Our Miracle/Blessing

On November 11th, my husband injured himself while playing with the youth after Youth Group that night. Come to find out he completely tore his achilles tendon! What a painful experience!

After seeing the doctor and deciding that surgery would be the best route for us to take we waited for a scheduled surgery date. The first date that was picked we couldn't make, cause J was feeling sick. So it was postponed another two weeks, due to the holiday season.

The appointment before surgery - two week prior - it was discovered that there was no healing occurring in J's leg at all, and he was in a great deal of pain. It was even more clear now that surgery was necessary!

We went in this past Tuesday, December 28, for the surgery. J fasted, and was all prepped for the surgery. The doctor came in and told us that since it had been so long since the injury, there may be no need for surgery. But remembering that there was no healing occurring, two weeks ago, we decided to take the cast off and have the doctor take a look at his leg.

The cast came off - and the doctor started pushing, poking, and prodding at J's leg. With lots of flinching and twitching on J's part. :o( The doctor was surprised and said that he would be very pleased with the leg if this was a post op exam!!! WHAT?!?!? It's healed?

After about 10-15 minutes more discussing and examining J's leg - and getting a second opinion from another doctor - it was decided that J wouldn't need the surgery! His leg healed just as good as, if not better, if he had surgery. The tendon was shortened up and everything, just as if they did the surgery!!! Even the doctor was trying to convince himself that surgery would be best, but he couldn't, due to the healing!

We were all shocked - it was great to see the look on the doctor's face when he discovered how wonderfully the tendon healed it's self.

God is so amazing and wonderful! We were totally prepared for surgery, but scared at the same time. But, thankfully God had another idea! Four weeks of nothing healing, then in two weeks - perfection! God is AMAZING!

Headband Jax

While these aren't the best pictures, I had to share them.

For whatever reason, Jaxon asked for this headband to be placed on his head ... for a couple of days in a row! He really liked it, and we thought it was cute and funny!

I really liked the look on his face in this picture. Reminds me of "Harold & the Purple Crayon"

In this one, I couldn't get him to look at me ... "Blue's Clues" was playing on TV! LOL

Blessings!

Hummingbird

We have had an interesting couple of weeks. Jaxon has begun the process of teething his molars! So we have a cranky baby, and for a couple of days he lost his appetite and had a high fever. For those couple of days we stayed home and hung out in our PJ's all day.

The two of us walked outside for some fresh air (well we actually needed to throw away a loaded & stinky diaper). As we walked through the gate I heard some very loud humming and noticed there were hummingbirds all around in the tree. Flitting from here to there and getting some nectar from the flowers. Then I noticed that there was some repetitive humming sounds and looked around and noticed that there was a hummingbird stuck in a spider web!!!!

I couldn't believe that there was a web strong enough to hold a hummingbird! But there he was, struggling to free himself, much like a fly or bee, but much larger. I was so sad and had to see if I could free him.

I looked around and found a long sturdy stick on the ground, picked it up and attempted to break the web. I thought surly it would be easy to do, I would just break the web and the bird would be able to fly away. With Jaxon on my hip I went to work on attacking this web.

Much to my surprise it was a much stickier web than I first thought. So sticky that my stick was getting stuck in it as well! I was so afraid I was going to harm this fragile bird as I was tugging on the web to free him and my stick!

After some time, I was able to free one wing, then I was able to break the hummingbird away from the web, but he was still stuck to it on my stick. So I walked him over to my porch so I would be able to set him down on the banister as I worked at twisting the web off of him and onto my stick. With in a matter of seconds he was able to break away from the web and the stick and flew off!!!

I was so happy and so relieved! The picture I have added isn't of the bird I freed, but I thought it would be nice to have an image added to this blog.

Blessings!

52 Week Project 39

Wow, these weeks seem to be going by faster and faster, the closer to the end of the year we get!

