Holy Day of Shopping report!!!!

Ok, so it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO exhausting it took me 5 days to write about it =) Well, not really, but I am STILL recovering from the lack of sleep. So here is the LAST of the snapshots since I am having serious problems posting images from a point and shoot on this blog. So the Holy day started out at 3:45 for me, but 30 minutes earlier for my aunt and mom! We left the house just after 4am to WalMart where I didn't have anything fabulous to get, but I did help out and still managed to spend some $$. Here is a photo when we are LEAVING our first stop...can't believe it is still dark and I was already over $100 into my shopping!

We stopped for breakfast at Paradise Bakery, we needed the food to get us through a long day ahead! My mom was the lucky one that got to take the picture...none of us wanted to be in these =) REFER TO RULE#1

It was a good year, no fights to speak of, no tackling was even necessary! One lucky man did get this sweatshirt handed to him by my sister after he totally earned it by being a jerk in the parking lot when she WASN'T trying to take his spot. It was pretty funny cuz we saw these sweatshirts right when we saw him, so they couldn't resist the urge! Otherwise, everyone was VERY FRIENDLY and helpful as usual! This is the ONLY day you can shop and strangers will stop and talk to you or tell you where you can get a better deal on something you have in your cart!

Just as in previous years, our day came to a close in about hour #12! I can't believe I made it, 3 hours of sleep for me and everytime we drove even just across the street I was negotiating a nap in the car to keep going...the girls wouldn't let me and somehow I survived! We ended the day with our traditional pedicure which we all practically fell asleep for! Our feet were so happy to be pampered and given cute toes!

And once home we still kept going having dinner, building our first fire in our home...YIPEE and the kids were so happy to roast marshmallows!

The adults played a couple of games and by that time we were all so delirious we seriously laughed harder than I ever remember laughing in my life! It was a BLAST!!!!!!!!!! My Aunt, Uncle and cousins all left the next day, we were so thankful to have them all here for such a special holiday and great memories!
By the way, I would LOVE to hear from any of you BLACK FRIDAY FANS and ALL of you that choose not to venture out! Any good stories or deals to speak of???

All good things must come to an end!

Days later I am STILL recovering from so much lack of SLEEP! =) We managed to host a thanksgiving dinner with about 30 people, and days of festivities with almost that many people! That's hard to do when you're pregnant and not getting sleep too! So here are some images from our FUN FILLED THANKSGIVING with lots and lots of my family! Please excuse the image quality, much of these taken with a point and shoot for quick shots!! We kicked off the holiday with the women making lots of pies on Wednesday night...I think 11 to be exact!

There is HOPE for me, check out my attempt to pull off a "martha stewart" table! This was my first year to host a nice meal such as this...so I had to do SOMETHING! Ok, so it doesn't compare to hers, or any of the beautiful weddings I shoot, but I did learn how to properly fold cloth napkins, aren't you impressed?

This is a close up of my centerpiece!

Here is the family sitting at the super long table I insisted on creating so everyone could sit together!

Here are most of the cousins enjoying play time on the trampoline.

After dinner the boys decided to show us a MIRACLE...check them out cleaning up the kitchen! I had to get a shot of it in case we need it for future bargaining!

Can't forget the boys playing football! Brennan is the one with the Cardinals helmet...he LOVES to dress in full sports gear so I am surprised he doesn't have the full uniform and pads on!


Of course there is the all important HOLY DAY OF SHOPPING planning session for the women. It is here we map out the deals, decide where we are starting and when, and put initials in the ads of who needs what at each store to help us keep track!

Lastly, a peek at our entertainment! This is our Turkey pinata that just didn't want to break!

And a cute shot of my cousin's daughter Caitlyn trying to hit the pinata even though they raised it above her!

And the night came to a close after some fun time singing Christmas songs and visiting around the fire in our backyard!

Holy Day of Shopping Part One

Alright my friends, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Wow, what a wonderful day. I will have to post photos later, I am seriously much too tired to download right now!! Anyway, just wanted to see who is going to take advantage of the beloved Holy Day of Shopping. This year the ads seem a little lacking and being pregnant and tired make me less excited for the event...but I am going for it, I am all about the experience, and clearly when I have all my cousins here, I have to join them! Here are our tips and tricks to get us through the big day...

