Our House in the Middle of Our Street

Aren't these just beauties? My best friend, Emily, owner and founder of Topline Photography , does portraits, often with animals and their people. Or rather, people and their pets! She specializes in that niche and does phenomenal work because of her history at a vet clinic and present work training horses and their riders!  As evidenced by the photos on my banner, we have not gotten family photos taken in three or more years! One thing I really wanted to do this year was get our family's photos updated, and I was so grateful Emily was able to squeeze in some time for us to do this. I've got over 50 beautiful photos just waiting on my hard drive for printing, framing, and book-making. I've got two impatient family members (surprisingly, not who you'd think) who hate having their picture taken and she took these and many more gorgeous photos in less than 20 minutes before they gave up and died a fiery Nebraska-heat death. Now that's great serv

via Remembrance and Veterans' Day, a day to remember what our countries have been through to provide you with the freedom you have in this lifetime. Be thankful. As always, some picturebooks to help children understand what this day is about: * Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion by Jane Barclay * A Poppy is to Remember by Heather Patterson * Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh by Sally M. Walker (fantastic history lesson here about a well known bear) * The Wall by Eve Bunting * H is for Honor by Devin Scillian * The Poppy Lady by Barbara Walsh

Even though I didn't read a lot in October, I certainly watched a LOT of good movies in October. I love all sorts of films and for whatever reason we seemed to hit a lot of the movies I've had on my list for awhile when we were in Nebraska. I loved almost all of them and wanted to share the links and plotlines with you in case you'd be interested, too. Those links will take you right to the trailers. * The Drop Box (trailer above) - Break out the tissues and expect to have a sinus headache afterward, because this movie will slay you with all the feels. It's a documentary on a South Korean Pastor Lee Jong-rak and his wife who installed a box where infants could be left at any hour, and they would be taken care of, instead of disposed in an inhumane manner. The box normally 'rings' in the middle of the night, when young women feel they have no choice left. The family often receives disabled children, and throughout the last 6 years, they have helped place hu

Not the greatest photo quality, but one of our favorite places in town-the library Well, November, how'd you get here so quickly and what did you do with your sister October?  Last month we were gone for nearly 3 weeks traveling back to Nebraska to see family, friends, and church community we left there nearly three years ago. It was a wonderful trip. I've been trying to put together a photo-heavy post of our trip, but my ipad (yes, I'm the "weird tourist" who takes generally all photos on my ipad mini) is not forwarded them onto my computer for some reason, hence a grainy photo above that I took before we left. I spent nearly every waking moment talking with whomever was in my vicinity in Nebraska, so reading just did not happen until the 27 hour drive home. In the following two weeks left, I did manage to finish 4 books, though two of them were quite short. Enjoy! * Psychedelic Shits by Kurtis James (i.e. my brother-in-law!) - When my BIL posted h