I've made two trips to Costco in the last week! So ... that meant it was time to clean out my pantry. Of course with a 1 year old in the home, that means that I will not be doing this alone!!! LOL Jaxon became my little helper. It was actually quite fun!

Here are a couple of pictures of his helping me.

ISO 640 ~ 52mm ~ 1/50 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

ISO 640 ~ 24mm ~ 1/40 ~ 3.2 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 38

Okay, well I have kind of cheated this week.

I wanted to use these pictures a couple of weeks ago, but didn't, and haven't used my camera this week. So, I am using them this week.

The first one was taken on Jaxon's first birthday. It was the only good one I got of him. He was quite uncooperative. :o( The second one was taken the next day ... LOL ... can you tell he was still not wanting to have his picture taken?!?!?! :D

ISO 400 ~ 51mm ~ 1/100 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

ISO 100 ~ 24mm ~ 1/200 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 37

I wanted to play with my camera and instead of asking the kids I thought I would turn to our dog, Kacey.

She is a funny girl. She was sitting still and all, but wouldn't look up at me. I noticed that she was staring straight at her ball, which was on the ground in front of her. She refused to look away. So ... to get her to at least pick up her head, I set her ball up on the banister! LOL She still wouldn't look at me, but at least now her face was in view! ;o)

ISO 200 ~ 43mm ~ 1/160 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 36

It was a week of birthday's this week.

Josh was on the 7th, Shelby was on the 8th, and Jaxon was on the 9th.

Technically Jax's picture wasn't from this week - we took it on Saturday last week - but I wanted to put it up. Josh's picture was taken this week on his birthday. My sister in law was kind enough to make him a birthday cake & my mom made some AWESOME spaghetti sauce for a great spaghetti dinner in honor of Josh's birthday. We had a wonderful time!

Thanks everyone who helped make it possible!

ISO 800 ~ 24mm ~ 1/30 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

ISO 200 ~ 34mm ~ 1/60 ~ 4.0 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 35

Okay - so I am a day late. But here are some pictures from last week. My mom took us to Balboa park to visit the Ruben H. Fleet Museum and we detoured to the Museum of Man. It was a wonderful Thursday in Balboa Park!!!

I didn't really tweak any of the photos ... I just wanted to share them with you.

It was so much fun to watch all of the kids play and learn! Jax was even able to get in on the fun! He discovered the passing his arm through the mist cause a 'difference'!

This one was plain fun! Not to mention that I have stood at this same wall doing the same thing as a little girl! It was great to see all of the colors at one time! The kids were troopers as well - they held their position as still as they could so I could get this one with out the flash! ;o)

This one is one of my favorites. Not only did I

have fun doing this myself ... before the kids came over ... I love how the mist looks like a jelly fish.

Another fun one. As you can see this is modeling the earths magnetism. It was fun to drop the iron dust onto the globe and watch it stick.

Well that is a glimpse into our day. We had so much fun and look forward to many more fun filled days at Balboa Park! ;o)

Blessings!

52 Week Project 34

Well, we had quite a wonderful day today.

My mom took us down to Balboa Park and we went into the Natural History Museum. There were, Mom, Kirstie, Nick, Kyle, Christopher, Jaxon, and myself. We packed a picnic lunch and made a day out of it!!! What fun!!!

One of my favorite memories from the Natural History Museum was the Foucault Pendulum swinging in the foyer. I always loved waiting to see the pendulum hit the next block down. Well, today I felt like a kid again, on the floor with my children and nephews - eye level with the pendulum - waiting for it to hit the next block! :D I am sad to report that I didn't get the falling block on camera. But I did get this fun shot.

ISO 400 ~ 42mm ~ 1/25 ~ 2.8

I especially loved listening to Chris giggle while saying, "This is so exciting!" :D :D :D

What a great day!!!!

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 33

Okay, so I am starting to slow down a bit. I like to try to get this posted early in the week ... but school started for my kids again this week, so I've been on the road a lot with little time behind the computer.

