Memories, Dreams and Reflections ~ 2014

Taking a look back at 2014 - through photos, of course.

Ashley hosts her annual Memories, Dreams, and Reflections with prompts.  It is hard to narrow them down to just one photo each, but I managed.  :)

{Me!}

This is a photo I took earlier this year that is way outside my comfort zone.  One - because I don't do selfies often.  Two - because dark and moody isn't really my style.

{I Love You}

I love my family, even if they make me crazy on a daily basis.  :)
We took our first-ever week-long family vacation this summer to Sandbridge Beach, Virginia.  While we were there we had Melissa Rich take our family photos on the beach.  I had been a fan of her photography online (blog and facebook) for a while now and was super excited to get to meet her in person.

{Still Laughing}

Nick was into make hats out of newspapers back in May.  This is one of his creations.  Cracks me up!

{Winter Wonderland}

We have yet to have winter arrive here this year.  We did have a little snow in November but it didn't stick around long.  So this is from last winter.  Honey loves playing in the snow!

{Birthday}

We celebrated both my niece Christi's and Alex's birthdays on Thanksgiving.  I made them these fun turkey cakes (thank you Pinterest).  Here they are giving me their best fake smiles.  :)

{Friends}

My friend, Lindsey, came to visit from Texas so we got together at Rachel's house to enjoy each other's company.

(From left to right - me, Lindsey, Rachel, and Diana)

{I Was Inspired}

A friend inspired me to learn how to knit.  I'm still learning and don't think I finished this project yet.  :)

{Spring Fever}

A macro shot of a maple blossom.  I love spring.  Only 75 more days!

{Travel or Vacation}

As I said we took our first-ever week-long family vacation this year.  We had so much fun at the beach.  We spent LOTS of time there.  The kids had a blast playing in the ocean waves.

{Summer Days}

I spend many of my summer days raising Monarch butterflies.  I found my first egg on July 4 and released my last butterfly on November 4, which is crazy because they shouldn't still be around that late in the year.  This photo was from a day in August when I had 28 butterflies emerge in one day.  I wasn't able to photograph them all together as they came out at different times that day, but I did manage to get these nine together.

{A Day in My Life}

This is a pretty typical day in my life.  The boys bothering their sister and her trying to block them out.  :)

{All Smiles}

I was trying to get a nice shot of Nick and instead got these.

{Autumn Harvest}

One of the last sunflowers of the season.

{Family or Home}

Our most recent photo - all of us after Christmas Eve service at our church.  A friend took it with my camera.  The wise man pointing at Doug's ear cracks me up.  :)

{Celebrate!}

Alex was being silly when he opened his Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve.  He really celebrated.  It was fun to watch.

{Let's Do It Again}

After raising 172 Monarch butterflies in 2014, I can't wait for summer to come so we can do it again.  And hopefully raise even more this year!

{I Miss You}

This little sweetie is Slick, our neighbor's colt.  He was born back in the spring and has grown so much.  I stopped by to photograph him several times last spring/summer, but they moved him to a different pasture in the fall.  I really miss seeing him every day.  I need to make a point of stopping by and visiting him (and his owners) soon.

{Beautiful}

I may be biased, but I think Keira is beautiful.

{Dress Up}

Nick doesn't really like to cooperate with getting his picture taken so getting one of him in his Halloween get up was no different.  This is the best I could get.  I don't really know what he's supposed to be.  :)  That mustache is too much.

{Macro}

My favorite macro shot of the year.  I spent lots of time outside on a bitterly cold day trying to capture close ups of snowflakes.

{Holidays}

We had front-row seats to a fireworks show this year.  A friend invited us to the home of the folks who set them off.  It was a fun time.

{My Favorite}

Of all the Monarch photos I took this year, this is my favorite.  Most of the butterflies are freshly hatched when I photograph them but this one was not.  I believe it is one of the ones I raised who came back to visit a few days later.

{Don't Ever Change}

She's growing up so fast.  I wish she would stop.  :)

{Just Because ... So There!}

Another of my favorite Monarch photos from the year.  Two caterpillars snuggled up together on a milkweed leaf.

{Hopes and Dreams}

I have several goals for this year, but the most important is to draw closer to God.

Thank you for stopping by!  Be sure to visit Ashley for more great 2014 memories!

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