Lens and Needle

remembering...

 
how true.

 

today i'm remembering all those who died nine years ago today.

 

and remembering how blessed i am to have been able to be with little Charlie during his short life on earth.

 

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i'll be having a giveaway next week to raise money for the Gumpy's (see below).

i'm working on a button to advertise it; it would be great if y'all would put it on your blogs! i'll try to get it up soon.

 

 

*photo source

there are no words

On Monday morning our dear friends Bryan and Rachel Gumpy were blessed with their firstborn, Charles. He was born 10 weeks early, and was quickly flown to another hospital. Bryan and Rachel got to spend three days with their little man. This morning he went to be with Jesus. My Dad and I, and our pastor and his wife, went down to see Charlie and his parents Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. He wasn't expected to live through the night. But he did, and all through Wednesday. Dad and I came home last night.

I have known Bryan and Rachel for three years. Before they got married, Rachel lived with us. She became part of the family. They are so young, not much older than me. It is very hard to watch them hurt.

We know that God will be glorified through this somehow. But it is hard. Please pray for Bryan and Rachel, and all of their family and friends.

For only living on earth three days, Charlie sure touched a lot of lives. He had thousands and thousands of people all over the US and the world praying for him and his family. I have never witnessed anything like it.

I have a few ideas I've been tossing around on how to raise money for the Gumpy's (for doctor/hospital bills, etc.). One of the ideas is a giveaway on here. To enter you would donate any amount to a PayPal account on my sidebar. If there is anyone reading who would like to sponsor the giveaway, please email me (my email is located in the left sidebar). 

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

lovely weekend

friday night my grandma came to spend the weekend with us. we watched The Untouchables, and the next morning most of my family went to farmer's market. i slept in. :) then i met some friends and we went to see Nanny McPhee Returns. it was so cute! i recommend it to all ages, except maybe little-little ones. after the movies we went to Starbucks and sat outside sipping coffee and talking a lot and laughing even more. it was great. today grandma took me shopping and i got some fall essentials. jeans and tights and things. fun fun fun!

i'll be making Kentucky Butter Cake later, then watching a movie and relaxing.

what did/does your weekend look like? did you do anything fun? eat something super yummy? what is your favorite movie?

babysister

  

happiness is::: july 28

i decided to join in Carlotta's little blog hop today. here are two things that made me happy this week...

coffee... in any form, it always brightens my day. :)

babysister + sunlight + vintage pillowcase + camera = happiness

what has made you happy this week?

i'm back.

boy, july has been a crazy month. i'm not sure, but i think this may have been the longest i've gone without blogging. here's a peek at what's been going on...

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The Fourth

we had a fun Fourth of July; church in the morning, heading to grandma's after lunch, swimming, eating watermelon, swimming, swimming, eating dinner, and then setting off fireworks. the boys loved lighting the fireworks, and doing sparklers. :D how was your Fourth?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
while we were there, this little man got a haircut. now he looks so grown-up! *sniffs*

 

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bokeh = love

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HadyCakes thinks she's so big and cute.

oh wait... she's right. :)

 

 

 

 

 

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i'll be back later with some Etsy love and photos.

xoxo, Ashley

 

 

dear June,

you are nearly gone. how can that be? you passed too quickly.

i think you are my favorite month. when you come, so does summer. and my birthday, and longer days, and yummy fruits. you bring the heat with you too, which i don't enjoy so much. but it's always fun to cool off in the water, and you let the cool air blow in through the windows most summer nights.

until next year,

a girl who dreams too much

 

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yesterday was Sam's 3rd birthday. we had a little party with a few friends and family. i'll put more pictures of all the fun up tomorrow or Friday.

 

 

 

Moriah and I doing silly faces. :)

 

 

 
a fly-a-way balloon. (click on photo to see larger)

happy fathers' day!

dad,

you are the best father in the world! we all love you so much. thank you for always being there, teasing me, teaching me, loving me, encouraging me, providing for me, and everything else you do that more often than not goes unnoticed, or at least taken for granted.

happy fathers' day dad. i love you!

{photo taken by my my mom}

dad wiping sam's sticky ice cream hands. (notice Hady spitting up in the background? ;)

 

my 17th birthday

yesterday, June 19, was my 17th birthday.

my parents blessed me with a new camera lens i've been wanting, a remote for my camera (no more quickly running into photos :) and a Gorilla Pod. who-hoo!

i love, love, love the new lens. the way the photos turn out, it's almost like having a new camera!

here are some picture i took yesterday with it.

thank you dad for the sunflowers!! i love them!!

thank you ethan for the dutch mints, and your smiles.

thank you mom for the Mocha Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.

thank you jake for the card and thrifting money.

thank you dad and sam for the card,

and thank you joe for the itunes gift card.

and thank you hady for saving the pooping-on-the-carpet-while-big-sis-is-changing-your-already-poopy-diaper episode for today.

i love you all so much!!! thank you for a lovely, relaxing birthday.

and thank you everyone who left kind birthday wishes on here! you all are so sweet!

and thank you emmy & family for calling and singing to me!

and thank you nana, aunt joyce, aunt krista, and grandma for calling and wishing me happy birthday. love you all!
 

 
  

evening farmers market

last night:::

we enjoyed a family outing to the local evening farmers market. and it was such a great evening to be out! sunny with wispy, fluffy clouds, but nice and cool with a slight breeze. simply the perfect summer evening.

 we bought frozen yogurt. mmm! i got tart strawberry and chocolate with chocolate jimmies.

don't know what a jimmie is? neither did the guy behind the counter. :)

guy: what would you like?

me: tart strawberry and chocolate, please.

guy: would you like a topping?

me: yes.

guy: turns and gets frozen yogurt

me: looks around semi frantically trying to figure out what topping would be good.

guy: okay, what topping would you like?

me: um... chocolate jimmies.

guy: reaches for the chocolate sprinkles, then hesitates. looks at me with a very perplexed look. "chocolate what?"

me: oh, chocolate sprinkles.

guy: gives me a quizzical look, then scoops on the jimmies.

guy: what did you call them?

me: smiles a bit. "jimmies."

guy: oh. (hands me the yogurt)

me: thanks!

guy: may i ask why you called them that?

me: oh, well, that's what their called sometimes.

mom: i think their called that on the east coast.

guy: oh, okay. (turns to get the next yogurt, but still looks perplexed.)

:D

ah. next i'll start saying "wicked!" instead of "cool!". *winks at Pansy*

while we stopped for a minute, a boy came running up to mom and panted "can i get one of you to give me a high five?!"

mom discretely looked his hand over, then kindly obliged. he panted "28!" then ran off, saying it was a bet. :)

a few more kids ran by, no doubt looking for high fives. i wonder who won...

i ran into Jess and Monica, and their sister, brother and mother. it was nice to see you guys!!

do you have a farmers market where you live? if so, do you go to it?