Our first day of...

Was spent at the beach.




We all had so much fun, we came home, swam in the pool, took naps, ate dinner, and went back to the beach for the sunset. It was absolutely a nice, relaxing, gorgeous day...



...tomorrow we hit Disneyland...
(Thanks mom, for being the one to snap the shutter! - you are WAY better than a tripod)

I am on my way to Oregon!

Just planned a trip to Oregon! I will be there November 20-22. I will be offering mini-shoots on Saturday, November 21st for those of you who are interested. The cost is $150.00 for a 30 minute session and you will receive 12-20 high resolution images on CD.... I will take family shots as well as individual shots of your kids. Contact me if you would like to book a slot! Just for fun, here is one of my favorite shots I took last year when I was there...

My favorite kids...

They did good...don't worry, they were HEAVILY bribed..$5 each, gum, and a quarter for candy machines...sorry...family shots will go out in Christmas Cards...let me know if you want on my Christmas Card List! I couldn't decide if I liked the 'honey' finish on these photos, or just regular color...what do you think?









For the record, I did NOTHING to Kyle's eyes...those are his natural baby blues!

Still here...

Okay, I'm still here...and still busy. In fact, I was running around trying to do so many things at lunchtime, Kristin finally said, "Mom, I'm gonna close my eyes, when I open them, the bread is going to magically appear!" Well, that finally caught my attention. (the bread DID magically appear) I seriously stink as a mom these days! I think life is slowing down just a tad! To see what I've been busy with, you can become a fan of my photography on facebook! Here's the LINK.

Kyle had a flag football game today. He scored a touchdown. I wasn't lucky enough to attend. The weather was horrible, and yesterday Kristin came down with strep throat. Even though she got her tonsils out 6 months ago!

Jake has been struggling in school. So much, I have met with his principal and teacher a few times in the past week. Things are looking better, and I'm glad I spoke up and did what I had to do.

Haley is a stinker. Like always! Really, she's a good kid. Happy to play. Her new love is Dora. The only thing she'll watch!

Troy is great.

Well, that was a little bit of an update...I will try to do a real post...well, real soon!

I'm still here...

My My My...

I have been so busy. Seriously, chicken running around with his head cut off...BUSY!

I went to Vegas last weekend to shoot a wedding with Erin. It was fun. It was a short trip, but fun. It was fun being a second shooter. I didn't stress about the shots, just got what I wanted...you can view some of my favorites on my PHOTOG BLOG.

I have been busy with photo shoots, and Young Women, and Volleyball, and Flag Football, and Soccer...phew! I've also gone to the temple weekly the past month. Have volunteered in the kids classes, and turned 32. WOW. I am OLD!

It was a fun day! Boy, being on Facebook, so many people wished me Happy Birthday - I have to say, that was fun. My kids were awesome. They woke up early, and without being told, started making me cards. Troy gave them permission (on his way to work) that they could wake me up at 7:30. They came in singing offering their goods. How cute are they? My mom took me to lunch with my girls at Gardner Village and I used her birthday money to buy me(let's be honest, my kids) some new barstools, that I LOVE! THanks IKEA!, a few friends kidnapped me, and we went to the Cheesecake Factory...all I know, is that I need to go back, and get some Red Velvet Cheesecake...seriously? TO DIE FOR! Another friend also threw a breakfast for me! She made YUMMY pumpkin chocolate chip waffles...I want some more of those! Troy managed to make it to lunch with me (I know, it was a 2 day affair) and my Women's Volleyball Team won again! We are currently undefeated. I love volleyball. I don't suck, either. It's so much fun playing a team sport with some GREAT women! Unfortunately Troy and I haven't been able to play tennis much. I'm hoping we can squeeze it in tomorrow.

I also got to see a few friends from BHS (Bakersfield High School) Liz, and Amanda...we got caught up on facebook and decided to meet for lunch. It was so much fun! Here we are (14 years later) at Chick-fil-a. (photo is from my cell phone)

So, that's the quick version.

