our happy day...or not

Oh, that's so cute...the boys are getting all bundled up to go play outside in the snow! Ummm...not so much...more like...gettting bundled because our house was 48 degrees...INSIDE!!! Yes, it was awful.


We had HORRID winds last night and I guess there were power outtages all over the place (hence, the no heat situation). So, school got cancelled (hmmm...that seems to happen a lot in Michigan) and we thought we would have a rockin day at home...just mom and the boys. Well, we were too cold to do anything, so we bundled up in our snow gear and snuggled in mommy and daddy's bed and read books until the power came on!

Here are some pics of the boys all bundled up and ready to play...er...legos with gloves on? Well, Isaac tried REALLY hard to play, but picking things up with covered hands proved to be a bit difficult...

hmmm...wanna stick that it my mouth...

that didn't work, maybe i can get this...

dang it...why can't i pick anything up?

poor kid gave up and went to bed...

Two other very important sidenotes...Happy Birthday Mom...love you! Also, I wanted to include this picture of President Hinckley, as it is one of my very favorites. My feelings are so sad yet so happy for him at the same time. He is perfection in my eyes and he will be greatly missed.

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Happy 2008!

Woohoo! I am back to the blogging world! All right, not many words, just a little story of our awesome Christmas trip to Utah...

Our story begins with the traditional gingerbread houses the boys make with Grandma Liz every year. As you can see, they take this art very seriously.


Of course, we loved hanging out with everyone at our various family and friends Christmas parties and get togethers. Unfortunately, Jean didn't pull out her camera at most of these parties, but we did manage to find a few pictures taken along the way.


Sometime during these functions, Isaac managed to get lost in the wrapping paper and Travis somehow got a hold of the camera and took many pictures that I am sure he would proclaim is "self-art." I'm just pleased he managed to get the boys in a few of them.


Christmas day was fabulous and the boys were ecstatic that Santa somehow knew to find us in Utah. Travis spent the bulk of the day (7.5 hours in fact) figuring out how to solve his new challenge...the 5x5 rubiks cube. Oh, and yes, he did figure it out, if you were wondering.
Next, we headed off to our annual New Year's trip up to Island Park with our friends, the Dalpias', the Roylance's, and the Baker. We had so much fun and here are few pics to prove it.


Before the New Year's trip, and a little after as well, I found time to indulge in my favorite hobby, photography. Wow, I just realized red was a popular color for all four sessions...it looks so great with the snow! None of these guys have seen these yet, so I hope you likie!!!


Sadly, we did not get pictures of everyone and everything, but we love everyone back home will see you summer 2008! The End.

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this is goodbye

Well, goodbye for 2007 at least. We are leaving tomorrow morning to go home for the holidays...YAY! We are so excited to see family and friends! The boys and I leave tomorrow morning and then Travis comes out on Thursday. Let the parties begin!

Fun sidenote: apparently when it snows in Michigan, church and school get canceled. So, our church was canceled today and we had sacrament meeting in our living room...that's a first for us! THAT would never happen in Utah...

Anyway, I posted a picture of Isaac last time...here are a couple of my other monkeys. I have so many empty frames in my house and they needed filling, so I dragged Kaleb and Barrett outside for some quick pictures. 15 minutes. For BOTH of them! I have to work quick with them (apparently when your mom picks up the camera, it's really funny to run the opposite way giggling).

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Warning: partial nudity ahead

Seriously, how many naked pictures does a mom need of her tiny one? I CAN'T HELP IT...it's too stinkin cute...

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Merry Christmas...er...Happy Thanksgiving

It's not supposed to snow until Christmas morning!!! Well, that's how it would be in Jean's perfect world. But, against my wishes, we wake up Thanksgiving morning to a winter wonderland.

The boys were so excited...they woke up and instantly wanted to go out and play. Now, you know they are excited when they want to do something without even eating breakfast...

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So happy, so thankful

I am so happy.
I am so thankful.
So thankful for my boys (all four of them).
Thankful for our wonderful family.
Thankful for our friends.
Thankful for the church that I belong to that guides us every day.
So many things that I am thankful for.
Wow, I am a lucky girl.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Things have finally started to slow down lately and we were able to take a little two day trip down to Ohio with some friends from church. We went to Kalahari...a huge indoor water park and resort. It was great to leave our busy lives behind and just have so much fun together!

I wish I had better and more exciting pictures to show, but I barely even pulled out our camera. When I did it seems I couldn't even center a picture. So, let's all laugh together about my terrible photo skills at Kalahari.

Take One

Take Two

Take Three

Oh well, I never could center it, but at least it's a cute picture of Travis and Isaac.

Here's Kaleb...riding the wave. Sweet!

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Check out my boys

Ok, so the dark and dreary months are coming, so I was in need of some serious lighting equipment. I got it this last weekend and tried it out on my boys. Go check them out on my photography blog, HERE.

