blog

I was teasing Lincoln that he should start his own blog.

I said, " What would you call it?"

He thought and answered, "Lincoln Blogs."

I laughed myself silly!


So funny.

When I was dating him my brothers referred to my new boyfriend as "The Magic Wishing Log". Then they would tease and act like they were knocking on a log, "Magic wishing log, I want a new shirt. POOF! Magic wishing log I want a new cd. POOF!" He did (does) spoil me.

I think this family needs to invest in some Lincoln Logs. Why don't we own any!? Also, I passed a new truck made by LINCOLN on the freeway yesterday. I called him to let me know he needs that! If there was a sassy SUV named Jeri I would want it. =)



Anyway---- I have to go sew on scout patches. That kind of makes me want to die. That will knock me right out of my good mood.

You should see me in my tan scout shirt! Super cute! =) Wyatt on the other hand looks GREAT in his uniform!

I love being in scouts! It's true.

Try

I needed to go to ballet. I was getting ready for my exam, but I forgot to get a sitter for the girls. I thought I would try bringing them to class.

Even though I brought them toys and snacks, Talia decided to play with my camera.

A box of raisins.

Raisins on the floor, me marking an exercise, & Simone on the run.

The moment I realize she is photographing EVERYTHING.

Am I dancing, or trying to get away from Simone?

Is she trying to tell me something? Yes, I'll paint your toes sweetie. =)

Please sit down Simone.

Pas De Chat arms....sortof. I am a little distracted.

"GO sit down, or give that to me."

Close up.

If looks could spank.

Okay. I give up. Take some good ones so I can see what I need to work on.

beauty

My mind is so full of thoughts today. I feel as though my head is going to explode. Lincoln has been so busy so I haven't had him around, and I can't talk about these thoughts to my children.

Thy would die from boredom.

Don't worry I won't kill you with them either.

Except one that keeps coming up.... There is beauty in all things, even broken things.

I am a beach comber. This year at Myrtle Beach the shells were mostly broken until the last day...and still we rarely found a perfect shell. I still love those seashell fragments. I adore looking at each one, and remembering who found it and the circumstances surrounding that moment. We filled a pretty glass jar with last years shells, so we all knew there would be a second jar created for the shells we collected in 2010. It was a major team effort. Even Simone was an excellent helper...well, in some ways. I would see a shell rolling in the surf and stoop down with her on my hip to quickly grab it before it rolled away.

"Ah, it's a bad one."
As I would get ready to toss it out to sea, she would take it from me and say,

"No bad one, it's dood one." (good one) =)

She would not drop it. She would cling to that tiny broken shell, or even two or three at a time...and she never dropped one. We were hit by some pretty good sizes waves too.

That little lesson has been ringing in my ears.

Some of us are broken, but we are still good.

We have value and worth, and someone will take us home and wash us, and polish us with mineral oil until we shine again. Huh? Well, you see what I mean.

I am going to take a picture of our seashells, but I added my little Simone to this post. She is a wise little thing. I don't photoshop out her scars anymore. They are a part of her. As much as I wish those little reminders weren't on her forehead, they are a part of who she is....and she is beautiful. She is so dood.

funny

Hey babe can you make me a headshot image I can use for work? They have requested that I provide one for our org chart… make me look super serious. ;)

Best,

Lincoln Tidwell

**

There is a $250 deposit required to hold your session date. This entire deposit will be applied to your portrait order. A digital file is $150 per file.

Let me know a date that works for you. Do you also have a location in mind?

Thanks,
Jeri


Jeri Tidwell
www.jtidwellphotography.com




**


LOL. You are seriously hilarious.


And so professional.


You are the one I love.

Best,

Lincoln Tidwell



**



Mr. Tidwell,

I am sorry sir, I don't have the right type of equipment to meet your needs.

If you know where I could get my hands on a 1d Mark IV, a 50mm 1.2L lens, and 28-70 2.8L lens-- I would be able to help you. If we shoot in the evening, I need a 580ex II Flash. I need an extra battery and a cute camera strap.

A new outfit to wear while photographing you will be required, and earrings. Oh, and boots.

Let me know if you would be able to provide any of the equipment listed above. We could meet for lunch Friday to discuss this project further.

Best,
Jeri

I haven't heard back yet.

He thinks he gets a deal because he "knows" me. Really- who does this guy think he is?!

we 1

Family of five--- sea shells at the beach.

We drove through middle earth to get to myrtle beach.

Seriously....look at this swamp. We love it! We saw it last year while driving home, and regretted not photographing it.

The beach. Yummo! The waves were a little crazy this year because Hurricane Earl had passed by a week earlier out in the ocean. Here is one day when the waves were huge, lots of sea foam, and three brave kids playing in them. They dive right in, and then complain how much they hate the beach when there eyes sting from the salt or their bodies hurt from being slammed about. They really love it!




My handsome boy. I love this sweet look...I know he was annoyed with me for trying to get a smile, but I love this picture more than a smile any day. Love those long eyelashes too.

