The Waddell Family

This weekend I had the priviledge of taking pictures for the Waddell family. Mrs. Waddell's was Connor's first grade teacher. He absolutley LOVES her and she's become very special to our family. So, this was a huge honor for me.

Here's a little peak, there's more on the Reflections blog.

It's that Time of Year

As we near the end of October, the realization sets in that the Christmas Season is a little more than a month away. With a photography business, that means that life is very busy. I have photo sessions every weekend between now and Thanksgiving. So, during the week I'm spending much of my time photo editing and creating Christmas cards.

This past Sunday I spent some time with Kate's teacher and her family.

There's more of their pictures on the
Reflections blog,

but I had to share this one.

Meet Sam. He's so cute. And you can tell by his eyes he's

full of mischief. Adorable!!

And a little brotherly love...

The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away

On Thursday I received a phone call after taking the kids to school that my grandfather wasn't doing very well. He was put in the hospital the week before with some infections, but appeared to be doing much better. For some reason, in the early morning hours on Thursday he started having some difficulty breathing. The hospital called the family. It was suggested that we come to Shreveport if we wanted to ensure seeing him one last time. Michael was out of state when I got the call. But, after talking with Mason (and Grabbie) the decision was made to pack up and head out. However, the Lord saw fit to call him home before we were even able to leave town. And unfortunately, my mother was in California for annual meetings. She wasn't able to make it either.

I truly believe my God knew that none of us, especially my mom, could handle seeing him so fraile and sick. We know that he is now resting in the arms of Jesus.

Michael returned home Thursday evening and we left the following morning to join our family in Shreveport. The funeral was held Saturday. And oh my goodness!!! I was overwhelmed at the sheer number of people who came to pay their respects and to love on my grandmother. Infact, after leaving the funeral home Friday night following the viewing, she said, "Wow, I think we were loved by a lot of people." Never underestimate what your presence can do for those hurting. It was a huge ministry to my family to see the number of people who loved David Green, especially those who shared stories of how he touched their lives.

He was a man of God who loved and cared for his family. He and my grandmother were married for 62 years. Poppy, as we called him, lived 14 years with Alzeheimers. Only the last four were spent in a nursing home. And even during his last days, he still remembered her as "the one I love."

I remember on my wedding day, he told Michael that he prayed we would have the same fulfilled marriage that he and my grandmother did. That we would be as happy together as they were. And God answers the prayers of a righteous man.

His service on Saturday was beautiful. It honored Jesus and it celebrated the life of David Green. It also celebrated the life he spent with his love and the lives of his four daughters and their families. My grandmother, aka MeMe, was a ROCK. She stood by him at the end of the service and hugged the neck of every single person that came. She smiled because she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that as of Thursday morning he was completely healed.

If you think of her this week, please continue to pray for her peace and comfort, as well as their daughters.

The Lord giveth, and Lord taketh away, but the Name of the Lord Shall be Praised!!!

PINK

i heart faces is hosting "Pink Week" in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Here's another picture of Finley Grace.

For those of you who asked to hear more about her adoption story, there's more coming.

Her mom is in the process of getting a blog started to tell her story.

When it's up and running, I'll be sure to give you the link.

Until then, enjoy this picture of her sweet babe...

GIVEAWAY!!

Yesterday was Ethan's birthday and I have some great birthday pics to post...later.

For now, I gotta tell you about a great giveaway going on.

Angie is giving away a new Fuji Instax Instant Camera.

Y'all know I love Angie and I love this giveaway! So, go check her out and enter!!

And for those of you who stopped by yesterday and would like to see more pictures of Baby Finley, hop over to my photo blog.... http://reflectionsbyamandarooney.blogspot.com/

Excited!!!

I heart faces is hosting photos that show EXCITEMENT this week!!

I had the privilege of photographing a newborn last week.

Infact, this is a beautiful adoption story ordained by the grace of God Almighty.

This is one EXCITED new Momma!!

