Having fun

August has been busy for us, in a good way, just as it should be. I'd love to write in greater detail about our wonderful vacation and other experiences we had together as a family, but I'll save it for another night, the draft for that post was getting too long and I knew it deserved a place of its own.

To sum it up, we had a blast.

Seeing and exploring beautiful North West...














spending lots and lots of time by the ocean...






















and in general, having good time as a family...












And as summer is nearing its end, it's also hard to imagine that the Sling Diaries Project is almost over, with participants writing their last posts this month. Make sure to check many other inspiring entries made by wonderful bloggers over the past 6 months. It's been a wonderful, memorable, fun ride!

{sling diaries} History

Lately, more than ever, I've been feeling the need to reconnect with my own heritage, as well as preserve it for our children and generations to come. I was young when Mark and I got married (and now I'm so old!), and I spent a long time trying to adapt and get used to a new culture after moving to the US. Now, years later, after finally getting myself rooted in this no-longer-new life, I'm beginning to realize that I've been quite out of touch with my original roots, with the rich culture I was raised in. And I miss it now, more and more each day. I long to go back home and visit places that I took for granted in my youth, places where life stood still, where some of 'endangered' 100-years-old traditions and ways of life were still the norm. I don't know when we'll be able to go back there as a whole family. But until then, we will continue sharing stories, memories, art and any knowledge that will help our children develop a connection to the history that they are tied to.







Last week we celebrated Pioneer Day here in Utah, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to remind our children some of the history, both local and personal. We attended local celebrations, made simple family tree charts which encouraged us to pull out some old photos (Mark's really good at things like that), visited This Is the Place Heritage Park, watched Native American dances. Our children may not understand the significance of such activities at this age, but I hope that as they grow and as we continue to make efforts to stay in touch with our past, they will build respect for those who came before them and made their life possible in one way or the other.








(she nose planted just minutes before this picture)

p.s. Don't know what I'd do without having my phone to take pictures with. Meanwhile I'm trying to get a hang of another D200 that I got for free because it doesn't autofocus, but still works pretty well for some shots on manual focus. It's a challenge, but I'll admit, it's kind of fun, and I'm rediscovering my love for unintentional blur.