A Little Bit Of Everything.

Oh vacation.....

A little bit of airplane travel.....

A little bit of roller coasters...both big-
..and small.

A little bit of swimming....

A little bit of dancing....

A little bit of time taken to pass on family traditions to the younger generation (more explanation later).....

A little bit of bonding between cousins.....both young-

...and old.

A little bit of fishing....

....and a lot of fish! (15 total!)
And of course, a little bit of wrestling and jumping on fluffy hotel beds.

Ah, vacation.

More (much more) on all of this later.

Have a great week!

Room For Two?

I'm up working on a few pictures for some friends of mine- and I thought I'd use this cute picture of Mr. Hudson to help lead into a public congrats to my dear sweet friend Kerri...

You see, there will be another addition to this "baby basket" come May :-)

No doubt the newest addition will be just as dashingly good-looking as this handsome little guy!

And as a side note, aren't' babies and kids that much cuter when put into a basket? Wouldn't that be funny if we did that when taking pictures of adults? I'm giggling to myself just thinking about it :-)

Congratulations again Kerri, we are all praying for a healthy (and quick!) pregnancy!

Nearing The End.

As September has rolled in, the end of summer is quickly nearing. But wait- I live in the desert..nope, no end in sight just yet. So while we are still enjoying (AKA: managing) through the warm summer weather, the promise of fall is fast approaching. I love fall and winter in Scottsdale. The weather is so unbelievably pleasant, and we get to enjoy our favorite family activities like bike rides, playing and eating outside and even just watching the kids play in the yard and cul-de-sac while we lounge in our chairs. Ah yes. Fall will be here soon enough.

So we might as well take advantage of the perfect pool temperature while we can. This morning some of the cousins got together and we swam in the pool and set up a slip n' slide of the kids (and by kids, I am also including David and John). They are so blessed to all grow up together, and its awesome to see how much they really do love each other. Here's a few quick pics of the fun-

More cute pictures are in our Picasa album, so click HERE (it's a big album, so scroll to the bottom to see the most recent pictures)

Oh, and did I mention that Ty pooped on the patio deck?

Yes, you read that right. He pooped. Oh my little boy. What will I do with you?

Future Mrs. Anderson

Its been a busy few days for Tyler! He hung out with his buddy Hudson yesterday, and this morning he got to go to the park with his sweetheart Allie :-) Get used to seeing this face around here, because not only is she incredibly photogenic and sweet as pie, but she's also practically family to us (especially considering that she will one day be an actual 'Anderson'). Allie Grace is a little ray of sunshine, and we just love her to pieces! I'll send you some more Heather, but here are a few cute shots of Miss Allie!

Sweet Bundle of Joy

Yesterday when Ty and I hung out over at Kerri and Hudson's house, we got to double our pleasure by also seeing Alison and her adorable new little man, Fischer. You can just tell that Alison was made for the role of "mom". She is patient, calm and completely in love with her precious son. But who wouldn't be? His bright blue eyes and wrinkled little skin just makes you melt. There's something about the way a newborn feels and smells....so fresh and soft:-) Here's a few pictures of Fischer for you to enjoy. Love you Alison- you're doing awesome!

Tyler's Best Friend (besides Bella)

This morning Tyler and I had the pleasure of a fun play-date and lunch with his Godmother Kerri and his best friend Hudson. Ty had so much fun playing with his little buddy (besides the occasional fights over who got to hold the basketball) and I brought along my camera in hopes of capturing a few precious shots of sweet little Hudson. So here's a little peek Kerri- more to come soon! Love you and thanks for having us over!

Viva la Sur La Table!

A while back I made a few resolutions for myself.

{1} I would learn more creative cooking techniques and recipes for my family.

{2} I would explore my curiosity about photography.

Well, I'm happy to report that I have been dedicated to both! Imagine that! I have been having lots of fun learning about camera functions and technical stuff (ok, minus the night I was so frustrated with this learning process that I almost threw my camera into my computer screen. I'm better now.)

And tonight I had the pleasure of continuing in my efforts to become the domestic goddess I aspire to be, by attending a cooking class at Sur La Table with my friend Heather! Being that it was our first time taking a cooking class, we pretty much realized that we have been doing everything wrong all these years. Even the way I held my knife was wrong. Poor Chef Carol kept shaking her head and smiling at us. I think we amused her. But we set our minds to the recipes we were making, and they turned out darn good if I do say so myself!

Of course Heather shows us how to look good while sauteing shrimp.

And here was her final result. It was divine. Probably one of my favorites of the night. My dish was roasted garlic chicken with tomato and pear chutney.

That's right. I made a chutney.

Hats off to Bri!! Chef's hat that is! I may have needed a little instruction from Chef Carol about the proper consistency of my chutney...but I am no longer afraid to make things that look intimidating in the recipe description.

Voila! Final presentation! We also enjoyed a delicious polenta dish, pan seared salmon with orange and fennel salad and white bean turkey chili. And as an added bonus, I got to spend the evening laughing and cooking with a good friend.

And for the record, she thought my chutney was the best. :-)

**{more pictures to come later in picasa, check back later for a link! }**

New Hobby...New Fun....New Frustration.

If there is one thing I loooove to do- it is taking pictures of our kids. I have volumes of albums, each with way too many pictures..but I treasure every one of them. I personally love going through old pictures of my childhood (and I love looking at John's pictures..especially his hair back then!) so I know I'll never regret taking too many pictures. There is no such thing as too many. So John decided to truly spoil me with a little piece of heaven on my birthday by giving me a new camera! Not just any camera, a very fancy one that makes me feel so grown-up and professional :-)
But not so fast. If I really felt professional, then that would mean I feel like I know what I'm doing- or that I feel confident in my computer/photoshop skills...and it would especially mean that I could understand every confusing mumbo-jumbo word in my new camera's user manual. But I don't. I have the excitement, eagerness and passion....but it's like staring at a giant wall knowing that I really want to get over the wall....I just don't know how. Better yet- I feel defeated looking at how huge and intimidating the wall appears.

