Hawn Family Photos

Back in April (...we're a little behind in blog world) a great friend took photos of the Hawn family to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. Here are a few of my favorites :-)

We HIGHLY recommend Jessa Anderson Photography!

Check her out at: http://www.jessaandersonphotography.com/

http://jessaandersonphotography.blogspot.com/

selfless, generous, unconditional

Just found this post that Jeremy never finished up... Made me smile to read it so I thought I'd share:

Yesterday was the best Valentines Day of my life. That's a pretty big statement from me because I'm not really that big of a fan of Valentines Day in the first place. It just seems like it's another big commercialized event where people buy a lot of stuff they can't really afford instead of doing the things that really matter for the people they say they love. That's just me...but with that said...Valentines Day 2012 was pretty awesome!

When I came home from work, I found out that April had decorated our little but awesome house/studio (aka "the luxury box"). She hung hearts from the ceiling, blew up balloons, lit candles and shaped them into a heart, put together a slide show on the t.v. with pictures of our family from the last year, and made a really nice dinner :-). That seems like enough to make for a pretty nice Valentines, right? It was, but I think what really made it special was to know the thought, time, and energy she had put into everything – despite what kind of day it had been. She hadn't had the easiest day so far because...

Lincoln woke up hysterical the previous night/morning at about 1a.m. so April got up with him and managed to calm him down for a little bit. That didn't last long because a little while later he was crying again and couldn't sleep. For the rest of the night April was in and out of bed trying to console him. At one point he complained about his ear hurting so we knew he might have an ear infection. Eventually April laid down with him on his bed (a toddler bed by the way) which seemed to help him sleep a little better. However, April was loosing sleep the whole time because she was trying to lay down next a little boy who likes to sleep in some pretty funky positions. Let's just say that toddler beds are probably called “toddler beds” for a reason. Adults aren't supposed to fit in them! But, when you're a parent...I guess you do what you gotta do when your kid needs help. Needless to say...when it was time to start the day, April was already exhausted. I went to work and April called the doctor to see if she could get an appointment to have Lincoln's ears checked out again. They had an opening in the afternoon, but in the meantime, April had a very unhappy camper on her hands (in addition to everything else on her “to do” list). I guess it would be pertinent at this point to mention that my wife currently has 3 part time jobs that she does from home while also trying to care for a 3 year old. Please don't hear me wrong...we are extremely thankful that God has provided us both with sources of income (especially in these trying economic times), but if my math is correct I'm pretty sure that April's workload adds up to far more than a full time job. And then of course there is  the constant accumulation of laundry, the meal plans, the cleaning, her involvement in two Bible studies, putting up with me...should I continue? To be honest, I'm not really sure how she does it all. So, when there are days that our son is sick and needs some extra TLC...well, those days can be a little rough. This is precisely why Valentines 2012 meant so much to me.

After having the kind of day she had, I knew that what April really wanted to do was to be in bed by about 7p.m. But, instead of choosing herself, she put thought, time, and energy into making the evening really special. Because of April, I was able to come home from work and walk in the door to see all of the decorations. I was able to walk in the door and experience the joy of hearing my son say, “Daddy, watch!” with excitement as he attempted to blow out all the candles that she had lit (and re-lit several times). I was able to come home from work and smell some really good food that April had prepared for dinner. I was able to walk in the door and see a slide show of pictures, bringing back memories of the good times that our family has spent together over the last year. Because of my wife, I was once again reminded that real love is selfless, generous, and unconditional. I'm a pretty big fan of that kind of Valentines Day.

-jeremy