Friend photo shoot and Family photo shoot

I have been needing to write this blog for awhile. I decided to combine two photo shoots as of recent.

The first was with one of my best friends, Rachel.
We had realized that despite our year + of friendship, we didn't have any pictures of us together.

We had the talented Laurie Morrill take these for us at one of the coolest places I think I have seen.

I loved being here having one of my last colorado springs moments with my dear friend.

If I could sum up Rachel's and my friendship in one word it would be: honest. I have never felt like I had to be something else around Rachel. She has always accepted me for who I am, the good and bad. Honesty is one of Rachel's many glimmering attributes. I don't think she has a dishonest bone in her little body. She has always been honest with anything I have needed to hear, like my video game addictions, sending me conference talks that are exactly what I'm going through and even bringing me to realize the importance of my relationship with my children.

Though Rachel may be younger than me, I look up to her so much. In such a way that I could even put it as, "When I grow up, I want to be like Rachel."

She is spectacular in every sense of the word.

I have become a better person, daughter of God, mother and friend by knowing Rachel.

She has encouraged and been the greatest example to me with honesty.

I cherish these kinds of friendships that I have been so blessed to find. Ones where I am loved, despite my weakness. My crazy thoughts are accounted for, even when they consist of fears of animals, worries of not running far enough, or even the occasional thoughts on zombies. ;) Thankyou Rachel, for being ones of these honest and supportive friends.

After this photo shoot, the awesome artwork kept running through my mind. So when Larry asked where we should have our family pictures taken I knew just the place...

What I totally love is that now I have two fun memories of this random graffitied shed.






One with Rachel and me, on a beautiful windy day...

...and the other with my little family, on a cold rainy day. The best part about this next photo shoot? (aside from the fact that we are doing something fun as a family) We got to see a guy walking around half naked in the cold rain...and half naked from the waist down rather than the waist up. At least his priorities were straight.

Thank goodness he didn't decide to creep into our pics.

I never could understand what people meant when they said, "I've learned so much from my kids", until Larry and I had some of our own.

We have some of the most sweetest, daring, happy, intelligent, crazy and at times tiring, screaming and occasionally annoying kids on this whole planet. Whether I'm in bed trying to sleep, upset and trying hard to be in a bad mood, or going to the loo I have one of these funny little creatures glued to my side.

What an ironic cycle life really is. I remember my exasperated mom threatening me, "I hope one day you have a child just like you!" Who knew that it would be two rather than just one kid?

In all seriousness I have learned alot from my kids. Edana is quick to remind me to say "I'm sorry" when I have done something wrong and she will make sure to even check up on me, that I have done my apologies and feel better after. She has taught me what the pure love and faith in Christ and Heavenly Father is. So many prayers have been said for safety from wolves, upset tummies and most recent, a new toothbrush because the other fell in the toilet. She has so much faith and knows that Heavenly Father can hear her.

And watching how quickly Eddie can learn how to chew, play, talk, crawl and trust others is a very humbling thing to witness.

And to wake up every morning to my handsome Larry

and snuggle up on the couch to watch our favorite show is my most favorite moments that I have in this life. It may not be exciting but it's his and my moment.Well, enough of my tangents. Enjoy the pics.

And just to end our photo shoot...a lovely shot of one of Edana's many faces. Where she got the awesome ability to contort her face into so many emotions?

I have no idea.

We are alive!!

I haven’t forgotten this blog. Really. It is frequently in the back of my mind. I’ve even taken pictures for it and have come up with clever blogs in my head, but when it came down to sitting here at the computer and taking the time, I had no real motivation.

I debated whether I should back track all my pictures or not, but have decided to just say where we are today and as I do my best to keep this updated, I’ll add some pictures of the past.

We have a four year old. It has been official since April 1st but it still hits Larry and I in waves of sentiment. Our beautiful baby girl is definitely not a baby anymore. Far from it, actually.

Her views of life are becoming more solidified rather than mere questions. Such as, she knows that the Easter bunny is not real, despite Mommy’s insistence that a giant bunny really did hop into our house and left her all of her goodies, yet she also has figured out that all of the people in the scriptures really did exist. It has been so fun to watch this little girl blossom into someone so unique. She gets very intense and serious with her works of art and writing letters to her neighborhood friend, Abigail. She has an incredible memory of books we have read, people she had met a couple of years ago, to even the places we drive and walk to. One of my current favorite things that Edana and I do together is read. We have been reading Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland at night together and she is slowly gaining a love of listening to books and asks questions of words she will see day to day since we have been reading together.

Our little Eddie is now 7 months old and is so close to crawling! His smiley face brings so much happiness into our family’s life. No matter what mood I am in, I cannot resist laughing at his jabbering and cute belly-flopping to whatever may catch his eye.He is so in love and looks up to his big sister.One of the most beautiful things that I have witnessed is the simple moments of my children laughing together. It may be over the fact that Edana has stuck something sticky on Eddie’s head, but when her brother and her crack up over it together, it is wonderful.

Larry is almost done with this semester. My, what a roller coaster it has been! Between some stressful schoolwork overload and amazing moments for him, like becoming president of the zoology club at his school, he continues to say, “I’m almost done”.Larry has yet again gone gator wrestling this year, and even managed to talk some friends into going with him. He is constantly looking for a new adventure to go on and LOVES it when he finds one his family can join him in.
Recently we have gone and watched as he explored a bobcat’s cave, we drove into the mountains on a whim and found our own cave to walk through, he and I went on our first mountain bike excursion together and he took our kids out to a small stream nearby and showed them all of the amazing life that grows there. I love his enthusiasm for life. I love watching this handsome man being our kids tour guide to all things living. I love how much I learn from him everyday. I am so lucky.

Now for me. My happiest moments this year have really just been the times we have spent as a family. Despite some small bumps earlier this year with my health, I have come to find this past while to be an amazing time for our family. My recent endeavors have been finding what will be best for my children’s education, planning our small reptile business, trying to learn Spanish, and getting my body back in shape. I am so excited for what our future is going to bring.