Summer Vacation

As my fellow bloggers continually put my blogging turn around time to shame, I suppose I better finally get all these vacation photos on here! We had a fabulous time on our trip to San Diego, it was done in typical Garbett fashion which means...busy, busy, busy! Here goes...

Friday... leave around 4pm, hours later than planned! What do you do for entertainment when you are in the middle of no where with kids that are SOOOOOO DONE with the car and ready to get out? Put their animals in time out of course!!

The boys were cracking up at the "animal play" we had and it took up a good 30 minutes of time. After stopping for dinner, nursing, baby blowout, a re-check of the stroller on top of the car and an A/C quick fix, we finally arrived around midnight to our hotel in La Jolla!

Saturday...Wedding day, we were up at 6 to get everyone dressed and ready and had to shoot first thing at 8am. Thankfully we were able to take the kids to Justin and Andrea, our wonderful friends in San Diego. They were gracious to add our three to their three kids and my boys had a BLAST! Dawson especially loved Andrea, she is so sweet and just cuddled and bonded with him while we were gone, Thanks Andrea...and Justin!!!

Andrea's such a nice mommy, she made them all snow cones!

Sunday...A double excursion day, San Diego Zoo AND Sea World...wow what a tiring day! The bears were one of my favorite exhibits...
Dawson mesmerized by something...
Other noteworthy zoo adventures...riding the sky ride, we even got Brennan on this thing and they LOVED it! And seeing at LEAST 5 different animals pee, including the rhino who then drank from the pee soaked waters...yucky!

Next up...Sea World! I have very few pics from here...we mostly went to the night shows which I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone heading that way, night shows are way more fun than day ones and LOTS less hot!

Emery was a trooper for the constant "on the go" we did for days!Monday was spent at the beach playing in the sand and water...We were underprepared for sand castle building but made do with the few buckets we had...
Tuesday we ventured to LegoLand...the perfect little theme park for little tiny persons! It was great, very mild rides and not crowded. They could have allowed me to take Emery on some things like Disneyland has done...some of the rides are like sitting in a golf cart going 2mph but they won't let you take babies. We went on the dragon roller coaster much to Brennan's dismay...he cried and never wanted to do it again, Dawson went on with Daddy after us and wanted to go again he loved it so much!
Here's Emery crashed in the hotel getting away with her favorite past time that I continue to discourage!

Of course like any of our vacations we did Reuben's favorite thing...an attempt at nice photos of the kids...thank hon for suffering once again! We drove the coast of La Jolla and found this beach to stop and take pics, Emery was slightly more cooperative which helped but I still didn't get the perfect shot of all three that I have continually worked for!

I'd like to think these two will always be best friends...here's hoping!

Brennan 6 years old...

Dawson 3 years old...

Emery 6 months old...

Who says these two look alike...I hardly see what you are all talking about!

more cute pics...

Good times!

August 11th...a busy day around here

As we come to the close of the SECOND week of school I realize how much I suck at being on top of my blogging! So, here's goes...

August 11th...Reuben's birthday...I will spare him more embarassment BUT we did have a great day since it was also Brennan's first day of school. I made bagel sandwiches for breakfast and served them up on the Special plate for Brennan for his first day of school, he was so proud, but was worried that Daddy wasn't getting it, I assured him Daddy would be ok (he got his turn at dinner time)!

We headed off to the LONG walk to school...one block! Here's Brennan covering his eyes from the sun...both my boys do this religously when they walk outside, they have such sensitive eyes!

We got a quick shot of Brennan with his new FIRST GRADE teacher and of him at his desk(front row works for me, can't get in trouble there right?)...
then a quick shot of brothers before we had to say goodbye...Dawson did NOT want his brother to stay at school, it was very cute.

