[Vacation :: Day 3]*

I'm going cray-cray.

Since I started posting about our trip to St. George a few weeks ago (only got through day 2), we have gone on two more beach trips and are headed out on another one this weekend...

Yikes.

Also, one of our memory cards is MIA.  Thank the LORD that it did not have any client photos on it, but a big chunk of our trip photos are temporarily (hopefully) misplaced.

Double-yikes.

Let's recap: The Gilberts are our friend Lindsay's parents, brother, sister-in-law and nieces and nephews.  How do you describe the Gilberts? Like Ryan and Lindsay, they also are just great people. Salt of the earth people who make us feel like we are part of their family too.  We've spent weekends with the whole crew in Alabama, in the North Ga mountains (where I learned to water ski--finally!), at their home in Rome, GA and now in Florida.

They exude Southern hospitality effortlessly.  They love to laugh.  Let me clarify, they love to laugh at one another.  And they give each other plenty of material (especially the guys).  Best of all, they genuinely love one another. In fact, after spending so much time with them, I'm convinced there is no where they would rather be than in one another's company.  Which is such a cool thing to see.

All that to say, we always have a total blast when they invite us along.  They have been so good to us and we are thankful that our friendships with Ryan and Lindsay have branched out to include their whole family.  They are a blessing to us.  And experiences like the one we shared with them on St. George Island do more for our spirits than they will ever know!

[ Tucker + Sadie Hill ]*

Our friend, Christy Segars, texted this pict to me while we were out of town.  It is a photo of two of her kids, Tucker and Sadie-Hill, who wanted to raise money to help provide a home for our friends in India.  So they set up a lemonade stand in their neighborhood.  A few days later and still wanting to do more, Sadie-Hill decided to bake cookies and sell them at a local baseball game.

Seeing the look on those sweet kids faces when they came rolling into the children's ministry with a big bag of quarters (not to be confused with a dime bag, as previously mentioned) was priceless.

To everyone who has given so generously, thank you.  It is so hard to verbalize what the response has meant to us.  God is doing a huge work in our hearts about how we live, and it is largely being shaped through seeing the faith and compassion of people, like Tucker and Sadie-Hill, who are burdened by the needs of others and desperate to do whatever they can to help meet those needs.

No wonder Jesus told us to become more like children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.

And I'm starting to wonder if, in His foreknowledge, He could have been thinking about the Segars' kids when he said it? :)

[ Don't Lose Your Head ]*

I came across these photos tonight.  They are from our Boston trip with the Keelings a few years ago.

I thought other people should get a glimpse of everyday life for me and Kristen.

Yes, this is a pathetic ploy for sympathy.

[ Beauty in the Pain ]*

[ Before you read this post, I would ask you to please scroll down and watch the video below and then read David's last post.  So that this post will make more sense. ]

When I shared the John Piper video on Thursday morning, I had no idea what the next 24 hours would hold.  But the Lord knew.  Perhaps He was preparing our hearts for all that we were about to see? Or maybe He just wanted to clearly show us that He orchestrates all things, knows all things, and sees the big picture that we are unable to see this side of eternity.

Because, as you read below, only a few hours after sharing that video { which specifically references losing children }, we found ourselves in a hospital room with our friends, KD and Cobb, who were facing the unspeakable tragedy losing their unborn twins.

We had photographed their wedding and so, they asked me to be in the delivery room to capture images of the births of their baby boy and baby girl.

I've struggled over the last few days how to articulate what the experience was like, but any words seem entirely inept.

Honestly, it was a completely heart-wrenching experience.  It was awful.  Excruciatingly painful.

And, yet. . . beautifully life-changing.

At 11:30 pm on Thursday, KD gave birth to her little girl, Sailor Marie.  Sailor was already gone before she arrived.  KD and Cobb spent the next few hours with her.

Saying hello and saying goodbye in the same breath.  Pouring a lifetime of love into mere moments.

At 6:30 am the next morning, KD's mom woke me up in the waiting room to tell me that Ryder was coming and we needed to get in the delivery room.  As we opened her hospital door, we heard a baby's cry that sounded exactly like a baby lamb.

