Giveaway winner preview.

I am so glad I got such awesome kids for the giveaway winner! They were so adorable and well-behaved. They have got some serious modeling skills!

Previews and a Utah Wedding

So I got the chance to photograph a wedding down in Utah. It was so fun. The bride and groom were awesome and laid back. The bride had the coolest feather bouquet. SO CUTE! And the weather was PERFECT.






I've got three more previews coming, hang tight!

Changes and Deep Thots

Things are a little different around here because... I got a job! That seems weird to post. I have been struggling the last few months with boredom. I'm sure that sounds really awful to some of you. The weather has been so crappy, there's not much to do around here and my kids are really good, they are at ages that they play really good together. I knew I didn't want to get a real job- anything that kept me away from them, but I just felt like I needed something else, even with my photography. Also I didn't want a job with crappy pay, that just isn't worth my time. So I just happened to be roaming Indeed, which I do every few months just seeing what's out there. There was one for Cartvertinsing doing appointment setting. The last job I had with Wyndam was doing the same thing and I had had great success with it so I decided to put in an application. A few days later I got an over the phone interview and I guess I sold him on myself because he said through over 150 applicants he was putting me directly on his team! It seemed like it happened so fast! I started calling that following Monday. So I basically call people, try to get them to set an appointment with my boss for him to come sell them advertising. I am finally finding my "nitch pitch". I get a percent commission off of everything he sells. So far, he hasn't dissappointed! So I have been working 1-2 hours per day. I can stop and start as much as I want. I have no required hours because I am a contracted employee so if something is going on with the kids I can take the day off. I usually do an hour in the morning and then an hour in the afternoon when Jake is napping and Claire is playing outside. I love that when they need something I can stop right away and help them with whatever they need. Like I will set up the playdoh, dial for 20 minutes and stop for a few minutes when they are done to get them started on something else, or if I have hit my goal for the hour I will stop. I have been getting around 2 appointments per day, which I guess is really good, so I'm satisfied and so is my boss. Anyways, it has really been the perfect job and I am so thankful to have found it and I really hope that I can continue with it for a while. Plus, my boss thinks I could possibly get a salaried position along with dialing do the training too. So I might look into that. I am so thankful that Chris works so hard at his job so that I don't have to work. That is such a blessing to our family. Anyways I just thought I would post.

Oh and the deep thoughts, I don't know if I have mentioned this, but Jake will randomly and thoughtfully ask-Mom, Jesus love me?? I always say YES and then he says "ya, Jesus loves me!". Today he followed that up with "and the cookie monster isn't mean?" "no not mean" "ya, just funny". He's always doing some deep thinking. Cutie.

Mesa Falls

Before summer started we wrote down a list of things we wanted to do this summer. The kids LOVED our camping trip to Yellowstone last year and wanted to go on another "hike". So last Saturday we decided to take a day trip to Mesa Falls. Chris swears that he's taken me there before, but I'm pretty sure I had never been there. It was SO much fun. It was a perfect day that will be logged in my memory forever- I hope :) The weather was nice, the kids were so good. It was peaceful and the views were great. I can't believe I've never been up there before! It's the perfect little day trip.

First we stopped and fed fish. There is a little spot in the river where you can throw bread to the trout and these HUGE fish jump and fight for it. It was pretty cool and the kids loved it. Then we stopped just before the falls and ate a picnic and hiked to an abandoned railroad tunnel-that was pretty cool, and a little scary since you are basically walking on the side of a cliff. Claire started worrying about snakes, but after we talked to her for about 10 minutes about why she didn't need to worry about it she was back to her happy self. Then we headed to the lower and upper falls. It happened to be free Mesa Falls day (which we didn't plan) so Smokey the bear was there and they had little demonstrations going for the kids.



The kids are standing next to the snow measuring pole. It's either that, or to measure the height of bears that steal food from your camp as they leave:)

The upper falls were awesome, I got some cool photos. I have started this little thing where I take a landscape picture of places I want to remember and hang them up as art in my house. So it can still look like nice outdoor photography art, but it has a special meaning to us.

I love this picture of us! I am kind of getting bored of pictures where everyone is looking and smiling-there's no personality. I know we will be laughing at this picture for years to come.



After the falls we went to warm springs? I think was the name. It was a fun little drive with great views. It had the coolest waterfall, we dipped our toes-it was cold! But it felt good.



After warm springs we headed home and stopped at Big Judd's for a burger and fries. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

And Chris and Jake are leaving tonight for the father and sons campout and I'm feeling all nostalgic and don't want to let my little baby go. He's getting so big, and so is Jake ;)

Senior pictures in Idaho Falls

Can you say Natural BEAUTY?!?! This girl didn't have one speck of makeup on.

