Independence Day!

Okay, I am sure you are wondering about this one. If you are a larger than normal family though, you will completely understand an hour long trip in a fifteen passenger van becomes a chance to grab a nap or finish that book you started.

Stephanie and Emily

Kaitlyn and I got to help out with the concession stand for Elizabeth's youth symphony.

I don't know how many hundred bags of popcorn I made within an hour and a half...but it was a crazy pace!

KVYSO

My little musical sis....

And what is fellowship and fun without food?

Watching speed boats on the Kankakee river.

There were quite a few people attending the concert and fireworks that evening. (this picture doesn't even show half)

Nathan, all smiles...and walking!

Have you ever seen such a cheesy picture smile before?

Perfect weather...

Wacky...totally wacky

Gotta love the expression!

Okay, so I have a lot of pictures of Liz...she was just very photogenic that day!

This made me smile

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I ran across this list that someone composed of, "You know you're from a large family if..." They aren't all 100% accurate, but it's pretty close. Most of these things have been a reality at some point or another (if not many times) for us.
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You know you're from a large family if...
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-There are pictures of your family in matching outfits.

-You write your name on the bottom of your socks.

-You go to the bathroom just to get some "alone time."

-You never say "I'm bored."

-You have valuable negotiating skills and have honed them from a very young age.

-You know that just because someone says your sibling's name, it doesn't mean they're not talking to you.

-You find creative ways to hide things you want to keep for yourself.

-You've seen your mother walking laps around your property so she can get a few minutes of peace & quiet.

-You shake your head in disbelief when you hear someone say they've never changed a diaper.

-Strangers think that big sister is actually mom.

-If you want some ice cream, you don't wait around to get some, because tomorrow it will be gone.

-You wouldn't trade the fact that you have the opportunity to make a bunch of best friends that are stuck with you for life!

-You can make a pb&j sandwich in 10 seconds flat.

-You go somewhere with another family, and people think it's a youth group.

-Whenever your family goes out to eat the waiters always have to put tables together for you.
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-People continually comment that you could have a whole basketball team, or even better a baseball team.

-Your mom is trying to say someone's name and she's already gone through 6 siblings names, she probably is trying to remember yours.

-You don’t have a picture of your whole family because every time you get one taken, another child is born.

-You are proficient in cleaning up broken glass and ceramic and you can tell from the sound it made when it crashed whether the item dropped is fine, cracked, or broken.

-You can hear a cry and tell whether the child is hurt, angry, sad or throwing a temper tantrum within 3 seconds.

-You're walking around a store with little siblings and people assume they're your kids.

-People compliment your parents on "how well behaved their children are...just didn't expect that with such a large group."

-You can't eat at McDonalds without breaking a fifty dollar bill.

-Your family can't fit in a mini van.

-Other people "don't understand how your mom does it."

-Your family has paid enough overdue fines to fund the building of a new library.

-Picky eaters are not tolerated because mom simply does not have the time to prepare different foods for one child.

-You go looking to purchase a new appliance and the capacity is the only feature that really matters.

-Everything under the sun is discussed for an hour straight around the dinner table because everyone has to put their two bits in.

-You smile when people ask how many kids you have because you know when you answer they will repeat the number even more loudly to help themselves hear it.

-You go to get your picture made and the first thing the photographer says is "no, seriously"

-The invention of the wide-angled lens made your family portrait possible.

-Your mom, at one point, purchased different colored hangers so she could easily sort the laundry. She eventually had to stop because Wal-Mart only had seven different colors to choose from.

-Getting from one side of your living room to the other often requires skillfully making it through an obstacle course of toys, coloring books (plus the spilled crayons), school books, extra chairs from other rooms, and small children.

-You've been asked over and over if you're Mormon, Catholic or home schooled.

-You take your driver's license test in a 15 passenger van.

-You move away from home, and every time you cook a meal it takes you a week to finish the leftovers.

-You think it is normal to grocery shop at Sam's Club.

-It takes a full day to change all the children’s wardrobes from one season to the next and process all of the hand-me-downs.

-You shared a room with no less than three people for most of your childhood.

-You have had to squeeze four people in a van seat that was only designed to hold three.

-You have brothers on four different sports teams at the same time.

-Your dad won't buy a snowblower because he knows he has an unlimited supply of expendable labor to shovel the driveway instead.

-You're 28 and you still have a few siblings under 6th grade.

-You're closer in age to your mother than you are to your youngest brother.
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P.S. There were hundreds of pictures taken on the 4th of July, so watch for a big post... hopefully coming sooner than later.

I recently had tho opportunity to shoot my first wedding. Although it was last minute because the first photographer wasn't able to make it, and I didn't have all the proper equipment, the Lord blessed and a kind lady in our church offered to let me use her Canon XTi for the entire day!

v

Overall it was fun, and with a few extra pieces of equipment, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Emily and Eliza

Waiting...waiting...

I think that this is the largest train I have ever seen on a wedding dress!

Liz grabbed some snapshots with my camera...

The whole wedding party...

Little kids just aren't built for these long drawn out ceremonies :o)

Throwing the bouquet...

Travis