I overheard Faith’s mom talking one day about how Faith’s little sister, Hope, got her name. Someone told her that you can’t have Faith without Hope, and so she named her second daughter Hope. Isn’t that beautiful and so, so true? Beautiful names for beautiful children. Faith is one of those princesses that puts on a big huge smile and jumps in front of the camera any second she can get. Hope, on the other hand, would rather be chasing cats and running amok. These two were certainly a joy and a pleasure to photograph! Aren’t they gorgeous?!?

Of course, it was an early call . . . so the dog was ready to be photographed before the rest of the family. I can’t resist a good puppy portrait:

Beautiful Faith:

Faith and Hope:

Beautiful (and silly) Hope:

A family portrait “Shawna” style:

And tradition:

Hope, her gorgeous mommy, and a VERY patient kitty:

Enjoy!

I wanted to share some images from our trip, but I thought I’d start with the point and shoot images first. Olympus was able to save my little underwater camera, the 770SW, www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1287. But prior to that, I discovered that my new whizbang totally fast and stellar computer has all sorts of card slots, so I was able to get the images downloaded and on the computer before Olympus had even received my broken camera in the mail! Cool!

I have a love-hate relationship with point and shoot cameras. They are lightweight, easy to travel with, difficult to fill up completely because the file sizes are so small, and usually take excellent macro (close-up) shots because the lenses are so small (my 770SW takes killer macro shots). I love my P&S camera, too, because it is waterproof.

That being said . . . most of the pictures these cameras churn out are simply NOT that great quality. So . . . please excuse these snapshots in advance!

Here is Tyler’s first time ever on an airplane:

Here is Devyn on the airplane . . . her third major trip in the skies:

Jordyn diligently devises an exit strategy during her first plane trip:

Devyn chilling out in Nana and Papa’s basement decked out for our entire family:

A little macro shot of Jordyn “Moosey” Liane and her binky:

My favorite recent picture of me. New hair and 1/3rd of the way back to being *me.* Too bad it was a self-portrait and it looks like I gave Devyn hallucinogenic mushrooms (trust me, I did not), but I LOVE this picture of me (and I never say that).

Mike, Papa, and the girls leaving church.

My beautiful Devyn:

My handsome hubby:

Jordyn playing videogames already! Isn’t she cute in her pink bubble bikini??!!

Ty and Dada:

Be-yoo-tiful Jords:

Daddy and Lexi in the jacuzzi:

Jordyn LOVES to go in the pool. And she really loved floating around in her raft from Nana and Papa in the jacuzzi (we turned the heat down so the babies could go in):

Tyler HATED the pool, but as you can tell from these next two images, she had a ball in the jacuzzi. Miss Tish apparently is too precious and fragile of a princess for the chilly pool . . . haha!

Is there any doubt that Jordyn is a Krystek? She looks like her Papa!

While we were in Missouri, we celebrated my 29th birthday again. Boy, I sure have had quite a few 29th birthday parties. Anyways . . . we drove down to Branson for the day and went to this place called the Butterfly Palace: www.thebutterflypalace.com. I’ll have more images from that later. Then, we went to a 1950s style diner for lunch and took the kids to an indoor/outdoor waterpark. My little fish Devyn could spend ALL day at waterparks or in the pool:

They even have a toddler pool for the little ones, but Tyler wasn’t too sure about that (I’ll have more pictures of the water park, too):

My niece underwater:

I think the chlorine was bothering Devyn because she normally opens her eyes. We’ve taken her to swim lessons for THREE years with a fantastic swim instructor out in Rancho San Diego, so I know for a fact she opens her eyes underwater usually . . . so, I don’t know what’s going on here:

Out for a drive in Springfield . . . views like this are not uncommon:

In Missouri, unlike San Diego, you can pretty much buy fireworks on any street corner. So, for the Fourth, my brother-in-law had some fun making his own little backyard fireworks display. Fortunately, we’re all alive to tell about it. haha! The twins HATED the fireworks. It really freaked them out this year.

A cute one of Ty getting caught drinking the creamer at the Waffle House. Ew.

This is the view of my in-laws’ backyard. They own 30 acres. Rough life, huh? I sat through a 20-minute discussion my father-in-law had with a friend of his about how much the two of them love to mow. You’d kind of HAVE to think that mowing is enjoyable if your lawn is this big. Me? I don’t think I could stand doing all that mowing. The conversation about it was tedious enough! (I’m just kidding, Mike). Their house and their yard are simply gorgeous.

One of their lilies in their pond. I told you this camera does some great macro work!

My blondie in front of the miniature set of Noah (that was one incredible set):

Nana enjoying having her babies in her home for the first time since they moved to Springfield:

Jordyn having a blast in the pool with Daddy:

Well, we were on vacation for the Fourth of July and I am now back in town. I didn’t blog that I was leaving because . . .well . . .I try to remain as safe as possible on the internet! I like to blog about where I’ve been, for example, instead of blogging about where I’m going!

We were in Springfield, Missouri, for the Fourth for about 10 days, visiting my mother- and father-in-law, as well as my sister-in-law and her family. I was dreading the flight and drive with all 3 kids (the twins’ first time on an airplane), as well as the heat and humidity in the Midwest in summer. But, surprisingly, it went VERY well. The kids were almost angels on the airplane and the weather was fabulous. Weird, I know! I was expecting the worst. In fact, we had an awesome thunderstorm our first night there and the humidity was only sweltering on our last 2 days there. I have a ton of pictures to share, but my underwater camera broke on our last day and I haven’t figured out how to get the images off the camera while it’s broken. It doesn’t take CompactFlash cards, so I don’t have a card reader (I need the camera on to download the pics). So . . . hopefully soon.

Since I’ve been back, I’ve been researching computers and looking for new studio space. Yes, it is that time. I am finally looking for a new location for shawna K studio (my home is no longer cutting it, given my current influx of business). I purchased the new computer yesterday and I am working diligently on getting it set up today so I will be able to process your images faster. Yay!

Bear with me while I go through this upgrade. Check back later for new images!

-shawna K