So Thankful

We headed up to the cabin last night for a little early celebration with the Stratton family.  We have our schedules packed full this weekend so we got a jump on the festivities with our giant feast the night before.  There was a fair amount of snow on the ground, so we made sure to get up there early enough to play in the cold stuff.  The kids loved it!

Giving each other hugs...

The boys and I built ourselves a little snowman.  

I'm so glad Colby's sister Cierra showed up and grabbed my camera to take a few pictures.

The snowman borrowed Daddy's hat.

The boys (mainly Marshall, I guess) spent a good 10 minutes posing for pictures around the snowman.

Tyler snacked on a giant carrot... the one that was not chosen for the snowman's nose.

The snow was a fantastic distraction from our growling bellies and napless afternoon.

There's our handsome Daddy.  He kept busy stacking wood and frying a turkey.

Marshall kept face planting in the snow.  He thought it was great that you could just fall right over and it didn't really hurt.  When I took this picture he had been laying there for a while and I asked him if his face was getting cold.  He told me no and informed me that you could even breathe with your face in the snow.

We are so thankful for so many things.  Thankful for our family, our legacy, our love.  Basically everything.

Happy thanksgiving!

Family Portraits :: Unveiled

I'm so excited to share our family pictures from a few weeks ago!  I had my sweet sweet friend Dallas take them and I'm so grateful for the moments she captured.  There were entirely too many to narrow down, but somehow I cut my favorites down to these 25.  Haha!  Twenty five photos of yours truly and my favorite people.  (Narcissistic much?)  I'm just hoping this is less annoying and more enjoyable for those that don't see us too often.

Here's some of the whole fam.

My handsome, semi-grown man Marshall.  This kid is just growing up so quickly!

Daddy was his favorite person that morning, so we got tons of precious images of the two of them.

And then comes Tyler.  Such a impish little one.  

He is often up to trouble, but he's too lovable for me to be very bothered by it.

It was funny the way he gravitated to me.  (I didn't complain... I love when he wants me.)

He can sometimes get a little shy, and I guess this morning was one of those times.

The kiddos and I.  All I've ever wanted to be is a mommy and they make me so happy.

We played a lot during our session.  I think that's why the kids were smiling in practically every photo.

Marshall's turn!

(This was the only photo he wanted to see from the whole thing.  He couldn't wait...)

I'm the biggest fan of candid shots... the way they feel so real and genuine.  

Nothing posed or "fake" just real life... my favorite.

Before our session Marshall was most concerned whether Dallas would let them make funny faces or not.  

He had no idea they'd have so much fun.  Thanks so much Dall for making it a fun time.

Even when Colby was away getting solo shots done, Marshall ended up right there the be with his favorite guy in the world.

I love my handsome hubby.

One of me...

I like this next one more for Colby and I.  Who knows what the kids were doing... haha.

A few of just the two of us...

And one more of the whole clan.  I LOVE this image.

This Isn't My First Rodeo

I decided to be a part of another quiet book group.  I love the idea of only having to perfect one design and getting a bunch of other great creations at the same time.  This time around I decided to do a page that would be a little more time consuming than my last time around.  Probably 10x's as time consuming if I remember right.  I actually loved my last page,  but wanted some variety.  I browsed all kinds of blogs for inspiration for my page then finally landed on this one.  I was going to make a "Build a Chain" page.  I knew it would be kind of a hassle, but the idea just seemed so fun for the kids.  This first picture is all of the strips before they were sewn.  (I really had my work cut out for me this time around.)  I think I spent a total of maybe 30 hours total... granted, there were plenty of breaks for tending to the needs of the children and occasional sessions on Pinterest.

