"Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year. It brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul."
~Billy Graham
Hello friends,
The theme for this Favorite Foto Friday is . . .
SUMMER MEMORIES.
Oh, how I love summer.
Lazy mornings.
Restful afternoons.
Slow summer nights.
Vacations.
Sunsets.
Theme parks.
Beaches.
Family.
Memories to last a lifetime . . .
We started the summer off with a trip to Disney!
Definitely a magical time for all!
~Star Wars Weekends~
We also spent a lot of time at the beginning of the summer watching Devin play baseball for the All-Star Team.
And summer is all about going to the pool!
And celebrating the 4th!
And one of the best memories of the summer was making Allie officially OURS!
And many summer evenings were spent at the beach.
But some of the best memories were just fun days in the backyard!
Playing in the rain.
We also enjoyed a fun visit with Grandma & Grandpa from Indiana.
And we welcomed a new nephew!
But the two pictures below summarize our summer the best . . .
Spending time with FAMILY
Days filled with LOVE.
We sure did have one amazing summer. I am so thankful to have made so many wonderful memories with our family! And even though I was quite sad to see summer come to an end . . . I am looking forward to fall and the holiday season! We don't get the cooler "fall temperatures" here in Florida - but we sure do have lots of fun fall activities and traditions that we are looking forward to. The kids are excited about Halloween and we already have everyone's costume - which I will share later. :) So, we are ready to start making some FALL MEMORIES!
And that means I can start dressing Allie in all those cute Halloween and Fall outfits!
Nancy made this one - LOVE IT!
And Donnie's mom sent this outfit to Allie from Cracker Barrel.
Love the FROGS!
And we got out all of our Halloween & Fall decorations. That is always such a bittersweet time because it brings back such fun memories of Jacob. He absolutely loved Halloween and most of the decorations we have are ones he picked out . . . and many were used to decorate his hospital room. Not a day goes by that we don't think of him, miss him & love him!
Happy Fall, Y'All!
To see more Favorite Foto Friday posts, please visit
Kiss the Frog 4 Me.
I have gotten a lot of questions lately from you all in the comments and in my e-mail. I think my next post will be an "Answer Session" so I can take the time to respond to everyone. If there is something you want to know - about adoption, childhood cancer, exercise, picture collages - ANYTHING - now is the time to ask! Just leave a comment and ask away! I love hearing from you all and I will try to answer your questions next week in an update . . . as long as it's not too personal. :)
Ending with a scripture . . .
“God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”
Acts 17:27
Reaching for Him everyday,
30 comments:
Love love love your pictures!!! Seeing your fall decorations lets me know I am behind...the boys have already reminded me! Have a great weekend :)
Oh Heather - what a beautiful and magical summer! I love all the family photos of your smiling children - of course Allie's big grin always puts a smile on my face! Hope your Fall is going well so far ... oh and about your exercise post - UGH! I agree ... and right about now I am having serious Round Ligament Pain so it makes exercise all the more FUN (Sarcasm of course!) Have a great weekend!
Rebekah, Jaden & Baby#2 too
Heather-
What a great summer you had! I love all the pictures especially the one of Allie in her new fall outfits (love the orange sandals!)
I so remember the fun of dressing both my sweet girls in cute little outfits-I can hardly walk by little girl clothes in the store without stopping and saying oh look at this and this-:)
I also love your Fall decorations-I still need to get mine out.
Have a great weekend.
Tracy
Love the pictures as always!
I feel the same way as you about exercise...I will NEVER like it. Do I need to do it? Yes. Do I? No. I really need to get motivated!
Question: What made you chose to go out of country in regards to your adoption? We have adoption on our minds for a couple of years down the road.
Heather ~ LOVED all the pics! Summer did go by fast and I want to go back to the beach because it was 64 degrees here today and breezy....I'm not looking forward to the 20 degree winters we have. Can I move in with you guys??! :-)
Questions:
1. What computer program does your mom use for the collages? They all look so great!
2. I don't know about Allie, but Jaxon is a bird! What type of decipline is working for her? (or maybe she is an angel and is never bad!!) We are having a rough time with Jax and I am about to pull out my hair!!
Your family is so fun to visit through this site. Thank you for letting us peek into your summer vacation. Happy Fall to you!
Hi Heather,
LOVE the pictures!
Allie and Sofia have the same clothes in their closets - so sweet!
OHHH you had a awesome summer!!! I cant wait to take Abby to Disney in a few years!!!! FUN FUN!!!
Hugs,Leslie
Hi Heather,
I really enjoy your blog. You are such a blessing and inspiration to many people. You mentioned you were going to be doing an answer session soon and I do have one question for you. You always have such cute picture headers for the top of your blog and was wondering how you do that and what software you use? Also I guess I have two questions, is it the same software that you use to edit your photo's?
Thanks so much,
PBoone
Oh cool, a question and answer post, I love it! I bet so many of us have things to ask you! Ok well my question: you mentioned a while ago that Kyle has Aspergers Syndrome, I'm interested in how it affects him and how you discovered it? That's all I can think of for now, I'm sure your other followers will ask a lot of great questions!