Dance!

So Claire had her final recital of the year for dance. She danced to "grand old flag" and of course, with five-year olds, it was adorable. She was a lot more sure of herself this time and I really think dance has helped her grow up a lot this year. I will never forget her first year of dance and how it has made me see what an amazing daughter I have. I am so proud of her. She definitely wants to take dance next year. Chris and I still haven't decided, but I am leaning towards doing it again because they are doing the FULL Nutcracker next year with performances for the school districts and I think it will be a really great experience for her and one that she will never forget.





Her teacher Miss Dantzel is moving so this will be her one and only year with her and she was a really great teacher. We will miss her a lot. As for me, I am ready for the summer break! Good Job Claire.









After the recital we went out for ice cream at Reed's dairy. Jake made a GINORMOUS mess and he was making the goofiest faces so I had to include a few pictures of him! Can you see it has dripped on his feet.

Paris

I would so very much like to win this

Happy Birthday Jake!!

It was a low key day. We took the kids to the park and had a picnic. Then we went to dinner at Leo's place. The kids love it there so we will probably be spending the next 5 birthdays there! After Leo's, we went back home and had cupcakes and ice cream. I made a dragon out of cupcakes. Not the cutest thing, but Jake liked it and it was easy! Jake got dragons and knights, more train stuff and a camping chair. He is such a good boy! Nana and Papa Ray sent him some money so we went the next day and he picked out a Buzz Lightyear rocket and a baseball glove and a water bottle.

With his knights came a tiny little catalogue book. The morning after his birthday I came out and he was sitting on his little camping chair looking over his little book.



Excited about the candy he picked out with the tickets he won. The same candy that he nearly choked on later that night.
He is so sweaty!

Family Picture Swap

My friend Kelly From Kelly Stewart Photography and I did a picture swap on Sunday. I took pictures of her family and she took pictures of mine. Here are a few.

The motherpost....warning....lengthy!

I can't believe it's been a month since I've blogged. I'm becoming one of THOSE bloggers. Jake's birthday is on Monday and I can't believe my baby is going to be 3. He has so wrapped me around his little finger and I'm okay with it. He definitely understands that if he is cuter and sweeter that he gets more. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. On the opposite side of things he has finally hit terrible twos. It took him awhile, but he has been hitting like crazy. He mostly does it playingly but he doesn't understand (or ignores) STOP. Oh what to do. But for the most part he's pretty good. I've had a few meltdowns but we are doing better. Him and Claire are good friends and Claire has taught him how to do games on the computer-all by himself. I was pretty impressed. Jake has been a pottytraining champ. He loves to ride his new little bike. He talks like Claire, with the expressions and stuff which is funny on a two-year old. Chris and I always talk about how we expect more out of him because he looks and acts older, but he's still two. We have to remind ourselves of that. He is in 4t clothing and size 10 shoes and last time we weighed him he was 35lbs. I think he loves his yellow blanky even more now. For a while he would stick his finger in a little string on it and would come out crying because his finger was stuck. It was pretty funny. I dearly love my little buddy. One morning I awoke to him giving me a kiss. His snuggles when he just wakes up are the best. He is taking shorter naps so we maybe be done with it shortly. He has his first dentist appointment coming up soon. I am interested to see how his teeth look because that boy LOVES sugar. He is always getting into anything sweet I have sitting around. The other day he ate almost an entire dozen cookies-without my knowledge of course! I had the cookies in the pantry and he had been going in there and getting them without me knowing and when I looked in the pantry for something I found the tub of cooks gone except for two! Yikes. I love love love that kid. Can he stay 2 forever??

I've been doing more reading.





I just finished Three Cups of Tea and Of Mice and Men

Both GREAT. I had two other books I started that I was quite dissappointed with and ended up stopping after the first chapter. They were both Oprah book club selections and I had heard great things about them. One had so much swearing and the other was anti-religion. Very dissappointing. So on to the rest of the books on my summer reading list.

That reminds me: the end of Oprah has come. I knew I would need to prepare myself. I bawled like a baby. I know I sound like the "typical housewife" when I say "did you see Oprah today?" but I don't even care. I don't care what anyone else says, her show was one of the most thought provoking parts of my life. Of course she had the celebs and the terrible downer shows that I for the most part chose not to watch. But there were many that truly struck a cord with me and many times I had prayers answered through shows. So there you have it. I'm a fan. Despite all the crap that goes with "her" there's still a lot of good. Too bad I'm not willing to pay for her network....


Okay, there's my rediculously long post for now.