Easter

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter this weekend, we've been celebrating with "monster" easter eggs at our house, hee hee! I thought these were so stinkin' cute when Eli picked out the coloring package at the store, I had never seen them. Eli had a blast making them very "scaryish" and I think nothing says Easter like some orange hair, crazy eyes and a toothy smile.

Gotta love it!

Is it Spring yet?

I've been so excited to see signs of spring and green grass starting to grow!! Spring is definitely on it's way and I just had to get some Easter pictures of these little rugrats to get us in the mood. It's been so nice lately, we've been raking, playing outside in our t-shirts even though we should still be wearing our coats, and leaving all the windows open to enjoy the fresh air! Sadly though, I woke up to a new blanket of snow on the ground and I thought I would be really depressed about it but actually we're just enjoying the last bit of winter while we can since it won't be long before it's all gone. Being back in Idaho with all the seasons has been a fun change and also a challenge with keeping the kids busy but I just love it here and couldn't be happier. I hope you are all enjoying the signs of spring andI hope you have a wonderful Easter with family and friends.

Easter Minis!

Easter mini Sessions are here! The valentine Sessions were so much fun and I've had several requests to do Easter ones so here it is! Contact me to reserve your spot, they go super fast! Session fee will be due at time of booking. Thanks so much!

Show some love

I'd say it's about time for a post, sorry it's been so long, it's just been busy around here! First of all I have to say congrats to my brother and his wife on their new baby boy, he is so adorable, has tons of dark hair and I'm so excited to be an Aunt!! It's the first time on my side of the family that I get to be an aunt and my kiddos are so excited to finally have a BOY cousin! I can't wait to go and meet him and I'm hoping we will be the end of next week.

In other news, you should go and check out my amazing sister-in-law's new blog for her flower shop, it's fabulous and they have the best flowers for Valentine's Day. Ask for Brandee, she's the bestest! Here's the link: www.philsflowers.blogspot.com

And of course I can't post without sharing a few pics of my littles, especially for Valentine's Day-they are the love of my life. Some of these are pretty hilarious, especially where Mya is not too happy about getting some love from her brother, she's quite the little drama queen these days. :) She doesn't have any problem letting you know what she wants and we are always laughing at her funny little expressions. Eli has been so good with her, he's really been a big help around the house and I feel so lucky to have him. He's really growing up and becoming so independent-I love hearing all of his stories and he shows me how big his muscles are each day.

Here's my little Valentines, gotta love 'em! Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you love.

Oh, and I guess I should thank Brandee for such a cute idea on an outfit, I had the same shirt she had used with Izzy and had never thought to put it with this skirt! Love it and yes I had to copy. Sorry! ha ha

Happy New Year!

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday season and have had a wonderful start to the New Year. We had such a wonderful Christmas and loved every minute of spending time with all of our family. I feel so blessed for the family we have, we love them so much!

Mya is now 1 and I struggled with that thought for a little while but now I'm so excited for what is to come. Eli is turning 3 this Friday and he can't wait for the party-we've decided to have a "tubing" party this year and I'm hoping we don't turn into icicles! Should be fun! He keeps talking about his train cake and it's been fun having him really into it this year.

Tan and I had the chance to get away just the two of us for New Year's Eve which was LONG overdue. We had a blast hanging out together and spent the night with Taner's brother, his wife and little Izzy along with their friends up at the cabins in Soldier Mtn. Resort. They were so cute and cozy and I would love to go back there. The view was amazing and the sunset was beautiful! It was a great way to ring in the New Year even though we missed the kiddos. Thanks mom and dad for coming to the rescue!

So, here's just a few pics of last weekend, we also went snowboarding which I actually spent most of the time crashing down the mountain-too bad I don't have a picture of that for you, hee hee. The guys went snowmobiling. Happy New Year!

This week....

Boring? Laid back? Serene? Productive? Naaaaah....that's not how we do it here, lol! Let's just say it's been very comical, crazy and just plain chaotic the past couple of days.

I soooooo wish I had some pictures to prove just how it's gone down, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

Hmmmm.....I'll just give you a couple of things we've been up to.......

1. Christmas lights up and lit----check!
2. Christmas tree decorated and trimmed----check!
3. Christmas tree just too tempting to the kiddos--tree tips over
4. Redecorate tree, clean up water mess and ginormous load of pine needles
5. Vacuum gets plugged from all the pine needles but I am a super-vacuum fixer
6. Tree tips over for the second time
7. Redecorate, clean up, etc. etc.
8. Go Christmas shopping, post office, party store to get ready for both rugrats birthday parties
9. Arrive home, Christmas tree tipped over again
10. Redecorate, rewater and clean pine needles.
11. Make ginger bread house, eat all the candy off of it.
12. Put out Nativity scene, find a sheep in the toilet
13. Make christmas cookies
14. Sew some presents, come back in kitchen to find 15 cookies with one bite taken out of each
15. Laughing
16. Boys and Girls Club Party
17. Work party
18. Almost done with Clients' orders
19. Mya turns off computer while placing order with the lab
20. Re do orders, clients' orders finally done!
21. Christmas shopping, shopping, shopping
22. Realize I ate way too many cinnamon nuts-go for jog with kiddos in stroller-almost die from my out-of-shapeness
23. Tires flat on jogger stroller
24. Find huge pile of unrolled toilet paper in the closet with Mya in the middle, eating with a big smile
25. Make fabric birthday banners and decorations, send out invites
26. Dancing with the kiddos to really loud christmas music
27. Mya standing and dancing all by herself
28. Eli clinging to my leg and laying on the floor when it's his turn to see Santa (poor guy, I think it was kind of traumatic)
29. Snowmobiling
30. Flying around the house with Eli and our "towel capes" pretending to be superman and jumping on the furniture
31. Laundry, Laundry, Laundry
32. wrapping
33. Lots and lots of Christmas stories and movies, making snowflakes and having fun!

