"what a beautiful face I have found in this place that is circling all 'round the sun...

...what a beautiful dream that could flash on the screen
in a blink of an eye and be gone
from me.. soft and sweet, let me hold it close
and keep it here with me.

one day, we will die and our ashes will fly
from the aeroplane over the sea...
but for now, we are young- let us play in the sun
and count every beautiful thing we can see..

-neutral milk hotel

I just got back from the annual Murphy reunion at Topsail Beach in North Carolina. It's a beautiful, quiet little place for our us to gather, lay in the sun, play bocce, and carouse. Every year gets better and better. A new "baby rush" has begun, so I had a few new faces to clack my shutter at!

But first, the baby we've always had..



My cousin-in-law Rob has impressive bocce form:




In the middle of this game, a fish dropped out of the sky and landed right beside the spectating women. I was just messing around when I took its picture, but I actually sort of like these (that's Uncle Brian holding the fish--he tried to throw it back to the seagull):







I have so many pictures from this vacation, so I thought I would pick out my favorites in pairs and post them that way. I started having some fun with it, and they were easier to upload. Starting with my adorable Auntie Terry and Uncle Mike ("Poo Pie"), skipping in the sand like a poo and pie should...

And then taking a direct route to Baby Land.. introducting Samantha Ally, my cousin's one-year-old princess:

Guess what? She knows peek-a-boo!

As you can see, she gets her gorgeous looks from my cousin's wife Petra.. and the Murphy blue eyes.

At 7 months old, Kohen currently holds the title of Littlest Murph. Here he is with his cousin Sammy (I think she was more than willing to pass the torch)...

More Kohen with his mommy, cousin Sara, and his daddy, Rob..

Sarah and Rob haven't had pictures together since their wedding, so they asked me to snap a few..

And finally.... more Kohen!!

This was a special year. Not only did I have a great time as usual and enjoy the oppurtunity to spend an entire week with my relatives, but Matt took me for a walk on our last morning at the beach. Standing at the edge of the ocean, he pulled out a ring. We're getting married, and I couldn't imagine anything this perfect. I am very lucky.

xoxo