Merry Christmas

We enjoyed a Wonderful Christmas her in AZ! It was actually COLD and WINDY and felt like WINTER! The kids stayed in their PJ's all day and put together Lego sets that Santa brought. It was also our baby's first Christmas which always makes Christmas just a little more special! I am glad my children STILL believe in ALL the magic Christmas has to offer!

I FINALLY got my Christmas Cards out with help from my dad and hubby who created an assembly line!

mom and sisters

I have had a lot of family in town which has been a blast! My mom (far right in black) and her 2 sisters were together for an afternoon so I just had to pull out my camera. All 3 have great sense of humors so it wasn't long before they were laughing so hard they were crying!
(oh...and they requested I remove any double chins, wrinkles, etc, but I think all that adds character....so I am leaving it all...sorry mom and aunts!)

Brother's Family

Had a little photo shoot with my brother and his darling family! It even feels like fall in some of these photos! We really don't have a lot of trees or fallen leaves, but we found a spot that sort of gave us that Fall Feeling....eventhough its December and everywhere else has snow! By the way, I am having a hard time with blogspot putting big spaces in my entries or smooshing all my photos together. I have NO CLUE why its doing that!

Advent Calendar

We got this fun advent calendar last year from my sis-in-law who got it at Restoration

Hardware. This is the first year we get to use it, but I thought I would let you see what is

going inside each day! The boys get to take turns opening and I don't put it in until the night

before while they are sleeping so they won't open them all in one day when I am not looking! (Like I used to do as a kid!)

Oops...I still have one day to fill in....still thinking about that one!

DEC. 1- Go buy annual Family Christmas Books.
DEC. 2- Make Christmas CD, deliver copies to people./Watch
1st Presidency Devotional.
DEC. 3- Go on a drive to see the Holiday Lights.
Talk about Jesus’s characteristics and 3 ways we
can be more like him.
DEC. 4- Teach Austin to tie his shoes and Max to put on and
take off his shirt. Write down 3 things about each
family member that you love about them.
DEC. 5- Do a Random Act of Kindness for a neighbor
or friend or stranger today.
DEC. 6-Watch the Grinch and eat popcorn.
DEC. 7- Do something nice for someone in our family today.
DEC. 8- Go buy yearly ornament for each kid for the kid’s tree.
Participate in the Angel Tree program at the mall.
(Take the Christmas jar money!)
DEC. 9- Draw photos and nice notes to Christy
DEC. 10- Make Hot Fudge Sauce and deliver it.
DEC. 11- AUSTIN’S BIRTHDAY! Everyone has to give him 8
hugs, 8 kisses, and 8 birthday spankings! Tell Austin how much you

love him by drawing him a picture or writing him a letter.

DEC. 12- Decorate the Gingerbread House. Do something nice
for someone in your house today.
DEC. 13- AUSTIN GETS BAPTIZED TONIGHT!
READ JESUS’S BAPTISM STORY!
DEC. 14- Sleep under the tree and adults share stories of
Christmastime when they were kids.
DEC. 15-ELLA'S SPECIAL DAY AND BABY BLESSING!
Tell Ella how much you love her by writing her a letter or

drawing her a picture.
DEC. 16- Go See the Temple Lights
DEC. 17- Snuggle up with Blankets and hot chocolate in a fort
built by us and ready our collection of Christmas Books
by flashlight.
DEC. 18- Make nini’s custard and write notes to grandparents.
DEC. 19-
DEC. 20- Go visit Santa Claus and take photos.
DEC. 21- Give cash surprise in a tip to someone at Denny’s or
wherever who is working the graveyard shift.
DEC. 22- Watch Luke 2 DVD to Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant.
DEC. 23- Make and Decorate Cookies for Santa.
DEC. 24- OPEN PJ’s & read the Night Before Christmas & the
Nativity with Children’s Nativity pieces.
DEC. 25- HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS! Tell Jesus how much
you love him by writing it down or drawing a picture.

Teapot

Look what's in our little teapot

short and stout!

We can't believe she is 6 months already!

J's Sneak Peek

I had my first photo shoot in quite awhile this past weekend. It was fun to be behind the camera again!

I shot the oldest as a wee baby! Such beautiful children!

Having fun playing around with new actions and lenses!

J, here is your sneak peek!

Returning to Photo Shoots

My long photo shoot break is coming to an end. I have taken off some much needed time to prepare for and then take care of our new baby. I have decided to go back to shooting one session a month starting in January 2008. Besides, I have to justify my 5D purchase and some new lenses, right????

Just a few of our newest snugglebug.

Kara Elmore Photography was HERE!

