Taylor & Jaycee

My good friend, Kellie, wanted me to make a tutu for her daughter, Taylor. I really wanted to see how it looked so we decided to go to Thanksgiving Point & get some pictures of her wearing it & some cute pictures of Jaycee with her guitar. Plus, this wonderfully talented supervisor of mine, Mary, knit this adorable little jacket for Marley & I wanted pictures of her in that. I still cannot get over the quality of Mary's knitting...the jacket is BEAUTIFUL! I found that taking pictures of kids that actually listen & can sit still makes photography so much more fun & relaxing! Taylor & Jaycee cooperated beautifully! It was such a good experience!

Marley, per usual, is NOT cooperating with me to take pictures! So, of course, these photos, which are mediocre at best, are the best ones I got. But you can see how cute that little blue knit jacket is!


I like the pictures of Taylor & Jaycee together.



The only time Marley cooperated was with Taylor & Jaycee...so I really like the ones of them together. Marley is actually smiling & looking at the camera! I really like the one of Taylor & Jaycee looking at each other!



Taylor loves the camera & the camera loves her. She took some great photos!


I love that Jaycee brought the guitar on her own accord. I think Kellie was skeptical about having it in the pictures, but I thought it turned out nicely!



I love the sepia colored on where Taylor's sitting in the chair sideways, but I cut off her face when I made the collage! Dang it!


These action ones are awesome! I love, love, love Jaycee's rocker poses!

Marley and the Technicolored Dreamcoat

I have a pair of REALLY loud PJs that I was going to wear the other night. Marley saw me getting them out and practically begged me to let her have the PJ top and help her put it on over her clothes. She wore the top around all night even though she was drowning in it because it was so big!




I was in my bedroom the other day & I heard Marley come crying into my room from her room...low & behold she had stuck her baby carrier over her head & couldn't get it off. And, like any good parent, I got out the camera to take a picture. She actually managed to get it off on her own as I was snapping the last picture!

Recently, I found her with lotion smeared all over her face. I think she sees us putting lotion on ourselves as well as her, so she figures she's a big girl & can do it herself. She also loves to put on other people's shoes & attempt to walk around in them. Why is it so funny & cute when little kids try to do grown-up things?

Flaming Gorge

Last weekend we took a short trip to the in-law's cabin in Flaming Gorge. My sister-in-law, Tina, had Monday off for Columbus Day so we decided to take advantage since she's almost never able to come up. I really didn't get many pictures. I did, however, get a bunch of pictures of me, Tina & my sister, Alece, at the end of a little hike we took. The background in some of the pictures almost look like a backdrop, almost too surreal to be real! We started out taking some normal pictures but it got a tad goofy toward the end. We were told to bundle up really well (we actually ended up taking our coats off because we started to sweat due to the nice weather) and wear these fantastic bright-orange vests so we'd be "noticed" since it was hunting season. We mostly looked like big dorks!

See, at first, it was just some nice, sisterly, pictures....

Then it turned a tad rageful....

Then we just started to be dorks & mess around!

St. George

As I'm sure everyone else who visits, LOVES St. George like I do. I've visited many times, most of which when I was in high school & college, so I always have fond memories of the beauty & small town feel that St. George offers. Kevin & his mother, Ruth, both have birthdays toward the end of September, and to celebrate, we took a weekend trip to St. George. The weather was absolutely BEAUTIFUL (which was nice to get away from the terrible weather in Salt Lake) and we had a great time hanging out with Marley's paternal grandparents. Kevin & I also got to see "Aida" at the outdoor Tuacahn theater---the background setting of the red rock in for the theater was incredible! We made a short stop to Cove Fort, which has been wonderfully restored & has a fantastic history behind it!

Marley had a good time, mostly because we were outside & she got to play with her Grandma Ruth! And yes, the guy in the top left picture actually wore those denim shorts voluntarily!

Jerry checking his cell phone...always working & always closing!

