Labor(ious) Day

No rest for the weary in this Bell house (nor do I suspect so in the other Bell house up the road). We've all contracted some kind of mutant flu bug which we still aren't quite certain how we received. The general consensus is that Harper discovered it with her grabby hands and it is not the pork we all consumed on Friday evening, which I must say is a relief as I like pork. My tolerable meat list is short.
But, let's back up a bit:
Friday evening we all dinned together in celebration of Takeyasu and family breezing through Seattle on their way to Japan. The kick start to a wonderful weekend. Tak was an exchange student who lived with Casey and Tyler's family off and on for periods of time. He is super great and so are his wife and son, Taiga. Pronounced like Tiger with an "A."
Pea was in heaven. "His REAL name is like a Tiger?"
Tiaga (who is a DOLL) and Pearson got along famously as he did with all the Bell "sisters" as he called them. Here are some shots of the evening including one of the greatest Harper smiles ever captured on film...





Fast forward to Saturday eve where we had good friends and fam over for dinner. It was a pleasant evening until our dear friends J & C were about to leave and I immediately had to excuse myself. The first of MANY. HORRIBLE. EPISODES. to come. For the next 10 hours, it was get up, throw up, lay down, pray for it to be over. Then as I first come down with this we receive word that up the street where a super fun slumber party is supposed to be happening, Pearson has puked all over Kyla's bed. oh no. Poor Andi, poor Heidi, poor Pea! Here is them, as Andi put it, "The calm before the storm..." Well said.

Pea followed in her mama's foot steps (to the latrine) and by 6 am I threw in the towel and called my mom. I felt terrible. BUT I may have felt worse for Tyler who I must say is such a man's man. He stepped up and took care of both of us all night and I am so so thankful for him. Sunday was spent on the mend and THANK YOU mom for coming and allowing us to heal. You are a lifesaver and have such a servant heart.
Hopefully I'll inherit that.
On Monday we awoke to a new world, one where we didn't have to carry a bowl with us everywhere and one where as claimed earlier we intended to take full advantage of the beautiful weather come hell or high water. So along those lines, we headed to Alki. No joke, Pearson rode about 3 or 4 miles on her bike along the boardwalk. It was impressive to say the least. Turned out to be an amazing day, maybe of the most amazing in this Emerald city I've ever seen. And maybe it was so great, because I was with those I love. Here's our morning in pictures (please pardon my ill-fitting sweat shorts; I was deathly ill the day before).

Eye of the Beholder

Pearson is all about the pictures these days. Frankly, this girl has an eye for it. She comes by this naturally; not the taking pictures necessarily, but the aesthetics of it. The angle, design, and colors are what's most important to her.
Tyler, anyone?
She has more ideas of how she wants to pose things or frame them than I do as an adult. She is my four year old photog and here are four of her pictures that are my favorite:

Fortune (5)00

Meet the future faces of Bellmont Cabinet Company...it's an all-girl affair. We did this photo shoot for Papa Steve for his birthday at our manufacturing plant. What else do you get the man who has it all?
Andi got some stellar pictures and the book/canvas created from this session has become an instant classic...see for yourself.

Fall Back

I absolutely love this time of year. It's by far and away my favorite.
Fall.
Can you see in your mind's eye the leaves turning? To me it's a shedding of the once vibrant to make room for something even better. This sense of turning over has never faded for me as I grow older. It still makes me still want a buy new boots and sharpen my pencils. However, this year is slightly different...
Autumn is fast approaching and we are venturing into some uncharted territory. With school, bible studies, and soccer starting it's sure to be a busy season in our life. Our company is launching a new product line today which my husband, FIL, and BIL are jazzed about. With these new beginnings, I am sensing a fresh start and that's exhilarating. I did also shave part of my head (see previous post) and that has me feeling: 1 part Last of the Mohicans, 2 parts hardcore, and 3 parts free of conventional beauty which I am living in the moment of.
This post is a double entendre since it's title was originally meant to showcase our family outing to Snoqualmie Falls, which was breath-taking by the way. Pearson calls them "waterfells." It is adorable. Here are a couple pictures from that adventure:

Born & Raised in a Summer Haze

Enjoying the last of summer with sprinkler time...

Life is too "short."

Maybe not THIS short, but best to make it fun whilst we're all still here. No? For me, this is fun AND a risk...

iOverwhelmed

Recently, for my birthday I received an iPhone from my wonderful hub. I am officially the least worthy human being to own a device such as this. (See: Washing my cell phone in with my clothes, then dropping it's replacement from the second story banister. In my defense I was pregnant and therefore incapable of coherent thought...)
To my amazement I am really loving it (typing this post on said device), but I am beyond overwhelmed with all it can do. I don't even own an ipod so to me it feels like I've been transported to another dimension or similarly dropped out of a space ship on Mars. There's an app for anything you can imagine and I have come to simple conclusion regarding my highly sophisticated phone. I'm keeping it real; using it for it's intention, pictures, and my bible app.
And for now calling it a day. Just before I started typing this I read Bek's blog about solitude and silence. It spoke to me and the direction I would love to take for this next season in life; take a gander. I'm thankful for her in many ways, but mostly thankful to God for granting me friendships that are rooted in Him. More on this later, but for now overwhelmed has a new meaning: that of pairing down to what matters and feeling overwhelmed at the genuine change and space for truth that will create.