Walking

I'm still trying to get used to seeing her walk around everywhere. She is the smallest walking person on the planet, I think.

Basement Sneak Peek

Can't wait to decorate in here! We have some fun ideas up our sleeves...

Hannah and Nina's new room. The cute vinyl is made by my friend Holly. Check out her website, you'll love it.

My handyman being handy while watching Battlestar Galactica on his laptop at the same time.

You have no idea how excited I am that our basement is almost finished! Clayton has done most of the work himself over the past year and a half. We are finally getting carpet this week, and let me just say it's going to change my life! We have been bursting at the seams this last year with the baby in our bedroom, and when the kids have friends over there's really nowhere to play. I am SO thankful we can finally move some kids downstairs and we can have some breathing room.

Candyland

Ben

Hannah

Nina

Does it get any more fun than making gingerbread houses? We made these at my mom's over the weekend. I wasn't quick enough to get a good picture of Nina's though...that girl has the biggest sweet tooth! Ben is so much like his dad, a total perfectionist. He chiseled a doorway out of the graham cracker, as well as pieces to cover the attic space! Very detailed, as always.

I'm sure we'll be making more over the holidays because when else do you get to play with candy like this? I want to make one of my own!

{Here's a recipe for Royal Icing. It's perfect for gingerbread houses because it dries so stiff.}

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at my parents' house this year, and let me tell you, my mom makes the best rolls on the planet. Unfortunately, I had a head cold all weekend and could barely taste anything. Nice timing, huh? After dinner my mom asked Trev and Tatum to sing for us, and then we cheered Grandma and Grandpa up off the couch and into the spotlight! They said that they hadn't sung together in years, so it was a treat to hear them. Grandpa is 93 and Grandma is 87, and they still sounded good, singing those old time tunes like "June in January." So cute.

Mom made dinner for all of us every night over the weekend, and I was so sad I couldn't taste anything! We had fun watching some movies...check out The Maiden Heist, it was pretty funny.

Flag Football

Last weekend Clayton took Ben and his friend Ethan to a Cub Scout flag football game so they could earn their pins and beltloops. As you can see, Ben was anything but happy to be there at first! He'd never played before, so I think he was just nervous. After Clayton gently persuaded him (okay, forced him) to play, he actually had so much fun, and scored the only goal of the entire game! Way to go Ben!

The Toothfairy x 2

This past week the toothfairy came to our house twice; once for Ben, and once for Hannah. Over the years we've found that the toothfairy is very forgetful sometimes. For example, this time she forgot to visit Ben two nights in a row, and forgot to visit Hannah that first night too. Crazy toothfairy. Oh well, what do you do?

A few years ago the toothfairy left a little note for Ben, "You have lovely teeth." He's kept it on the shelf in his room. So Hannah decided to write a note to the toothfairy in hopes of finding out more about her. And what do you know? She may have been late, but she wrote back! Hannah was so excited!

Anika's Pictures

Here are some favorites from a recent shoot of my very pretty and very sweet cousin Anika. She needed to update her modeling portfolio, and we had so much fun even though we were freezing!

P.S. How did all my cousins manage to score long legs? I seriously got ripped off in that department, haha!

Olivia's To Do List

1. Dump all the Q-tips onto the floor of Mom's bathroom.

2. Pull out everything else within reach and scatter it.

3. Unroll the toilet paper and shred it into tiny pieces. Eat some of it.

4. Unload the dishes in my own special way.

5. Make sure to NOT take a nap. Ever.

Family Pics...Finally!

My youngest sister Hailey took these for us last week.

We haven't had success with family pictures since 2002...someone's always cranky or blinks, you know? Anyway, I'm pretty happy with these, and glad to have this little moment of our lives captured forever. The kids are growing up much too quickly.

Hailey, thanks so much!

Our Video Portrait by Trevor Haugen

Click here to view my favorite video EVER in full HD glory, created by my very talented brother. He came along to our family photo session last week and captured lots of great footage. Watching this made me smile while blinking back the tears. It was like having Christmas early, for me at least. Trev, thank you, thank you, thank you! I am so excited to have a little slice of our lives preserved.

If you are interested in a video portrait by Trevor, please contact me because {lucky for us} he is for hire. Watch for details coming soon about family photo and video combo sessions!

Nina's Wishes

A few days ago I was out for a run with Nina and Olivia in the double jogger...there were patches and patches of fluffy dandelions and Nina wanted me to stop and pick every single one for her. She made a wish each time she blew the tiny seeds into the air, and she'd say, "Mom, wanna know what I wished for?" And I'd say, "Yes, tell me."

Once she said, "I wished that Olivia was a princess, a REAL princess."

Another time she said, "I wished that I had a cloud to fly on, for reals."

Random Guy in a Wedding Pic

Just had to share this because it makes me laugh every time I see it...that old dude just popped in the picture out of nowhere! He's like, "Huh? Where am I? I feel so out of place." That's because you ARE. Haha!

Taryn's Wedding

A few favorites from this beautiful October wedding day.