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Pansies, Verbenas & Berries | Photography

May 19, 2010 By Laura 7 Comments

I wanted to share with you some fun photography I did of my yard pansies, verbenas and berries.

Yesterday morning, I found myself up wicked early. And not at the computer, in my bathrobe, with coffee. But up, dressed, and outside with my camera, taking photos around my yard. (With coffee.) I had to wonder what in the heck was going on with me lately. I have never-ever been one to get up early, unless I absolutely-no-way-out-of-it-have-to. This morning, I was not only up at the crack of dawn, but after a night where I had laid in bed during the night, for at least 3 hours, wide awake! I thought for sure I’d be sleeping like a rock, come morning. But no. I was more than up-and-at’em. I am becoming more and more convinced, that this means I am indeed ‘approaching elderly’.

Doesn’t this sleep- pattern mimic the old folks? I always hear many of these dear old ones talk about how they “just couldn’t sleep all night”. And on the occasion that ‘I’ have had to be up and out early to be somewhere, old folks are everywhere. Why? They are retired! They have no kids to get off to give breakfast to and get off to school! It puzzles me. Ok, maybe there is a handful with a doctor appointment that morning. ; ) But not THAT many. I want to go up to them and say, “WHAT, on God’s green earth, are you doing up this early? Don’t you know, you can do anything you want with your time now! Why aren’t you sleeping in?!”

Later in the afternoon, I was telling some friends about this new mystery of myself and sleep. One girlfriend replied, “Maybe the spirit was a-movin’ ya.”. Another said, “I think you have a condition called Spring Fever. No worries though, I hear it cures itself. ;)”. A third friend just came right out and said it: “I was going to say…..your age!”. We all need a friend who will tell us the truth, no matter what. Don’t we?

So back to the photos I was out in the yard taking. These gorgeous dark pink flowers are some of my verbenas. I have some planted in the ‘window box’, that is actually sitting on a foundation wall, under the ledge of my front deck. Upon the sight of little flower buds in my pots, boxes and gardens, I get little butterflies of excitement inside. I love to watch them slowly open up, or happen-upon the surprise of sudden full blooms.

In the same flower box, in between the verbenas, I have planted shasta daisies. I am not all that familiar with them yet, so I’m not sure if the little nubbies I see on them are almost buds? But if they are, I’m excited. There is also some white verbenas in there somewhere, but for some reason or another, they aren’t blooming yet.

Over at my bench seat in the front near the garden beds, I have a few pots, that contain some of the leftover pansies and verbenas, after I had filled my box, and other bigger pots on steps and such. The white verbenas are in bloom here. The verbenas, by the way, will grow to spill and hang long over the edges of it’s containers. I look forward to them covering my heinous foundation wall under the deck. (Big plans for that coming up soon, to permanently take care of that! Very exciting project we’ll be sharing here.)

I really enjoyed, not only photographing the things I have grown around my yard, but processing them with textures. Have you notice the textures on the photos? Photographing whatever I am inspired to, and processing them any way I want, is often almost way more fun than I can take. ; ) Especially without the pressure of time lines and deadlines, for clients, that often comes with the photos I take.

Here is a bloomed bunch of white verbenas.

I forget the name of the variety of these smaller pansies, but if anyone remembers, feel free to enlighten me. : ) If no one does, I can always look at the pot tag I saved out there somewhere near the pots. (And I might have to.) But I sure do love their colors.

Let’s just get this out of the way: Yes, the lawn weeds we have out front need mowing. It’s not looking like it is going to happen for at least another week. But anyway, this is our strawberry bed.

I have a confession to make, regarding the strawberries, and all of the planted flowers you’ve seen here: Somewhere early t0 mid April, I was getting the gardening-bug so bad. I was just itching to get out there and get dirty. We were having beautiful spring days, and I was convinced it was here to stay! So I planted flowers all over the place, and raked most of the straw off the strawberry beds, since I could see green leaves popping up through. All of this, despite the warnings that it was way too early for planting, etc., since there was still a good chance of frost, which could destroy it all. The recommendation for planting is Memorial Day weekend. Mother’s Day at the earliest. But I’m a true gambler. (O.k., not really, but I like how that makes me sound gutsy and tough.)

