I ran across a Blog Hop hosted by Brent Riggs that looked like it would be kind of fun to join. I just hope that I get it figured out and posted correctly! :)

For this particular week, the theme is "Favorite Photo," and I confess, I can't narrow it down to just one. I was thinking about it this morning... and I think my favorite photos have only a little bit to do with the quality of the photo itself. They have more to do with my memory of the event behind the photo. The mood of that particular day. The big hug and adorable giggle given by my kids immediately following the shot.

Can you remember your earliest childhood memories? Are they true memories, or are they driven by the photos of the event? I know my parents took us on many vacations -- some larger, such as Disney World and the Oregon Coast - but many of them just local camping or fishing trips, trips to see the local flavor. I have so many incredible memories of those trips. But in truth -- I think many of my memories are only due to the photos.

And for this reason, I'm a photo junkie! I want my kids to have the same incredible memories of their childhood -- both real and in photos!

So my first favorite photo (in no particular order) was taken about 3 years go when we lived in Cincinnati. We had recently moved into our new house, and we were playing on the jungle gym the old owners had left in the backyard (before it was picked up). My daughter, Amara, couldn't yet walk, but we were playing under the canopy just getting ready to go down the slide. My sister-in-law snapped this photo, and it's probably my favorite photo of all time. It shows the joy of being a new mom, the love between the two of us, the trust my daughter has. It shows the newness of life and the incredible hope and trust and joy that lies in everything that is to be for that little girl.

My second favorite photo was taken last November. For the first time, we live under a canopy of beautiful trees. They're awesome MOST of the year -- except for allergy and raking season! The kids loved to rake the pile together and jump and play in them. It was their first experience in doing so, and they had a ball. I told them to give each other a kiss, but didn't really expect cooperation (they were 2 and 4 -- why would they cooperate!?). But the result is this photo. I made it into a digital scrapbook page and added the words to "Up to the Moon" by Kim Hill (I think that's the title).



My third favorite photo was taken last Halloween night. We live on a tiny secluded street (i.e. we have 4 neighbors), and there are no other kids who live on it. Our street is very steep and poorly lit. We knew that there would be no trick-or-treaters, and we knew that our 4 neighbors had likely never had any before. But we wanted to share some of "the joy of youth" with them (they're all grandparents themselves). So we dressed the kids up in their costumes, bought some mums at a local greenhouse, put the mums in wagons, and trick-or-treated our neighbors -- bringing THEM the treats instead of the other way around. It was such a fun memory, and something we'll look forward to doing in years to come.



Now it's your turn! Join the "Favorite Photo" blog train!