I wanted to do something different this week instead of something of Jaxon. He is so easy to get pictures of, but I have a ton of them. So while I was cutting up some English Cucumber for Jaxon for lunch yesterday. I noticed that the cucumber was 'sweating' so I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of it.

So, this weeks photo is something different, nothing amazing or great, but just different.

ISO 100 ~ 50mm ~ 1.4 ~ 1-125 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!

52 Week Project 32

Hello there!

I have completely forgotten to do this, this week! It's Thursday already and I haven't posted yet. I quickly went through the pictures I've taken this week and found one ... of Jax. Surprised?!?! LOL

I like this one, because he is peaking around the corner to look at his sister Kirstie. She was playing with Kacey and he wanted to witness the fun.

ISO 125 ~ 24mm ~ 1/125 ~ 3.2 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!

52 Week Project 31

So, my mom came over last week to help me make some bread with a sour dough starter she gave me. She also brought her mixer with her. She loves her mixer and raves about it often. We got to talking about it, and I told her that I didn't want one because it would take up too much counter room in my kitchen and they are so big. Besides I had been getting along just fine with out one.

We got into making the bread - and boy was it fun - put all of the ingredients into the mixer and turned it on. WOW! Was that nice! By the time we put the dough out to rise, I had changed my mind. I now wanted to get a mixer!!!! LOL

Well, thanks to my hubby's car fixing talents/gift and my mom's thinking, we decided to do some bartering for a mixer. They get their car fixed in exchange for buying us a mixer. What a deal!!!

Here is a picture of the second batch of bread I've made this week with the mixer.

Oatmeal Honey Bread

ISO 400 ~ 52mm ~ 1/30 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

So, now I admit ... I LOVE my mixer and am super glad to have it!!!!

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 30

Okay, this isn't the best of shots. But, the girls took their first plane trip to Denver to visit family in Wyoming. I wanted to share this shot of them coming down into the baggage claim area. It was the first time I saw them in a week. Boy did we miss them! We were so excited to see them again and have them home!

ISO 800 ~ 70mm ~ 1/125 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

Oh and by the way - they has a WONDERFUL time! And I believe that is an understatement!!!! ;o)

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 28 & 29

I am behind a week due to being in Big Bear for a youth camp, SEP. What a GREAT week!!!

There were so many photographic opportunities, but little time. Here is one I took while waiting for a brother dorm to come pick up their sister dorm for dance class.

ISO 200 ~ 1/1000 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

This next one I took last night. Jax really loves pillows. He crawled up onto some while he was sleeping. He looks so cute, but after a bit, and some moving around on his part, it looked bad for his body. So, when I came to bed I moved him off of the pillow. ;o)

ISO 400 ~ 1/13 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

There, now I am all 'caught up'! ;o)

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 27

Here are some shots I took on the 4th of July.

ISO 100 ~ 24mm ~ 2.0sec ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

We were having some fun before the fireworks started. Poor kids. I stopped taking pictures and they were still walking around in circles for me! Then I hear, "Are you done???" Oops! LOL

ISO 100 ~ 57mm ~ 0.6sec ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

I didn't take very many of the fireworks. It was so clouding and the smoke was hanging in the air for a while. So, I decided to stop taking pictures and enjoy the show with the family! ;o)

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 26

Jaxon really loves his blanket, "Chewy" as we like to call it.

We now have two of them, but the first one which has cars on it, is his favorite still. However, we are glad that he'll take either of them. As you can see, he is hugging his new one in this picture.

ISO 640 ~ 27mm ~ 1/20 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!

52 Week Project 25

Here is my photo of the week.

We went to the Zoo, and I think my favorite animals were the Koala's. They are just so cute and cuddly looking! I know they have sharp claws though ... I like to live in the cute and cuddly though! ;o)

ISO 160 ~ 70mm ~ 1/100 ~ 3.5 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 24

I was trying to get a shot of Jax's eye one evening when the light was streaming in through our front door. It was only a small amount of light, but enough to play with.