The fort itself was extremely well built and "will stand for ages" according to our tour guide. They refurbished the insides & tried to use actual time pieces related to the time when the fort was in use. It paid off because it looked like we had stepped back in time!

Kevin & I aren't often in the pictures, and I thought about turning the blog into a book, so I figured we should get more pictures of ourselves in the blog!

Marley looooves her Grandma Ruth. If Grandma Ruth isn't the world's greatest grandmother, she is definitely in the top 3 of greatest grandmothers of all time! She spends so much time with Marley & plays all sorts of games with her. Marley just adores her!

The St. George Temple is absolutely gorgeous! The white of the temple against the red rock of St. George is stunning!

Who? Who doesn't want to wear de T-Shirt...

My sister-in-law, Tina, invited me to a 5k walk/run for juvenille diabetes. Her work was donating money to JDRF since some of the employees' children had juvenille diabetes. They had a matching T-shirt for me, but they forgot to give it to me. And, no, there wasn't a T-shirt bully & I wasn't trying to cop out & not wear a matching T-shirt to prove a point! Most everyone walked but Tina, my mom, & I decided to power through & run it! It was a fun race & I look forward to doing more in the future!

Tina's sister, Jana, my sister, Alece, me, my mother, Orimi, Miss Marley, & my sister-in-law Tina.

There is a fountain in the park across the street from my mother's house. Marley found great joy in being able to play & wade in the water! She nearly drenched her dress in the water, so we ended up taking it off & letting her play in her diaper (kind of white trash, I know!)

Marley also loves playing the piano! Just wait until she takes lessons & has to practice...she won't like it so much then!!!

Goblin Valley

We went tent camping (yikes!) with children (double yikes!) in Goblin Valley a couple weeks ago. Justin & Mandi dared brave this venture with us that some would consider absolute lunacy! I had gone earlier this year to Goblin Valley with a youth group & really wanted to go again. September is supposed to be prime time to camp because the weather has cooled off a bit, but is still warm enough to make tent camping worth it. Even though naps & bedtime got just a bit scary, we had a WONDERFUL time camping. Marley (who was afraid of sand a few months ago) was practically rolling around in the dirt with Sadie! Mandi had the genius incite to bring a pack-n-play (and lots of toys) that we managed to corral the kids in when we needed a break! Even though the forecast predicted rain well after we should have been packed up & gone, we got a little surprise the day we were leaving. We woke up to rain & had to scramble to pack everything in the rain! Rain aside, this trip created fabulous memories that we hope to create again sometime!

Justin made his grandpa's awesome dutch oven stew (what is it with camping & dutch oven dinners being the best thing you've ever eaten?)


Sadie is always so sweet & willing to play with Marley's & hold her hand! So cute!


Justin wanted some nice flagstones for his yard...whether or not it was kosher, he got some really nice stones! The sky & landscape are gorgeous & almost seem surreal!

I had to take pictures of Sadie messing around in the tent. These make me laugh every time I see them!

The views are incredible!

Kinley & Sadie ready to make their decent into the Valley of the Goblins! (Marley was napping & didn't quite make it.)

Labor Day

For Labor Day this year we convinced the Larsens & my brother, Seth, & my sister, Alece, to go to Huntsville, UT. Several people at work told me to go check out Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity monastery. I bought some of the honey that they are famous for (which is actually pretty good). We tried to see the monks in action, but timed it wrong & missed the chanting they do in the church (which I have also been told is really cool).

We also stopped by the house Pres. David O. McKay was born in, but sadly missed the tour by one week. They close for the winter September 1st! The house was really pretty & in a beautiful area...maybe next time!

I was really impressed by how beautiful Huntsville is and that it's considered a Park City with a lake. Hopefully it will stay small & not become another Park City!

Is it worth it?

