teddy kite.

Lyla is getting more and more attached to me.. When I worked on Sunday Ryan had quite the time with her calling for me. He was laying in bed with her and there were pillows where I usually lie. She was crying for me and she lifted up the pillows to see if she could find me. Here is a picture of Lyla hugging my legs. She does this to both Ryan and I - kinda cute..

We then sat outside and had a picnic for Miss Lyla with her favorite Puffs. It was a nice afternoon just to sit outside together and play.

I thought I would take a moment to reflect upon last year's Memorial Day. Just a small little one, just over 2 weeks old. Memorial Day was the last day that Ryan had taken off to be at home with us after Lyla's birth. This was one of the first times we had Lyla outside without being in her stroller. Here we are one year ago.. And here we are this year....
It is amazing when you look at this photo to see how much our baby has changed in a year. Hope everyone had a great long weekend.

Passing...

Yesterday we had two ladies in our families pass on, which is pretty unusual. There must have been a need for some angels in heaven yesterday.

My great Aunt Amelia - my grandma's youngest sibling - passed away in the early hours of the morning on May 18th. She had celebrated her 90th birthday in August and was a remarkable woman. She operated a bakery in her younger years. I have fond memories of Amelia bringing us fudge and her special sweet buns every year for Christmas. These were also the buns that Amelia made for our church's Easter Sunrise service breakfast for many years. Yum - I can still taste these wonderful treats. She had a great memory and would share some tales of the past with my mother - who recently inquired about my grandparents wedding. Below is a picture of Amelia with Lyla at Christmas.Later in the afternoon, we heard that Ryan's grandma passed away around 1pm. She had been battling dementia and had been sick for about a week. She was in her 86th year. Ryan has many memories of his grandma which include spending time with her and his grandfather. I remarked yesterday that it was such a gorgeous day - a day that his grandma must have sent to us. And he smiled and said 'she always like to garden'. She would always smile at me and tell me how she had wanted to be a nurse when she was younger. Here is a good picture of Lyla and Ryan with his Grandma at Christmas.

90 and 86! What a wonderful lifetime. Just imagine all the changes these two have seen. We were so glad that they both got the meet Lyla. The smiles on their faces the days that they got to see her are a nice memory. They will both be missed...

Happy 1st Birthday to our Little Girl

Today we celebrated Lyla's 1st Birthday. It is so hard to believe that she is one. I feel like we were just coming home from the hospital like a couple of weeks ago. But here we are, celebrating Lyla's 1st Birthday. Saturday we had a big party at the house with 26 our of family and friends. It was a great time! Then today, Ryan and I stayed home together with our birthday girl and had a family celebration. We took her to the zoo for the first time.
I will write some more a little later - as our laptop is currently getting fixed and I am working on our old PC at a dinosaur rate - but I wanted to post a picture of our birthday girl and just say...... "Happy Birthday to you..." We love you Lyla and we are so fortunate to have you in our lives. Happy Birthday sweetie pie!

Please VOTE!

I entered a picture of Lyla in a contest over at Glimpse and we could really use your help to win this really cool tote bag!

This is a contest for Mother's Day - and since Lyla was my Mother's Day gift - I thought this would be a great tribute to her!

Please go to Glimpse and vote for photo number 3. You can vote daily!!

THANK YOU in advance!

xoxo