Toffee

We have had a loss in our family. Something we hate to see our children go through is the loss of a family member. Robb and I had our first experience with telling our children that their pet kitty had disappeared. There were a lot of tears and our youngest exclaimed "Don't be sad sissy. She will be back tomorrow" as our oldest shed buckets of tears.


Olyvia wanted to know all the details but I had to tell her that I really didn't know. I explained that she could have been caught by a wild animal or she could have been sick and wandered off, but that I just didn't know for sure. Watching her struggle with this was sad for me as her mother. I could see her trying to grasp the meaning of it and then all of a sudden she stopped crying, she looked at me and explained to me, quite matter of fact, that Toffee had gone to find her mommy and would be fine because if she was lost that is what she would do.


And so our wonderful kitty went to find her mommy. She will be missed, but we enjoyed all the fun times we had with her.

'Night' by Elie Wiesel

'Night' by Elie Wiesel is an amazingly powerful true story of a young Jewish boy who is taken from a ghetto with his family to a concentration camp as told by Elie himself and translated by his wife. The book details the horrors of seeing his family ripped from his life and his father murdered by the Nazi soldiers. I was crying in the first chapter and there were parts of the book where I was actually sick to my stomach and had to take a break from reading. That said, it is definitely on the top of my "best books" list and I would highly recommend it to anyone, especially those searching for a first hand perspective on the atrocities that occurred at the hands of the Nazi's during WWII.

***** A definite must read for all.

This book was highlighted on the Oprah book club and her website offers some great resources.

What have I read?

Earlier today someone mentioned that, while on my blog, they were surprised not to see more posts on books I have ready. I then realized she was right and I couldn't believe it. So I have decided that I really need to do something about that. Plus, by sharing my love for reading I can hopefully encourage another to read a good book.

I am going to rate books on a 5 star scale in relation to all books I have read. Should it happen that I read a book I don't want anyone to have to suffer through it, it would receive zero stars. I will also try to give a brief explanation of what I thought of the book. I would encourage anyone who reads my reviews of the books to comment, especially if you disagree. Many people will have differing opinions on the same book and I love to discuss those in a outlet such as this so others can review the debate, read the book and then make their own opinions.

Enjoy and happy reading!

Michaud Family Photos

Rencently I had the amazing opportunity to take photos of a friend's family. They hadn't had family photos in a while and had asked me if I would take them and I was honored. The family is a very close and it could be seen in how they interacted with each other and how the kids interacted with each other. It was pure joy to see it. Here are a few of the pictures from the evening.

A beautiful day at the beach.

What a beautiful evening it was. I met up with Sara and her wonderfully spunky daughter, Hanna, at the beach. It was great to see her and Hanna enjoying each other so much in such a beautiful place. Hanna was intrigued by everything and I loved following her around and capturing her beautiful personality as she went.

Leilah turns 3!

We had a great time last weekend at my niece's 3rd birthday party. My sister decided to hold it at Silverdale Waterfront which proved to be the perfect location. The kids could play on the playground, there was concrete for them to draw on with chalk, grass to run in, and beach to explore. Plus it was a beautiful day. I was able to get some precious pictures that I want to share with all of you.
Is she a beauty or what? Oh, and she loved the watermelon.

The Neighbor Kids.

I had so much fun last Saturday when I was able to take pictures of our neighbor's three kids. They are such beautiful children. I took some bubles with me to help them be more at ease with the idea of someone taking a lot of pictures of them and it worked like a charm for the girls. The son was a little tougher, but upon promises of a tractor ride and a visit from the neighbors' dog he became a lot more excited. They were so much fun to shoot and I can't wait to get an opportunity to take some more pictures of them.