Aaron + Kayla Engagement

Hi Everyone! 

Well, as you may have heard my brother is engaged! Yes, it's fantastic news and we are all really excited for him and his bride to be, Kayla Marie. I wanted to share with you some photos of this "Proposal Session", at the beginning of it they were boyfriend and girlfriend and by the end of it they were engaged! All photos taken by me: Sharon McLellan and edited by the lovely Grace at Hurtienne Photography.

 

The Day: 

February 13th, 2013

The Location: 

Heritage Gardens, Ia'o Valley

The Purpose:

To surprise Kayla with what she thought was just going to be a couples photo shoot and capture on camera the moment Aaron proposed. 

Kayla's Perspective: 
Did you know Aaron was going to pop the question? "I was pretty sure Aaron was going to propose (sorry, Aaron!). There were too many things out of the ordinary for something not to happen... He told me to dress nice and showed up with an orchid when he picked me up."
Were you still surprised when he asked? "Yes! I didn't know when he was going to ask and since we were getting our photos taken it took my mind off it... It was perfect."
Do you like the ring? "Yes, I love the ring. I liked it when he first proposed but now I like it even more. Everyday I look at it and think, "It's perfect!" and that it was his Grandma's makes it even more special."

Aaron's Perspective:
How long had you been planning to propose? "I had been planning since November of 2012, but I really started seriously planning after asking her dads permission in December."
What were you thinking of most during that day? "Today is the day I do it!"
What's the sentiment behind the ring: "It belonged to my Grandma, she gave it to before she moved back to the mainland. The fact that she gave me her diamond ring (her engagement ring from my grandfather) had a lot of gravity in it and meant I needed to give it to someone really special."

Harrisaurus turns ONE!

We celebrated Harrison's FIRST BIRTHDAY on the 20th of last month. I planned a small party with close friends and family and we all ate pulled pork sandwiches and watched Harrison open presents and eat a banana cream pie (banana is his favorite, so it seemed appropriate). Here are some photos that Mariah took during the party. (:

yep, reading his b-day cards already.

his reaction to all his presents, "awww! *hug*"

joining in on everyone clapping for him!

chowing down on his personal banana cream pie.

 

I love this little man and am so blessed to be his momma.

I enjoy every minute and I'm looking forward to year number two!

xoxo,
Sharon

New Year, New Life, New Beginnings...

Hello and welcome to 2013!

I hope everyone's Christmas was blessed. This was Harrison's 1st Christmas and we all had so much getting him presents and watching him open them. I also took this quick photo of my sister and her husband. 

Sariena's holding a Christmas present addressed to "Baby Hoffman"

So yeah, I'm going to be an Aunty sometime in July and Harrison will have a little cousin!!! Seems like 2013 will be a very fruitful year and I am ready to face it head on. God has given us goals and visions that we are excited about pursuing. Right now one of those goals is to finish the laundry... It just seems to pile and pile and pile on up... Anyway, speaking of "NEW" do you like my new blog template? I think it's pretty rad. (:

Ok, just wanted to give you a little update on our growing family.

xoxo,

Sharon

 

Maui Life

Hello friends!

Let me first start off by saying, "Merry Christmas!" I hope your year has been most enjoyable and you are excited to start with the next one. Safe to say it's been a crazy one for us! Here's an update for you:

1. We are back in Maui! We moved in August... hehe. The original plan was to only come for a visit while my sister, Sariena, was getting married but opportunity arose and we decided to move back. That's the best I can do at explaining because it was done in a way only God could do and He works in crazy ways (as we all know)! 

2. We moved (mostly, kind of, sort of) because Caleb got a job offer, he is working for a company called GP Electric. He's an apprentice and will work towards getting his journeyman's license... so he is an electrician. I'm super proud of him!
  
3. I'm working back at Ruby's... (: you can all laugh at me... I know I may have said over and over before about how I never wanted to be a server again. Ha! Caleb and I realized I needed to go back to work for a short season and God has completely blessed us in that decision. I'm working part time and recently received my liquor license and became a supervisor. We are learning to make wiser financial decisions and setting ourselves up for a brighter future. 
 
4. Harrison is turning 1 in February! I don't know if life seems like it's flying by for you, it definitely feels that way for me! I can't believe I had a child 10 months ago... He is growing way too fast. I'm excited for Harrison's first Christmas, he already has so many presents (currently the only grandson/nephew on both sides of the family) and I don't think he will have any trouble learning how to rip the wrapping paper off. 