Well, I’ll tell you where that risk got me: Out in the pitch dark cold, at about 11:30 at night, on 3 different occasions, covering the beds and plants with large sheets of plastic, because a weather-check before bed said temperatures would dip that night, and frost was likely.

That should teach me, come next year. But I can’t guarantee it.

Thankfully, everything survived, and we should be home free. Although technically, Memorial Day is not until this coming weekend. But look how the strawberry plants are growing like crazy!! We are anticipating an abundance of strawberries this season. Last year, the beds were new, and the strawberry plants were just planted. But this year, they are more established, so we should have more strawberries than we know what to do with. But we’ll figure it out. In fact, I look forward to it!!

Strawberry jam…… strawberry shortcake…….. chocolate covered strawberries…… strawberries in our cereal….strawberries right off the vine……strawberries for our kind neighbors…..(Yeah, just the kind ones. Not the chipmunk-killing-outdoor-cat-owner ones.)

If there was one thing I was noticing while I was out this morning, taking these photos, it was that….I was noticing everything! The moist dew in the air, the clean and fresh air, and the scents of new growing life coming and drifting away, the silence……WOW….the silence. I think the quiet, was why I could notice so much! This Mama of 4 (home schooled) kids, is not used to such quiet. I had all kinds of complete thoughts, running through my head. Weird.

Quiet early early hours of the day have been so foreign to me. I guess I never knew what I was missing. Come to find out, it’s rather nice! Perhaps I’ll watercolor paint a little more often, with these extra hours in a day, too.

Yeah, maybe this old lady could really get used to this early morning thing.

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Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad…| Triplets’ First Holy Communion Day

May 15, 2010 By Laura 3 Comments

The triplets’ First Holy Communion Day, was so special.
This day, that they have waited for for so long, finally arrived! I promise, this is the last of the First Holy Communion posts – along with the Simple Lunch Spread for a Celebration Gathering post up right now. We’re hoping someone, somewhere, is still interested, while we indulge in posting about this happy occasion one more time.

Anyway, I wasn’t going to take photos of them actually receiving for the first time, because it just didn’t seem right. But….the other parents were told it was alright, as long as the photos were taken from their seats. So, I decided to do so too, not wanting to regret passing up the opportunity! Even though my angle was awful! All of the other children receiving their Sacrament this day, sat at the end of a pew for their family, and simply stepped out of their pew to receive this first time. But ours stepped out of our pew, and across the whole aisle in a line up, across the back of the 2 lines of kids. (Hope you followed that.) Anyway…..the Mass was really nice, as always, and the kids did great! They were so excited prior to…..then after, so happy and just….beaming. Trust me when I say, they fully understood/understand the significance of this event, and every Mass from here on out.

Some of our family and friends were there at the Mass with us. Some traveled quite a ways, to celebrate this day with us, and it meant a lot to all of us. {JM, O & S} brought up the gifts for the Mass, which was so sweet. They were really happy to do it.

Do you all know Fr. Bob Reed, from CatholicTV? ( Do your kids watch WOW!?) Well, we do, and love him. We were touched to learn that he had put in for presiding the Mass at which they would make this Holy Sacrament. He has become a great friend of ours. Yes, he is giving them rabbit ears in the first photo, still being silly in the second, and finally we get a serious shot in the third! He even has a secret handshake with them. He is, simply put, a really kind, funny, down-to-earth guy, and the work he does to evangelize our Catholic faith through by his vocation, through TV and otherwise, is nothing short of amazing!
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Following Mass, our family and friends came to our home for a continued celebration. Of course, we had decorated our little tree (a.k.a. a branch) for this special Sacrament occasion, and I loved what the kids did on our schooling chalkboard! We served our guests a light lunch, which I shared in the Recipes section.

