How did these kids get so big so fast?

I was dusting one blessed day that we were actually home this summer and I knocked Matthew's picture off the nail it was hanging on. As I picked it up, his image caught my eye and I was stunned! This little boy in the picture looks so tiny and young! I did some math and realized that it had been over two years since I had gotten pictures of these kids. Actual pictures that I could hang on my walls and send out to family. I knew that I needed to capture these kids on camera as soon as possible because I had missed so much growth in those two years of not taking pictures. So, although longer than long, this post is what they let me capture one beautiful July summer afternoon! Man I think they are cute(but I am a little biased!) Also, there is a picture at the end of this encyclopedia of shots that really captured the true Balzen kids. They are throwing apples at each other to keep from being bored to death by their mom's constant picture taking! Even that picture makes me smile!

Chaos, Diamonds and Memories

We have seriously not stopped since school came to a close this last school year! We had all three boys in baseball for the regular season and I don't have ONE SINGLE PICTURE!!!! The disk on my camera erased itself...did not know they could even do that! So, we are picking up with Mason's Allstar baseball season. This summer was FULL, I mean FULL of baseball!! We traveled all over Idaho, Northern Utah, and Wyoming for baseball games. It was so crazy and hectic but man I loved the memories we got to make during this time. I enjoy Mason and this age group of boys he hangs out with so much! They make me laugh so hard and they are so good to Mason and the rest of our family! Here is a small dose of what we got to do ALL SUMMER long! It was GREAT!

New York, New York : Part 1

This past February, I got the chance to get on a plane and fly to the city that never sleeps. New York, New York! My brother Kevin and his sweet wife Peyi, have a beautiful little girl who they were blessing and my parents, my little brother Kory and I, got the chance to make a family reunion of it! My wonderful husband and Kory's wonderful wife, Heather, gave us the chance to do this as they stayed home to take care of our two families. I have only been to New York one time before this trip and I was sooooo excited!! As the plane flew through the dark of night, directly over the big lights of that BIG city, my heart pounded! What an amazing place with so much history carved into every nook and cranny. I captured a couple of pictures that made this trip so fun.






We got the chance to take the Staten Island Ferry out past the Statue of Liberty and see the retreating skyscrapers of Manhattan behind us,and the shores of New Jersey up ahead of us. The quiet majesty of Lady Liberty as we passed by was so overwhelming. Imagine coming from other distant lands where you had no freedom! You were what the government told you to be and you did what you were told to do. As that majestic lady who stands tall and welcoming, comes into view, whether by airplane or boat, your heart would lift and the shackles of oppression you felt would loose and you would know that you have reached America! The home of the brave and the land of the free.









Kevin took us out to see this amazingly beautiful, man-made beach called, Orchard Beach. It was so beautiful out there and such a contrast to what you think you will see out in New York. It is so fun to have someone there who can show us these wonderful things that we may not have ever known existed out there otherwise.






I have many other great pictures of my beautiful niece, Valerie and my family, and yes more of this incredible city, but for now, I will go, leaving just a small sample of the great visit I got to share with my wonderful family!