RULES FOR HOLY DAY OF SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. NO GETTING READY...AT 4AM EVERYONE GOES UGLY, NO EXCEPTIONS!
2. NO KIDS!!!!!!!!! Seriously, kids can't come, leave them home with someone else! IT IS NOT WORTH IT IF YOU ARE BRINGING KIDS!
3. NO going with any fewer than 2-4 people, it just not fun if you are alone, plus you'll need the extra help!
4. NO Shopping carts when you are trying to fight for the blitz items, it just doesn't work! Really shopping carts don't work much at all so try to take the isles less traveled if you have one!
5. Avoid standing in lines, have line holders while others shop, then switch places. We've been in and out of stores in 30-40 minutes using this strategy even though the line itself was that long!
6. NO BITING, HAIR PULLING or PUNCHING. Tackling is allowed, but only if you win!
7. PRICE MATCH...oh the beauty of price match! Plan ahead, mark your items in the ads and price match everything you can!
8. Stop for a good breakfast AND a good lunch. We have been known to shop for 12 hours or more, these meals give us the energy to get through the day!
9. NO RUSHING...if you have little patience, you can't participate in this...it's all about "the thrill of the hunt" looking for and receiving a good deal and clearly if your only desire is to rush through, you aren't the right personality to shop on this Holy Day!
10. HAVE FUN! Every year we end with a pedicure...seriously, doesn't get better than that, I never enjoy pedicures as much as I do on this day!

HAPPY SHOPPING! I would love to hear from any of you that also love...or maybe those that HATE BLACK FRIDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is my cousin Ashley's birthday!! What makes it even more fun is that she lives out of town and is here and staying with me!!!!!! Here is a photo of her and her cute family back in August when we visited them in Utah!

This is a fun shot I thought I would post of Ashley's husband Mike, he'll be joining us later tonight. Mike and Ashley have a boat and we had a great time boating with them and their family in Utah in August! Mike is becoming quite good at wakeboarding!

We are so excited to have our cousins and their families here for Thanksgiving! It will be a first for all of us to be together on Thanksgiving although my entire family tries to meet up with this big gang every year at least once for some sort of vacation. We have so much fun with them, late game nights, lots of kids and loud chaos...it's great! Unfortunately, we will miss my cousin Jared and his family, they weren't able to come. Here's another boating shot with Jared wakeboarding and his wife and son watching.

We'll also miss my brother and his family who are in Texas...the Holy Day of Shopping just won't be the same without Amy! Oh and certainly more to come on that beloved HOLY DAY OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE WE ALL LOVE!

More with my big family and our fun filled chaos to come! You haven't met them all =)

Katie and Reeslyn

Meet Katie, or shall I say Ms. Katie and her beautiful 4yr old birthday girl Reeslyn! Katie has been a great friend of mine for years. Before we were friends she was first a client and then employee, thus the friendship! Actually, her husband introduced me to my husband...thanks Russ! I loved having Katie work for me for the years I could hold onto her, but then she got famous teaching her life love...gymnastics! Now I get to see her each week as she teaches both of my boys. We took a few minutes to do some maternity photos before Katie gave birth to baby#3, her first boy! Of course, despite being 9months pregnant, Katie looked beautiful as always!

I loved this cute shot and adorable sweater...no one had to know it was over 80degrees outside!

As you can see, she doesn't take a bad picture and makes my job easy for sure!

Here is Reeslyn! She's quite shy if she doesn't know you, but a super cute little girl!

I just love her big beautiful eyes framed with her cute PINK glasses! The only problem is that a lot of photos don't show her eyes from the glare on her glasses, so we made sure to place the light so we could see those pretty eyes!

I wanted to do something fun with her but I had to get her to come out of her shell a bit! I was so glad we were able to capture just a little of her personality in this shot!

By the way, Katie had little Mason last Tuesday! I don't have any shots of him yet, but you can see him on their blog click here. Thanks Katie and Reeslyn for coming over, we had so much fun!

2007 HOLIDAY CARDS

Finally! I have finished putting together the Holiday Cards for this season, just in the nick of time before we kick off Thanksgiving! We are still offering last year's cards as well, you can view some of those here. All cards can be customized with your text and photo selections.





I am loving these funky colors in these "non-traditional" cards






All cards are 5x7 and INCLUDE envelopes. There are 3 printed styles. Pricing is quoted for sets of 25 cards...
Photo Card (printed on photographic paper) 25 - $37.50
Flat Card (printed on high quality cardstock similar to greeting cards) 25 - $50.00
Folded Card (Greeting card style you write a message inside) 25 - $62.50
If you are interested in tri-fold cards, we also offer those, email me for pricing and layouts.

Favorite Image of the Day

I came across this image and thought I would do a quick post with it! Here's the boys awhile back. It's so great how much they really LOVE each other although Dawson really doesn't like Brennan's affection usually! Ever since Brennan started school the two have become much closer, laughing and playing better together since they miss each other all day! The other day Dawson told me while we were driving..."mom, Brennan is my bestest brodder..." And today Brennan is having a friend over after school and he promptly told me this morning, "I will tell Jacob that we have to include Dawson too ok mom." These are the moments that make it all worth it right?

