Our Saturday

Dear Kids,
We spent our Saturday.....

...eating breakfast....

....tickling the ivories.....

....playing raquetball.....

....playing patty cake.....

.....falling in love with blue eyes all over again......

.....staring incredulously at Aunt Elena taking picture after picture.....

.....taking the prize for best picture of the weekend (can you see the drop of drool on her chin that is sooo in focus).....

.....watching Hyrum grow....it's pretty amazing.....

.....watching Bear get buffer with each passing moment.....

.....tackling cousins.....

.....rolling in the grass.....

.....looking like a stud....

.....trying to be cool like the big kids.....

.....Superman stud.....

.....hiding from the camera....

It was a great Saturday.

Laugh

Dear Kids,
I post this so that I can always find it when I need a really good laugh. Like when I emerged from the shower yesterday and found Kariah covered, absolutely covered in Vicks Vaporub. My eyes burned changing her diaper 4 hours later. That's how my day started.

That necessitates a really good laugh.

Jo Sings

Dear Jo-Jo,

It was time for your annual singing performance at school. You were great. We remembered to wear the right colors. You practiced for weeks. And you even tried out for a solo in "This Land is Your Land". You have great courage. I am so so proud of my big boy.

2009 Book. Done.

Dear Kiddoes,

I did it!! I successfully published our family book. I used Blurb and I have to say it was pretty easy. It slurped all of the posts and pictures. I just formatted everything to how I liked it. It took about 3 Sunday afternoons to format, spell check, adjust pictures, etc.

A few of the pictures in the beginning, taken with my cell phone camera had to print out really small. But once I got a real camera and uploaded larger files to our blog, they turned out great.

Each of you got your own copy (hidden away for safekeeping) and Mom and Dad got ours, out for us to look at. It was our Valentines gift to each other (Dad surprised me with flowers too).

Aren't you impressed? I am.

Sugar Happy

Dear Jo and Marc,

Valentines Day was celebrated at school on Friday. You both came home with tons of loot. And you both shared willingly and happily with Sis. You guys are awesome big brothers.

May you all share lots of giggles and smiles. And candy.

And it's a.....

Dear Kariah,



You are a beloved little sister. And now you will be a beloved big sister too. A baby girl is on her way to make sure you aren't the only princess in the family.



This is Nana, when she was 3. Soooo cute. The girls in our family, they really got some charm.



I am so excited for you to have a little sister. To share a room and friends and clothes. I know there is an unprecendented amount of drama and craziness in store for me. But I have a feeling it's going to be all worth it.

I love you Kariah. What a wonderful big sister you are going to be!

Blue Lily Rocks My World

Dear Lovies,

So. For my birthday, Daddy got me a brand new Canon Rebel and a 2 hour beginner's class with Wendy from Blue Lily. It. Was. Awesome!!

Then life took over and I couldn't get the camera out till yesterday when we were at the park with friends. Riah wasn't in much of a modeling mood but luckily our buddy Jack-Jack was. Check this out!



The coolest thing is that I shot these in Manual mode. AND I know the specs.... F stop 5, shutter speed at 1/250 and ISO 400. And I even know what that means!!! Isn't that amazing?! Combine that with the editing tips my good friend Haleigh gave me, and I am on my way!

Can you tell I'm a little excited?! The funniest part is that I just know what you guys are in for...a lifetime of Mom saying, "Just smile!! Not THAT smile, your nice smile!! Look at the camera!! You guys are driving me nuts!!"

Yeah, it'll be fun.