Then we left with Dawson on Daddy's shoulder crying. We rounded the corner to the kindergarten area and there was this little girl holding on to the gate for dear life screaming "Daddy, Daddy" with all of her might, tears just streaming down her face and on my side of the fence, her dad was there, in his somewhat macho state doing all he could to not lose it himself...he called out to her, "baby, baby, I know, you'll be ok" and then he tried to get out of sight when he started to lose it and of course, I started crying...it IS so emotional and hard for these little ones...ugh, it broke my heart! I know the teacher and I knew the little girl would be ok and she was when I saw her later that day laughing at the end of school, even still, it just reminded me how little and dependent our babies still are! I am SO glad Brennan doesnt have a hard time letting us go, it's going to be killer if our other two do...makes it so much harder to leave them.

Dawson soon had me smiling in his cranky state as he tried to "hit" me and the camera on the walk home for taking his picture! He was cranky!

It didn't last long though...it was his friend Preston's birthday on August 11th too so we got to go to Chuck E Cheese for a mini party and playtime, he LOVES it there and forgot all abot the sad events of leaving his brother that morning!

All in all, the day was SO exhuasting, cleaning and cooking AND even BAKING (reuben's favorite cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip), a surprise visit from family, laundry etc!! Once dinner was cleaned up and the kids were in bed...I was INCREDIBLY exhausted, I had done THREE full load and unloading of the dishwasher and washed two sinkfuls of pots and pans from that day and weekend...it helped me to remember why I HATE cooking...is it really worth the work for the 10 minutes of consumption??? At any rate, I hope my two special boys felt special for their day...I'll get some pics of what I got Reuben for his birthday on here soon...

9 years and counting...

Ths past week I celebrated my 9th anniversary, I really can't believe it's been this long, I guess we are getting old! Here's the ONLY pics I could find of us that were taken 2 years ago...oops, you'd think we'd know a photographer! I'm ok with it, until I cross of #69 on my 101 list I'm happy to stay away from the camera.I'm definitely more in love with Reuben now than 9 years ago, it's kind of hard to believe that's possible, cuz I was pretty love struck! He is seriously the most loving, gentle, giving and caring man I know and I feel so blessed to have him! He's quite thoughtful and romantic when he wants to be...although he used to work more at this part pre-marriage =) He graciously accepts gourmet meals like $5 pizza he doesn't like the taste of, or pancakes for dinner he also can't stand; there's also the frequent nights where he gets to cook for us after a day of work, but he never complains. He supports me in my business despite the hours I spend in my office or at conferences away from our family. He always supports girls night and girls trips, he knows I need to get away and has never held me back from the opportunity to spend time with my girls!! He lets me take my Sunday naps when the opportunity is there, usually staying up with one or two children so I can sleep....oh I love Sunday naps!! He's always changed diapers and dealt with all three of our kids spit up and since they've all had reflux , there's been a lot of upchuck! He shares the responsibitility of middle of the night wake ups with the kids, especially the older ones cuz I take FOREVER to fall back to sleep if I have to completely wake up, to handle a middle of the night bad dream etc. Many of nights he has sat outside on the patio or in a hot steaming bathroom holding one of our boys with their recurrent croup attacks; he even does fussy newborns in the night if I need a break!! He's always helping me get out the door if he's home...packing up things, buckling kids or getting my camera equipment in the car; usually I don't even have to ask!! He'll watch a chick flick with me even though I won't watch a sci-fi or action packed movie with him; he even watched gymnastics on the Olympics with me this week (I'm sure he's so glad I am telling you this!). I never have to ask permission to buy something I have deemed necessary to buy, and in girl world this means another pair of jeans or cute shoes (sometimes these things are necessities) he trusts my judgement and frugal nature...thanks hon!
In 9 years of marriage this is what I've learned about him...
1. He hates dishes in the left side of the sink, they all need to congregate to the right...I consistently break this rule...

2. He has a lot of rules about clothes like work shirts to have not too many stripes or too thin of stripes...or it can't have too much of a sheen to it or be just slightly off in color! He also doesn't like his pants too tight on the waist even when I insist his butt looks better in the more "fitted" pair!