FOTO FIND FRIDAY

Wow!! It's been a crazy week at the Rooney household (hence the reason I haven't posted since Monday...sorry) We've all been trying to recoup since last week. It was one of those weeks that I just don't care to repeat EVER. Tuesday night we had a scary incident at the house where I had to call police, etc. (oh, and yes, Michael was out of town). After everything that took place, I didn't feel comfortable staying here at the house by myself with the kiddos, so we packed up and headed to Mom and Dad's for the evening. On Wednesday night, Kate woke up in the middle of the night with her first "middle of the night" asthma attack, accompanied with a crazy high fever. The next day at the doctor's office, they confirmed she had the whole H1N1 flu. Seriously. Oh yes, Michael was still out of town. I thought I was gonna pull out every hair on my head. THEN, I ended up pulling the muscles in my shoulders/neck and started having bad muscle spasms. So, during the entire week I was going on 3-4 hours of sleep every night. Those of you who know me well can attest that this is reciepe for disaster!! On Saturday, my adoring father offered me a massage at his business, Massage Heights. PTL!!! I felt much better afterwards, but that feeling was very short lived. By that evening I couldn't hardly move. Thank goodness Michael was back in town. He's been Mr. Mom this week. I was ready to proclaim massages one of the world's worst evils. But, friends assured me (on fb) that it would improve in a few days.

And they were correct. The massage really helped. But so did the muscle relaxers I finally got!!! I've been very slow to bounce back from all of this, which is VERY frustrating. Doesn't my body know I'm a mom of the go with four children and a husband that travels? (Apparently, yes it does.) On Monday, Kate returned to school. And somehow, by the grace of the Almighty,

no one else in our house came down with the dreaded disease. I'm still stunned at that one, especially since Ethan was caught drinking from Kate's cup. My mom and sister have decided to have a garage sale on Saturday, so I've been getting things together for that. And yesterday, I went on my first "official" newborn photo shoot. TOO MUCH FUN!! Can't wait to share some of those images. However, when I do so, they'll probably be on my new REFLECTIONS blog. Initially I thought I would keep things VERY simple, I'm learning very quickly that NOTHING in the business world is very simple. You're either in or out.

And, it's been HIGHLY suggested to me on multiple occasions to keep the photography site separate from the personal site. So, we now have reflectionsbyamandarooney.blogspot.com

There are a few of the wedding pics that I recently took up there right now. But these newborn pics will be up sometime this weekend!

Until then, Angie is hosting FOTO FIND FRIDAY today.

She's pushing us a little today. We had to find something round.

Given the time of year, I thought this would be fun.

Not the best photography skills, but a cute pic none the less.

Don't we all wish we could be this cute!!??

Have a Happy Friday!!

Things I Love

I heart faces

is hosting the "My Favorite Things"

so here are just a few

of my favs:

I adore my children. And this is taken at one of our favorite vacations spots: BARBADOS!

And I love this MAN!!

I cannot say enough about how incredibly blessed I am to be his wife!

Him and my Daddy are my two favorite men on earth.

Crossroads Christian Church - our home away from home

We love Jesus and we love our church family.

One of my new favorite restaurants - Savistano's.

Unfortunately, it's located in Oklahoma!

Roses are one of my favorite flowers.

I enjoy baking/decorating cakes.

Other things I enjoy:

Scrapbookin'

Shooting at the gun range

cool rainy days spent at home

the scent of my favorite candle

the sound of my children's laughter

a great "who-done-it" movie

the feeling of capturing the "perfect" moment with my camera

a good night sleep...

Wedding Pictures...FINALLY

As mentioned, I photographed a wedding last weekend.

The wedding was held outside

in the late evening.

It was absolutely beautiful.

The Bride

The Bride with her two daughters

Father of the Bride

This little cutie was the ring bearer. Precious!!!

This picture was taken during the ceremony.

I love "catching" them having a great time!!

As I said, the wedding was outside.

They had sooo many lights for decorations

and it really gave the place a "glow"

FOTO FIND FRIDAY

Angie is hosting Foto Find Friday today.

And today she is

focusing on "Before and After"

Angie, this made me realize another reason

why I LOVE your style.

I hardly EVER ( no NEVAH) use textures

with people. Just can't do it.

So, for today I choose a picture of a Coca Cola

sign I took for my sister.

We were out of town eating at a restaurant

and they had this huge Coke sign.

I thought my sis would love it,

but it actually turned out kinda blah.

The textures gave it the "old" feel I was looking for.

BEFORE

AFTER

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

I'll be trying to finish the editing from all the photos

I took at the wedding last weekend!!

OCTOBER 1ST

Incase y'all didn't know,it is officially

October 1st.

Oh, fall...how I have missed you

and so glad you've chosen to return!!

And Lord, I would

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

some uncharacteristic (for TX) beautiful

fall colors this year!

Two things that clearly show the

Lord's beauty....

newborn babies and FALL!!

Hope you're having a blessed day.

Unfortunately, our household has the first

(and hopefully only)

victim of the FLU. YUCK. DOUBLE YUCK.