Phewww!!! That's not even all of it! LOL I usually find that most everything strange and weird that happens is later really funny so I just have to remind myself of that when I feel like I'm falling apart and my house is ashambles.

There's so many other little moments that I always forget too and I need to be better about writing down the things Eli says.....he's so stinkin' smart and funny. His new thing now is "there's a fire hydr-wunt" every time he sees one, cracks me up! Oh and he's also told me that my hair is "wacky" a few times now......hmmm.....

So, if any of you seem to be having one of these weeks too, you're not alone and you're probably way more productive and organized than me. Somehow I didn't get that gene.

I still love this time of year though and even though my tree looks a little worse for wear, it's still beautiful and it's been fun having Eli be really into Christmas this year.

xo ~Jen

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Happy Haunting!

We had so much fun this Halloween, Eli was really in the spirit of things and loved watching Taner carve all the pumpkins, ha ha! We thought it would be great for the kids, but it turns out us big kids get into it just as much :) Mya doesn't look as enthused about the whole thing, apparantly the dried worm on the sidewalk was way more interesting, and being forced to take a family picture by the carved masterpieces was just not her idea of a good time. Hilarious!

We also had a party, complete with fabulous costumes, delicious treats and of course....the usual "suspects". This was the last night we got to spend with my Grandma and Grandpa before they headed to Arizona for the winter and we are really going to miss them. They lived about a mile or two away and it was the perfect jogging distance for me and the kids to take the stroller and go and spend a fun afternoon. I can't tell you how many times we've had them over and we've been over to their place, enjoying the summer and hanging out. They are so much fun and were great to have as last-minute babysitters if you know what I mean :). Who will I harass now? ha ha

So, needless to say I was quite sad to see them go and then Taner left soon after to go on a week-long hunting trip so I've been missin' the hubster a bit these last few days. Wow, talk about a pity party, sheesh! Moving on! LOL

We had a blast at our party and then went trick-or-treating and Eli was a pro! He didn't even want any of us to go up to the door with him and he got the idea pretty quick. It was perfect weather, perfect company and such a great time. I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween as well!

Lovin' me some Grim-Reaper, ha ha!
Oh, and these "bag-head" costumes were so great! Go mom and dad!


I love how Taner thinks he can get away with not looking at the camera with his sneaky costume on.....I see you Mr. Grim Reaper.....you can't fool me!
We still aren't really sure what Grandma and Grandpa were, but they get the award for creativity, ha!
If that isn't scary, I don't know what is.....

Patchin' It

Who doesn't love this time of year? The kids had a blast at the pumpkin patch, there were animals, a maze, yummy treats and a raspberry patch you could pick your own raspberries in. It was so fun for me just to watch them pick out their pumpkins and enjoy the evening. Mya loved sitting in the patch and eating the grass while Eli was jumping on all the hay bails in the maze. He's so coordinated and athletic which he did NOT get from me....thank goodness he didn't get my goofy clumsiness or we'd be in trouble, ha ha! They even had all of this flavored honey that I thought was so good- along with some fabulous flavors of popcorn (smore, peanut butter, etc.) and all kinds of homemade soaps and lip balms. It was so cute! Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween, we've been looking forward to it for quite some time :) Let the spookiness begin!!

.Buzz and a Moo Cow.

I just love Halloween and this year is Mya's first! I'm not sure if she's too excited to wear the cow costume I got for her but Eli is sure excited about being Buzz Lightyear, ha ha! This year is also the first time Eli has gotten the chance to pick out his own costume so I think that makes it all the more fun :) I just couldn't pass up the chance to get a few shots of them all dressed up, it seems like when they are "trick-or-treating" I always get distracted and caught up in the moment and I don't get any cute pics of them. We'll try harder this time. Hope you are all enjoying the fall season and getting ready for Halloween, I know we are around here :)

.Mi Familia.

Gotta love a true love story.......my mom and dad are still so in love and you can tell by their smiles and happiness. The last one just cracks me up every time, it's good to be able to laugh at each other and I had so much fun watching them through my camera-they are too cute! Love you mom and dad!

.Mini Sessions.

Holiday Mini Sessions are now available.......a little late but better late than never, right? :) For all the details check it out on my photo blog. Hurry, they're going fast!!!

.Independence Day.

We had so much fun this fourth of July. We spent it with family and enjoyed the laid back approach. Grandma and Tom hosted, and they had a delicious Sunday bar with all the toppings you could imagine. Eli was in heaven!! I had such a good time watching Eli really get into the fireworks this year....he's now at the age where he loves them and was saying " that one's my favorite" after each one went off. Mya slept through the whole firework show but she still got to enjoy eveyone's company. Thanks guys for a fabulous time, it was so nice and relaxing! Love you much :)