3. He can't stand to sit around on the weekend thus "wasting it away" I so wish I had this disease with him, he is ultra productive, in fact today he actually said "when the family goes down for a nap on Sunday, I am like "sweet, I can do whatever I want" and then he goes outside to fix a sprinkler head in the 110 degree weather, what the heck, who does that?

4. He doesn't like breakfast, unless you count diet coke.

5. He doesn't like bags or things cluttering the console when we drive, this really frustrates him.

6. He has only ONE speed to get ready, doesn't matter if we are late or early or overslept or in a hurry, he has ONE speed and frankly I think he could step it up a bit...

7. He hates ordering fast food, recently we were ordering and the guy had it wrong THREE times each time Reuben repeated it right (in the employees defense, there was a lot of background noise and Reuben could have spoken louder), after the third time he just looked at me and said in all seriousness... "I'm done, no, I'm not answering him anymore." We sat arguing over this at the drive thru speaker while the man waited for Reuben to repeat it one last time...

8. He often takes a long time to respond to even simple thoughts or questions, sometimes I think he's not listening or ignoring me, but really he's just still thinking!! I actually have to exercise patience with this at times as he really does take longer than most would to respond and in an intense conversation this gets frustrating! The good side of this is he is always well worded and expresses himself very well!
9. He definitely does not enjoy the attention or outward display of appreciation I put on this blog...I'll probably be in trouble for this one!

10. He's seriously the most loving and caring person, he'd do anything for anyone. I always knew this, it was something that attracted me to him in the beginning, but I suppose I didn't realize the magnitude of his compassion and love for others! Many of times he's been a sounding board for our families in their times of stress, most of which flock to him and his personality. He's a great listener and is very empathetic to others!

Happy Anniversary Baby Love, I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life with you, you're my favorite!!!

My little Monkey

My little munchkin whom I've nicknamed "monkey" is 6 months old today! Wow, this is going by way faster than I want it too! She's such a fun little girl yet I'm also just WAITING for some personality to emerge from her little easygoing self! She is however a stinker consistently when it's time for a photo shoot and one of the RULES for coming to our family is to LOVE to have your picture taken. She seemed to have that down the first month, but she certainly isn't cooperative with me since then. I STRUGGLE and am lucky when I pull of ONE good shot out of so many! Here's a good shot I got of her a couple of months ago, we had this made into a canvas to add to our wall with the boys photos, I just LOVE IT!

She pretty much cried before and after these shots, actually the whole shoot, I just happened to grab that shot with her cute little painted toes together and loved her non smiling...non crying face! This next one daddy was holding her up and she was relatively happy as in, not screaming!
This is what I usually get out of her...and no this water isn't freezing cold...

She's also notorious for "faces" like the tongue out or squinty eyes...I have LOTS of photos like these...

Once in awhile though I get lucky and catch my cute little girl with a smile...here's a recent one at the beach...

Yes you can say it...everyone does...she is a MOLD of our boys, just with a bow! Poor girl, she just gets to be her brother's twin...looking at them I suppose that's not too bad, they are pretty cute boys! Well her big 6 month accomplishments are few and frankly, if it's any insight into her personality being mild, I'll take it! She's my weakest baby of the 3! She STILL doesn't stand strongly on her legs and only likes tummy time for awhile then gives up and puts her head down. She falls forward in her bumbo chair...she's just too tired to sit all the way up for too long! She's finally getting the hang of eating and loves her cereal and food, but she's only rolled over ONCE...yes only ONCE (tummy to back) and doesn't even come close to sitting up yet! She's even hard to get laughing and I've really only heard her laugh a good chuckle a few times! Totally opposite my boys! She's just content to be...and I hope that means she's just going to be laid back! So far she seems to still be in the range of learning and the age range for taking on these new motor skills, so while I do worry about it, I've tried not to stress since "every baby develops at their own pace" as the doc's tell you! She sure loves her mommy though, she stares at me from afar and says "mama" the ONLY thing she's taken on early saying it at 4 months old! I definitely think its about time that one of our kids thinks I am the greatest since Daddy is worshipped so much it's definitely my turn =)

Two's better than one!!