 All along I just figured I'd sit down at a serger and zip through these puppies, but I wanted the edges to look finished and the thought of turning 150 strips of fabric back to right side out was sickening.  (Probably the one time I wished I only had to make one of this page.)  So I took a little extra time to iron the fabric in the direction I wanted it then just sewed all the edges together. Oh boy.  Then I had to put snaps on all of the strips, two per strip of course.  I bought a handy little tool called snap pliers that work kind of like a hole punch to apply the snaps.  (I got it from Kamsnaps.  I definitely recommend this company.  Ultra fast FREE shipping and an endless selection of colors for the snaps.)

This next photo shows the basic idea of my page.  It has a huge pocket that holds all the pieces when not being played with.  There are two strips sewn to the page which keeps the built chain attached to the book.

Here you can see the objective of the page.  To build a fun chain.  I'm so glad I'm done with this project :)  

Let it be known, I finished this project 10 days before it was "due."  I honestly think this is the only thing I've ever done without procrastinating.  Oh wait, besides Christmas cards.  I LOVE to be ahead of the game with Christmas cards.  Which reminds me... Colby needs to look ours over today so I can get them printed!

Words of Wisdom

I thought it would be fun to share some sweet thoughts from my big boy Marshall.  I read him an email from his Uncle Chase that is serving a mission in Malaysia.  When I was responding (to the email) I asked Marshall if there was anything he wanted to say.  I copied what he told me word for word and have just copied and pasted from my email.  Enjoy.

This photo is from our recent family pictures!!!  There will be more coming soon...

'Marshall says, 

"I really love you and I hope you're here soon. I hope your trips are fun and that you love the things you do. When you get home from your mission we will give you a surprise. I hope you don't get hurt on your mission and I hope you have a good time doing your mission, all your homework, and all the stuff that makes God happy. Well, I hope you have a fun time and I hope you are making friends. And I hope you have a surprise to bring to us when you come home. I hope you have a fun and safe time. I hope God is happy with the things and people you are teaching." 

Now he said he is hoping you write back and say "I will and thank you." He makes me smile.

Marshall just remembered more... 

"I really love you and I hope your plans are good for teaching people all the things you know about God. Can you please make me your favorite and I hope you have a good time. Do the things God tells you in your prayers. Bless the people that don't know about God. Please can you text them and teach more." 

This kid cracks me up. He is watching me "text" this email on my phone... That must be why he wants you to text people. Haha.'

There were some profound thoughts from my little man.  Too cute not to share.

FYI

I'm offering a special for photography sessions booked before Thanksgiving!

Share this with your friends and I'll enter you in a drawing for 50% off a session of your choice.

Mention this on Facebook or blog about it and let me know you did.

Playing Catch Up

The last few weeks I've been going through my photo archives and finding all kinds of things I meant to blog but never did.  So I've been catching up and thought there may be even just one or two people that would be entertained to take a walk down memory lane through the past year.  Just click on the title of the post that I've linked below.

Telegraph Job Visit 1 . Telegraph Visit 2 . Telegraph Visit 3.

It's Getting Warm . Memorial Day on Kolob . Christmas . Christmas Eve .

We Are Weird . Attack of the Balls . Backyard Fun . Tyler the Candy Monster .

Blue Springs Reservoir . Wont' Be Stopped . Easter Fun .

Changes . Party Time . Love These Boys . Presents With Daddy

My Little Ninjas

Here's a few shots from tonight before we headed out to get our year's supply of candy.

I just love these kids!

Tyler was busy pulling his mask down ALL night long.  (I guess Tyler wasn't the only one, Marshall did too.)

And it goes back on...

I let them choose which color of ninja they would be and I thought it was cute that Marshall declared his belt would be red and Tyler's would be green.  Ty wasn't anywhere near our conversation and when I asked him which color he wanted he chose green.  That is likely a coincidence, but I thought it was cute.

They did such a great job performing their ninja moves before accepting candy from all of the generous people we visited tonight.  It was unreal the first time Tyler saw himself in his costume and instantly knew how to behave.  Unreal and scary.  How do they know these things?

Me and my boys.  They didn't care about being in a picture with me and all I could really do was laugh.
Love them.