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To be continued...in this lifetime???

Ha ha! That's the question Joy asked in a comment on my last entry. Yes, I am finally posting again. It makes me happy to know that my friends and family care enough about our blog that they will make rude and threatening comments on the blog to update more often and post more pictures! Because we are still living with moving boxes up to our necks, I will postpone indoor pictures of our house and other house news until later.

So, what's the point of me posting Halloween pictures almost a week late when everyone else's blogs have moved onto other things? Several good reasons follow that question...

1. Halloween is tied for my favorite holiday and I HAVE to have a Halloween post.
2. I feel guilty that I am a mother and photographer and didn't even get pictures of my kids on Halloween. So, I made them get dressed up again four days later for pictures.
3. If I am going to go through all that trouble to get pictures, I might as well share them.
4. To show you how lame I am this year...my kids are wearing the same costumes as last year!

My lameness will have to be blamed on our busyness this last month. With sickness sweeping our house, moving, and my photography, we didn't even have time to get new costumes (not to mention the fact that we didn't even carve pumpkins until an hour before we went trick or treating). Oh well...expect big things from us next year!

Here are some quick pics of my cute boys in their "rerun" costumes...

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We're in...FINALLY.

To be continued...

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Visitors!!!

Yay! Visitors! Trav's mother, Debbie, and his aunt Lori came to visit us this last week.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, Debbie and Lori booked their tickets to come out here. We were supposed to be in our new house long before they arrived. But, alas, our date had been pushed back yet again, and they arrived to spend the week as minimalists...just like us for the past few months. Oh well, they adapted easily to their beds on a couch and twin mattress (yes, the twin mattress was an upgrade we added in the last week), plastic plates, and bare walls.

Well, since we figured they didn't come to see the decor on our walls anyway, we had a great time together! Lots of shopping, laughing, and seeing random sites in Michigan. This is a picture of all of us (minus me) at a Cider Mill (I should have a whole separate blog about the cider mills here....love them)!

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Isaac

I am sorry, but Isaac is too cute. I am still baffled that a baby can be as good and always happy as he is. It breaks my heart that our family and friends don't know him and get to enjoy his sunshine. Yes, sunshine...that is our Isaac. Cheesy? Yes, but the only way to describe him.

Isaac is learning how to sit up on his own, but every time we turn around, he is diving to get whatever is closest to his mouth (as displayed below).

Kaleb made a "robot" box for Isaac to sit in with holes for his arms and legs to stick out. He just sits in there patiently and sucks on the box while Kaleb and Barrett laugh and laugh and laugh. And laugh. And laugh a little more.

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No pictures, just words

Ok, so this is a random blog entry, but no one around here knows Travis well enough yet to appreciate what a goof he is, so I had to share with those of you who do. Not sure if he will love it that I share his deep, dark secrets...

So, I am out working on the computer late the other night when I hear laughing in the next room (not a giggle or chuckle...full out laughter). So, I walk in there knowing that Travis has been asleep for about about an hour and a half. I walk in to see him with the biggest smile on his face that I have ever seen.
Me: Travis, what in the heck is so funny?
Travis: (opens eyes and still grinning)
Me: Why are you laughing?
Travis: (still smiling) Because your reward is a corndog (little giggle)
Me: "Huh?"
Travis: Yes, you deserve a corndog...but only if you jump over the pants (still smiling, he rolls over and goes to sleep).

It was one of those moments that I just laughed so hard and wish I had someone else there to make fun of him with me. Of course, he remembers nothing of the incident.

I just thought those of you who were in Europe or China with him and were subjected to his nighttime laughing, weeping, and proclamations of squishing grapes in his toes would like this.

Aaaahhh...so much fun to be married to him. Truly...never a dull moment!!!

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Heaven

Monday morning.
We are driving to school and it is a bit foggy that morning. We are driving up the street and come upon this sight. Kaleb practically jumps out of seat.
Kaleb: LOOK! It's beatiful...it's heaven! Mom, take a picture of heaven!
Me thinking: Ohhh, he's so precious...and lucky that I DO happen to have my camera here.
Kaleb: I want to be sucked up to heaven through that heaven portal!
Precious moment ruined. Oh well, there's heaven from a little boy's point of view.

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Back to School

Bitter sweet. That's what the first day of school is to me. A part of me wants to leap for joy, and another is sad my little buddies are headed off to the real world (without me there to protect them). I had a sad mommy moment when I thought Barrett would be terrified to go to kindergarten and cling to me for dear life. On the contrary, he didn't even want to hold my hand as he was cruising down the hall to put his backpack in his "cool new locker." Well, I guess we can chalk it off as a successful first day of school.

As I looked at these pictures on the computer, I seriously had to look twice...those aren't my little boys, those are grown up little men! What happened to my itty bitties?

I had to take a picture of Barrett's shoes. Travis has slowly been infiltrating our family with converse shoes...

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