it just makes me smile

Today

It was a big day for my boys. They had their first tournament.

Getting a pep talk before his first competition, breaking.

In practice earlier, he broke a board after four tries. Today, he broke three boards in a row on the first try every time!!! (We have a video; I'll post it later)

He received first place for his age group!!!! He was beaming!

And his teachers were so proud of him!

We're so thankful for the Conn family. His teachers are a family of four-- dad, mom, son, and daughter. They're all second and third degree black belts. They're so good with him.

I'm bummed that I didn't get the focus right on this picture, but you can still see Mike's face. Tough! He broke through four boards.

They're in class with our friend and his son. Todd is not that far away from his black belt. I love this picture of these two.

Mike competing on his "form."

Okay, so this wasn't too fun for me. Jonah didn't get to spar today since we didn't have all the protective gear for him. It was a big deal. I think he cried, "I want to spar!" for 15 minutes. I could have watched Jonah with pride; the young kids aren't that aggressive yet. But seriously, why would I ever want to see my husband "fight" a 20-something year old? He lost one match and won the other one, 5-0.



Jonah received two first place trophies. He received a first place for his form as well, but we didn't want to make a big deal of it. He needs to practice his forms more, and it was actually a little frustrating that he was rewarded for something that he could have done better!

Guess who's ready to start Tae-Kwon-Do next summer?

Gi-Yup

Someone broke his first board tonight at Tae-Kwon-Do!

And someone's dad broke through three adult size boards!

I live with two strong men :)

glad THAT's over

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

It's over. I did it.

I had my first wedding yesterday. I wasn't nervous once I got there, but I'm thankful that I don't have to anticipate it anymore. It was in Bloomington so I wasn't able to visualize the venue before I arrived. Once there, it was fun!

My friend Molly with Molly Bea Photography came to help at the last minute. I'm second shooting for her next weekend in Michigan so she thought she'd return the favor. Molly had referred the bride to me so it was a natural connnction for her to be involved. I'm glad she was there. It was enjoyable to spend the day with a friend, and she has a gift of posing! She stood back while I did the majority of the shooting and then came forward with some rock star idea when I was finished! We made a good team!

I learned a few lessons-- specifically, I learned better ways that I could coach my brides so that they can get the best pictures, and now that I've done a wedding, I think I can be more assertive in telling them my opinion!

The bride was stunning. I can't wait to post pictures.