PHOTOGRAPHY | The Buford Mountain Hike

Tuesday, December 27, 2016 / Filed in:
We'll travel on, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey

- Steven Curtis Chapman -


A couple of months ago, Isaac and I had the privilege of joining some friends for a crisp, Saturday morning hike. Normally, this nursing student enjoys getting some much-needed rest on the weekend, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see some gorgeous views and have some fellowship with great folks :) When you're busy all week with school, it's a so refreshing to spend time with family and fellow-believers to refocus and de-stress.

Ahem, not to say that this particular hike wasn't stressful, because the first mile up...yeah. It totally was. It was very rocky, and for an inexperienced person like me, it was hard to keep balance. "Thanks a lot, Tyler" went through my head about a million times. 

 Buford Mountain is located in Caledonia, Missouri, about 35 minutes from where we live. The hiking trail can be either 10 miles or 6 miles round trip (we opted for 6 so that we could have more time at the top). At the top of the trail (at least I think it's the top...it's definitely up there) there is a clearing called Bald Knob. Among the big rocks and dry grass we shared lunch (at 8:45am, lol; we were very hungry!) and took some pictures.









The view was just...AH! It was spectacular :D





The guys ate MREs, and although I assumed that they would be gross, they smelled good, and Sam claimed that they tasted good. I, however, enjoyed my real turkey wrap and grapes ;P



The "worship album" pose ;P






We tried to take some pictures together...and although we had some epic fails with the automatic shutter (I still had my quality set to RAW!), we got some good ones ;)




This was my first time to shoot in RAW format, and I was really pleased with the way it captured the grass and trees :D








This mossy stuff was EVERYWHERE! I loved the look of it. And right as I was talking about it, my bestie-pal Grace had the same idea as me: LET'S STICK OUR FEET IN IT AND TAKE A PICTURE. Ah, blogging really changes your photographic perspective ;D



Looks like we weren't the only ones to find moss :)




 We just got done with a three mile hike, and were about to do another three miles... and yet the guys thought it would be fun to do push-ups! I will never understand. 

"Look- an abandoned nest!" = yet another picture idea for us blogging peoples (by the way, you really should check out Grace's blog over here!) And, of course, Sam had to go and ruin it ;P



Back on the trail :)


We ended the day with some antique shopping in downtown Caledonia and ice-cream from Dollar General :)

On another (completely different) note, I recently joined Polyvore after seeing the fun "sets" of items you can make. One of my first ones that I made was inspired by our hike: 



The Hiker by izzybee-modesty featuring:

PERSONAL | Dettmer Day 2016

Friday, October 21, 2016 / Filed in: ,


Come on, heavy laden
Don't wait for tomorrow
Come on, my brother
Come on and follow

- Ben Rector -


Today marks the one month anniversary since the adoption of our 3 (ex-foster system)  kiddos.

We lovingly referred to the day as "Dettmer Day".


Our adoption was on the docket for 8:30am, which meant we had to leave our house at 5:30am to make the three-hour drive. We expected the kids (at least 2-year-old DJ) to sleep on the way there. 

NOPE.

We were all WAY too excited for that!!




The fog ended up making some gorgeous scenery once the sun began to shine.







The waiting :)




DJ randomly (and quite adorably) kept nuzzling up to Dad while we waited. It was so sweet! I think he know more about what's going on than we give him credit for ;D


^ The last picture of all three kiddos before they shared the last name of Dettmer!! :D ^




 The Judge was so fun with the kids; he let Michael and Audrey sit with him and pretend to preside over the hearing. Audrey really hammed it up and even asked for paper to "take notes" (draw pictures) :)





Big Bird also took part in the event. 


There are no words to describe the feelings and emotions in that courtroom. We chuckled at the kids, we cried at my dad's heart-felt testimony of how these kids are an answer to years of prayer, we held our breaths as we waited for the declaration that they were our family, forever.



INTRODUCING (finally!): THE DETTMER FAMILY!!!


All 5 of the Dettmer Kids! Left to right: Isabel Faith, David Jeremiah, Michael Joshua, Audrey Hope, and Isaac David :)



The kids and their caseworker, "Uncle Joe" - We were so blessed to get to know him! He has been amazing and the kids adore him!


US :0


Calling people to share the news :)


After a drive-thru breakfast, we surprised the kids with a trip to the Saint Louis Zoo. 














We ended the day with a late lunch at Culver's, and were surprised to come home to a poster-clad door with Scooby Snacks (human ones) and confetti poppers as left by some sweet friends. I was too excited and exhausted to remember to take pictures, but I doubt that we'll forget :)

In an effort to solidify the memories of this emotionally-rich day, I captured some moments on film and made this video:



I first heard the song "Follow You" by Ben Rector on the documentary The Drop Box, and I just knew it was what needed to be on this video. Our sweet kiddos have had great burdens, some they don't even know about and won't know about until they are much older. The lyrics: "Leave all your trouble, leave all your sorrow, set down your burden, come on and follow" - we want them to be able to heed that call in their lives. Our prayer is that one day they can know the great freedom we have in laying our burdens at the cross.

They have a great new daddy named Dusty Dettmer. But they have an even greater Heavenly Father who can carry their burdens. 

We know He'll do it, and we just can't wait to see it happen. 



The End