My absolutely wonderful friend in Phoenix, Chantae, was kind enough to make these absolutely lovely pettiskirts!! Mandi & I took our daughters to Thanksgiving Point to take a few photos here & a few photos there. Sounds easy, in theory, right? Not quite. First, meeting up was this huge deal because we were waiting up for each other on opposite ends of Thanksgiving Point wondering where the other one was. After a couple text/phone calls, we finally met up. BUT, we weren't allowed to go in this certain area to take what they call "portrait" photos. So we packed everything back up & drove to a different location in Thanksgiving Point--to an apparently "portrait" photos-appropriate area. So now it'd be downhill from there, right? Again, not quite. After getting the kids all decked out, I started to take some pictures, but of course no one wanted to cooperate at the same time. Sometimes one would be good and the others would fuss or one would start to fuss & it would cause a cascade of emotions. Mandi even had huge lollipops as a bribe, which, you guessed it, did not work. Two adults is just not enough man power for getting three little girls to cooperate for the camera. Out of the HUNDREDS of photos taken, only about ten percent actually turned out decent enough to actually display. It was seriously stressful, time consuming, & draining! Next time we will prepare better & bring an extra set or two of hands, or pay someone else to deal with it!


I love Sadie in action! She looks so funny twirling in her skirt & running down the path!

These are some of my very favorite photos of Sadie. The stars were in line and everything fell in to place!!

Sadie looks adorable here as well!!

These pictures were a little more difficult as she didn't cooperate as well!

Marley was being an absolute pill during this! I really don't like what I did with the black & white one, but I was kind of stuck with it. Ugh!

These are a little better...

I think that these are the best ones of Marley. I really think that they turned out well. It's weird that I had more turn out of Sadie than anyone else...at the time I was taking the pictures, I definitely wouldn't have guessed that!

Kinley did really well when we first started taking pictures. I love her little smile & especially love the one where she's looking up at the camera.

As sad as it may be, these are the best shots I had of all of the girls together. I can't even express how tough it was to get pictures like these. And they are mediocre at best!!

What she's been getting into...

I'm sure that anyone who has children can relate to the fact that if you have makeup, they will get into it. Marley is no exception. I have a little case that has several different kinds of lipstick/lipgloss which she got into & proceeded to put on. Although she got lipstick on her chest & cheeks, she did manage to get some on her lips!


She's also really been into her little baby dolls. We caught her sitting all by herself caring for her doll. She likes to hug them & kiss them & feed them their bottles. Watching her grow & learn new things is just so much fun!!!!

Love Your Body 10k

I've been training for a half-marathon & since I've never actually run any sort of race, I thought I'd get my feet wet by running a 10k. I managed to convince a friend, Jodi, to do it with me (and hopefully it means that she will want to do another again sometime!) Kevin & Marley were going to go to cheer me on but Marley didn't wake up early enough & I didn't want to be that mean & wake her up...maybe next time!! The run started in Sugar House Park and through the cute neighborhoods in Sugar House. It was a really nice run & was glad to say I finished it!!! Hopefully this means that I'm getting close to becoming ready for a half-marathon!

Horses & Water Balloon Volleyball

Some of my mom's family came to visit from Ohio during the month of July. Two of my cousins, Carly & Jacob spent the night at my house. Carly & I made bracelets and Jacob did the classic boy thing and played the wii. I managed to tear them away to go ride horses. Noelle was nice enough to meet us at the barn & get the horse all ready for them to ride. I loved the helmet look and, since we arrived totally unprepared wearing flip-flops, they had to wear old cowboy boots Noelle dug out of some storage box in the barn without socks! Hopefully it was worth it!! I tried to put Marley on the horse, but she wasn't having any of that.

Since it was the last night my mom's family would be visiting us, we turned to the classic picnic in the park & played some water balloon volleyball. My Aunt Susan got some great action shots.

Tina & Jono, and Carly & her cousin, were actually really good. Don't Kevin and my cousin Jacob look like they are well matched?

There's always a weakest link...in this case it was my own mother! Sorry, mom! My Aunt Linda practically had to drag my mom all over in an attempt to catch the balloon which proved to be unsuccessful!