happy 11th birthday moriah!

Today is my littlest sister's birthday. She's 11. I can't believe it. Every time I see her I tell her she's growing up way too fast and that she needs to slow down...so far she hasn't really taken my advice.

Happy Birthday, Moriah! I am so happy that God blessed me with you as my littlest sister. It's such a joy to see how you're growing up into such a beautiful (inside and out) girl of God. Your smiles, laughter, and quirky fun personality can brighten up a room. I'm so proud of you! You are so loved!

family visits + the county fair.

Two weekends ago my wonderful family came in town to visit us here in Nashville. It's always so great to see them! It's like a big slumber party...air mattresses and sleeping bags everywhere. We stay up playing games, eating snacks, watching silly videos on YouTube, and just spending quality time together. I love family!

During this visit we spent a day at the Wilson County Fair. Even though it was HOT outside, we had a blast! We've been to a few fairs in the area including the Tennessee State Fair and the Williamson County Fair...and this one was our favorite so far. 

I didn't want to lug around my big dSLR camera all day, so the following pictures are courtesy of my Canon Powershot (which is a great point-and-shoot if you're looking for one! I love it!)

We had fun in the petting zoo. Look at us holding those chickens. We look like farmers, right?

This cow was so precious and kept rubbing her nose up on our hands. I wanted to take her home with me.

Just a few moments before we arrived, this baby chick hatched from its egg! We saw him standing up for the first time and all. It was adorable. I wanted to take it home.

The pigs were adorable, but kinda stinky. So I didn't really want to bring them home with me. But the fluffy bunny on the right was a completely different story. Jonathan had to pry me away from the bunny cages. It was dangerous.

Hahaha...the chicken on the bottom right was cracking me up. He looked like he was wearing pajamas. 

Family portrait in front of the giant rooster!

There was a live bluegrass band there, which helped set a fun atmosphere for the fair. I loved it! 

Why is it that almost every food they serve at the fair is on a stick? It boggles my mind.

The ferris wheel is my absolute favorite fair ride! They're nostalgic and romantic. 

American Gothic. Somehow I think the proportions of the heads and bodies are somewhat off...hahaha. 

This was Moriah's first funnel cake experience. It was definitely a moment worth capturing. 

This horse was making ice cream!  

We had such an amazing day!

All in all, it was kind of a bittersweet visit. This past week my family moved from Tennessee back up to Maine to go back to pastor the church I grew up in. I am so excited for them and this new chapter in their life...but it is definitely sad to see them go.

But this just means we'll be vacationing up in Maine more often, and that is definitely a huge plus! :)

visits with friends and family!

Eeeep...you can call me blog slacker. Go ahead, say it...because it's true. haha. I've been a blog slacker lately.

This month has seriously FLOWN by already! I can't believe we're already nearing the end of June. We've had lots of fun things going on this month...lots of photo sessions...lots of grilling out...lots of friends and family coming to visit us.

Here's a little of what we've been up to this month...

On Memorial Day weekend (which I guess technically was last month, but oh well) our very good friends Thorne and Laura (who just recently got married!) came and visited us. We had an amazing time hanging out with them, taking them to some of our favorite Nashville spots (which always seem to center around food...) such as The Pancake Pantry, Baja Burrito, and Sweet CeCe's. And, of course, on Memorial Day we had ourselves a little cookout.

Mmmmm....I'm pretty sure grilling out is one of my absolute favorite things about summer!

The next weekend, my wonderful friend Bree came and visited me for a couple days! Ah, it was so great having her here. We talked for hours over coffee, went shopping, watched a chick flick, and made cheese dip. It was the perfect girly weekend.

And then last weekend my family came to Nashville! It was so great having them here (everyone got to come except for Miranda...she had to work, and we missed her.) It was an amazing visit. One exciting thing that we did was go to the Nashville Zoo! I'll share more on that later, because this post is nearing novel length as it is.

June has been an amazing month and I'm so thankful we've had the chance to spend so much time with people we love.

How has your month been so far? Doesn't summertime just seem like the perfect time to visit with friends and family? I love it!

kate's first taste of birthday cake.

Last night Kate (our niece) had her first taste of birthday cake....

She loved it, to say the least! :)

happy 1st birthday to our niece, kate!

One year ago today Jonathan's sister Julie and her husband Kenny had their first baby...Kate! It's so hard to believe that she is one year old now. This year has gone by so quickly and she has grown so fast (here she is at newborn, 3 months, 8 months.)

Tonight we're having a little family party to celebrate her first year.

Happy 1st Birthday, Kate!

We love you so much and are so glad you were born. :)

kate's 8 month photo session.

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I can now share these images with you. A couple of months ago I babysat our niece Kate for the day. I had a little mini photo session with her and we framed some of the photos and gave them to her parents for Christmas. They absolutely loved them! Of course, who doesn't love to get photos of their precious child?

Kate is such a cutie and is always so well behaved. She also seems to love the camera (at least the sound of the shutter) and I have no difficulty getting her to look right at me. :)

It's amazing how much she has grown over the past several months! You can see her newborn photos here, and her 3 month images here. She's going to have her first birthday before we know it!

tiffany zajas photography

birthday celebration part 1 - with the family.

Since my family was in town this weekend, they decided to celebrate my birthday a day early on Sunday after church. It was great getting to celebrate with them! We went to one of my favorite places - The Cheesecake Factory. Mmmmm...it was so fun and delicious!

Here are some [faux] polaroids from our day:

They gave me some very sweet gifts. One of my favorites was a hardback copy of Little Women. That was one of my favorite books growing up, and my mom used to read it to me and my sisters at night before bedtime. Love it. I'm so excited to read it again!

This day made possible by Mom and Dad.

Love them.

Yummy...Key Lime cheesecake.

Jonathan hearts cheesecake. Who doesn't, really?

It was an absolutely wonderful day. Thank you family for making the day-before-my-birthday celebration oh-so-special. :)

christmas lights at opryland with the family.

When my family was here in Nashville visiting us for Thanksgiving, we went out one night (in celebration of my sister Miranda's birthday) to go and see all of the beautiful Christmas lights at the Opryland Hotel. This place is so beautiful year round, but I especially love it at Christmastime. If you're ever in the Nashville area during the holidays, this is a must-see for sure.

It was definitely the perfect way to jumpstart the Christmas season! :)