photography

Yesterday I had the incredible privilege of photographing the wedding of two dear friends from the ship. Becca and Greg met when she first came to the ship in 2009, and yesterday I got to be there as they pledged their lives to each other. The day went off in fairly typical West African style; there were Land Rovers, closed roads, rain showers and lots and lots of love.

Here are a few snaps from a beautiful day. (For those of you on the ship, I'll have a full set on the Transfer Drive once Becca and Greg get back from their honeymoon and have had a chance to see them first.)









What would a Mercy Ships wedding be without a bride on a Land Rover?



There were a few snags along the way, of course. After a long drive through town, complete with crazy market-day traffic, we ended up walking the last part of the way to the house where Becca was going to finish getting ready. She led the parade with a smile, a smile that wasn't even dimmed when rain started pouring down as the outdoor reception was set to start.



The ceremony took place in the church Greg and Becca have been attending here in Sierra Leone. It was packed, and when the Liberian worship started, they almost blew the tin roof right off the place.





The rain cleared up enough to let us get some beautiful shots of the bridal party and the happy couple.





From there it was off to the reception, which took place in the garden of the house where the Mercy Ships off-ship teams lived here in Sierra Leone.







Thanks to the new Mr. and Mrs. Kulah for letting me be a part of this amazing day!

It turns out that when you're home for an entire summer with nothing to do but rest and get over a nasty case of dengue-induced viral arthritis, you get a little crafty. At least I do. Did. Whatever.

My cousin Rae (who's really more like a sister than a cousin, if we're being honest here) is having her second kiddo in just a couple weeks here. If she (the baby, that is; my cousin doesn't have a lot of say in the matter) cooperates, I'm going to get to be there when the big event happens, and to celebrate the imminent event, I decided to throw a party for Rae.

This is the point at which I made a near-fatal error: I went on the internet looking for ideas.

Don't get me wrong; I love the internet. I more specifically love Pinterest, and so I hopped on there and typed baby girl shower into the search bar.

That, my friends, was the beginning of the end.

Over the following days (it could have been weeks; time is blurred together at this point) I scrolled through countless photos of pink, frilly decorations and scrumptious-looking treats and silly games until I had put together all the best bits. I've been slightly obsessed with this party for the last couple of weeks, always coming up with new ideas and more details and different foods to prepare. The last few days have seen me in the kitchen, apron firmly tied, preparing treats from morning 'til night. (This, in and of itself, is a testament to how much better I am health-wise; my ankles hurt by the end of it, but my hands are feeling great!)

And today we partied. We ate until we were stuffed and crafted until we were tired. It was a sweet time with some amazing women, and we made the most of it together. Would you like to see some photos? Of course you would!

Let's start with the treats, shall we? Clockwise from the top left: A shot of the cake (more on that later); rainbow fruit skewers; sparkling white sangria with raspberries, kiwi fruit and peaches; the drink cart (including pink lemonade, of course) and the treat table with lots of other delicious things; grilled brie with thyme-infused honey and fresh figs. That last one? To. die. for. If you ask nicely I'll send you the full-size photo. As long as you're willing to drool. You have been forewarned.



Moving on to the cake! I saw this cake on someone's blog and knew it was the one. I made cupcakes, too, so I just made skinny little layers, four of them, each in a different shade of pink. The little birdies are made of fondant, and their friends were sitting on the cupcakes. I love rainbow cakes, and this monochromatic one was just beautiful. Mine didn't turn out nearly as beautiful as the one I saw on the blog (an unfortunate effect of some sticky pans), but I think it was quite good for a first attempt. (Also, you're allowed to hate Rae; she's due in less than three weeks and she really does look that incredible.)



Here's one of my favourite bits about the shower. Although we weren't giving gifts (other than the onesies we each decorated, but we're getting to that), we decided to bless Rae with some diapers. And rather than just handing her the boring old packs, we broke out the markers and decorated them with pictures and jokes and little words of wisdom for the coming months. Some of my favourites: Let the potty-training begin! Since I probably won't remember to tell you this when I can talk, thanks for keeping me clean and dry, and of course the ever-popular, This one's for daddy!