Well, I think I will leave it at that for now! Thanks for reading this short update. We will see how I do next year with the whole blog thing... (:

xoxo
-Sharon  

and the days are flying by...

is it just me or does everybody think it's insane that June is practically over!? I look back on all that I wanted to accomplish this past month and sadly not a lot has been done... I keep thinking, "tomorrow" and then tomorrow turns into "next week." I'm realizing more and more how beneficial it would be to have a little more of a structured schedule. Things were much easier when I didn't have to feed a baby every few hours and make sure he has a few naps throughout the day. Nap times are hard to schedule around, but hey, I can't complain that I now HAVE to nap through out the day.... I mean Harrison has to nap... (;

So I'm getting more and more excited for our trip! It's only two short months away! I'm also super excited for Sariena to get married! It'll be so fun to have a married sibling... then eventually a sibling who's also a mommy! and Harrison is getting another uncle! he doesn't have very many of those. (; I'm trying to think of all the things we want to do while we're there in Maui but I'm predicting a majority of the time will be wedding prep and relaxing with the fam. I know I'm gonna bawl my eyes out when I see my family... I miss them all so much! Yeah, I'll pretty much be a hot mess in the airport... 

I'm looking forward to going to Chicago too! I've never been except for when I was on my way to Germany... I spent about two minutes running from gate to gate in O'Hare International Airport. (: There's so many cool things in Chicago... I hope we get to see at least some of them. (: of course we'll be visiting my beautiful sister in law and her hubby. It'll be more time of rest and relaxation!

Well, I better get going... Sorry I didn't really write about anything new. Harrison is getting a bit fussy and keeps spitting up everywhere... so fun being a mommy! ooooh, p.s. I got a new sling from sevensling.com and I absolutely love it! What I like most about it is the convenience and ease of slipping it on and off. Also it's the only thing Harrison will fall asleep in. He only likes the Moby Wrap sometimes and I hate the front carrier we have. ): So, yeah, yay for baby wearing!

xoxo

Sharon

I can't think of anything enticing to put here...

I'm at Starbucks by myself... yep... by. my. self. It's seriously so weird. Harrison has been extra fussy since Saturday and this afternoon I told Caleb I had to get out for just a little bit. I just texted Caleb and Harrison is sleeping, what a champ. So here I am blogging... I couldn't think of anything else to do. (: We got rid of our internet at home cause we're a bunch of crazies. We decided we could do without the distraction and extra cost of internet/hulu/netflix. We're actually saving a good bit of money. Haha, there's a group of highschoolers at the next table stressing about SAT's. Oh, to be in high school again.

Anyway, I'll let you in on our upcoming plans! So, like I said, in September we'll be heading out to Maui for Sariena's wedding. We bought our tickets last week! They were actually $100 cheaper than we were planning, yay! We're packing up all our belongings and putting it into storage while we're traveling. We leave the 3rd of September and are planning on being out there on Maui for the whole month. After that we head to Chicago to see Erin and Brian (Caleb's sister and her husband) and then it's off to Ohio for another wedding and to see my long lost twin, Alisha!!!! I'm ecstatic to be reunited with her. You can go back and read some of my entries I wrote while in Germany and I guarantee you'll find her name in quite a few of them. (: After about a week in Ohio we're heading to Wisconsin to spend a few weeks with the in laws. I'm super excited to be there in October because it will be absolutely beautiful with the leaves changing. I will be taking SO MANY PHOTOS! Thennnn we're taking the train back to Portland where we will be living. I'm a little anxious for the trip, Harrison will be 7 months and I'm hoping and PRAYING all the traveling will go over smoothly. I will do my best to remain calm and hope he takes my cues. (: pray for us and our sanity/patience.

So for now it's just work, work, work. The cool thing is that summer is tourist season here in Bend and things are really starting to pick up for Caleb at work. During the winter we had to learn to not live on much and now that we're used to that we can put all the extra money he's making into savings for our trip and still live comfortably on what we're used to. make sense? I hope so... I guess you never recover from "pregnant brain".... it just dubs itself "mommy brain." So yeah! That's the plan for now. (: Thanks for reading. 

xoxo,
Sharon

want the chance to win some amazing prizes?

 Grace Louise Photography is having an incredible giveaway over at her blog! Please click the link below to check it out. (: also go to her facebook and like her page!

Grace Louise Photography Blog Giveaway

xoxo

Sharon