The GrandSons~

I LOVE when Savannah sends me photos of what the boys are up to!
BC graduated from PreK and just look at the little graduate~

 This is his last day of school photo~

While Savannah went in for post planning at school, we went out to keep the boys. Their backyard is fantastic and we played out there all morning~

I realized while we were there, it was Calla's gotcha day and just look at the difference love over the last 3 years has made~

She's such a precious soul, full of joy, and quite the exploding firecracker at times. She loves nothing more than playing with her best friend, BC~

It was Josh's birthday so the boys made the sweetest birthday cards~

LOVED this day SO much!!!!!!!!!

Happy 21st to Rosie~

We are all gathered in Rosie's college town to celebrate her 21st birthday.
It was WONDERFUL to have all our children together (missed Logan and Hayden!)~

I'm always so thankful they know I LOVE a great chance to shoot photos~

 It was hot as blazes but everyone hung in there and helped in their own special way~

What a blessing to be the mom of such sweetness!

Happy Birthday Rosie!!!

You are officially an adult now. :)

A Happy 4th~ 🇺🇸

The Fourth of July has always been our favorite summer holiday because Savannah was born on this day 27 years ago~ 

She is one of the sweetest gifts we've ever been given and look at those smiles! 

We couldn't love these two more and wished her a happy birthday while she partied at the beach!!!

Meanwhile back at camp Ankerich, we spent a lot of our holiday weekend in the pool because of the high temps. 

Calla is beginning to get the hang of the puddle jumper and one of her new words is Pool!~

Calla feels most secure in our arms especially in the mornings so SJ takes over with egg cooking for me. 

Calla watches everything we do and takes it all in. 

She loves to eat and says eggs and water ~

In the photo above see the bitty shenanigans. 

Evie scaling walls and pulling Calla around on her new trike with a jump rope. 

Never a dull moment around here!

July 4th morning we took our celebration photo, tools naps in the afternoon, more photos for school blog~

More swimming and grilling in the afternoon~

 We ate a picnic dinner at the big table~

And looked over to see Wp and SJ helping Calla. 

I'm telling you~ watching the sibling bond bloom is a beautiful blessing. 

Calla has brought out the best in her brothers and sisters since she's been home!

You would have thought Santa was coming when we told the kids we were going to watch fireworks and they would miss their bedtime. 

We loaded down the golfcart (think we need a three seated!) and rode down the path to our boat~

we waited a little while for the first boom and watching our kids faces when the sky lit up was priceless. 

Calla nestled into me under a towel and enjoyed the show there. 

It was the best ending to a wonderful weekend!

Payne summed it up perfectly, "I will never forget this night!"

Happy 4th🇺🇸 Everyone!!!

The Atlanta Zoo~

CCAI families met at the Atlanta Zoo for a reunion and to visit with Josh and Lily.

We loved hanging out with our social worker Heather~

 We adopted EK with CCAI way back in 2006 and they have written 3 of our home studies.

Loved seeing Lily again and visiting all the animals with Kristin and her family~

 The icing on the cake was stopping by to see BC, Savannah, and Josh~

Loved this day so much!!!

The Ankerich Artist~ {Amelia: Love Never Fails}

We've know for years Amelia was an amazing artist and because of her great gift,

she majored in Studio Art at college.

She has worked all semester to create five works of art for her Senior Art Show.

Her assignment was to create a body of work of her choice

then appear before a panel of professors and defend her project with answers to all their questions.

Savannah, Josh, and Ben Curtis went up on Tuesday to see her pieces

and the rest of us went up today and it was nothing short of AMAZING!!!

We enjoyed shooting some photos of Amelia and her roommate, Lew~

Amelia wrote a summary of her work and I will use it for the remainder of the post.

I hope this post does her work justice because in person, they are breathtaking!!!

And just so you know, 3 of them are still for sale {2 SOLD!}

Love Never Fails is a promise my mom has always instilled into my families' lifestyle. If we love one another like 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, the love within our family will never fail. There may be hard days but in the end we can always protect, trust, and hope in one another. My mom is the light of my family. She keeps us going and holds us all together. She reminds us daily that love is the root of it all and what holds us all together at the end of the day. With all of this being said, my art reflects what is valuable to me~ family and love. Much of my art is focused on animals, either portraying the beauty I see in them or creating and comparing my family to their human qualities. I decided to demonstrate qualities of my family that symbolize love through animal personalities in the best way I know.

This particular body of work is my visual interpretation of love. To represent "love" I chose to use animals. As a child, animals were always a love of mine, whether stuffed or real. They consumed my childhood and were always a fascination. I broke 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 up into different sections and placed each part with someone. By choosing five different animals and comparing their human qualities to five family members. I have created a body of paintings titled, "Love Never Fails".

My dad, Scott, is a bear. He is the gentlest, kindest, and most tolerant man I know! His patience goes on forever.

"Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud."

Bear Painting: $550

My sister, Rosemary, is an elephant. She is intelligent, trustworthy, honest, and one of the most loyal friends. She always thinks of others before herself.

"It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered"

Elephant Painting: SOLD

My oldest sister, Savannah, is a cow. She has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She is passionate and loves unconditionally without holding any grudges.

"It keeps no record of wrongs."

Cow Painting: $550

My uncle Tony is a deer. He is a fighter, He had incredible strength and was the bravest man I knew. He lead everyone to Christ and wanted the best for them!

"Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth."

Deer Painting: $550

My Brother-in-law, Josh is a lion. He finds his identity in Christ and the joy that he promotes shows me he is strong and brave. He will protect and never quits.

"It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Lion Painting: SOLD

Each of these paintings shines light on one of my family members by focusing on animal personalities. This experience has been so wonderful for me because I have continually been reminded of the love I have always been surrounded by growing up and all the love I have for each of my family members. My hope is that my viewers can look at my artwork and relate to my theme, Love Never Fails, by replacing my family with their own.

Oh Amelia~

There are no words for what this does for a mom's heart! Dad and I are SO very proud of your gift of art, but more importantly, your beautiful heart... and as I write that, I notice you can't spell heart without art. Your heart shines through this amazing body of art! God certainly has given you great talent and the ability to use it loving Him through it. 

You are so loved by your family and if I asked any one of these people you painted, they would all say YOU exude these very same characteristics described in 1 Corinthians as well!  

I know for sure God will continue to bless as you finish up this great season of life, college. I can't believe you are graduating. You have accomplished so much and the Best is Yet to Come!!!

We look so forward to loving you and supporting you as your life unfolds. Know for sure God has a plan and you are to trust, follow, and love. 

Love Never Fails and our love for you will only grow deeper with each day we are living... I guess that means for all eternity.

I love you Amelia Frances!!!

Mom and Dad