The Blog Wagon . . .

Ok so I have completely fallen' off the good ol' family blog wagon! I have to say, I haven't missed it much :) I have so much going on with my photography these days that trying to keep up three blogs is just too much! So I may be back, but don't hold your breath. I will have to keep journaling the old fashioned way with a pen and paper and maybe some day I'll get those scrapbooks printed out. In the meantime visit my photography blog or testimoments blog if you are interested to see what my life has been up to, and then there's facebook . . . I'm there :) AND I just got twitterpat'ed and joined twitter (for my business) so (oh dear!) you can view that here (join me!) TWITTER So bon voyage for now (my life really isn't that interesting anyways!) THANKS!
Ann~

The little baby bean is ONE . . .

Today is baby's birthday and she is officially one year old! She turned one at 10:14 am and as I held her when the clock hit 10:14 am this morning, I can't help but remember the chaos of her birth. I am actually thinking that this moment is just a little better than that one :) To see her smiling, happy, and healthy is a great gift! We are always giving her nicknames and one of them is Abra Cadabra . . . so . . . here's her birthday party invite that I just emailed, ha ha ha . . . it was fun to make, the kids and I giggled all the way . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BEAN!

Fun little adds . . .

My cousin Parker Jacobs posted these videos on facebook, they are like 1970 LDS ads and they are too cute and still true . . . so enjoy . . . my cousins are in two of them . . . the little girl at 5:06 and the boy at 8:03 . . .

Snow Revisited . . .

Ok so I posted these on my "facebook" account, but I intended to post them here. As it seems like everyone has heard, we got a TON of snow up here on Tuesday. The final count was 33 inches in 24 hours. CRAZY! It is actually the first time in my life where I have felt totally and completely SNOWED IN! All the other times, it was like, ok, I shouldn't go out in it, but I could :) This was I CAN'T! It was a lot of fun to just hang with the girls and cancel anything I had going and just chill (literally). So here's the pictures from that glorious storm.





Then last night Cody and I ventured out to the great city of Wendover (note my sarcasm) for a little get away it was a lot of fun and when we came home we found that we had left our front door WIDE open! All the way! The house was freezing and the heater had been going none stop (we are so excited to see that bill). Luckily we live in the middle of nowhere and no one came in and stole our stuff :) Note to self, whenever leaving to go somewhere . . . close the door behind you.

And last but CERTAINLY not least, we are SOOOOOO excited that Dave and Kathryn had their baby early this morning! Little Cole Richards Todd came in a hurry. I'll let Dave and Kathryn do the official announcing but I am so excited to talk to them and see the newest little MAN! YAY YAY YAY!

Long time no post

Ok~ so it's been a long time and no post so we will do a little update (not that there's a lot to update) but~ I have been crazy busy with my photography workshops and while they were successful (I think) I am glad they are done with. I have all sorts of ideas for "expanding" my business but am just trying to think of the right way to go about it, so we shall see :)

Hubby is working with his dad in Provo right now on a Hotel and is hating the drive, so . . . he was super excited (not) when he found out his next job will be in Payson! At least it is another Walgreen's building so he can get it done in just a few months, but we are planning on him staying out there one or two nights a week :(

Cowgirl is sick today (throwing up all night, boo) but for the most part a healthy beautiful girl. She LOVES the video game Zelda and has told us (and many other people) that she thinks Link is "dreamy". She is growing up fast and I am happy to say, really has no interest in boys :) (BIG SMILE).

Princess is a hoot, she makes us laugh continually by the things she says. She has "graduated" from the nursery and says that she is a Sun Blink now (it's supposed to be sunbeam). When she sings the song it goes like this, "Jesus wants me for a sun BLINK" (as she blinks her eyes hard). Funny Funny Girl.

Baby is just the happiest little thing ever! Her smile is the cutest thing, she has 5 teeth and will be one on February 25th. She has been sleeping all night for 4 nights now (keep our fingers crossed) now I just wish that Princess and Cowgirl would do the same, he he he. Baby is super close to walking and seems like she has been since she started to crawl but she is cautious so we still haven't made it too far. She is a little dolly who LOVES her daddy.