Before we ate though, we took some more quick photos with the people who love them, and came to be with them on this day:

triplets-first-holy-communion-day-7 Left: The 6 of us. I love that this is small, and you cannot see how absolutely terrible & tired I looked! (Aren’t I clever?) I had been going non-stop for days, to be ready for this day. Can’t imagine how I would have survived, if I didn’t ‘keep it simple’! But I digress. {A} on the other hand, was an absolute doll! She had on the sweetest outfit, and beads! / Right: The trio with their Godparents, (one of my brothers and sister-in-law), the kids Uncle G and Auntie K. As blessed as our kids are with the Godparents they have, we wanted badly to be able to give them each their own set of Godparents. They are individual kids, not a unit, and deserve that like any other kids. But you know how complicated these things can be, and we just couldn’t at that time, give them their own. I feel compelled to say that, only because I do not want to give the impression that we see our triplets, as ONE, and not individual kids. Most know that, but I feel better SAYING it. (So thanks for letting me!) Their Godparents love them very much though, and vice-versa. They are also a wonderful aunt and uncle, and were gracious to accept all 3 as their Godchildren.

With their ‘Papa’, who often comes for overnights to spend time with them. And then with two uncles.

“It’s all…..for you.” lol.

WITH FR. (Bob) REED

Fr. Bob showed up, so I took the fruit cup in his hand away, and I made him have another photo. Even though, as he said, he didn’t have his priest attire on anymore. But he had PINK on!! I think it’s great when guys wear pink. Don’t you?

We were so done with photos by this point. And hungry. So we all went and ate. Well, I made sure everyone else ate, and tried to keep up with everything going on, and took bites in between!

Family and friends brought, and sent by mail, very thoughtful and unexpected gifts. We wanted to spend as much time with the people who came to celebrate with us, so the kids opened most of them later that night by ourselves. They received so many beautiful and special tokens of this day, that the kids truly already, treasure. They have always had a special fondness for their own religious items-and now they have so much more. The people in our lives are so kind and thoughtful.

The day just seemed to fly by, and I felt like I missed so much. I despise that feeling. I had planned this special day for the kids for so long, and I didn’t want to miss a moment. But I just couldn’t take it all in at once. We had several friends with us that day, that I wanted to get candid photos of, and never got to before they left: A family who good friends of ours, and some folks who have sat near us for so long and have become dear friends, who have watched the kids ‘sit like indians’ while we all went up to receive Communion, and have waited for this day too. It’s really bothering me, still. It’s one of those things…I want to go back and have another chance! I want the kids to have photos of everyone who was there with them that day. Despite my planning, I didn’t get this part done. I wanted to take LOTS of candids all day. But I was so busy with so many things, time got away, people eventually left, and then it was too late.

But to the kids….the day was truly perfect, and joyful. And I too, do have sweet moments of this day, burned into my memory. (But, I don’t have proof of it all in photos, darn it! lol). Sweet moments, like this one…..

….The boys, pushing their Aunt/Godmother on the swing. She, of course, was really being dramatic and making the most of it for their entertainment, and they were just loving it!! They were laughing so hard, and having so much fun. And so was she!! I truly just love the photo of her on the right.

THIS……Is Fr. Ken. The pastor of our church. You know, the one who’s AMAZING homilies I speak so much about?! We were so happy he came over to our house for awhile, too!! He came a little later on, after many had left (even Fr. Bob). But you know what…it was SO NICE. Because we sat with him for a long time on the deck, and just talked. (After he quizzed the kids on important questions. Talk about being put on the spot!) We talked about his homilies, and how he prepares for them. (I had to know the details!) He also shared a whole lot…..about the new church we will be building quite soon.

Here is another photo, that represents more sweet memories of this day….

…..our kids, with some of their cousins. Many could not be with us this day, but these 2 could!! D & M (right behind {A} in the front) are great kids. They all had SO much fun together, playing with Pixel, laughing and talking about random stuff, and playing basketball. It was great to see them all having a great time together, and we’ll be doing it again soon!

It truly was a blessed and beautiful day, for sure. The weather could not have been better, too. Sunny and mid-70’s. Perfect.

O.K. now, aside from the day’s menu over in Vittles, that should wrap up our First Holy Communion posts!! Thank you so much, for letting us share so much of this special occasion with you, and sharing in our joy!! As much hype as we have built up to this day, the kids will tell you, the happiness and excitement only began with this day. They will, and already are, re-living the joy over and over, as they receive Jesus at every Mass of their lives, from this day forward.

Let us continue to rejoice, and be glad.

