Dec 25
Begin doing what you want to do now... We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake... Francis Bacon
OK, its true, our family Christmas card went out with a "Bappy New Year" typo printed on the back. Molly suggested that I change "Happy New Year" to "Bright New Year" because of the star. During the wee hours one night last week while designing this, I changed "H" to "B" then somehow got distracted and never gave it another look. Full credit for our picture idea goes to Molly. She conceived it, sketched it, and delegated all tasks needed to execute it. While her original idea had Molly and the children hoisting me to the top of the mast placing the star, we quickly realized this was logistically impossible. After Molly skillfully got Bella and Sawyer to nap, we strung lights all over "Nimbus Novem" for the big shot. Bella & Sawyer should also be given abundant kudos for their patience with dad. I made our clan pose under frigid conditions for no less than 200 shots (no joke) to get this final image. Credit must also be given to Photoshop. While we did make this shot on the dock at twilight after a late November sunset in Morehead City, the final image is actually made of 5 different shots layered together. After decking the boat with lights, we joined in the Christmas flotilla parading before hundreds along the Beaufort docks. We continue to have as many adventures as possible-sailing, camping, hiking, swimming and even taking a cruise last January. Our lives settled in a little this fall as Bella, 6, started kindergarten. She's a passionate little artist-always drawing, painting and creating. Bella is learning to read, loves ballet/tap class and swimming. Watching Bella compete on the swim team was another 2007 highlight. Sawyer, 4, also loves to create. He swims, wrestles, climbs and enjoys preschool. He learned to ride his bike without training wheels before turning 4 (outdoing his dad by at least 6 months). He now executes wheelies like a pro. Sawyer is at the top of his tae kwon do class moving up a rank in January '08. For more updates on life, work and travel for the Exums of Elon please check out Steve's Blog under the "About" link at www.exumphoto.com.