I also made some 'wish cards' for the baby. Each guest got one and filled it out with wishes for Angelina to read when she gets older. I get a little choked up just thinking about how special this will be for her someday, to know that we all gathered together to love her and pray for her before she was even born. There are even a few extras that are going to go out to family members who weren't able to be here today.



In spite of all the treat-eating and diaper-drawing and wish-writing, we spent a good amount of the time decorating onesies. And let me tell you something, folks - this was one creative bunch!



(That one with the flowers was made by my friend Heather, and I'm considering giving her one of my own t-shirts to work on.)

And now, I present, for your viewing pleasure, the finished products.



Now all we need is for little Angelina to show her face; her wardrobe is all ready! Stay tuned, because if the timing is right with a trip to Texas I'm about to take, I'm hoping to have some beautiful photos from her birth to share with you in a couple of weeks.

Moral of the story: Go on Pinterest if you want to throw a super-fun party. Just stay away if you have any other commitments for the two weeks prior to that party. Because you're going to find a lot of ideas, and you're going to want to do them all!

One more of Adaya, because she's just that cute. Up, up and away!



Oh, how I loved spending a whole week with this baby snuggled up next to my heart.

I'd like to introduce you to my newest niece, the ever-so-cute Adaya Lynne. (To be totally accurate, she's not my niece. She's the child of the wife of the youngest of the sons of the guardians with whom my HoJ has lived since he left Fiji for Canada at age sixteen. I think we'll stick with niece, shall we?) She cooperated beautifully with her mama and me for a photo shoot, despite being wide awake for most of it, and has spent the rest of the time while we're here snuggled up in my arms.









This has been a wonderful visit.

When I enter photos in the I Heart Faces photo challenges, it's usually just that; a challenge. I'm often sitting around, wracking my brains to come up with an idea for a submission. When I saw that the theme this week is water, I knew exactly which photo I was going to use.

My sister has been working with Campamento El Faro de Esperanza (Camp Lighthouse of Hope) in Playas, Ecuador, for as long as I can remember. It's a camp founded by Canadian missionaries who live and work in the invasion area in Guayaquil known as Bastion. I've had the privilege of working alongside them twice, once to help with the construction of the new camp buildings, and once as a leader of a team of youth from our area during the camp season. Since the HoJ and I are full-time in Africa now, sister carries the torch in Ecuador, leading the team each year to help out for a week of camp.

That week spent at El Faro was one of the best weeks of my life, spent drenched in sweat, covered in sand, and filled with the kind of delirious happiness that only comes from working with kids.

This photo kind of sums up the entire week. Janna, the one smashing the water balloon, is one of the Canadian missionaries. She has been living and working full-time in Ecuador for a number of years now; her joy is nothing short of contagious.



As usual, head over to I Heart Faces to check out all the other wet and wild water entries!

This week over at I Heart Faces, the photo challenge theme is props. I wasn't sure I'd be able to enter, as I don't often use them, but then I remembered this photo that I shot in Peru a few months ago. This is a little girl from an indigenous tribe in the Amazon jungle a few hours outside of Iquitos, and I think her blue necklace and traditional face paint (made from the juice of berries) are the perfect 'props' for this photo.



Be sure to head on over to the I Heart Faces website and check out the other incredible entires; there are some absolutely beautiful photos this week.

There's something magic about New Jersey summers. Last night we welcomed the evening out on the sidewalk with a bucket of sidewalk chalk, my nephew Colton and his seven-months pregnant mama, my cousin Rae. (If you want to be angry with her for looking that incredible while still being that pregnant, go right ahead; she puts the future hypothetical pregnant me to shame, I tell you.)

Colton was in classic almost-two year old form, scribbling with chalk, playing in the grass and exploring down the street with just one short pause to give his little sister a kiss.





And when a bug crawled over his face and scared him, he forgot that he didn't really know me and jumped into my arms, holding as tight as ever his tender hands could, very gravely asking me if I knew what happened?

I came home. That's what happened, and days like yesterday remind me why that's such a good thing.