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A Simple Lunch Spread, for a Celebration Gathering | Recipes

May 15, 2010 By Laura 5 Comments

If I had one goal, for the entire day of our triplets’, {JM, O & S}’s, First Holy Communion, it was to ‘keep it simple‘. I wanted it ALL simple, so that we could all focus as much as possible on the purpose of the celebration, and enjoy it. That certainly included any food prepping I had to do, to feed our guests, who came back to our home following Mass. I didn’t want anything that needed to be re-heated or kept warm, and certainly not anything messy. I was going for a light, spring lunch. I was pretty happy with what I came up with!

For a few of the platters, I made a wrote a little food description card, so no one needed to ask what was in this or that, nor would they be surprised when they took a bite. ; )

To start, we put out very Fresh Fruit Cups, we assembled the night before. So very simple, but everyone was commenting how much they were loving the fruit cups. You can’t miss, with fresh fruit! We included: clementine slices, pineapple, strawberries, black berries, and green grapes.

Roast Beef Horseradish Spirals: This was one of the items I wanted people to know ahead of time, what it was made with – since it would possibly be an iffy preference for some. So easy to make, so fancy to display, and as it turns out, a real hit for all! (Even the kids, here!)
Combine these 6 ingredients: 1 8oz. of packaged cream cheese, 1/2 cup or 2 green onions chopped, 1/4 fresh parsley, 2 TBS prepared horseradish, drained, 1/4 tsp salt, & 1/4 tsp garlic powder.
Spread evenly over 2 10″ tortillas (we used tomato tortillas), leaving 1/2 inch border around edge. Divide 8 oz sliced deli roast beef over 2 tortillas. Roll up tightly, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate to firm > 30 minutes to a day ahead of time. When ready, remove from fridge, and cut diagonally into 1/2 slices, and serve.

Chicken Salad (w/ a touch of Apple): 4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped, 2 apples chopped small, 3 stalks of celery, chopped, and mixed with mayonnaise until desired consistency. (We use Real Hellman’s). Stuff fresh finger rolls, and serve.

Deviled Eggs: We used 18 hard boiled eggs. Cut eggs in half the long way using sharp knife, gently remove egg yolks and place in small bowl. Mash yolks well w/ fork, add 3 tsp of dijon mustard, 3 Tbs minced onion, 1/2 – 3/4 tsp tobasco (preference), salt & pepper, and 1 cup of mayonnaise. Mix well together. Fill pastry bags with mixture, fill egg whites, and sprinkle with Paprika.

Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes: Prepare tuna salad as usual. We add chopped celery and onion. Hollow out grape tomatoes, using a apple corer first to cut in, and then scoop out all of the inside with a melon ball scoop! Fill with tuna salad, and arrange on platter. I garnished the platter with fresh parsley.

Cucumber Sandwiches: I forgot to take photos of these, and darn, because they were so cute! Very easy, very tasty. Mix 1 package of cream cheese (8 oz.) with 1 packet of Italian Seasoning. Peel and slice cucumber. Spread mixture on slices of minim pumpernickel loaf (usually found near deli), place a slice of cucumber on each, and sprinkle w/ a little dill seed.

We also served pita chips with red pepper humus.

For drinks, we offered water, Raspberry Crystal Light, and we also had a punch bowl made, of which I should share the recipe. It’s my Dad’s recipe and we have it on many special occasions w/ the kids.

One might wonder where the First Holy Communion Cake is. Well….that was one thing I wanted to be so special. I knew we would not have time to bake anything and decorate it nicely, with all else we had to prepare, and because of {S}’s peanut allergy, we can’t just order a cake from a bakery. SO…..I hired a ‘professional’ to custom bake for us. What I wanted instead of a cake, was very special cupcakes. (You all know how much I adore cupcakes!) After several, (several) very specific e-mails, and an in person meeting at which I also included drawings and reviewed again exactly what I wanted, with a professional local custom baker I found online (who has a convincing web site), ……. they were a disaster. < Insert eye roll here, with perhaps a tear escaping, here.. > Not what I asked for, not cute or pretty (or photo worthy), and they were not even enjoyable to eat, as they were HUGE, and so dense. SO……they were the talk of the party, but not in a good way. It is almost comical, that the one area we hired a PRO to take care, and the one area we spent the most $ on, was the worst part of our whole food spread. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was, with such a special piece of this special occasion. That’s why I hired a pro! Michael said all along “We can do that ourselves Honey, I don’t want to spend the money.“…. and I always said, “But this is the one thing I really want to be special!“. In the end, we could have done much more of a professional job, ourselves. I have not even contacted the baker with my complaints yet, because I am quite sure if I begin to speak, I will spew venom. And we all know that’s not like me. ; )