I will never, ever forget that sound.

As I type this, I hear the sweet sound in my mind again and have goosebumps.

Hearing his cry may have been the most heart-breaking moment in my entire life.

It was so hard understanding that the sounds of life would soon be replaced with the silence of death.  It was too much to handle.

Yet in the midst of horrific circumstances that no parents should ever face, there was still such beauty in the pain. 

A daddy rocking his baby girl.

A mommy kissing her baby boy's forehead.

Grandparents embracing their grand-babies with genuine pride.

Talks about Sailor having her mommy's feet and lips and Ryder having his daddy's fingers and chest.

I was weeping the entire time I was photographing the scene unfolding before me.  Some were tears of sorrow, others were tears of joy.

Grief mixed with gratitude.

Just a few hours prior, I was watching a video about God being most glorified when, through the deepest possible pain, we say: 

God is enough.

God is enough, He is good.

He will take care of us.

He will satisfy us.

He will get us through this.

He is our treasure.

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And on earth there is nothing that I desire besides you.

My flesh

and my heart

and my little boy and girl may fail,

But you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

As I watched a broken-hearted mommy and daddy said hello and goodbye to their first two children, I saw God be the strength of their heart and their portion.   And in that hospital room, our Lord looked perfectly glorious.

Being in that hospital room was one of the greatest privileges of my life and it has forever changed my heart.

For a few hours, I was able to see the most pure, the most beautiful and selfless love that I have ever seen.

KD, I pray that one day I will be half of the mommy that you were to Sailor and Ryder.  You poured every ounce of love within your being into those babies. They knew nothing but your perfect love and comforting arms.  And it was so, so beautiful to see firsthand.

[ Hook'em Horns - Diaper Edition ]*

We think Carson (Hil's son) might be a Longhorn in Training.  Hook'em!

[ Ewwwww ]*

From our friend, Jessica:

"The first photo is for your blog!  I thought of you while on my trip...

The second one is deceiving.  It may appear that this young man is enjoying his time in the water relaxing and just kept his shirt on so he wouldn't get burned:

The third one proves the afore mentioned theory wrong!  Just a good ol redneck enjoying his fishing in the ocean working on his farmers tan.  Its a beautiful sight!"  

[ St. Simon's - April 2010 - Part 1 ]*

A few weeks ago we went to St. Simon's Island with our friends Jessica + Mark.

There was lots of beach time for us girls. Catching up, laughing about the past & dreaming about our futures.  Fortunately there are no photos of the beach portion of our trip (other than the one above) because Jess + I agreed to a firm No beach photos rule.  There are just some things that you don't want all the world to see. 

Now that I think about it though, that rule doesn't seem so necessary.  Modest doesn't even come close to explaining our attire.

Prudish? Amish? PURITANICAL.

Jess decided to wear a mix-and-match bathing suit. Cool. Except she combined a top that had an attached skirt with a bottom that also had a skirt.  Yep, double coverage. We laughed at her the whole time. 28-years-old and elderly. The only thing missing was a parasol and some knickers. And somehow, despite all of her attempts to cover herself, her buttocks got TORCHED. She couldn't hardly walk for the rest of the trip, lathered herself in Noxzema and considered buying an inflatable donut to sit on in restaurants. 

. . .And of course, you can guess what the boys did:

[ Stephanie Goes to Jail ]*

I married a man with a record.  Yep, 17 hours in the slammer--orange jumpsuit (with the sleeves ripped off)--the whole bit.

David-Outlaw-Cannon.

And we all know that birds of a feather flock together.

So, what can I say? It was only a matter of time until I did time too.

(Ah...what a legacy we are leaving for our future children).

On Friday, May 14th, my parole officer is coming to my work to pick me up and transfer me to the Big House.

Like my ex-con husband, I will also be put in handcuffs, have my mug shot taken...which hopefully will look like David's driver's license photo:

(Yikes!)

And I will be locked-up until I can make bond.

Unlike David, who did time for a FELONY (ie driving over a sea-oat), I am going in for a good great cause: helping abused & neglected children.