Following Daddy's footsteps already

Here are some fun shots of my adorable nephew Aidan. We decided to do a construction theme for his newborn photos since that is his nursery and since Daddy is an electrician and sports the hard hat and tool belt often! He couldn't be more proud to see the results of our fun! Here is Aidan "riding in style" why not start him out right with a dump truck? My two year old Dawson was especially impressed with Aidan riding in his dump truck!!

Peacefully sleeping...maybe not the most comfortable bed, but surely it has to feel similar to the womb!

10 Cute toes

A cute little bum and button nose!

And look away if you are on the announcement distribution list...we can't totally ruin the fun and surprise! Here's the announcement we designed...

David and Jennifer Wedding Images

I posted engagement photos of this great couple awhile back and though I edited their images and posted them online, I forgot to add some of my favorites to the blog, so here are a few!

These guys were just so much fun and super easy to work with...look how great they look together...

The beautiful bride who was hesitant to do these shots and looks amazing despite it!

A great shot walking in front of the Mesa Arizona Temple, there are so many great spots to photograph at the temple.

Thanks again David and Jen, it was such a pleasure working with you!
COMING THIS WEEK...HOLIDAY CARDS (I promise...they have undergone a few drafts but I promise to post them this week) NEWBORN PHOTOS and MATERNITY PHOTOS!

Perkins Family

Ok Moms...this is for all of you. If you, like so many of us, stress every year to get the "perfect" family photo where all the kids are smiling...real smiles and no one has a bruised face or broken arm, and better yet, everyone is willing to SIT and SMILE...here is proof that IT WILL GET BETTER...just give it time! Meet Erik, Elisha and their family. I have done their photos for years and they are also great friends! It was so nice for them to show up, everyone tucked in and ready to roll, and then we set up we got good shot, after good shot, after good shot...wow, it really can happen for the rest of us, we just need a few years of growth in our children!

Here is Keaton and Braydon...I can't believe I used to babysit Braydon as a baby...he's really aging me!


Ok, so how could I NOT want a little girl so bad...this next shot could ALMOST make me think I could try once more for a sister to this baby I am carrying...but then again, thinking it is one thing, passing it by the husband is entirely different! He'd never go for it...not sure I could sign up for another 5 months of the stomach flu again anyway!

Oh, and don't let all these great images totally fool you...kids WILL be kids!


Thanks Eric, Elisha, Braydon, Kylie, Malerie and Keaton....it was so fun to do your photos again!!

Walsh Family

Here's another family I photographed this past Saturday, the Walsh's. I have been friends with their daughter Rachel for more years than I can even count now, so it was fun to photograph familiar faces.
Here is Rachel with her husband Davey and new baby Sophia. Rachel takes the prize for the longest and most "baby fever" of anyone I know, so it's fun to see her with her own little baby now!

Here's a shot of the original 4kids

it's funny to see all the boys they have since they had only girls for so long! But look at these CUTE BOYS!!!!! First Dallan, bright eyes, happy and a bit unsure of me at first!

Then there is Sam, he reminds me of my oldest Brennan because he has a HUGE smile that he gives away pretty easily...

And this is Eli, Sam's older brother. He is full of energy and has an equally adoring smile...but a little harder to catch since he runs away unlike his brother.

I loved how Dallan really helped his older sisters be happy and smiley for pictures since he was laughing so much himself!

The baby of the family, Becky

And last but not least, the miracle image we took awhile to get, Matt, Melissa and BOTH their boys happy!

Thanks you guys...it was fun!

Meet the Tysicks

Saturday I did photos for a few families getting ready for this fun and exciting season of holiday cards and photos! This is Chad, Elise and 1 yr old Carter! Chad is actually my cousin but we wouldn't know it as they live so far away we only see each other annually for photos or when someone gets married! Luckily there is a wedding coming up, so I should get to see these guys one more time this year =) Chad warned me in advance that little Carter had a mind of his own. I wasn't worried, after two boys and countless shoots of toddlers, I knew we could handle it! Well, he wasn't kidding...this kid had some energy and never cared to sit, stand or even look the direction we needed. He definitely gave my assistant Lindsey and I a work out! Thankfully we pulled out all of our tricks and were still able to get some great shots of him and the family. His parents will be shocked! Here is a cute one of Carter...

What do you do when all your toddler wants to do is RUN AWAY and you need photos...put him on Dad's shoulders of course!! I love this shot!