I love looking back at those photos. Allie's new Fall look is just precious. I can't wait to see the costumes. How did you get so far ahead? I am totally jealous.
Hi, I was just wondering how you and Donnie are able to keep your romance alive... do you do date nights every so often, does he do weekend getaways for you? Nothing personal, I was just trying to figure it out. I only have 2 little ones (3.5 and 19 months), and we seem to never have time for just us. We hve been together for 7 years ( married for 4) and were really used to being able to do things like dates with friends or surprise weekend get aways, and I am needing that, but how??? You and Donnie are great role models for my hubby and I, please tell your "secrets"..thanks
wonderful photos!! Our finalization days with our 2 kids were 2 of the best ever!
I am just catching up on your posts - I hate that I missed the voting on the TuTu pics - they were soooo good!
No, you are NOT the only one that feels that way about exercise! I detest it and feel exactly the same as you - I don't see myself ever liking it but I am so proud of you for your accomplishment! You should be proud of yourself!!!
I hope your fall memories this year are the best yet! Can't wait to see Allie in her fall wardrobe!
Love from WV,
Susan
What great summer memories you have made. I love your daughter's fall outfits!! CUTE CUTE!!
Debbie
I too want to know how to make those adorable headers. I want to do that SOOOO badly. :) I can't wait to hear how she does that.
Thanks!
Wendy
Hi Heather,
First of all I just want to say that I've been following your family for a long time now but I've never posted before.
I do have a question for your Q&A post. We are coming to Florida to go to Disney in February and we would really like a beach day while we are there. We live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and our winters are brutal!! We are very much looking forward to some warm weather when we come down. So my question to you...where is a good beach to take kids? My girls have never had the opportunity to play in the ocean before.
Thank you,
Tracey
PS I'm using my daughter's account that is why the names don't match :)
Heather, That was a great summer update. Sometimes pictures say it all!
I just love Allie's fall outfits. Thanks for sharing. I will have to live vicariously... since I have boys! Such adorable outfits!
Also, I have jumpstarted a running routine... starting last month. But, I was off course this week. So, after reading your post about exercising, I put in a pilated dvd last night at about 9:30 pm (that is late for me to be motivated!! haha). So, literally, thank you for inspiring me to get up off of my tushy. And, yes... I hate running!
Great posts!
Darlene
It looks like you had a fun summer. I love all of the pictures!
What kinds of exercise do you do and when do you fit it in?
I have a question!!! First, I want to say I have followed your family for so long that I can no longer even recall the first time I came to your site. Many years, that I know. It's been heartbreaking at the lows and incredibly uplifting at the highs! Watching how far your family has come and what you have endured, its amazing...you are truly an AMAZING family.
My question: Allie's ADORABLE hair bows! Do you make them? Have them made? or just have a spectacularly perfect assortment to match all of her outfits?
What a terrific post, as always! So jealous that you guys get to spend your evenings at the beach! I love the picture of the boys in the rain - and the one of Allie in her Fall outfits. Looking forward to your Halloween and Fall posts!
Peace and Hugs,
Becca
You always take the best pictures! Looks like you had a lot of fun!
Heather I love all the pictures....and Allie's new outfits are adorable, her big smile is beautiful. I am behind on fall decorations, Gracie told me it was time. I hate exercise to, it'so boring.
Carmen
Hi Heather! I rarely post but have read both your sites since their inception. I just love your posts, they are always a day brightener and seeing the pics of the boys and their love for their baby sister is just too precious.
I have a question for Q&A. You all live so close to Disney, but where would you recommend someone to stay that is coming from out of state? I hear both, in park and out. Is it cheaper to stay a ways away and drive in? And I'm also anxious to hear about how your collage headers are made.
Lana
what a great way to remember the summer!! VERY COOL!!
Since you're the reason I started blogging (it looked like so much fun), I now have a pretty long blog going myself. It's purely for the entertainment of my family and friends, but it's turned into quite the record of our little world. So my question to you is: Do you regularly print your blog? I know about Jacob's book, but have you gotten into the habit of saving a hard copy of all of these precious entries? If so, how did you go about doing that? I'm so afraid that one day (through some mysterious glich) my blog will be no more, and while I have the pictures saved, the journaling has turned out to be kind of fun, too, and I don't want to lose that!
There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of your amazing Jacob. We're in Indiana, too, and I keep an eye out for Donnie's parents!
Love the pictures, Heather - thank you so much for sharing! I find your posts to be truly inspirational and I am an avid reader, so my question for you is: what are you currently reading? What are some of your favorite books?
Thanks again for sharing your family with us all -
Andrea
Ok, here goes...how does your mom, or you, do all those great picture collages?
Love you guys! Wish we could be there to play with you this fall! Or you could come here, it is cooling off here! :)
I see one of my questions is already been asked (about the wonderful collages) so I guess I can venture on to the 2nd question:
I loved the video of the boys telling of their BEST MEMORY OF JACOB and What they loved/missed the most, can you please post that video again? It was just so precious!
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