My first catching up post!

Here is my first post of the day, and hopefully not the last one that I get around to doing! I have lots to share, but have time only in bits and pieces to get it photographed and posted. So here are two layouts to start with that I've done in the last few days. The first one is a photo from our family vacation to South Higgins Lake, Michigan. It was absolutely beautiful there. We camped for the week with my parents, and my brother and his kids, and my sister, her husband, and her daughter, and my two step brothers, step sister, and my step brother Scott's girlfriend. Whew...lots of people, but my family is HUGE and just keeps on growing. So this summer vacation as a family is going to start being an annual thing. We are excited for the next one!

The background paper is basic grey as are the two ribbons. The felt ric rack is from AC Moore, and the red trim is from Rusty Pickle. I cut the photo corner using my sizzix, the flower is Heidi Swapp.

The next layout is kind of a stretch for me. I wanted a creative way to document my feelings about the deployment. So while I was emailing Will I had the idea to print off a map and mark where he is and where I am, and then figure out how many miles were in between and then focus on the journaling. So this page is the result of that. 7,321 miles is the approximate distance between Qatar and South Carolina. This paper is KI Memories, brads are Making Memories, I used Creative Memories Star Punches, and the Slim Jim Alpha on my sizzix, the ribbon is American Crafts. I hope to be able to post a few more later on the afternoon or this evening!