I didn't exactly get what I was hoping to get ... but I liked the way this one came out. I liked how the light was kind of framing his face, and thankfully he wasn't making an ugly face! ;o)

ISO 160 ~ 70mm ~ 1/100 ~ 3.5 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 23

Okay, where has the time gone?

When Jaxon was born I was so thrilled and yet sad at the same time. I knew ... from having three kids already ... that they grow up way too fast. One day as I was praying I asked God, "How can I make this last?" It was more of a rhetorical question than a literal one. For I know there isn't a way to slow down or stop time. However, we serve a wonderful, loving, Father. His reply to me was, "Enjoy every single moment. Even the not so happy ones. Don't long for the days when he'll be walking and talking. Live in the now with him."

So, I have been doing this as much as I can. It still seems to have gone by way too fast, but I have more focus on the now than the future before. And I feel that may have been the more important lesson to be learned.

So, here is the 9 month shot of my son Jaxon. When I was at the WAP yesterday (June 9th) with my mom I commented on how Jax has been alive for 18 months. He has spent just as much time out of the womb as he did in! ;o)

ISO 200 ~ 42mm ~ 1/500 ~ 2.8 ~ PP in LR

Blessings!

52 Week Project 22

This week my husband and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Here are the flowers he got for me! ;o)

ISO 200 ~ 43mm ~ 1/2500 ~ 2.8

It has been a wonderful 8 years with J. The first couple of years were tough ... but it only got better and better every year after that. I have not only learned a lot about being married and how to make a marriage lasting, fun, & meaningful. I have also learned a lot about myself. I'd like to say that I have changed a lot and for the better. I know I have a long way to go and a lot more to learn, but I couldn't have asked for a better mate to travel through life with!

I love you Jeremy Ketchum!!!!

Blessings!!!

Lately Jax has been very intrigued with daddy's guitar.

Everyone once in a while daddy let's Jax sit on his lap and play with him. The only problem with that, is now every time J has his guitar out Jax thinks it's time to play with daddy! LOL When that happens, I take Jax outside so daddy can practice! ;o)

This time however, it was daddy and Jax time. I just love to watch the two of them together and Jax is just so happy. He looks like life couldn't get any better! ;o) It brought tears to my eyes to hear him sing with daddy. I think one day he will follow in his daddy's footsteps and be a wonderful singer for the Lord!

Blessings!

52 Week Project 21

Okay, it has been quite the week! We have had nine people in from Michigan - and it has been great! Along with Kirstie's play, Kyle's promotion, 8th grade parties, on top of all of our regular weekly things. I am going to be glad once this week is over ... but it has been a great one!

I took the kids out to do a group shot, but it didn't come out like I wanted. I went too early in the day - it was too bright. I am going to try again later in the day so we have that nice evening light. So this was the next best one I had to share.

ISO 100 ~ 42mm ~ 1/640 ~ 2.8

Blessings!

52 Week Project 20

Jaxon really loves this blanket, it has become so much a part of his daily living that we have given the blanket a name "Chewy".

When ever he nurses, goes to sleep, or is just relaxing we really should have it! ;o) It received it's name because Jax likes to chew on the edges of the blanket ... it really is quite cute.

Anyway, this day when I laid him down for his nap I only covered him with his blanket. When I came in to check on him a bit later I saw that he had found the tag! LOL Oh, and he loves to play with tags! ;o)

I thought this was so cute ... and I also have a thing for hands ... especially baby hands!

ISO 1600 ~ 70mm ~ 1/100 ~ 2.8

Blessings!

Crawling!

Here is the video!

Enjoy!

Blessings!

Oh How they Grow!

On Sunday, Jax actually crawled hand and kneed to me at church, as I posted in my previous blog. That was his first real good actual crawl.