Here's the dealio: I'm on the board for an incredible organization, Loganville Community Ministry Village.  They help foster children, sexually abused children, and others who need help within our community.  It is one of those charity-gems that is the real deal and is making a powerful impact in so many kids lives who would otherwise be without an advocate.

I'm going to jail on behalf of those precious children and asking others to contribute towards my bail.

In paying my bond, you are:
1. Showing me that you love me & don't want me to suffer (thanks)
2. Contributing directly to helping those who need it most + are unable to help themselves (most important)
3. Getting a tax-deduction (Cha-ching!)

You can go ahead and contribute to my bail by clicking here. Be sure to type my name, Stephanie Cannon, in the "donate in someone's name" so that we are sure it goes towards my bail and not some other thug inmate's freedom.

Again, I will not be released until I make bail, so I am totally dependant on you!  Otherwise I am going to rot in the slammer! You don't want that on your conscious, do you??

Alright, anty-up people.  You can either pay now, or face desperate weekly phone calls asking you to smuggle in iced tea, dunkin donuts coffee, sudoku puzzles & episodes of LOST in a fresh batch of muffins.  Trust me, an online donation would be much easier in the long-run.

Want to learn more about LCMV? Visit www.lcmv4families.org.

[ What are you most proud of? ]*

Recently I had to answer a biographical questionaire.  First question:

What are you most guilty of?

Easy:  Not calling people back. Actually not having my phone.  Or not knowing where my phone is for weeks at a time.

There's more that I am guilty of:  Over-analyzing things, lack of confidence, not paying attention while driving . . .

I could go on til Tuesday.

Next question:
What are you most proud of?

Hmmmm.  That's a bit more difficult.  Actually I took more than 3 weeks processing it.  What in the world am I proud of???

Then one day last week I read a newspaper article about our friend Jeremy who is making an incredible difference as a high school head coach.  Like the Grinch, my heart grew 3 sizes that day.

And I knew:  I am most proud of the remarkable people I'm surrounded by.

One of those people is my husband.  And I got to celebrate his remarkableness :) with lots of other people on Saturday night as he was awarded an Excellence in Craft Award from the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association for his book, A No Nonsense Guide to Fly Fishing Georgia.

My husband, the award-winning author.

Rock on with your bad self, Mr. Cannon! I'm so proud of you!

[ Lots of you ask about getting autographed copies of his book.  You can order it from amazon or most all other bookstores, or you can get one directly from us.  If you buy it from somewhere other than us, just let me know & we'll arrange for him to sign it for you.]

My sweet husband

For our wedding, David and I decided to write our own marriage vows. Although I had the audio recording of the ceremony, I really wanted a copy of our vows that we had written--in our own handwriting-- for our children to one day have.  After our wedding, his vows disappeared and I assumed they had been misplaced while we were on our honeymoon.

Thinking I had lost that paper has always bothered me.  Those promises that David made to God-- in front of me and our friends and family --are one of the most precious gifts I will ever be given, and having a copy of those promises, written with his own hand, was just too valuable for me to put into words.

While rooting around trying to find the photos for the last few posts, I found David's vows.

As I sat on our hardwood floor, rereading the promises he made, I just boo-hooed all over again.

Since I was in a sappy, sentimental mood, I pulled up itunes and listened to the audio version of our ceremony.  At times I had to strain to hear the words we were saying to one another because of the loud crying and major sniffling coming from our guests.

Sounded like a funeral. 

The sobbing was getting louder and louder the further we got with our vows. First, David's and then, mine. And for me, the most emotional moment came in the middle of my vows when I said, "David Cannon, I love you.  I have waited so long to say those words to you." [ As a teenager, I made a personal decision to wait until my wedding day to tell my husband that I loved him.  I wanted him to be the only man that I said those words to and I wanted him to know how serious they were to me.]

A lot people knew that, so as soon as I said those words, you could feel the emotional release of the moment.  Even in the audio you can hear people just LOSE it.

Hilary was my matron of honor.  Apparently--which we learned after the fact-- Hilary cried the whole time and had a abundance of tear/ snot mixture running down her face.  And because it was her role to hold both of our bouquets, she was left completely exposed for all to see.

