Blog - Page 14 of 40 - Shannon Von Eschen Photography

Father’s Day Thoughts

Tonight I sat down to write about you. How you are my solid foundation. My rock. My strength. My shield. But then I was lost for words and nothing but tears came when my mind was grasping for words. In more ways that I can explain, our lives have been turned up-side down the last two weeks. And yet, you’ve been tirelessly working to help make them feel right-side-up for me. I know that often people will say they don’t know how they’d live without someone…but I couldn’t be any more serious and literal in saying I genuinely don’t even know how to do life without you. I feel abundantly lucky and blessed that God has gifted you to me and that you are the one I spend most my days, most of my minutes, with. I have long thought you were the greatest husband on the planet, but you have proved to me in a multitude of ways that you are the very best of fathers. I could write pages, perhaps volumes, on how I’d define a good father…your name would fall next to each one. I had never loved anyone as much as I’d loved you. Until I met our Son. But the three of us share a love that, I’m learning, can withstand any and all hardships. Even ones I never would have thought we’d be tested to endure. That phrase: iron sharpens iron? That’s us. But that’s only because of you.

Jason, since I cannot think of an accurate way to thank you for loving me, protecting me, and saving me all these years, I decided to share the first letter I’d written to you on your very first Father’s Day. If I hadn’t already written it, I would have laughed and told you I felt the EXACT same way as the author. And the pictures of you truly living this out, even years later, speaks more than my dictionary of words ever could. Nothing’s changed since then, my Love. Except my heart’s stretched out wider and it beats loader for you than ever before. Can you even imagine that?

Thank you for loving me and Eli and for being the anchor of our lives when we are all lost in the waves. I love you more than life. Happy Father’s Day!

xx Shannon (& Eli)

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DIY Mother’s Day Garden Florals

The other day, I spent the afternoon with a good friend chatting over lunch in her kitchen and brainstorming on ideas for Mother’s Day gifts. Only minutes later, she was clipping flowers from her garden and I was loading film after we’d come up with a beautiful way to gift her mother something unique, inexpensive, and entirely sentimental. Using a few heirlooms Robyn’s mother had given her over the years (a beautiful hobnail milk glass candy dish, a sweet floral sugar bowl, and a darling little silver teapot), we found ourselves foraging her garden for greenery and flowers to fill these family treasures with. Below, Robyn explains the process. And let me just say, I’m still jealous that all this came out of her garden!

Materials:

*Some gorgeous foliages

*A piece of chicken wire that will fit tightly into the container.

*Four or five types of blooms. Tip: Try to vary the size and shapes of your blooms to create lots of depth and texture.

*A floral knife or clippers–no scissors! Scissors damage a flower’s stem and prohibit it from drinking properly.

* A pretty little opaque vase to showcase your blooms (or anything else your mother may have given you that could act as a vase.)

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Step 1:

The first step to any gorgeous floral arrangement is to prepare your flowers! Make sure you clean off any foliage that will fall below the water line. Leaves in the water will encourage the growth of bacteria, which will shorten the life of your arrangement.

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Step 2:

Next, prepare your container. Bend your chicken wire to fit snugly inside the container. The chicken wire acts as a grid to hold your flowers where you want them, giving your design the shape you want.

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Eggs, Easter, & Eli

Luke 24: 5-6.

♥ “Why do you look for the living among the dead?He is not here; He has risen!” ♥

It’s by far my favorite verse in the Bible. Which is why every year, on this day, I reference it. Today, we’ll glorify His name in all things. He is Risen! HALLELUJAH!

It’s become a tradition ever since you learned to walk. I hide eggs (and sometimes other treasures) in our fields of evergreen trees during the weeks before Easter, and you try to find them. We read the Easter Story and we talk about the true meaning of why we celebrate. And afterwards, we play! You have loved hunting for eggs since your very first Easter, and it melts me that you look forward to this each year. And guess what? This year, it snowed! How fun it was to frolic in the cold and yet still pretend it was really spring! You are such a gift, child.

♥ Happy Easter, Eli! ♥

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