And complicating the situation is my *need* for organization. I can't focus on enjoying my new hobby when the office is a mess- when papers aren't filed and when the computer's memory is so clogged up that it can't handle the picture files. I am craving a little sanctuary just for me. A calm, soothing place where I can go to get away from the hectic house and noise, turn on music and enjoy a little time playing with pictures. A place where I have everything organized and the desk is clean and inviting me to relax.

But for now, I'll take a little piece of time here and there. It may be a while before I can create the office of my dreams, so I'm trying to put my big long wish-list on the back burner so that I can enjoy little moments of pleasure like the intense monsoon we had the other day...Bella just had to run out and feel the pouring rain. And I, of course, had to take a picture of it :-)

It's hard to see the rain pouring on her, but it's not hard to see the look of joy on her face! And today she let me play around with her as I practiced with the new camera...
And it just wouldn't be complete without my little man posing in a few pictures

And now, with kids all tucked into bed, I'm off to go clean my terribly messy house and make a weekly meal-plan for grocery shopping tomorrow.

No rest for the weary :-)

People Who Live In Cardboard Houses...

Isn't it amazing that you could spend a fortune spoiling your kids with the biggest, flashiest new toy...and all they really end up playing with is the box it came in?? Flash forward to this new snazzy idea....a giant cardboard house. Nothing bright or colorful- just white cardboard. Nothing that makes noises or flashes bright lights- just a simple cardboard house. It pops open, sets up easily- and voila! Instant entertainment! Aunt Katherine brought the kids this cardboard house the other day, so we set it up in the playroom and they have been in heaven ever since. They draw on it, pretend to have picnics in it, play tag and hide and go seek around it, I even heard Bella pretending to be the teacher and play "school" with Tyler in it. Why didn't I think of this idea? Somewhere out there are a million moms who are shaking their heads wondering why we never came up with just a simple yet brilliant idea!

The cardboard house could actually be somewhat of a metaphor for real life. It just goes to show that it doesn't really need to be bright and flashy to be enjoyed....sometimes the real joy comes in creating the cardboard house into what you imagine it to be. It may look like just a plain white cardboard house to others- but to them, it's an absolute treasure :-)

Turbo-Time

Again, I introduce you to my fabulous friend Amanda. She is what I call the "Do-It-All-Superwoman" of our group. Her and her husband own and run their own business, she also works part-time for her parents' company, going to school to complete her Masters in Counseling, works as an intern and see her own clients, sings in church choir, participates in our women's' bible study group and is always a strong presence at any of our social get-togethers and fun girls' nights. On top of it all, she is now a certified instructor for a high-intensity workout called Turbo! She teaches her own classes and looks darn good doing it :-) She graciously let me use her as a guinea pig and practice some camera skills while I took some pictures for her Turbo web page she is starting. So for you girls who need a little cardio variety (and a very reasonable price!!) try out Amanda's Turbo class, and visit her web page here.

Welcome Fischer

I had the privilege yesterday of meeting the newest addition to our pseudo-family, Fischer Charles Robinson. He is baby perfection from head to toe- and Alison is already coming into her new role as "mom" just as fabulous as ever. It's such a blessing to experience these milestones together, and we all can't wait to watch him grow and develop into his own little man! Congratulations Alison and Blake, we are just bursting with excitement for you!

My Little Sister

Beautiful, right?! Last night Emily was a good sport and let me take her out exploring, and practice taking pictures. We ventured into areas that I'm sure had all sorts of creepy crawlers, but we had fun doing it, and I got some great shots of my little sister! She generally hates having her picture taken, but I convinced her to just let me try. I'm having fun learning about pictures and photoshop, but it's a super overwhelming new hobby. Definitely something I'm a little slower at. But armed with some patience and a gorgeous practice model- I'm having fun with it!

The Tallest Flower Girl You've Ever Seen.

Picture this:

We practiced with her, bribed her, told her what an important job she had....but when those church doors opened, and over 200 people turned around in their pews to see Bella stand there at the back of the church, the fear set in.

"I don't want to do it!" she quietly whined, and promptly found me hiding behind the church doors and clung to my leg. Of course everyone watching was smiling and quietly giggling, but all eyes were still on her- and the pressure was on. I tried my best to look graceful and calm as I attempted to peel Bella off my leg and shoo her down the isle. For those of you who know my daughter well, you know that she is a complete ham and loves to perform little shows and songs for us at home. She even waits behind the hallway and makes us introduce her before she comes out. But when people are watching her, especially strangers, she clams up and you can see the look of terror in her big brown eyes.

Thank goodness for my quick-thinking husband. He scooped up Bella and proceeded to walk down the aisle with her, and the congregation continued to giggle. And I suppose since he's already walking her down, he figures- why not finish the job? So he held Bella and her flower basket in one arm, and used his other arm to gently throw the petals along the isle as he made his way to the bottom. The giggles were now full-out laughs. Everyone appreciated his sense of humor, and the job as "flower girl" had now been passed on. I was relieved that it was over, and Isabella was calm and happy in her dad's arms. Everyone wins.

My mom was quick enough to snap a picture as John walked by, so this is the only evidence I have of my 6'8" flower girl. Except of course the wedding video....now that will live in infamy forever :-)

More pictures of the wedding in our Picasa web albums, just click HERE