We love our family and are super excited for DAVE and KATHRYN to have their little man! YAY! So that's the run down for us these days and ya know life is grand.

State Capital Crowd . . .

I was at the State Capital yesterday taking engagement pictures . . . while I was waiting for the couple to arrive I was looking around the building and I noticed something, kinda gross. I looked up and saw A TON of Barn Swallow nests under the newly remodeled building. Check it out! Now I know what these look like because they try and make them on our front porch, but we prevent it . . . BUT WOW . . . there's a lot :)

Pomp Pa and the Grand Babies . . .

Here's a cute picture of "Pomp Pa" (my daddy) and the grandbabies. These two little ladies are only one month apart and they love him. Ohhhhhhhh so cute!

The Twelve . . . Reindeer?????

Ok so the other day I was reading a book 21 DAYS CLOSER TO CHRIST (great read I highly recommend) and there's a picture of Christ walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Princess was with me and started to ask who the people were in the pictures (painted by Simon Dewey). So I pointed out Jesus and then there were the fishermen. I turned the page and she said "who is that" . . . I replied, "That's Simon and Andrew" and to that she said "Where's Donner and Blitzen!" HA HA HA . . . apparently we need to work on our church history OR our Christmas Song knowledge. Either way I had a good laugh.

Christmas Post #3

Ok, so my life may not be interesting enough to post three times in one day, but hey, my kids are cute, he he he . . .
Here's the last post for the day and it's Christmas Morning.
Princess got the ever so important "Talking Doll-House" and she knew as quick as she looked under the tree which one it was. Cowgirl got an iPod (which was a total surprise as you can tell by the look on her face, LOVE IT!). As for baby, well just look at her, she got clothes :) She loves the wrapping paper though . . . Hope your holidays were happy and bright!

Christmas Post #2

So at the same party we have a pinata for the little kids and my super BRAVE/CRAZY Father in Law holds it while the kids take a swing/stab at it! There are pictures of him doing this from way back when, what a trooper! The kids went through a couple of times before someone finally broke through (they even had to enlist the "bigger" kids). My little princess got FOUR pieces of candy and thought she was in Heaven, so easily pleased.

Christmas Post #1

Ok, so to catch up for the holidays I may be doing a couple of posts. We started off the holidays with the BIG family party (at the church, yay!) We had family, food and fun, that's what it is all about right!
The kids did the Christmas Nativity and it was so cute, here's the pictures from that

I especially love the "nose-picking" shepherd.

Seriously So Blessed Give Away . . .

Ok so there are like 700 people (and counting) entering to win prizes from the glorious TAMN of Seriously so Blessed but hey, ME TOO! She has way cute stuff and is the funniest read ever! So here's my link to enter to win special prizes from the ever so righteous TAMN.

http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/2008/12/on-1rst-day-of-christmas-my-moprah-gave.html Check it out!

Christmas Tag . . .

Christmas Tag, Thanks Marissa :)

Five favorite treats during the holidays:
1. Chocolate Covered Oreos with candy cane topping - YUM!
2. Egg Nog
3. Anything the Neighbors decide to leave on my doorstep :)
4. Orange Flavored Chocolate things
5. Those little orange chocolate sticks

Five favorite Christmas movies:
1. The Christmas Story
2. The Grinch - "the original"
3. Charlie Brown Christmas
4. Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer - love the misfits
5. The California Raisins Christmas - hard to find, but funny :)

Five Traditions during the holidays:
1. Pajamas on Christmas Eve
2. Hanging socks for advent calendar and picking out an activity
3. Making Thanksgiving Plates at the Hillsteads.
4. Picking Names and Giving Gifts
5. Watching My Kids open their presents

Tag - whoever wants to spread some Christmas Cheer

Artist in the Making . . .

So you are wondering, well Ann . . . where were you??????

I was just sitting in the chair next to them, BUT they were hiding behind the chair and Princess decided to "decorate" the chair and the BABY! I love the 2nd picture where she is pointing out the blob of blue marker on baby's face. Oh my . . .

The gift of life . . .

