Over the River and Through the Woods

We hit the road the other day to see some church friends.

The baby toddler brought his favorite animals.  

Every now and then I catch glimpses of his former life as a baby--his plump cheeks, his over-sized head, the remains of a double chin...

But the tell-tale scars on his face remind me once again that I've got a little boy now who loves to explore.

 I often look pass the neat little shadows that prance in the car as the sunlight strikes.

The movement of light and shadow can be hypnotizing.

True to form, the toddler found a way to annoy his sisters.

Which I suppose would be normal, considering we ran into traffic and there was nothing better to do.

Our connecting freeway was cut off by the police, so we went on all sorts of detours.

I had nothing better to do.

Finally, we made it to our destination and it felt like we had reached the Promise Land.  

Hard journey.

Lovely destination.

R's Turn

R spent this evening reflecting on his life with the car.  It drove him to his first full-time job and brought him to graduate school. It was the car he used to bring me his book of poems on our first date.  A year later, it was the car that drove us away from our wedding reception to our first night together at the former Ritz Carlton in San Marino. It was the car that nearly received the birth of our 2nd born as we rushed to the hospital.  It also drove him 160 miles each Sunday in his final year of seminary.  Recently, it brought him to central and southern parts of our state to meet with sister churches in his efforts to fund raise for the Spanish ministry.  At every important milestone in his life, this car was there to accompany him.   This photo-shoot was our last evening together with it. 

Good-night and good-bye, beloved Corolla.

An Oldie but Goodie

     We are about to sell my hubbie's first car. The children's carseats can barely fit in the car. With each of the little ones getting larger and longer, we are finding that the car can no longer contain our family of 5. We've had it for the entire duration of our marriage. That car took us on dates, sped us onto our honeymoon, and delivered our newborns home. It took us to work and church and vacations. And this past week, I spent enough hours driving it to make sure it would never forget me and my family. At a pit stop, I decided to take some shots of the children in the car. Of course it is not human and I should guard against over-sentimentalizing it. But I am human and will miss it and give thanks to God for it.