After I told my husband that I loved him for the first time, her crying obviously got a little out of control because the officiating pastor actually INTERRUPTED MY VOWS with, "Could someone get Hilary a rag?"

The place erupted in laughter.

The whole thing just seemed appropriate for our wedding.

And I was reminded once again sitting in our living room, reliving that whole experience, just how incredibly fortunate we are.   God has shown me so much about His love for us through the way David loves me and our life that we have created together is filled with so much laughter.

I feel like we have been given so abundantly, and for that I am thankful.

Keepin' it Klassy

What is more klassy than a weeknight dinner at Huddle House, you may ask?  How 'bout throwin' in a little karaoke. 

Last night was our first taste and, let me tell ya, it's tastin' gooood.

Started off the evening with a trio.  Our all-star ensemble was me, the Huddle House manager, and a very sweet man who I think was 710 years old.  He knew Moses in High School.

Our song of choice? Elvira.  I did the "A-Um da, a- um da, da da  Bow-bow's".

The crowd loved us. 

(Crowd=the cook, 2 waitresses, waitress's boyfriend & 4 other old men.)

Hil, Joel & I also covered Reba McIntyre's "Fancy", Poison's "Every Rose Has a Thorn" (which I dedicated to Hank Dichiara), and "All My Exes Live in Texas", just to name a few. 

Here's just a little samplin' for your listenin' pleasure:

 

During one of our performances I heard a waitress very loudly say to the cook, "I think the one with brown hair might be a little crazy."  I called her out on it over the microphone.

Our new friends asked us over & over again if we would come back.  (They must know raw talent when they see it)

And my old buddy--Moses's friend--has asked me to do a Johnny & June Cash duet with him next week.  We'll be there. . .with a real video camera to capture the magic.

God is love, God is love

David made a super cute video of Jonah (our friends' son + one of our most favorite kids on the whole planet).
It is adorable and although it was for work, I know a lot of you hear us talk about him all the time, so I figured you would like to see the cute little guy in action.

Our Moving Crew

Thank you to ::
Bear, Kristen, Jonah, Esther Grace, Mom, Bill H., Matt, Aunt Donna, Mary, Jay, Hilary, Joel, Nelson, Shane, Chase, Brian, Jacob, Jesse, Bill I., Blair, Wayne, Rodger, Caleb, Kelli, Angela, Alan, Adam, Katie, Nolen, Dale, Dillon and Zach.

Without each of you, there is NO WAY this move would have happened. We are blessed beyond measure to be surrounded by so many generous people who are so giving of themselves.  David & I are appreciative beyond expression--but more than that we are thankful for the example that you all set for us to follow in the future.  We have a whole new understanding of what it means to truly serve other people selflessly.  This weekend was a beautiful, living example of that and we are thankful that God used each of you to teach us.

For those of you who may be reading who have not seen the house, let me be straight with you:  It is a complete and total disaster.  I'm scared that if I were to post photos of the house, DFACS for Homes would be called and we would be removed.

Last night, our friend Joel told me that it looked like a house on the show Hoarders:

As soon as it remotely resembles a house again, I will definitely share.

We are so excited to have a home again!! But more than that, we are so grateful for the remarkable friends and family that we have to fill it.

Our Life Through Photos :: 02.21.2010

{Logan Segar's Sweet 16  }

Save the Date

Very few things make me feel more loved than going into someone's home 3 1/2 YEARS AFTER our wedding and spotting our save-the-date magnet still on their fridge. And to know that most of those people have moved multiple times since then. How sweet that our little magnet gets purposely packed up and then repositioned on a new fridge door!

Fair Wear 2008

There is no better place than the Gwinnett County Fair to go people-watch.

Last time we went, the guys decided that they would dress like the masses.

My husband was the only one who actually followed through. He arrived looking like this:

The rest of the men felt kind guilty. So, out came the pocket knives and the alterations began:

With the final unveiling of this bold display of manhood:

And the resulting attention was a little overwhelming.

People did not even try to hide their repulsion (or attraction in some cases):

People followed them with camera phones:

And some people even asked to shake their hands:

We, the people-watchers, had become the people-watched.