One of my favorite places on earth is the beach. I love everything about it. The smell of the salty air, the sounds of the waves and the shorebirds and children laughing and people chatting amongst themselves fellowshipping in relaxation, the slight sting of the sun kissing my skin followed by a cool breeze coming off the water, catching a rare glimpse of dolphins just off shore, lounging in a comfy beach chair while reading a good book and tucking my toes into the sand, a chance to spend quality time with family and get away from all things familiar, and now enjoy my son experiencing all of these things for the first time! I delight in all of these things. But the main reason I love going to the beach is experiencing first hand the pure vastness of the ocean. It’s like staring into a clear night sky littered with stars, it leaves you breathless and in awe. I cannot comprehend that kind of space no matter how hard I try. Standing in the surf where the ocean begins and land as I know it ends inspires me to think about how small I am and how incredibly BIG God is. Again, I cannot comprehend it. But, to me, that is where I find peace and comfort: in simply breathing the salt air in and out and knowing that He is greater than I.

This year we had the opportunity to take our first family photo on the beach with Noah! A big thanks to my mom for getting me in some photos because, as the photographer, I am rarely in any.

Our first family portrait on the beach!

Justin trying to hide that he’s actually happy about taking a photo with just me. : )

Some of my first photos with just Noah and I. I’m in love with these photos of us snuggling with each other!

I love this shot of his cute little chubby legs!

Here are a few photos that I took last year. I always try to get up to watch the sunrise one morning, but it didn’t happen this year since I’m up at least twice through the night with Noah.