This is Cody's aunt Carol (on the right) and her liver donor's mother Jeri (on the left). Jeri contacted Carol after she wrote her "donor letter" and they have been friends since the first time they spoke. Jeri's son, Sebastian passed away at the young age of 16 and since Carol had lost sooooo much weight she was able to receive his liver through transplant. Sebastian was Jeri's only child and she is now alone, no parents, no siblings, no other children and Sebastian's father hasn't been around since he was two. We love her, we love her for who she is and for the strength she brings. We also love Carol and can remember all to well the days in waiting. Not hoping for someone to die, but hoping for the chance to live. We are sooooooo grateful for the ways the Lord works and know that Sebastian had things he needed to do at home and that Carol has things she needs to do here. WE LOVE YOU BOTH!

Family Pictures . . .

Okay so here's some pictures from our "out of the ordinary" family photo session. Thanks to Marissa Vargason for snapping the shots!

updated profile and picture

Okay so the other night we attempted to do family pictures of my own family (hard). Now I sympathize more with people whom I torture for a living. Anyways, I had the friend of mine take a couple of pictures of me for a profile picture and discovered something funny. My mom used to always say that she could tell it was me when I was playing soccer because of how I held my hands out. I notice when I drink from a glass I do funny things with my fingers AND apparently when I photograph I put my pinky out! HE HE HE, This is all I can say . . . "when in doubt pinky out!"

P.S. I'll post some of the family sometime soon :)

Halloweenie . . .

Here's pics from Halloween, so much fun, thanks to mom and dad for letting us come down and hang out at their house so the kids could actually trick or treat (there's not a lot of it up where we live because the houses are so far apart). Also, thanks to my bro, for trying to get my car unlocked when the keys got locked in, he he he. With another thanks to the Farmington City police for finally getting it.

On to the pictures . . .
Cowgirl was a witch for trick or treating but decided that for her Halloween Brunch (put on by the cute neighbors) she wanted to be a "beat up" soccer player, she did this all on her own, even down to getting mud on her cleats and trampling over her jersey so it had marks, quite clever!
Princess was . . . well a princess! Go figure. She still has a red scalp from the hair coloring, so she wore a red dress to church to make it all match :)
Baby was a hot tamalie for the family party the Sunday before (no pics sorry) but for Halloween we decided to "spike" her hair (and Yes, that is her REAL hair) and make her a punk rocker babe. And what a scene she made (not that she doesn't always) but it was very funny. Even after a bath the hair is still standing a little taller than before.

We had fun and look forward to next year! Happy Halloween!

This is Cowgirl's post, she is the writer, keep that in mind . . .

Hello everyone ! I am going to tell you about how school is going for me. OK so to day i had an ok day today i got moved from the spot i used to sit in :.( . But i did have a good after noon I did make a pretty freaky witch! Then last Saturday we traded some Wii games for Mario Kart Wii i was pretty sad when we traded my fav game,It was called Zelda Twilight Princess.I am so :( i miss that game so much. But my friend was being pretty funny she said she give me hers for Christmas , but i told her "ok?". But we are having family home evening to night so i got to go


Cowgirl

Kid Tag . . . Cowgirl Version

What is something that mom always says to you?
"Clean"
What makes mom happy?
"I don't know" sad :(
What makes mom sad?
"pictures"
How does your mom make you laugh?
"Say funny things"
What was your mom like as a child?
"Rat brown hair"
How old is your mom?
"29" forever!
How tall is your mom?
"5.2" (she gave me a couple inches)
What is your moms favorite thing to do?
"Get on the computer" I knew she was going to say that.
What does your mom do when you are not around?
"Computer"
If your mom were to become famous what would it be for?
"For her Pictures"
What is your mom really good at?
"Pictures" it's an easy answer
What is your mom not really good at?
"Mario Kart Wii" true that!
What does your mom do for her job?
"Pictures"
What is your moms favorite food?
"Spaghetti O's" this was because we were eating them, definitely not my favorite.
What makes you proud of your mom?
"if she gets first place on Mario Kart" I suppose I am a big disappointment then :)
If your mom was a cartoon character who would it be?
"Princess Peach" Mario on the Mind!
What do you and your mom do together?
"Lots of things"
How are you and your mom the same?
"Eyes"
How are you and your mom different?
"Hair"
How do you know your mom loves you?
"How she acts" ooooohhhhhhh

Thanks Cowgirl! I love you!