What can be better than one baby girl? Of course...TWO! I love these SUPER SWEET little girls and am so excited I was able to photograph them when they were just 6 days old! They were AMAZING for us, cuddly, pliable and oh so snuggly. Here's some of my favorite shots...Mom and Dad, Brian and Ginger are friends of mine as I've done their wedding and other sessions for their family over the years. I'm so grateful they had me take these photos of such a precious time in their life with these sweet babies...I LOVE this shot of them and the babes.

Ginger's sister is my good friend, Amber. She used to assist me on shoots once in awhile and I just love her to pieces! Unfortunately, Amber and her husband Matt just had to move out of state right after the babies were born, so she has to enjoy them through pictures...hopefully one of these will tide her over through her homesickness! Miss you Amber! I'm a sucker for the black and whites...and look at those little pouty faces!
Night night sweet girls, thanks for being such good models!
You can view a slideshow of these images if you click on this link. (it might take a few minutes to load).

Cody, Katie and Little Miss Riley

I was privileged to photograph this cute family and have been dying to share their photos here...but they were at the end of a super LONG shooting spree and I am finally able to get their photos on here.

Riley had just turned 6 months and was SO sweet to photograph in the blazing heat at near bedtime for her! She has the most beautiful, big, blue eyes that just melt me, mom and dad better watch out when she's a teenager!

I absolutely LOVED this little pettiskirt she wore, it was so fun to have in the pics but it made is so hard to choose a favorite image in it, so I had to show a few!

Then there are those "baby legs" that I swear were made for photo sessions, not warming babies legs. =)

And of course you can't resist the real "baby legs" on this girl, I love chubby baby thighs, why can't that stay cute with age? Cody and Katie ordered a great array of images for a new wall gallery in their home, I can't WAIT to get the images back for it! Click here to see more images from this session.

In his Father's arms again...

**If you already saw this, I added info for a memorial fund below as someone had requested a way to donate to the family! Thanks!**


If you have a few minutes, I encourage you to watch this sweet video of a precious baby boy whose life was just too short. I had the wonderful, yet sad, opportunity to do another memorial video for an acquaintance that tragically lost their baby who'd just turn 1 year old a few weeks before. It's always hard to do these projects, but yet, it's such a rewarding experience as well. I know so many people want to "help" in times like these and I am grateful that there is a little something I can do that might "help" in a small way to alleviate some of the hurt and focus on the memory and life of little Daxton.
His parents and family are a true inspiration, I've read some posts on their blog and am AMAZED and inspired by their faith and conviction at such a trying time! The things they've written and insight they have given, show me how truly special they are and how blessed Daxton and his sisters are to have them as parents.

Most of us can't do much of anything to help this family, however, we can be sure not to let Daxton's short life be in vain. What a gift for his death to inspire all of us to live better, to be better, to love our kids, our friends and our families more and to not take even one day for granted! So take a few minutes (about 12) to sit back, turn up the volume, grab some tissues and be inspired! And maybe say a little prayer for the Kunz family and any other families who are affected by loss right now, that they may be comforted and we may be inspired through their loss. Doug, Brittany and family...my prayers remain with you! CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO (By the way, the video does take a few minutes to load so just leave the window open a bit and it should load. It is a quicktime file so you may have to download a free version of quicktime if you don't have it in order to play it).

UPDATE...I forgot I wanted to put on this post the info for the Daxton Douglas Kunz Memorial Fund. It's set up through Wells Fargo you can call 1-800- 869-3557 the account number is 9612719972.

Blog Slacker...

I know, it's been a bad month to keep up with the new posts for my blog! SO...I just returned from a wedding in San Diego and we stayed after for a much needed vacation with just my hubby and kids! It was great, I will be showing off pics soon! In the meantime this week look forward to lots of updates from recent clients I have finally finished up including newborn photos, family photos, vacation updates and wedding images from San Diego...so there...now I put it out there and am therefore committed to updating more this week =)

Thanks for stopping by even when I have posts that sit for a week or more!