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Family Photo Day

Last fall our family did our yearly or semi-yearly outing to catch a few family photos for posterity...and now I am placing them on my blog for the same purpose. For the most part, we actually enjoy this little outing, and we had some good bonding time while we strolled the streets of Des Moines, IA looking for some fun spots. I thought I would share them here in case you are looking for some fun photo spots as well.

We ended up in three locations. First, we took a few shots around Exile Brewery, both just north and south of that location. The area around Exile was my favorite place to shoot because of the architecture. Second, we shot the "barn" scenes in Water Works Park. This scene was definitely Londa's favorite. Third, we ended up on some railroad tracks by DMACC on Grand Ave, which is just always plain fun.  

My youngest still puts on a pretty natural smile for the camera. The twins boys have entered the "I'm going to think about how to make my face smile, which will look forced and a little constipated." My daughter has moved back into the ability to smile naturally, probably thinking of a sarcastic comment. 

All in all, we had a pretty great day, even though we weren't able to enjoy the sun or "Magic Hour". You can check the rest of the pics out here

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Everything is Wetter in Texas

Oh, that's right! That isn't the correct saying at all, but "wetter" it was for us. I'll get to that later. 

First, our family absolutely loves to travel, and the reasons are many. We love seeing the beautiful and varied design of God's creation. We love the new experiences that each day brings. We love trying out fun food joints, and we just plain love being together and enjoying each other.

So...this winter we hopped in my in-laws RV and headed south for the warm sunny state of Texas. Planning the trip, I envisioned my family on the beach, soaking in the warm rays of the sun and restocking our deficiency of vitamin D. Yeah, I do that when I plan trips: I escape into my mind and visualize conversations and activities that we will be enjoying. While we had a great time on the trip, the plan in my head of baking in the warm sun did not come to fruition in reality...and that's okay.

Don't let the pictures from the trip fool you. Every shot that is sunny was taken in the span of about 45 minutes. The rest of the time was either wet, overcast, or filled with hurricane force winds. (slight exaggeration about the wind) 

I am pretty convinced, mainly because Scripture teaches, that God places "interruptions," even seemingly inignificant interruptions, in our lives just to continually remind us that this is not our ballgame. It is His. I am thankful that he does this because I can easily bend towards thinking, "Don't worry, I've got this." In reality, we don't. 

James writes to the dispersed Jewish believers and it still rings true today, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them."

P.S. Even though it wasn't super sunny, I was still able to snag a few fun photos you can find here

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