Talia, I love you in green. Oh, and blue, peach, and purple, white, black, and navy.

Simone, please don't pee on the sand at the beach while we are waiting for a table at a restaurant, and everyone is watching. Good thing I had extra sleeping beauty undies for you in my camera bag! Where is my GREAT Mom award for that. Huh?

See that itty bitty moon. Love.
See those kids....they are ours and I am so happy about that!

Seventh floor.

We went out to eat twice and once was at Joe's Crab Shack. You're not a Tidwell unless you love crab! I took my camera out to play a little while we waited for our food. There was a playground at this restaurant, it was near our table and near the water. It was so great to play and not have to worry about entertaining children while we waited.

Love me some cool light! Wyatt what do I owe you for this?...I forgot.

I took the girls to the bathroom. I didn't know Lincoln played with my camera while we were gone. I now have 28 pictures of Wyatt in this bib. =)

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A few beachy pictures.

So we stayed at a Marriott Villa, and there was kitchen so we went grocery shopping and made meals each day. It was so good. I cooked a few times and Lincoln grilled a few days. The resort has bbq grills in quite a few spots around the hotels. (That is the "I want to break your cameras face" I think. )







We lived in the pools. There are four pools, and we swam morning and night. Literally, we were in the pool at 9:30 at night. One night we took a flashlight down and stayed on the beach in the dark. That was a blast. Lincoln caught and teased a crab for a while, and the kids thought that was hilarious.



The big kids can swim so well now. They had a great teacher in the summer. Simone got jealous of all the praise they were getting and kept holding her breath and going underwater! She would kick her feet, which really looked like she was marching, and it was the cutest thing. My brave brave Simone. Stop it!

Hold on baby.

Myrtle Beach

We went to our spot in Myrtle Beach again this year.

We love it there.

We had an amazing trip.

The kids are so so happy.

Everyone gets along!

They keep requesting to live there. =)

I wouldn't mind.



More pictures and stories to come.

Firsts

Natalia had her first day of kindergarten today, and Wyatt started 3rd grade.

Natalia woke me up at 6:40 completely dressed, even socks and shoes! Can I just say...I LOVE HER TASTE IN SHOES! This girl has class. She choose these adorable black mary janes over rhinestone sneakers with glitter and butterfly patches. (Hallelujah!) She also chose some tan ugg style boots, and some cheetah ballet flats. Natalia, that makes me want to kiss your face!

Wyatt was a pro. I still missed seeing him throughout the day though. Watching the two of them walk on the bus together was a sad moment for me. Why does the first day of school have to be so hard? Natalia had an absolute blast today! It is so different with her, she tells me every detail of the day. Wyatt was excited about a few new changes so I got to hear about those.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow goes just as well as today!

A GREAT reunion!

First let me set the stage.

This is a great story!

My friend Christie and her family moved to Tennessee a year ago. Before they left our families did EVERYTHING together since about July 2006. Wyatt's best friend was Alex, and Natalia's best friend was Tori. We were the best of friends, and there has been a big hole in our hearts since they moved away.

Christie and I found out that we were both going to be in Utah at the same time, and we hatched a fantastic plan to meet up BUT not tell the kids and let them discover their friends on their own. I didn't even tell my Mom or anyone about the plan so I wouldn't accidentally ruin it!

We met at the big fountain at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City. The fountain is giant and so fun to play in, and every 15 minutes or so it becomes a water/music show. We got there first and played. While I waited my heart was POUNDING! I was so excited to see them.

I saw the Wall family walking up and the music show began. It was this song...so this entire experience was set to music and made it super emotional!


The Wall kids got ready to go into the water, while Christie, Brent and their oldest daughter, Liza, sat on the bench and watched.

This is the first picture I took! Do you see how close they all are to each other!!! Wyatt in blue, Alex in the red/black trunks, Tori in green, and Talia in blue.

They didn't notice each other.

A few moments later Talia spotted Liza on the bench and WAVED.

Talia ran over. Tori was there, and she said "Hi Tori" right in front of her.

Talia yells, "MOMMY! THE WALLS ARE HERE!!"

Tori looks at her parents and shrugs her shoulders. =)

Talia runs over to tell me. I tell her, "I know!" and to go play! She heads back over.

See this "Kodak Moment".....................

They ran right passed each other! Talia had a goal to get back over there,
and didn't even see Tori coming!

Talia yells to Wyatt, "THE WALLS ARE HERE!"

Wyatt starts scanning for his friend. This is when he spots him.

THIS is how they say hello!

This is where I tear up every time....

The next photo I took was these two little friends
who picked up exactly where they left off one year ago.

The boys went to PLAY! They had so much fun.

The four little ones.

Simone did this most of the time.

The girls dancing to a swing song.

Lincoln's Grandma Eaton was there with us.

Right before I took this picture Alex said, "This is the best day of my life!"

love this

All the kids!

One of Christie and I.




OH what a memorable experience this was! We went to lunch, and the kids played at a little arcade. Then it was time to say goodbye again.

We should do it again, Christie! We'll make some plans! =)