Monday, December 22, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

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Merry Christmas to everyone!! We have had a very busy season - and Timeless and Treasured Photography is officially closed until January 5th!! We have been busy little elves trying to get everything ready for our Christmas season. We have had concerts, school plays....
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The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever!!

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We hung our stockings by the chimney with care....Photobucket
And even had a funky stockings party full of lots of giggly teenage girls!
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We enjoyed hearing one of our favorite 13-year-olds playing some INCREDIBLE music at a local restaurant. And we even were able to see several of our friends perform in an amazing performance of "The Nutcracker".
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And spending time with friends.
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We spread some Christmas cheer at the local nursing home.
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And now we are going to relax, rest, and remember the reason for the season. We are going to enjoy spending some much-anticipated time with our extended family, celebrating the birth of our savior (as well as the birth of several other members of our family!!). Merry Christmas everyone!

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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

CANDY CANES

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

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I finally took some pictures of our Christmas decorations - you can see more by entering the code "decorate"!

THE NEW BABY

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My new baby arrived today!!
December 16, 2008
11:45 am
2.1 pounds
I'm the proud new owner of my very first professional series lens!! I have worked very hard this first year of my business - so I thought I would celebrate the one year mark with a well-deserved, much-needed, professional-series lens!! In case you are interested, here are the specifics..

Focal length: 24-70mm
Maximum aperture: 1:2.8
Lens construction: 16 elements in 13 groups
Diagonal angle of view: 74 to 29 degrees
Focus adjustment: Front-focusing method
Closest focusing distance: 1.25 feet
Zoom system: Rotating type
Filter size: 77mm
Dimensions: 3.3 inches in diameter, 4.9 inches long
Weight: 2.1 pounds

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KING OF THE NATIONS

Last night was our schools annual Christmas concert. The theme of the concert was "King of the Nations". The students sang in German, 14th Century Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Polish and English - all from MEMORY!! It was an amazing performance. We enjoyed the annual scripture recitation. There are no words to describe how incredible it is to hear the entire student body reciting chapters of the bible from memory. The video below shows only part of the students. The entire student body was wrapped around either side of the sanctuary reciting these passages from memory. It ended with the traditional Hallelujah chorus, which is always one of my favorites. I'm so proud of all the kids - they did a wonderful job!
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Sunday, December 14, 2008

COUNTRY BUMPKINS

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

THE CHARLESTON

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The O'Steen Family Elves

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Friday, December 12, 2008

BABY PAYTON

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I had a great time with this tiny little sweetie, only three weeks old! We met at her Grandma's house - it's grandma's first grandbaby, and little Miss Payton already has a younger cousin! What a lucky Grandma to have a house full of babies for Christmas. And a very blessed Mommy and Daddy too. You can see the rest of her images by entering the code "payton" under the client section of my site.

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to again volunteer at the Operation Christmas Child distribution warehouse in Charlotte, NC with an amazing group of very fun ladies!! This is one of the warehouses where all the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes get sent to for processing. Every shoebox is gone through, to make sure it is safe, before they are put on ships to be distributed to needy children around the world. On this trip, our team even had the very special task of processing the boxes to be shipped to a muslim country. We had to make sure there were no christian symbols of any kind inside the boxes, make sure there were no dolls with removable clothing, nothing with a pig on it (apparently pigs are offensive to them), and a long list of items that were unsafe for these muslim countries. During our training session, I was in tears so many times as we were given our charge for the day - we were on the front lines of the spiritual warfare that goes on in these countries. Our hands were the last to touch these boxes before they were placed in the hands of these children across the world. The safety of the missionaries were in our hands. We were "loading the ammunition" for these missionaries to do battle. Samaratin's purse is able to go into these countries, where otherwise no missionaries can go. By simply being a loving example to these children and these countries in a non-offensive way, God can and will do wonders. It was a very humbling and powerful experience. Time after time, we would come across a box that contained interesting items, that was so clear, were placed there by a humble servant sensitive to the still small voice of our Saviour. Seeing a pair of men's workgloves in a little girl's age 2-4 box. God knows who those workgloves are going to. Seeing boxes full of just socks, and hearing the stories of the little boy with a foot disease, and he longed for nothing other than socks. It is an amazing experience to be part of something so huge, and knowing we are doing so little, but God is orchestrating the enormity of the project. Each box we touched, we prayed over. As you put together your shoeboxes next year, pray fervently that God will tell you exactly what the box should contain - it is such a powerful thing - but so very simple.
We also had the chance to visit the Billy Graham library while we were in Charlotte. That was pretty cool!! You can see the pictures from our trip by entering the code "OCC' under the client section of my site. I just took my point-and-shoot camera, and actually took very, very few pictures (for me!!).

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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

LITTLE MISS HALEY

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of shooting a session with this little brown-eyed cutie. She is the little sister of the engagement session I did last weekend!! She wasn't very interested in having her picture taken, but we managed to capture her personality anyway!! It was very, very, very cold, but she didn't seem to mind. You can see the session by entering the password "haley" under the client section of my site HERE.

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Monday, December 1, 2008

MY POOPSY-LOO, CHICKY-POO, BOO!

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Saturday, November 29, 2008

SCOTT AND CASEY

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This weekend I had the pleasure of doing an engagement session with Scott and Casey. They were SO MUCH FUN!! These two are so much in love, they just can't hide it! Enjoy their slideshow by entering the password "casey" under the client section HERE.

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THANKFUL


Happy Thanksgiving!! We have had the best week!! The girls were out of school all week, which was a MUCH needed relief from our schedule. None of us realized how much we needed a break. We enjoyed our week by just being together, hardly leaving the house, getting our home reorganized, clean, and ready for the upcoming weeks. We had a great time decorating for Christmas (which for me is usually a dreaded event, but this year I loved it!! - pictures to come soon). The girls played together so nice all week, just enjoying being home with nothing to rush off to. Thanksgiving day I had so many little helping hands in the kitchen. We talked about how one day we will be cooking together with all THEIR kids helping out too! We have so much to be thankful for.
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Emily made a wonderful green bean casserole!
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Kirsten was in charge of making the homemade mashed potatoes, and daddy's favorite yeast rolls.
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Hannah made a homemade macaroni and cheese all by herself!! Everything was soo yummy!
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Three extra helpers plus two dogs in the kitchen - yep definitely time to add in the much -awaited very long kitchen island (meanwhile, the old TV stand is filling in somewhat well).
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And a Thanksgiving walk with Dad while mom gets everything ready for the table (and runs out to snap a picture when they return!).
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Time to start thinking about Christmas!! :)

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