A few teasers....

I've been a  LITTLE busy lately. 

But that's okay. 

I feel ALIVE.  Probably for a few reasons 1) getting out and walking the last few days a few times a day to take my children to and from school.  2) I've been busy behind my camera once again.  And I LOVE IT!! 

I've gone from having 6 kids home all day for summer, to having just 2 until next Wednesday the 29th!

Life is good! 

I have desires to keep this blog up more frequently now that my baby is not such a newborn anymore.

I have goals and ideas and someday I'll achieve most, if not all of them.

Here's a snapshot of some things I've been busy with.  

FIRST AND FOREMOST:  This little Lady is now 11 months old (when the picture was take just a few weeks ago). She's gotten so grown up so fast.  She'll be one in just two weeks!!  She is such a precious sweetheart though.   And we love her tons.   (This is my daughter Esther)   

Here's a recent family shoot I did.  They happen to be family and it was fun spending time with them, that I wouldn't otherwise have gotten.  There kids are so cute. And along with being cute, they were really wiggly too.  So we didn't get too many pictures before the little guy fell into the water.  And I probably would have really tried for more things, but I felt bad for him, because he was so cold and wet.  It was still lots of fun though.  Thanks Christensen Family!

Here's a little Princess who I offered to take pictures of for her parents since I knew her mother at college back in the days of Ricks College (1997-1998) living on College Avenue in Rexburg, Idaho.  Fun times. 

And this photo shoot was still fun despite not being able to use the location they intially wanted because of some construction. Luckily this spot was right across the street.  And even though there were other groups that were busy doing pictures too, we still managed to get some family shots that turned out cute. 

 Or at least I think so.  

Not to mention my other children that needed me as well. But one of these days I'll get the hang of being super mom!

We've been a little MIA ....

I've been trying to access blogger from Internet Explorer and have nothing but problems.  So after weeks of being frustrated I've gone to Firefox... and guess what ???    It's letting me do a new post!!  YAY!!! 

Might not be a big deal to any of you, but to me, it's HUGE!!!   So many days I've wanted to blog about something but because I wasn't able to access it at the time, it's gone to the back of my priority list. 

So here's a family update: 

Chris.... still busy working as an accountant at his job, and he's been there for almost 7 years come this July.

Wendy .... taking on the yearbook project for the school our children currently attend and has announced this is the last year she'll be doing it.  

(We've now lived in our home for 11 years!!  As of the beginning of March) and now we're in the process of doing an addition.  Next step.... either test for asbestos and lead and/or  find someone to draw up our plans for the addition that we'd like to do.   We'll get back to that after our little rendezvous in California to see my brother get married.  

Kaylee ... She's less than a month away from turning 13!!!  I seriously can't believe it!   And if you get a moment and know my daughter  --- we're creating a surprise book for her at the end of the month and any advice, memories, favorite book lists, recipes  -- really anything you'd like to share with her that she might know how many people are pulling for her and support her, that she can refer to over and over again through the next several years would be awesome.   Remember SHHHHH!!!!! 

But she's also involved with an after school ballroom class and loves doing that.  She's also really great with her baby sister.

Katherine.... She's also involved with the after school ballroom class, and has a really fun time with that.  She also loves to read!  She's reading all the time, I sometimes have to force a book out of her hands just to get her to come help me with dinner.

Heidi ... Just finished up performing a one night program talking about the history of Utah with the rest of the 4th grade students at her school.  And is finally participating in a sport --- soccer!  She picked it and asked if she could play and we agreed.  So now, I'm quickly trying to learn all about soccer because I don't know very much.  But the good thing is, she's a rather natural player and is doing good as a forward. She's pretty aggressive with it and we're looking forward to seeing her grow in this sport.

Thomas ... Now 7 years old and has been since January is busy playing soccer as well.  He's a different kind of  player than Heidi and seems to be geared more as a defensive player.  And his reading has been improving a great deal as we've been reading scriptures regularly now for nearly 2 months.