Now, only three days later, he seems to have mastered this new found ability. Last night at Aunt Marisa's and Uncle Nick's he was all over their living room. Granted, I had to take his pants off so he could get some traction on their laminate floors, but he did it. Today in our bedroom, where we have carpet, he crawled to me. Daddy was cool enough to get it on video for us. I'll be posting it later on. I have a bunch of video to do a head of that one.

Just thought I'd share.

Blessings!

52 Week Project 19

Okay, this week Jaxon turned 8 months old! Of course I took some pictures of him and I couldn't pick only one. Sorry! ;o)

Here are my photo's for this week.

The first one was taken on Mother's Day, also his actual 8 month old day! ;o) The rest were taken this morning while he was in a good mood! ;o)

Blessings!!!

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day I received something from each of my kids. Not that I didn't usually in the past, but this year, they each did something for me on their own! How special is that?!?!

From Kirstie I received this card.

From Kyle I received this letter along with a $15 iTunes gift card.

From Josh I received this card.

Jax even got in on the fun! While we were in the nursery at church I was holding Beckham, another baby about a month younger than Jax. We were having a fun time and Jax was sitting on the floor not far from us. He turned to see me with Beckham and actually crawled, hand - knee, to me! After seeing him do that, I put Beckham down next to me and picked up Jax. Boy was he proud of himself! ;o)

It really was a wonderful special day!

Blessings!

52 Week Project 18

Well, I am warning you now ... if you don't like snakes don't look at this picture.

Earlier this week my husband caught a snake out by our trash cans. Our daughter was taking the trash out and this snake scared her pretty bad. She came running in all out of breath "There's a snake out there!!!" So, J went out there to move it so he wouldn't get hurt. But then here he came up onto our porch with the gopher snake asking us to get our camera. Did I mention that he is a snake guy?!?!? :D

So, again I say - if you don't like snakes just pass this weeks post up. ;o)

Blessings!!!

ISO 160 ~ 70mm ~ 2.8 ~ 1/1250

52 Week Project 17

Sweet Morning Light!

This picture is a view from my front door. When I woke up and looked outside I wanted to capture what I saw. Unfortunately the picture does it no justice. I love the look of the morning sun washing over the landscape in the early morning. It feels so clean, fresh, and new to me. Gives me a feeling of a clean slate.

ISO 800 ~ 24mm ~ 2.8 1/3200

All too fast!

Well here we are, Jaxon is 7 months old ... where has the time gone?!?!?

I noticed on Saturday that Jax had a tooth which was just about to poke through. Come Sunday morning there it was! Still can't see it, but it sure is a sharp one!

He has been scooting all over the place, starting to sit up from being on his belly, and he thinks he can just lunge forward and get what ever he wants! I think he is going to be an independent little guy ... after he gets over his mamma boy stint! ;o)

If all of that weren't enough ... I took him outside to play today after lunch. Brought out a blanket and all - to keep him contained and safe from the 'pricklies' we have in our grass. We were doing well, sitting and talking, looking all around at the different things in our yard.

Then ... he notices the little 'sticks' in the grass - fallen from our Jacaranda Tree - he enjoys playing with them! He was in the middle of the blanket ... then he lunged forward, put one hand in front of the other - then one knee in front of the other - and there he went ... crawling off of the blanket onto the grass to reach is goal ... a stick! ;o)

I just love to watch babies grow up and learn new things and explore. It also makes me sad that it all happens so fast! It seems like just last month we were heading to the hospital to have Jax. And now he is eating, moving, has a tooth, sitting, and talking.

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 16

My family and I went down to Sea Port Village and had a blast!
The weather was a bit gray and on the cooler side, but it was still nice.

As we walked along the harbor, there were all sorts of things going on. Sword-Swallower's, key boardists, sax players, palm readers, even a 'fake' Mickey Mouse!!! LOL

As we walked by this guy playing his sax, I got chills. You could tell he really enjoyed playing, he put his heart and soul into it. I took several pictures, but none of them do any justice for the passion he possessed. But I wanted to share one of them anyway.

