Ellie's First day of Preschool

Ellie started Preschool this year. She is attending Desert Foothills Lutheran. It is the same school Chloe went to and we love it! She even has the same teacher as Chloe, Mrs. Hayes, who is so wonderful.

She is so grown up and loving school!

Hayden turns 9!

I can't believe my oldest child turned 9 this year. Granted, it happened in August so I've had awhile to get used to it, but still- hard to believe. Hayden had a fun birthday, as always. His big day fell on a Saturday, so we had the friends' party in the morning, and the family shin-dig that night. It made for a very busy day, but it was nice to get it all out of the way in one day.

Since his birthday is in August, Hayden has a swim party every year. This year he invited the 5 friends that he wanted, chose a soccer theme (suprise suprise) and even held a mini-world cup tournament in the yard. Instead of cake we had ice cream sundaes, which were a huge hit on the hot, hot, hot day.

That night, the cousins and grandparents came over. There was more swimming, more presents, more food and more good times.

The sad face is because I had to yell at Hayden to stop singing to himself. Looking back, I don't know why I cared that he was singing to himself. Another mommy mistake, and I have a picture to capture it all so I can relive the guilt someday when he is in therapy and is discussing with his therapist how his 9th birthday was ruined by me.

Okay, not totally ruined. It did end with an soccer ball docorated ice cream cake, after all.

First Day of School

I'm slowly catching up!

Hayden and Chloe started 1st and 3rd grade this year. We had our annual photo-shoot out front. Chloe was so excited- she has Mrs. Tenney, who was Hayden's teacher and she is soooo sweet! Hayden wasn't as thrilled- school isn't his favorite thing. His teacher, Mrs. Chamberlin, is super nice, too.

Ellie was upset that her school didn't start on the same day- she misses the big kids so much when they are gone!

Nothing like a morning stroll in a 100+ degrees!

Waiting at the bus stop.

NEW SHOES!

This is Ellie after the kids left for the day. She only asked 100 times when they were coming home that day. My face looked pretty similar- I miss my babies when they are gone!

Jamboree 2010

Our annual camping trip in August . . . 3 or 4 days of eating, rain, drinking, dirt, eating, boggle, drinking, smores, eating, friends and, of course, eating and drinking. This year was no different. We arrived early Friday afternoon, and 15 minutes later it started to rain. And rain. And rain. What else to do but grab a drink, sit back and relax. And watch AC put up the tent in the rain. I married very well. I don't actually have many pictures of the boys because as soon as daylight hit, they scattered into the woods to play boy games- usually involving sticks, sound effects and pinecones. They would return to eat, then leave again until dark or so. Hayden is holding the rope for the rope swing that was set up Saturday night. It looked extremely dangerous to my scaredy-cat eyes, but the kids loved it.

Every year Ellie drags that poor baby along camping. She never plays with her at home. I can't quite figure out the connection, but pinkie is now a jamboree tradition.

Fred and his Saturday evening sing-a-long. The kids love it (look at Abi in the picture!) and I think Fred still likes doing it. Sneaky Snake, ABCs, Wheels on the Bus . . . the classics.

Adventerous Audrey. I'm going to call her Doctor Dolittle from now on. If there is a non-human creature anywhere nearby, not only does she find it, but she picks it up and carries it around and loves it. Perfect Camper- not afraid of anything.

I have lots of pictures of these dirrrrrty girrrrrls. They caravaned around camp like a gaggle of giggling geese. (Alliteration- another Jamboree tradition).

We had a great time again this year, as always. Only 9 months until next year!

AbiGirl is 3!!

For Abi's 3rd birthday, we had a little party at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

She loved being the center of attention, and was very excited when she asked Grandma who the presents were for and was told, "they are yours!" She then opened each one with "This is MINE!" but then would let whoever wanted to look at it or play with it. She just wanted it on the record.

Very patiently letting Auntie Ewwin take yet another picture. I cannot resist that face- and that body!

The cousins went swimming, and we had time to play home and eat appetizers and a lovely dinner from Joey's of Chicago.

Auntie Tara got her a fur-real chicky- or maybe a duck- because Abi loves to talk about Lello-chicky, who turned out to really be a turkey, and is now at fat camp waiting to turn into someone's turkey dinner. Poor Lello. Maybe this chicky will be a better fit.

Abi loved the Strawberry Shortcake card from Grandma that actually played a song. She loved it so much . . .

She took a bow when it was over, while wearing her sparkly new shoes that she demanded go on her feet right away and didn't take them off the rest of the night.

It was a fun birthday party for a fun girl. Happy Birthday Abigirl! We love you and your squeezable-ness and joy!

4th of July in Colorado

My computer is dying a slow death, and its been difficult for me to update my blog. Only 7 weeks back isn't that bad I guess.
We went to Colorado for Ashley and Cody's wedding, and made it a mini-vacation for us as well. The first night we spent in Durango, then drove through Silverton and Ouray to Fruita. It is an amazingly beautiful drive, but a little rough for those of us who suffer from motion sickness. That would be Hayden and myself. We made it safe and sound, then spent the next two days immersed in wedding preparation and execution. Our last day there was Sunday, which also happened to be 4th of July.
My wonderful Aunt Pam bought the kids sparklers and other little fireworks to celebrate. My kids were thrilled, because they live in a desert and fireworks are illegal in our great state. Chloe was a bit nervous with hers, but Ellie and Hayden dove in head first.

It stay light late in Colorado in the summer, so the kids had to wait, and wait and wait for the sun to go down enough to see the fireworks.

It was worth the wait.

The other big hit whilst in Colorado was the trampoline. Hayden remembered it from our previous trips there, over 3 years ago, and was very excited to see it in their yard.

Poor Hayden was carsick and tired, but Dad really wanted a picture on his phone. Below, he looks like he is growling but he was just huuuunnnnngggggrrrryyyyyyy. It was almost a nice family picture, Hayden.

He makes up for it with this one.

I love taking pictures in Colorado- the crisp mountain air, beautiful backdrops, long twilights and of course, GREEN grass.

Did I mention that the grass was green?

And perhaps my favorite thing about Colorado is that everytime I drive through the beautiful mountains, I can say one of my all-time favorite movie quotes from Dumb and Dumber: "That John Denver is full of shit."

Mr. and Mrs. Bell

I had the privilege of photographing my cousin Ashley's wedding in June. I was very nervous- its one thing to take picture of my friends for their Christmas cards and quite another to try and capture a once in a lifetime event. Overall, I think the pictures turned out well. Looking over them, I see a hundred things I would do differently, or better, or not at all, but I managed to deliver a few nice photos, and a good overview of the day. I learned a lot from the experience- especially in the post-processing- and I can hopefully use that information to make me a better photographer.
The wedding itself was beautiful. Ashley and Cody make a handsome couple, and her bridesmaids were model-beautiful. Ashley was a gorgeous bride. With beautiful evening light and Colorado mountains in the background, the setting was wonderful. We all had a good time.
On an end note, I would please like everyone to repeat after me: "I will never, ever, never follow the official wedding photographer around and take my own pictures while I am a guest at a wedding. Ever."
I don't know if it was because I was a family member and not a professional or if it is just what people do, but there were a few (sometimes more) people basically following me around and taking pictures behind me. The subjects were distracted and frankly more than one shot was ruined by eyes focused behind me on a renegade photographer. Very annoying- don't do it.
With that being said, here are a few of my favorites of Ashley and Cody.

Here's to a long and happy life together!