Ethan ... He is so ANXIOUS and gives an "evil" laugh every day when he counts down how many more days until his birthday.  (April 10)  We dyed eggs for Easter the other night and he got so wowed by the simplest things and get really excited.  I love seeing how he thinks about those around him and the things around him. He's constantly asking questions and learning lots.

Esther ... Nearly 7 months old has reached so many milestones this last month.  She's crawling and sitting up on her own, she claps her hands, eating food more regularly, she's starting to sit up while in her bed, and sleeps on her tummy.   My favorite thing that she does lately, she gets her hands on the floor and has her feet on the floor with her bum in the air and then she puts her head on the floor between her hands as if to do a somersault.  She's getting so big so fast and I'm trying to soak up every moment of it.


We've been without our cable subscription for nearly 2 months and it's been AWESOME!!  As a couple Chris and I are becoming closer and we're a team all the way!  We're reading scriptures as a family and I can tell a difference in attitudes.  However, with all the good things, we still have some night owls -- yes, you know the kind, the ones who don't want to go to bed.  Yeah, we're working on that still.   So there's a little update on us.  And more posts to come with pictures later.   

Choices, Choices.....

Okay so let me begin by saying, that I am long over due for a new hair style!!! 

I mean it's totally pathetic ... I repeat PATHETIC that I have pretty much had the same styled hair most of my married life.  I did go short for a little spell and discoverd that I don't like short hair on me.  And of course, with just having a new baby about 5 months ago, I'm really feeling the itch to do something fun, flirty and creative with my hair.  So I'm going out on a limb here and will let "YOU" decide which hair cut I'm getting this coming Saturday. (I hope it can happen Saturday!) And I have been considering some hi-lights -- but mostly I picked these pictures because of the cut.  So here's how it'll work, on the side -----> there is a "survey/quiz" and it'll have these options. Just vote for the two you like best.   And come Friday I'll go with the one that has the most votes. 

First one while I was pregnant back in August 2011--

BEFORE:

POTENTIALLY AFTERS:

A)

 B)

C)

Do you have another suggestion ?  Leave a comment with the link to the picture.

Option D --- Top picture with brown color and layers

Had to do it that way because, I couldn't save the picture.

I'll revisit this on Friay.

This is what I spent my time doing on Christmas Eve...

So this year I set out to make home made stockings.  I picked the fabric up at JoAnn's while they had all their fleece at 50% off. Which did save me a lot of money.  I had Heidi and Katherine with me at the time while I picked out the different prints. And I was happy to find out when we got home and showed everyone which print we picked out for them that they all liked our choices.  Esther is the only one that really didn't have a say and probably won't be able to let us know for a few more years still.  I was able to cut them out just fine and had an idea of what I wanted them to turn out like, but I can guarantee you that they all look different.  The first ones had the most noticeable flaws, and by the end I was able to almost master the look I was shooting for in the beginning.  So the way I see it ... they all have CHARACTER!  And they are home made with love and time which is way more than one from the store would be.  The kids didn't see any of them completed before they went to bed on Christmas Eve -- as I stayed up most of the night sewing and cutting out the last 8 pieces that weren't cut out already.   And for the top (white) part I just used fleece there as well. And I think they all turned out cute -- but what do you know I think I'm a little biased.  I used strap material in white and black for the loops that were sewn in to the stocking as I sewed up the edges.  Now our Christmas's will have a little more fun and personality with these delightful additions.  We missed out on having any stockings up for decorations this year until Christmas morning, but at least now they are made and will be the ones we use for the next several years. 

  Above from left to right :  Heidi,  Thomas, Ethan,  and Esther

Below from left to right:  Chris (aka DAD), Wendy (aka MOM), Kaylee and Katherine

So what did you make this year?  Any plans to make new items for next year? 

Our Christmas Letter for 2011