Shawna

Shawna and Matt were married in Catoosa at the Vesica Piscis Chapel. It's a beautiful place and they offer everything you can think of for a wedding . The splendid, stone chapel sits on a ridge with trees all around. The marker on Google Maps isn't correct, but here is where it really sits. Contact Judy Lytle for more information and to check for availability.

This is Rylan, getting ready for the wedding.

No man likes a tie.

You don't think of Oklahoma having shipping ports, but the Port of Catoosa is the furthest inland seaport in the United States. It links Tulsa to the Arkansas River, by way of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System and on down to the Gulf of Mexico.

Jerrod and Ashley

Jerrod and Ashley were married in a sweet, outdoor ceremony, in Greenwood, on a beautiful day.
The girls wore simple sundresses and carried hydrangea and calla lily bouquets.




Greenwood's surrounding area has a rich coal mining history. The Miner's Memorial Park is located on East Center Street and features a statue of a coal miner, a coal car loaded with real coal, and a very nice memorial wall. Jerrod's great-grandfather's name is there along with more than 3,700 other Sebastian County coal miners.

Mandy

Mandy and Will tied the knot last Saturday in beautiful Bella Vista. The bridesmaids were in Truffle and Cream. (You know I love a dress color with chocolate in the name.)




Bella Vista is located just north of Bentonville in the Ozark Mountains.
The drive there on 540 is a fest for the eyes and much different from the the old Highway 71 that I remember traveling as a kid when we went to Fayetteville.
71 was always a challenging and breathtaking drive. 540 has taken the major traffic off charming old 71 so that you can enjoy the drive through the Boston Mountain area, not worrying that a semi will come around a hairpin curve and squish you. Do you remember the old tower on Mount Gaylor? It's not there anymore. You could see forever from up there.

Kaylia

Kaylia is having a fairy tale-themed wedding. She looks like a princess to me. What do you think?

Hannah

Hannah has a beautifully restored 1965 Chevy truck
that she wanted in some of her senior photos.
Hannah is quite the beauty herself. She is gorgeous on the inside
as well as the outside
because she's a "True Love Waits" girl and
loves the Lord with all her heart.

The Trees Come Off

A crane removed the giant trees from the Hinkle's roof.


The crane was stuck in the hole that it made of the driveway. It took two semi wreckers pulling together and the extending of the crane's boom to distribute the weight to finally get unstuck.



Someone could've sold popcorn and hot dogs. Why didn't we think of that?




Cutting the tree while the crane lends help.



And.....falling into the hole.


The stump with its massive root ball plunking back where it was for about 100 years.



Just to give you some idea of how big that root ball was, check out the roots sticking up around the stump that fell back into the hole.



Going Up!


Big, big tree!
Can you believe they are saying this house isn't a total loss????

The Storm

Sometimes God saves you from the storms of life. Sometimes He takes you through them, out the other side, safely.
Our friends survived, praising God for the safety of their whole family after the storm that came through Wednesday evening.
Three enormous, Tulip Poplar trees were blown over, one flattening their home. The hallway were they were with their six children remained relatively undamaged.



It isn't known at this time whether the damage was due to straight line winds, or if a tornado touched down, but the Hinkle family felt their roof lift a little right before the largest of the trees fell and opened their ceiling to the down pouring of rain and some rather large hail.
(Now they are saying it was a microburst.)




There has been an outpouring of help from fellow homeschool families, church friends, neighbors and others. Jodie said she felt that an army had helped them clear what was salvageable from their home. She also mentioned the kindness of neighbors who lent their homes, and food to the family, and a police officer who stayed all night in their back yard the night looters tried to take what was left. Even Garrett Lewis, meteorologist for channel 5 KFSM gets some credit. When they heard him say he felt like the studio roof lifted a little, the family knew it was headed straight for them and hunkered down closer into their small space.

Rachel

After all the rain we had a clear, nice day for photos around the River Park in Fort Smith.
Rachel and her grandmother are sweet people. I'm glad to have done Rachel's senior photos for them. The River Park Amphitheater is the location of the annual Fort Smith Riverfront Blues Fest.

Located near the River Park are some great attractions. There's the Fort Smith National Historic Site
with Judge Parker's Court, the old commissary building, the old fort remains, and the gallows.

Visiting Benjamin

We also visited with his mommy and daddy
while we were in Germany.

Missing him is enough to make me want to learn
more German and move there.
He's the best baby boy! He was looking for Nanny
after we had to come back to the states.

He's doing SUCH a good job trying to feed himself. Sometimes he tries to pick up liquid with his fingers. It doesn't always turn out well.

Isn't he adorable?



There is a little pond with fish in the back yard. He loves his Uncle, especially when he takes him out to see the "ish".


Look at the most beautiful blue eyes in the world!


He loved the dandelions and tasted a few.