portraits

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

17/52

Julip, unable to resist splashing in the puddles. Parks are certainly fun on rainy days, too. 

Eloise, enjoying the pedals that fall like snowflakes in April. 

18/52

Julip is one little girl amongst the tall mountain trees. 
Eloise, our birthday girl, enjoying her first taste of *honey-sweetened-almond-meal* birthday cake! And of course she ate it all up! 

These girls of mine...they grow so quickly. I can't believe the littlest one is now one.

with love,
Caroline

16/52

"A potrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Jubie-girl, so sweetly smiling, sitting under the spring blossoms...

Eloise, I never want to forget your squishy, tenderness and the way you fit so close to me. :)

Other than nap time, we are living outside all hours of the day! I love this beautiful weather, how about you? 

With love, 

Caroline

P.S. This is an outtake from this week. This picture captures Julip's personality so much more accurately! :) I love her "joyful noises"! 

remember Easter?

 Remember the holiday-of-holidays we celebrated recently? Easter? Oh yea, I have a huge amount of photos from that weekend and am about to dump them all here to share! Even if it is a little late!

Dustin's parents came (we missed you Uncle Eric!) and we had such a lovely weekend! We dined around town a few times, endured my home cooking, Dustin caught his first fish!, went hiking walking through the woods, went to a massive Easter egg hunt... and worshiped our Risen Savior (I got to go to the sunrise service all by myself and it was so enjoyable)!

Here are some photos! 

 my little explorer... she is my child! 

Handsome angler! 

 Bobo showing love to his second sweet grand-daughter! 

 This little girl has a piece of my heart! I love her so much!

 Lula, Bobo, and beautiful Mimi

Fun fact: All the time, Julip will plop down on the ground in this position.  (Looks a little painful right?)

 Little Eloise is started to explore, too! 

 These two go together. 

 And... this is my favorite picture. I will cherish it forever. 

 I love the way Julip is standing... it looks so different to me. Maybe because she rarely stands this stillll. 

 They are crazy about one another! 

 FAMILY PHOTO!!!

Me and my little one! 

All the time I think of how blessed I am to have married into such an amazing family. I feel so comfortable, like I have a perfect little space to fit into the Jernigan clan... it's a lovely feeling. They have loved me so well since the beginning, and now I get to witness them loving my girls. I'm a happy momma! 

With love, 

Caroline

portraits

15/52

"A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2013."

Julip, playing hard at the park. Collecting sand in her dress, bare feet and in total bliss. 

Eloise, smiling so beautifully and happily as she learns to stand on her own. 

It seems as if Spring hasnt really come yet until you are outside in your bare feet. So happy for this gorgeous warm weather. Poor Dustin and Eloise seem to have some allergies here in the mountains. But other than that, springtime is just glorious! 

With love, 

Caroline

P.S. I had to leave you with this outtake of Jubie-girl. Stringy hair, strawberry stained chin, handmade necklace (she made all by herself), five bandaids, and no shoes... that's my girl! :)

portraits

 14/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Little Jubie-girl slowly, one lick at a time, enjoying a birthday cupcake!

Lula, after watching her big sister do it, bravely crawling through a play tunnel. Sweet girl! 

I so enjoy capturing these portraits each week! I hope y'all enjoy them, too! 

Happy Sunday! 

Love, 

Caroline

a true angler

My dear husband recently let me read a sermon he wrote for a seminary class. His introduction was depicting his very first fly-fishing experience from a day trip with his best friends a couple of weeks ago. I can't even describe the range of emotions I encountered while reading his well written words. I I thought I would do something a little out of the ordinary and share his words here with you. Enjoy! 

At the base of this bare mountain is a river that runs wild. It's equally as beautiful as the mountain it run by. 

        It was at the base of Looking Glass Rock that I first stepped into a cool mountain stream to try my hand at fly-fishing. I was wearing my buddy’s borrowed waders and rod and didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. I had decided to take up fly fishing because it seemed the most relaxing of all mountain activities. Sure, hiking and camping were fun, but there’s an allure to fly-fishing that has always held sway over me. The way anglers can cast a line back and forth so effortlessly seemed to be a portal to a different world of understanding the mountains and its eco-system.

Before I had stepped into the stream, I had resolved to do nothing but simply enjoy the experience of standing in waders and boots and let the cold stream pass over my frigid–yet dry!–feet. In fact, I had no intentions of catching a fish. In actuality, I didn’t even want to catch one. How would I grab a writhing fish out of water? How would I pull the hook out of its mouth? Because I had no answer to these questions (and because I was too embarassed to ask), I quietly resolved to stand in the river and not catch a single fish, but to look the part as best as I could.

Of course, by the end of the day my technique improved and my buddy’s advice became more clear as I attempted different things. And then, it happened. Much to our surprise, dozens of brown trout began swimming visibly in front of us. Several started poking their heads out of the water. Someone upstream must have dropped pellets in the water. Instead of blindly casting my fly into water, I was casting towards fish that I could actually see! All of the sudden, the nonsense about not catching a fish left my mind. I became single-minded, focused, intense, and full of passion. Amidst the flurry of fish scurrying about at my feet, I caught one. But only briefly. I didn’t set the hook right, so when I pulled it out of the water, it flopped back into the stream.

Practicing his cast near our house. This was the same spot he caught his first fish! And I must say, I've never seen a more good looking man!!!

I was not prepared for the sense of devastation that welled within me. I felt the impulse to cry. To make matters worse, we had to leave the creek shortly after. Although I hadn’t actually caught a fish, I had come painfully close.  As we drove down the country highway back home, I could feel my silly desire to simply look the part flying out of the open windows of the truck. I was leaving the base of Looking Glass Rock a changed man. I now had a single-minded desire that consumed me. My newfound passion was for one thing, and for one thing only: catching fish.

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Since then, my sweet boy has caught TWO fish! This is his first fishy... tears filled my eyes when I saw his picture! For so long, I have wanted a hobby for Dustin that he could enjoy for the rest of his life. I think he's found it! 

With love, 

Dustin's proud wife! 

Shortly after he became a true angler! 

portraits

Ya'll. I'm so bad at this. We have had lots of visitors and taken lots of pictures, but I just haven't had enough time to update with all the pictures! Here are the last FOUR weeks of portraits, ha! 

10/52

Julip, enjoying an afternoon treat of hot chocolate on our walk about town.

Eloise, rocking on the front porch, teething on my sunglasses. 

11/52

Julip, riding my back on our long, strenuous hike up a mountain. She rightfully asked if I needed a doctor, haha. 
Eloise, giving me the "look". The "I want milk look!"

12/52

Julip's hand still has dimples. The perfect breakfast for a little girl. 

Eloise, cheering on her Rebels during March Madness. 

13/52

 Julip, spending time outside, rain or shine... or snow! 
Eloise, happily finishing her dinner! 

Tune in soon (I hope) for some more posts and pictures!

With love,
Caroline