I am the luckiest girl EVER! Not only did I get to have Kara and her BABElicious come stay with me for a few days....but she took my family photos too! We had sooo much fun and I wish she would move here....hint hint to her hubby!

Here are just a few from the shoot!

oops--- the link to Kara was wrong! I have fixed it now.

Sooo cool!

I have always wanted pendant lights hanging over my kitchen island, but I didn't want to pay an electrician to come over and make the switch. Now I don't have to! I had no idea this product was sold at my local Lowe's and Costco! Its called an Instant Pendant and all you have to do is screw it into your existing recessed lighting like a light bulb!

http://www.instant-pendant.com/

How fun is this?

I wonder if it really works! My kids would love this little faucet gadget that turns the water colors with light! You can find it here along with a bunch of other really fun stuff!

If by chance the link doesn't work, you can go to http://www.perpetualkid.com/.

Showering in the Dark

Let's face it,

I am a creature of HABIT!

I park in relatively the same spot at Target

and at the grocery store

and ANYWHERE I go more than 2 times a year!

OCD? No...it just makes life easier...one less thing

I have to think about....

since my brain has had some sort of a slow leak....

ever since I had children.

Tonight I went walking

In the 107 degree weather (yes, at night)

and as I walked into the shower I realized

I FORGOT TO TURN ON THE LIGHTS!

But I tamed the Creature of Habit inside that went for the light switch.

Instead....I showered in the dark.

There was a faint glow of light coming from the bedroom,

so it wasn't pitch black.

But it got me thinking to how much richer my life would be if I showered in the dark more often.

Got me some new ACTIONS!

I just purchased Nichole Van's actions and I am loving them! I have tons to do today...but I am taking a few moments to try some out...so I just grabbed a random photo of my oldest and played around.

The ALMOST $12 plastic surgery

So I am dejunking today. And I have no idea if anyone looks at this blog anymore since I took a break from photography...but I thought I would post this for my mom, if no one else is out there. A week ago I bought this.

It was going to be what I THOUGHT would add up to my $12 plastic surgery. I thought I could actually go from barely an A to a size C with these fakies. I thought it would be fun to add a bit of a boost to my chest...and for $12 I couldn't go wrong. Well, Unfortunately the packaging and discription was misleading. Either that or I was so excited about the price of my new upgraded chest that I misread. Turns out you actually need to be a size C to use this. Silly me! Its actually a bra that you just stick on....no straps involved. Silly me, I thought they were some kind of fakies! Next time you go to Goodwill and see these for sale...you will know who donated them!

I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THERE IS THIS BIG SPACE BELOW THIS ENTRY!

Lemon Squares

I made this recipie last night! (Oh, I did NOT use a food processor with the crust. I just mixed it by hand with a fork)

Its soooooo yummy! I took it to a swim part and it got great reviews!

You can find the link HERE!

Easy Birthday Cake Solution

Here is an easy birthday cake solution. My son turned 4, and is at the age where everything needs to be fair and the same. I can never seem to cut cake pieces exactly the same. Quick and easy solution. I made 2 batches of cupcakes, placed them next to one another in a pan, frosted them as one, decorated...and voila! Each child got their own cupcake and dinosaur on top and they were all EXACTLY the same size!

new oreo delish!

Okay, soooooo I haven't been posting photos...I know. So I thought I would change it up a bit and just post stuff that I find that I like or that is inspiring or funny or very cool.

If you haven't tried these...run....not walk...run to the OREO isle and buy some. They are DELISH!

other blog

To see photos of our newest addition go to :

http://www.babeebeautiful.blogspot.com/

Its updated more frequently.

Photoshoot by Pinkletoes photography

Its been awhile. We had the fabulous opportunity to be photographed by Michele of Pinkletoes Photography while we were visiting family in Texas. There were 15 of us and I am greatful she took on the challenge! You can see some of our images here on her blog. I didn't want to post without a photo so here is a snapshot of our newest addition with daddy and grandma.

JOHN MAYER

IF you EVER get the chance to go see JOHN MAYER in concert......take it! He is AWESOME! Nothing better than watching Incredible talent!

Don't mind all the little heads in the photos...I wasn't in the front row...obviously. These were taken with my sure shot.

Sleeping

I think I figured out why doesn't want to sleep at night anymore. Its too quiet! She sleeps right through the boys racing cars and dancing to music next to her. She sleeps in daddy's arms while he snores loudly! She sleeps in stores in her car seat. Hmm......maybe I will have to throw a party in her room in the middle of the night. She might sleep better that way!

Baby Beautiful

My boys call her Baby Beautiful. They correct me everytime I call her by her name. Maybe we should change her name AGAIN....this time to Baby Beautiful!