Family Gallery
Dad jury-rigged a hoist to help get the logs to the higher elevations. Yankee ingenuity, always on display. (Ch. 1)
The work crew on a regular break…we were hot, sticky and thirsty.
Getting the logs off the ground to dry. Can’t build with wet wood. The whole cabin building adventure in in Chapter 1.
Liz and I using the two-man log lug. When Dave and I were dating, and I told him about the cabin, I joked that I was without a doubt the only woman he knew that recognized (and knew how to use!) a log lug and a peavey.
The towering turreted Queen Anne Victorian where I grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts. My dad chided it only had two fixer upper jobs: the inside and the outside. (Ch. 1)
Amy and Etsie were John, David and Daniel’s parents and more like family than much of our actual family. We vacationed, had holidays, and just “did life” together. (Ch. 1) In this particular picture they are all gussied up to go to the wedding of a neighbor’s daughter (who used to babysit the Keating kids!)
The Keating family of Melrose, MA: Dad (Paul) and Mum (Helen, nee Gifford) are front and center. Peter (back right) was a year older than me, John (front left) a year my junior. Liz (front right) was the baby and was 5, 4, and 3 years younger than the rest of us. (Ch. 1)
John, David and Daniel, my favorite kids I got to babysit while growing up in Melrose. Their mom was more like a big sister to me. (Ch 2)
Daniel, the youngest of the family I babysat back in Melrose…holding the youngest of our family, Christopher. Love this picture.
Amy Foreman holding Chris as a baby. She is a blessing.
Dave and I on the roof of the cabin waiting for sunset and a meteor shower. There is no light pollution in the middle of 70 acres of Maine woods. We are mere children here, I am 19 and Dave is 22, fresh out of college. (Ch 1)
Our young family right about the time we were called to a life of adoption. (Ch. 2)
Christmas portrait of Esther Danielle, Dec 1993, five months old.
Life and living with SIX kids. We had a family portrait done of the kids. Zachariah doesn’t have front teeth because he ripped them out while doing a stunt on the jungle gym….Daniel (11), Sarah (9), Nathan (7), Zachariah and Olive (5) and Esther (3). (Ch. 5)
The Campbell Family Home. The falling down, peeling ancient house turned out beautifully after years of renovation, restoration, love and diligence. It was originally built in 1835, added onto numerous times over the years and then brought into the new millennium by the Campbell’s.
Family portrait shortly after Sean’s arrival and Dave thinking we were done at seven!
Dave took the girls to the Father/Daughter dance every year for quite some time.
Baby Bubba was just a few weeks old here, but all the kids were falling in love with him. Olive just turned eight when this was taken and Zachariah is just shy of eight years old himself.
Took them all to Colorado on vacation. Rode horses, had a hike with snowball fights in the middle of summer, got to see a rodeo…lots of new adventures. The second day of horseback riding Esther softly asked to be excused to do something else with mom. So we did. At that time, she wasn’t even 50 lbs. so the horse was rather intimidating, but she was very brave the first day and I told her so. Sarah must have been our photographer on this one.
Nathan with newborn “Jonathan David” until we later had to change it to Christopher as described in the book.
Esther in one of many costumes I made for her…this one is Harriet Tubman.
Sean was so proud of his kindergarten graduation hat. Sean ended up with a very unique education path, but he graduated high school only a year behind. Not bad for a guy that went kindergarten, 1st grade, kindergarten, 1st grade and then went onto 2nd grade.
Esther used to join Sarah to escape Olive at nighttime.
Family out to cut down our Christmas tree, one of our many family traditions.
Another Christmas tree outing.
Family portrait around Thanksgiving time, 2008.
This was the night we brought Sean home for the first time: you can see his glasses are far too small and needed to be replaced. He also overate due to being undernourished.
One of the symptoms of Sean’s sensory issues was eating “odd” things. Here he is having a lot of mustard and ketchup on a piece of bread and loving it! Many special needs kids have issues surrounding food and sometimes professional intervention is warranted.
This may be the final family portrait that is complete. Amy and Daniel were married in the garden of our renovated farmhouse in the Summer of 2010. Zachariah came home but was living in temporary housing for homeless people and continued to pursue a life apart from God. Olive by this point was in a group home. They were both gone from the state of Ohio within a year or so of this picture and the whole family hasn’t been together ever since.
Get Your Kids to do Their Chores (Painlessly & Consistently)
Calm the chaos and stop the battles with the Peg System, the God-inspired solution to simplify your chore assignments and give the kids a lesson in handling money responsibly.