A handful, is what remember at this age. Bethany at almost one year…

Twenty months old and loving life….

It’s Bethany.

In this shot, Bridget is sleeping on Bethany’s lap. Adorable…

I’m sleeping with Bethany.

Bridget is one month old here, on Great Grandma Whittington’s lap. I miss that lady, she was awesome!!!

Bethany and Lady Bug Posing for Brenda. Bethany is about 1 month old, lady bug is about 6 years old in this photo.

Here is shot I snapped during a Christmas visit in 2001. My sister Lisa and nephew Derek. Derek would have been around 4 months old here.

Yesterday we had a get together at a local establishment. It was to visit with a cousin-in-law(CIL) that was here for a short visit from Italy. Another CIL approached me and another CIL and mentioned that he has been praying for our kids. That they would have friends, teachers, and other influences that would be positive and encouraging, in this broken world we live in. That touched my heart tremendously. Here we go:

• Inspired by Bryan, Thanks Bro. Pray for the children in your life, in your brother’s life, in your sister’s life, in your cousin’s life, in your friend’s life, in your neighbor’s life, in a stranger’s life. You get the point. Every child on this earth needs our prayer.
• Pray for our Church. Valencia Presbyterian is going through some changes again. We are blessed to have an interim pastor and a great team searching for our permanent Pastor. The leaders and the congregation of our church need our prayers during this time of transition.
• Pray for Pastor Gary and Bev Weston. He retired as pastor of our church last summer and we miss him and the great sense of peace he brought to our church. Pray for peace and fulfillment during this time of retirement as he spends more time with his family.
• Continue to pray for Joanne Heim, see *update* below.

Update from last week.

• Joanne Heim has had some miraculous positive progress this week. Go here Joanne’s Blog to see the details. Praise The Lord.
• Our friend’s that lost their step father are getting back to a routine but continue to pray for their mom as she is adjusting to life with out her husband.

I appreciate all that visit and participate.

Peace and Grace,

Me

Here Bethany is in Grandma and Grandpa’s arms, during a visit for Christmas 2001.

Here is Bethany being held by PapPap while they visited us for Christmas in 2001. Technically she is 13 months here, or 1.

This was Bethany first Thanksgiving. We traveled north to visit with her parents and got to spend some time with Brenda’s Grand Mother as well.

This is one my all time favorites shot I have of Brenda. Bridget is around 10 months old here. This was taken at a park that was close to our house in North Carolina. It was built like a castle, many levels of fun….

My parents brought Grandpa Rausler to visit us. Bethany was 4 months old here.

Here is my Mom, Dad and Grandpa Rausler (My Mom’s Dad). I was not there, but I think that may be the Salty Dog Café, in Bluffton South Carolina.

A scarf my Mom gave Bethany while we visited my parents in Hilton Head. She is around 11 months old here.

This is self portrait I snapped using the roof of my rental car and the built in timer on our Kodak DC210, while on a training trip to California. My boss arranged my flight, and saved a huge amount of money flying me there a couple of days early, and told me to rent a car and see some of the scenery while I was out there. So I made my way to the Sequoia National Park.

I thought I would post prayer request this Monday morning. I may continue to do this every Monday.

Pray for our good friends, They lost a step Father this past week. Pray for peace to be rained upon him and his family during this tough time.

Pray for Joanne Heim. She is a writer/blogger that is close friends with a fellow blogger friend of mine. How I know of Joanne, starts with my Project 365. Gabe has a Phota a Day blog. I read his blog daily, which has introduced me to his wife’s Marla’s blog, Martha is a writer and is close friends with Joanne. Here is a link to Joanne’s Blog explaining what happened and why she needs our prayers. The best way to get caught up on the situation is to scroll entirely to the bottom of that page and read the posts from bottom to top. I highly recommend that you go read the full story, but for those with little time, here is the short of it, she suffered a severe stroke, she has a wonderful husband and two beautiful little girls, and needs our prayers.

Here is another link with some other ways you can help this family during this difficult time.

Okay, prayer warriors, thanks for including these in your prayers…

Peace…

It is me, holding Bethany at a couple of days old. She is my first daughter, but not the first baby I had held. I had lots of practice with my niece’s and nephews. That’s one  advantage of being the youngest of a family.

Kelsey, Bethany and Brenda blowing bubbles on Lynette and Peter’s front porch of their house in Columbia, South Carolina. So many of these early shots were taken with our Kodak DC210, our first digital camera. It was chunky-big, seemed like it took a car battery to operate, (4 AA’s) and was so slow to process images. But it always took a great first shot. Bethany is 18 months old here, Kelsey is around 8 years old, and Brenda is 26.

Yes, the girls were very used to me and my camera being inches from their face from a very early age. Here, Bridget is around 4 months old, and is wide awake. I’m sure the flash going off within a foot of her eyes has nothing to do with it.

My Mom carrying Bridget at 2 months old, for her first walk on the beach in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

It's too early..., originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

Reeses Easter Eggs @ walmart already.
Really????

This is Brenda’s Dad, holding Bethany at around one or two weeks old. He looks like he is afraid she will break, if he is not careful…

Random: Apple, originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

My breakfast this Sunday morning.

Bethany and Bridget sitting together without fighting. Oh, how I would enjoy that today. Here Bethany is almost two and Bridget is around 4 months old.

I was going through photos from the archive and found a folder full of shots I took in attempt of capturing “The Moment”. These three following photos will appear later in the year, in my Project 365:

Lots of things have crossed my mind while I browsed these photos. Why did I use the dirty fireplace for a back drop. We had a nice chair, a couple of decent couches, we even had nice new blue carpet with freshly painted walls. Anything would have been better than the dirty fireplace. Though this is a good point to bring up it is not what this post is about. It is about the patience one must have while trying to capture that special moment. Here are some fun shots I got while waiting patiently. Below each photo I included a caption. I know this is a longer post than I usually do, but stick with it until the end, it is worth it.

Bridget, please do not stick your tongue out.

Girls….*insert sigh here*  What are you looking at, anyways?

Hmmm, Bethany your not listening. I see a pattern developing.

Looks good, if I was behind the other camera.

*Note to self: never have more than one camera at a photo shoot.

Over here Bethany…..

The beginning of Hug Fest 2003

how cute…

it looks a little lopsided…

Bethany, I think your sister has had enough…

Bethany finishes the hug and Bridget shakes it off...

This is similar to having more than one camera at a photo shoot.

* Note to self: don’t have more than one photographer. *insert sigh here*

Sometimes the help needs a little more training, could you please get out of the way…(love you honey!)

and you will always have wardrobe malfunctions.

over here, Bridget…

where are you going, Bethany?

Bethany looks a little bored….

I think she may have come up with something.

oh yes, you can see it in her eyes…

You saw it coming, didn’t you??

Hundreds of photos later a couple worth printing a sticking on the fridge…

Thanks for enduring my long post.

Have a blessed week!