Here's Carter walking with Mommy, we caught him looking at his Dad and laughing.

Poor Chad and Elise were so tired by the end of our shoot, thankfully Carter took a brief moment for a rest as well, gave us a chance for another great shot!

Halloween Fun

With as much as I heard about Halloween and the constant countdown and overwhelming excitement this year...I am a bit nervous about Christmas! Brennan is definitely really into holidays now and is already asking "is tomorrow Valentines" (which he knows is when our baby sister comes). So...needless to say, the boys had a blast, it was so hard for them to wait for Daddy to get home so they could leave to their cousins to Trick or Treat! Here is Brennan and Dawson in their costumes after waiting over an hour at the door for Daddy who was stuck in traffic forever!!!

We brought the jeep over and the kids took turns driving to trick or treat. This was a big hit for them last year and this year was no exception...we've definitely got a tradition of this on our hands!

Here are cousins Hannah (Snow White) and Ashlyn dressed as a pig who we spent the evening with!

HGTV Junkie

Alright, if you know me, you know that I really enjoy HGTV and other shows on remodeling and staging homes for a better appearance! Many of you also know that many months ago my husband and I took a big risk that we had always talked and dreamed about doing...we decided to take on our own "Flip this House" and 5 months later we were happy to report that we finally completed Phase 1 of who knows how many phases to final completion. It also meant we could finally MOVE IN...a much anticipated step toward our new life! Lots of people have wanted to see the updated photos, but I hadn't posted them as I was trying to get the new office and home set up and look somewhat lived in first. So, here are some of the photos of our before and afters...keep in mind that for now we focused mainly on the interior of the home and plan to have other phases to our remodel after we recover from the intense amount of work we've already done. The home is an older, established neighborhood and the biggest motivator for moving here was the large lot and potential for adding square footage for my business later on. We also like the area and schools much better. Here are the pics of the home before and after!!
This is out front...which I would say actually looks a little better than now. We have torn out lots of this landscape that had died during the past months, but we haven't quite gotten to the point to do a new overhaul of it! We plan to really update the exterior someday with exterior stone and much better landscape.

Here is the kitchen with the previous owner's furniture and all, we REALLY had to get a vision here...lots of wallpaper and dated features!

Now a pic during construction...we took out the little wall, the false ceiling and the old pantry, we also extended the kitchen about 6feet (where the french door is above) to the existing support beam which just cut into our already huge covered patio, so that was ok. Note in the picture we built a corner pantry as well.

Here is the kitchen just as we were moving in...lacking a few lights and now I have decorations, so new images coming someday!! The spot where the old pantry was is the phone center, the fridge stayed in the same place and the corner with the previous stove is now the corner pantry.

Now the master bath...another huge improvement!! Most bathrooms remained untouched except for paint and flooring, we plan to replace the vanities someday. Here is the tub/shower before the remodel...it was a stepdown "font" as I call it and definitely had to go!

So, off with the wallpaper, filled in the "font" increased the size by about a foot and here is the new shower...lacking glass doors which still need to be ordered!

Last but not least...some of you wanted to see some pics of our finishes, we chose everything ourselves and it was stressful not knowing if everything would come together and match and look good, here is the granite counters...

And the new travertine floors turned out AWESOME...

Thibodeaux Family

Here are some recent shots I took of the Thibodeaux Family. Their kids are SO cute and little Lauren was a natural in front of the camera!
Here is the whole family

This is little Conner, he was a little unsure of me but I absolutely loved his "unsure" look.

Look at this gorgeous picture of Lauren!

A cute moment between Connor and Dad...


To view a slideshow of more images click here

Our little school boy...

I realize school did start some time ago, but it took us awhile to get settled and set up this blog, so I really wanted to post the pics of my proud Brennan on his first day of Kindergarten!! He has been talking about going to school for months and his first day brought no nerves for this formerly timid and anxiety ridden child!! He proudly sported his backpack, lunch box and new school clothes and was sure to remind me as we walked him in for his first day that "when the bell rings mom, you have to leave ok."

Despite my constant worrying all day that he would be SO TIRED or SAD from being away for 6 long hours, I picked him up and he quickly jumped into a full report of what child was naughty for the teacher and gave me a list of all the things he had to do in order to stay out of trouble and the principals office! I am thankful he has continued to remember and a couple of months in he has yet to be in trouble at school...phew! Here he is sporting his backpack and lunchbag, both of which are nearly as big as he is!

Dawson sure wanted to stay and sit with his brother at his desk...

Me and my baby...I can't believe he is going to SCHOOL!