ISO 100 ~ 46mm ~ 2.8 ~ 1/160 ~ PP in Aperture

Blessings!

Are you tired yet?!?!?

Here is how my day has looked today.

6am ~ Jax up to eat and decided to stay awake! ;o(
7.30am ~ Leave to take Kyle to school
8.30am ~ Home, eat, feed Jax, make the bed, try to get Jax to take a nap.
10.30am ~ Leave to pick Kyle up from school, drop T off at school. Go to Sprint to get Kyle's phone, warrentied. Go to Target.
1.00pm ~ Home. Feed Jax lunch, make lunch for J and myself. Nurse Jax.
2.15 pm~ Leave to pick Josh up from school.
3.00pm ~ Home. Feed Jax AGAIN! Try to get him asleep ... AGAIN ... No luck.
3.30pm ~ Leave to pick T up from school.

During this trip out we found out that Jae and Sean are going to be at my parents for dinner tonight. They are going to be moving soon, so we would like to take this opportunity to visit with them. Needed to talk to the girls to see what they would like to do. They have Youth Group tonight, so wanted to leave the choice up to them.
They decided to go to dinner! :D

4.30pm ~ Home.
5.00pm ~ Start typing this blog ... need to leave ... now ... to get to dinner at the parents!!!

I am so tired now ... but am really looking forward to dinner tonight. :D

Blessings!!!

52 Week Project 15

Here is my photo for the week.

ISO 500 ~ 48mm ~ 2.8 ~1/125 ~ PP in Aperture

52 Week Project 14

Well here we go with week 14, boy is the time going by so fast!!!

I liked how these roses were 'laying' down on the ground. They looked so 'peaceful' to me! ;o)

ISO 100 ~ 40mm ~ 2.8 ~ 1-60 ~ PP in Aperture

Blessings!

Search Lights

As I was driving home with my daughters ... and Jax ... on Saturday night from my brother's house we saw search lights in the distance. This reminded me of something my dad did when I was a child.

I don't remember how old I was, I remember I was young. San Marcos was not built up like it is today ... not much on San Marcos Blvd at all. We have lived here since I was one year old ... so I have seen a lot of change.

One night we saw search lights from our house on top of the hill, over looking the valley. My dad said, "Hey! Let's go find out where they are!" Yeah, an adventure! I was excited!

We loaded up in the car and set out to find the search light location! I remember sitting in the back seat watching my dad drive and look up into the night sky for the lights. He would look out, then navigate the streets, getting us closer and closer.

Once we found them, dad parked the car, then took us out to look at the lights. He then went on to explain to us how they work, powered by a motor and rotating all about. He pointed to the source of light, then followed the bright light line into the sky where it was moving around. It is so like my dad to explain how things work ... lots of fun for a child!

So now when ever I see search lights in the night sky, I think of this day when I was a child. Such happy memories. I have another good one of a hot air balloon ... but that I will save for another blog!

Blessings!

52 Week Project 13

The other day I had lunch with a friend. I brought my camera as well ... of course! ;o) Here are a couple of pictures I took of her kids.

This one isn't very sharp. I accidentally focused on the wood behind them instead of them ... opps! I tried to sharpen it up a bit. I loved how Eva is looking at Elisabeth and the smile on Elisabeth's face. I had to post it.

ISO 100 ~ 24mm ~ 2.8 ~ 1/320 ~ PP in Aperture


I really liked this one. I am a sucker for B&W, and I loved the way she looked walking away from me with her head tilted downward.

ISO 100 ~ 70mm ~ 2.8 ~ 1/1600 ~ PP in Aperture

Ronda, thank you for the wonderful lunch, pleasant company and the permission to use your photos! ;o)

Blessings!