And since I don’t want to leave this post on a tense note (doing head/shoulder rolls as I type…)…..please remember the light, spring, cheery lunch items above! I hope you find some of these ideas useful, for an occasion or gathering of your own sometime!

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Meet "PIXEL"; Our Rather Unusual New Pet

May 7, 2010 By Laura 22 Comments

Quite recently, we got a ‘real’ pet, and it seems I about shocked about half the world over in allowing this. Let’s just say, I’ve never been into the whole domestic-type pets thing. More than anyone, my sister-in-law was in sheer disbelief that we got a pet, and couldn’t wait to find out what we got. I loved taunting her. We sent her (and my brother, niece and nephew) “I am….” riddles and clues for 2 days, before my brother finally guessed what she (our pet), was.

Would you like to meet her?

Can you tell, looking at this photo, what she is??

She’s a hedgehog. And she’s a doll. If I do say so myself.

She’s quite active sometimes. She has awake and sleep time intermittently, both through the day and night. But we can put her to sleep anytime, in our hand, in a heartbeat. Especially ME. {A} keeps asking how on earth I can do that so quickly. I looked up at her and told her, “Because I’m a mama….through and through. I could put YOU to sleep right now, if I wanted to.” She looked down at me, and giggled.

{A} has wanted a hedgehog for a long time. She had researched hedgehogs thoroughly, and then some. An then again, and again. She studied them, looked at photos, saved sites and info, and asked me if she could get one at least once a day. I was blowing her off, ever chance I got. Which as I said…was at least once a day. She sent me e-mail reminders and links, and asked me to promise to read them. I finally did.

As I read, I was waiting to come across ANYTHING that was a deal breaker. Give me a reason to say ‘no’. Tell me they stink. Tell me they are noisy. Tell me they are dirty. Tell me they bite. But nope……no smell, they are quiet, clean, and very sociable. As a matter of fact, the more I read, the more I thought a hedgehog just may BE the perfect pet.

The photos I was seeing of the hedgehogs, were pretty cute too. Well, most of them. I also remembered how I just HAD to buy the hedgehog Stampin’ Up set from my sister, when she was selling them years ago, because I thought they were so cute. I’ve used them many times too.

So, I asked {A} some questions, and she had a good answer for every one. I told her we could look into where to get one, but she promptly informed me she already had all of the info. She found a breeder right in the Boston area, and she had her name and e-mail. (When our girl puts her mind to something, she prepares herself to win, like nobody’s business. ‘Research‘ is the girl’s middle name.) (O.k., that’s not actually true….her middle name is Grace. But you know what I mean.)

Honestly…I didn’t have a leg to stand on, as a reason for saying no. Well, except that I am the parent, and I can say no without even giving a reason, if I want to. But since she was being so grown-up, I figured I should too.

So I got in touch with the breeder, and asked some questions. We gave her our preference….a female, salt & pepper. It took several e-mails back and forth, an application process and a deposit, and a waiting period, while these baby hedgehogs were weaned and socialized. The excitement was building, even for me!! And then…. finally, we got notice we could go get her. (Well, we would pick her out when we went. But she was already real in our minds.)

The breeder was very nice, and interesting! She had lots of animals, and was great with giving the kids all kinds of info and letting them see all of her animals. I had wished I brought my camera!! (The breeder took the one below and was nice enough to send it to us.) I love these surprise-field-trip-home-schooling experiences! We met her ‘indoor chicken’, which is a ‘serama chicken’…..the smallest chickens in the world. (Who knew? Not us.)

Her name is SOLO. The kids loved her.

Once we got ‘Pixel’ home, we gave her a day or 2 to get used to her new place, and then we all started spending time with her. Even me!

