First Year Pictures

Grandma Ruth wanted Marley's year pictures done by a photographer that also does
2-dimensional cut-outs of the pictures taken. And, of course, I broke the tutu out again
(thanks Mandi!) because I think it's completely adorable!! There are TONS of pictures
because I have this problem with making decisions...so I ended up getting the CD with
all the pictures!

I love the first picture in this series because of her sad looking
face and that you can see her crocodile tears!



I loves these pictures as well...especially the one wear she
is attempting to read the book!



I love the top middle and right pictures. The top middle
is so cute because she looks like a little ballerina and the
top right because it looks likes she's doing the hula.



My favorite of these pictures is the first one...JUDO
CHOP!!

Is Grandma Ruth off her rocker?!

Marley's wonderful Grandma Ruth watches her every Tuesday because that is the day I work. Usually, we will have dinner together when everyone gets home from work. One day we had a really special dinner....it was very, um, interesting!! Ruth had made chicken pot pies and colorful looking cup cakes (or so we thought!!) We started to become frightened when we realized the chicken pot pies were cold (I mean, who wants to eat that cold?!) and wondered why she was serving dessert right in the middle of dinner. She encouraged us to eat our food, and as we did, our taste buds became confused! The "chicken pot pie" was actually dessert made of pudding, start bursts, bananas, apples, and skittles, and the colorful "cupcakes" were actually little meatloaf cakes with mashed potatoes as frosting! I think the hardest thing for us to get over was the mashed potatoes because we expected it to taste sweet!! I thought that this was such a great and creative way to play an April Fool's joke!

When Ruth showed me these pictures, I realized how she's able to watch Marley all day on Tuesdays and not go crazy....

Marley loves to crawl in to Ruth's dog's kennel to check out the water bottle or to try and eat the dog food (yuck!)...the only thing is, she can't seem to figure out how to get herself back out!!

Flaming Gorge Cabin Fever

Over the weekend, we went to Flaming Gorge with my siblings. We absolutely love going to the cabin because it's so relaxing. When we're at home, even with time off, we tend to get caught up in doing stuff around the house and running errands. When we go up to the cabin, you can't do any around-the-house things, so you are force to just take it easy. We watch movies, go for walks, and play games! Sometimes just hanging out and doing nothing is the best thing in the world!! We do bring our own food, but we also eat dinner at the lodge, which, considering it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, isn't too bad!!



Storing your kids toys, Flaming Gorge style



Marley has such a good time milling about the cabin



We saw geese and wild turkeys!



Cabin pics! The picture in the top left hand corner
is stain glass that my mother-in-law MADE!! So
impressive!

Pay it forward

{The Rules}
1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me~something crafty or yummy, who knows?!
2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they will 'Pay It Forward,' creating a handmade gift~anything, for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on their post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts.
♥ ♥ ♥
I found this on Mandi's blog so I figured I better get it on my blog so don't feel so guilt about getting a treat and then not giving something to someone else (because, Mandi, giving tights to Sadie really doesn't count! ) I have some things in mind on what it will be, but feel free to leave a request! Have Fun!

Marley it's your birthday! Happy birthday, Marley!

Marley it's your birthday! Happy birthday, Marley!

Marley's birthday party was so much fun! We had a bunch of family and friends come over to celebrate with a monkey cake, pink & brown frosted cupcakes & ice cream! Thanks to everyone who came and gave such wonderful, thoughtful gifts. A big thanks to my sister-in-law, Tina, who made all the delicious desserts possible!! She even made and decorated the monkey cake and did a fabulous job even though she'd never done it before!!!
We are so excited, yet still in utter disbelief, that our little baby girl is now actually a whole year old!! As with everyone who's a mom or a dad, we have had an immensely wonderful time being able to observe Marley change, evolve, and develop her own little personality. Marley is a fantastic blessing in our home and we strive hard every day to enjoy every single moment of her life with her because the time we are granted slips away so rapidly! The post below shows a slide show of Marley during her first year and it's a tad long because I had a hard time (as usual) deciding what pictures to use...so I had to trim it somewhat to make it a bit shorter!!
Here are a few things that she is able to do now:
*She is now able to walk and walk well (except she did a ‘banana-peel’ type slip on a slippery spot on the floor the other day!).
*She can climb up stairs but has not mastered climbing down as of yet.
*She uses a ‘reach’ with her arm as a gesture for asking for things she wants.
*She’s horribly addicted to her Binky (thanks to mom!)
*She loves books.
*She loves to open & close anything that will open & close.
*She can say ‘Mama’ & ‘Dada’ & a plethora of jibber-jabber.
*She loves little kids.
*She attempts to eat everything—even though she still has no teeth!!
*She gives beautiful hugs & kisses.
*She loves to dance, especially when we turn on music.
*She smiles at herself every time she looks in the mirror.
*She loves her family!
*She's a wonderfully sweet and good-natured child!
*There is so much more….but there’s not enough room!!

A year of Marley

Tattoos & Valentines

Marley got a fabulous little valentine from her good friend in Phoenix, Charlie!!
Marley was so excited to get it and wanted to carry it around!! Thanks Charlie!

Meet Uncle Seth

My little bro, Seth, came back from his mission in Thailand

a couple of weeks ago. We went to his home coming talk

(which was absolutely wonderful and heart-felt) and had a little

family get together afterward!

It was his first time meeting Marley!!

At first, she was unsure about him, but she ended up warming up

to him!

Out to Lunch

After lots of juggling, texts, and emails, I finally got to lunch with some old friends, Kayla and Whitney (poor Sarah couldn't make it because of car trouble!!) It was good to see them and hopefully we can get together again after Whitney has her baby!!

Tulle & Tutus

I have a friend in my neighborhood that has all of this great lighting equipment and back drops. She was kind enough to let me borrow all of it. I have a pretty decent Nikon camera, so Mandi and I went to town!! We took nearly 500 pictures and being a VERY amateur photographer, I was impressed that I was able to get some pretty decent pictures (if I do say so myself!) Because of this, this post has A LOT of photos!!

It was much more challenging than I thought: getting the lighting just right, getting the kids to cooperate, and making everything fit into the background! I thought because we were doing it in my house, that it would be easier than a studio. One nice thing is we don't have to pay for all of the pictures and we aren't hindered by copyright laws, so we can do what we want with the pictures!

Because of all of these challenges, I didn't dare try any other back drop than black because that's a safe color. I had soooo much fun doing this (and I hope that Mandi did too!) that I think I am going to start putting together my own lighting equipment set. I think getting my own equipment will allow me to practice and get better at taking good photos!!