Things to look forward to:
Next week I have 2 weddings that I am taking pictures at.
San Diego at the end of the month (Brothers, be ready, Family Photos on the beach Friday night...don't even TRY to get out of it).
Doing some shoots for long lost friends...can't wait to see their families and catch up.
Conference. It starts tomorrow...definitely need a pick-me-up.
More Volleyball.
I LOVE my girls in YW.
Peter and LeeAnna and their girls getting sealed.
Hmmm...and the majority of these are just in the next week. I'll try to be better at catching up!

One last photo - my girls at Gardner Village. They do this big Witch thing throughout the month of October. My kids all love it. If you haven't been, you should go!

Girls Trip Part 4 - Last one, I promise

Okay, we spent time at the beach playing - without the chinese dresses on, so I have to document that...I LOVE these photos...

Girls Trip Part 3

Okay, I just had to add more photos. This first one I LOVE. We were waiting to watch Fantasmic, and had eaten by the river, and were saving a table and chairs in order to watch Fantasmic - for over 3 hours. Seriously, so worth it! Some of us would go on rides, while the others waited in our seats. I snapped this photo at Sunset -clouds had rolled over, giving me darkened skies. I LOVE it! I may have to frame it. If you don't know, it's overlooking Splash Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion. The bonus is that on the right is the Pirate Ship. Oh, by the way, Fantasmic is my FAVORITE part of Disneyland. I get all giddy when I hear the opening music...GO MICKEY! I tried to get a photo of Mickey, but didn't get a great one! I am posting it, but maybe I'll get a better one next time. These photos were just taken during a normal day at Disneyland...
Kristin wouldn't go NEAR Cruella.


They had to check to make sure it wasn't real...


This is the pouty lip I get whenever I tell Haley I am leaving.

Funny how Kristin has no problem with Chip and Dale but won't stand by Cruella, and Haley is scared of Chip and Dale but is okay with Cruella. I love this series. I think it's funny how Chip (of Dale - don't know the difference) was bowing cause he got Haley to cry. Thanks for rescuing her Dave!

I only have one post left in the Girls Trip Series. Just a few more from the beach. I know, you can't wait!

Girls Trip Part 2

After our day on the beach, we had 2 days of Disneyland! The first day my brothers joined us, and the next day was "Princess Day". Both days were GREAT! Because I know the secrets of Disneyland, we got on all rides with no crazy waiting in line. I feel so blessed. My girls really are so great! They didn't throw a fit. NOT ONCE! THE WHOLE WEEKEND! My mom buys my kids whatever they pick at Disneyland - one thing. They look in stores, check things out, then my boys usually pick $5 sucker, and the girls a baby minnie doll or something - nothing ever really big. So, Kristin saw that by the Princess Faire, they did face painting. She asked if she could get her face painted. I told her if it was more than $10...NO. I went and asked, and it ranged from $12-18. I went back to where my mom was waiting in line, and I told her, and my mom said, "Let's do it!" She took Kristin to get her face painted. Kristin takes things VERY seriously. She picked out her "style" and got her face painted. She came back to where I was waiting in line, just BEAMING. She was so excited about her face paint! Haley had to have it done too, but not as much as Kristin. Kristin was on cloud 9 all day. She even leaned over to my mom and said, "Grammy, since you got my face painted, you don't need to buy me a treat. This is all I want!" HELLO!!!! What 5 year old girl says that? I am just so grateful that my girls were so sweet, gracious, thankful, for their fun weekend. What a lucky mom I am! My mom had bought each of my girls a princess dress from Costco a week before we left. (They were $18 each. In Disneyland, the cheapest princess dress was $65.) Kristin picked Cinderella and Haley got Snow White. I did Kristin's hair like Cinderella's on Monday morning. I tried to put a bow in Haley's hair, but she had it removed before we left the hotel room. Oh well, it was a nice try. We were off. We headed to the Princess Faire where we met the princesses. How lucky were we, that Cinderella and Snow White were 2 out of the 3 princesses that were there at that time!? We decided to eat at Ariel's Grotto. Totally expensive but the food was divine. Seriously. My mom and I thoroughly enjoyed it! On with the pictures! Here are my photos from our "princess day".