She’s very easy to hold, and in fact, loves it.

She’s SO cute when she is curled up.

Especially when she really pulls her face in, and hides. She doesn’t do this very often, because she is always so content to just look around, enjoy her petting, and fall asleep.

She’s so easy to take care of. {A} is her main care-taker, and she ({A}) loves her (a hedgehog) even more than she knew she would. Did you know you can potty train hedgehogs? (That was a plus in my considerations too!) It’s true. Pixel is just a baby, but we’re working on it. Mostly, she eats hard cat food. We do have freeze dried meal worms and crickets too….as treats. She is an ‘insectivore’.

Hedgehogs are related to the moles – not rodents! Interestingly…..the porcupine, which a hedgehog is often compared to, IS a rodent. Hedgehogs and porcupines are not even cousins. Hedgehogs quills are somewhat soft, but yes, sharp on the ends. (No barbs, because they are not like porcupines….remember?) If she’s not happy, they do come up a little. But that is rare, because she is very happy and content with us. Mostly, she does not like being woken up, needlessly. (Neither do I. I tend to be prickly then too.). She has a very soft underside though. I love petting her quills. She’s so misunderstood on appearance. Kind of like me, again. We can relate.

I know sometimes, she looks a little, like a rodent. But don’t say that to me, because you’ll hurt my feelings. Because the truth is, she’s got a little piece of my heart. Many in my family, are still trying to wrap their brain around this because really, it’s not very expected of me. But, I too have become a bit smitten, with Pixel. This past weekend was our celebration for the kids First Holy Communion, and everyone discovered she was cuter than they expected.

Almost every night, I hold Pixel for a little while. She loves me to pet her to sleep. She loves to cuddle on me. I do believe, she loves ME. : ) (No surprise there. lol). She actually is happily held and cuddled by all 6 of us in the family. Even {JM, O & S} are great with her, and she with them. But I can put her to sleep the fastest. Oh….I guess I already mentioned that.

She LOVES to be in her TP tube. She’ll curl right up in a ball and have a snooze. Oh….that little bit of green you see is a bit of paint the breeder dabbed on her, to differentiate her from the others in the litter. She’ll lose these quills and get adult ones as she grows….which she is already doing. She won’t get too much bigger though.

Look at that little face in there. <sigh>

I think her ‘hair’ rocks.

She’s a handful, and yet, she’s not. KWIM?

If you’d like to learn more about hedgehogs, here is a great link. Hedgehog Central. You can read for yourself what a perfect pet they are! But first, go ahead and tell us how cute you think she is. ; )

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Triplets’ First Holy Communion Formal Portraits

May 6, 2010 By Laura 16 Comments

A very special day is just about here, in our family.
Our triplets’ First Holy Communion!

We are a Roman Catholic family. I took these formal portraits of our triplets, for their First Holy Communion, at one of my favorite locations, that is also so fitting for the occasion, seeing as it is religious retreat grounds. Because I wanted them here at this place, and because I knew there would be no time on their actual day of Sacrament and celebration, we did these a few days prior.

In case you are not a regular blog visitor, let me just say these smiles are so real! Our triplets have been waiting to receive this Sacrament with all of their hearts, for a very-long-time.

This was a real moment. I turned around from talking to one of the others, and there he was, just like this. <click!>
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This photo wasn’t easy because of the vast difference in scale of the 2 subjects. But, I have to share it because it was SO important to {O}. She told me in the beginning she wanted her photo taken with the Blesses Mother. After every photo I took she asked, “Now, can I have my photo taken with Mary?” So there it is, and she’s happy!

Those 3 beautiful faces. Such a huge part of my heart.
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A creative way to be sure everyone sees {O}’s special nail job! These are the perks of being the girl, between 2 boys! ; )

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We’ll be blogging about their actual day and celebration soon as well. It was a special day for sure, with lots of loved ones joining us to celebrate, but inevitably bitter-sweet as well. We hope you are able to check those out later. But we were excited to share these formals with you. They have never been so dressed up, and they loved it! {O’s} veil was custom made, and details of that will also be blogged about soon. Aren’t they sweet looking though?

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Let us continue to rejoice, and be glad.

Would you like to meet her?

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