Could This Week Get Any Better?

In some ways I think I'm going to jinx myself by writing this... But I don't care, I want to shout it from the roof tops THIS HAS BEEN AN AMAZING WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have had five successful photo shoots, went hiking with Hannah and Noah, found out I'm going to have another beautiful baby GIRL, and met one of my favorite authors Nancy Turner. Does it get better?! YES! Our neighbors who have been joining us for FHE, are taking the discussions from the missionaries, coming to church on Sunday, and came to enrichment with me last night. I also ordered those super cute boots I posted about, found the kids Christmas outfits (on sale) and am loving my maternity jeans(which by the way I'm considering making a permanent fixture in my wardrobe), belly bands are awesome.

Jared ran in the Stake 5k with Noah on Saturday. WAY TO GO BOYS!!

Fun Fall Photo Shoots

My super cute helpers. They threw the leaves in the air while I shot pictures, and helped get the kiddos to smile and laugh. We went on a short nature hike later with friends that joined us after the shoot. Madera Canyon is magical right now. To bad they're not in coordinating outfits...

Our sweet baby girl....20 weeks!!! I scheduled an early appointment so Hannah and Noah could come. They thought it was pretty neat to see the baby, heart, brain, spine and girly parts... Noah was slightly disappointed. Hannah was thrilled. She's ready to get her baby girl clothes out of her baby doll drawer. I balled on the way home telling them how lucky this baby was to have them as her brother and sister. Noah asked Hannah-"Is mom crying?..." Hannah responded with a "Yep, she's just feeling a little emotional ." Thanks for understanding Hannah.





Me and Nancy....

My friend arranged for Nancy Turner to come speak at the book club. I had the pleasure of meeting her, having her sign my used trade copy, and listening to her tell stories about her family, life, and the ups and down of getting published. It was so great...

Pretty great week, and it's not over yet.

Tired, Ornery, and Blissfully Happy,

That's how I'm feeling right now. I'm a little tired, and ornery enough to say what's on my mind to whomever is present stranger, friend, acquaintance, teacher-it doesn't really matter...(There is a certain feeling of liberation, and discomfort in this.. Want a glaringly honest answer about something-give me a call...Wait-please don't...

But I also feel very happy. Blissfully so.

The problem with blogging is that it has somewhat taken over journaling for me. So when I get behind a few days my mood is sometimes so different I can't really capture the emotions I felt towards the events past. But I will try.

Last week went by so fast-It began with Hannah coming down with some freak bug that caused her a nights worth of vomiting and a days worth of boredom. I spent most of the week making last minute preparations for out ward Halloween party, filled in the gaps with photo shoots, school projects and emotional realizations that my little girl was getting baptized. Friday came and I...

Okay Friday was a weird day.

I volunteer at the kids school a couple times a month teaching an art history lesson. This time around we explored Picasso. The kids loved the slide show-had fun learning about cubism and totally freaked out gluing their profile face drawing to their whole face drawing. Mainly the girls had the problem. The horror of their monstrous creations were apparently to much to bear. I really should have known better after the pop art incident last year...(a little girl who painted a photo sketch of herself in green called herself ugly and began to sob uncontrollably.) Oh well, we'll learn Monet next time and paint pretty water color lily pads.

I got home at 2:00 and had a million phone calls about the ward party to make and messages waiting for me. I was so distracted on the phone that I completely forgot to take Hannah to her piano lesson until 4:30pm an hour and a half after the fact. That evening Hannah and I made a cheesecake together and prepared for her special day. I felt pretty accomplished getting all the weekend chores done that night, and awoke the next morning full of energy.

We had a wonderful morning together. I began preparations for a family luncheon. (The bread and cake turned out great) My Alfredo- not so great despite the three packages of cream cheese, 1/2 lb of butter and package of Parmesan cheese I used for the sauce) Oh well... We had such a nice time visiting with everyone and I know it made Hannah feel so special. She told me it felt like her birthday but even better.

Her baptism was beautiful. It's one of those moments that I will remember always-I hope she does too. I feel so grateful for the gospel, for the atonement. She is so beautiful-and now she is an achievement day girl. She is very excited about that.

The ward Halloween party was SO FUN! Everything went smoothly, and everyone had a great time. No one broke any limbs, the police weren't called, and we only had one minor concussion and that was at the end of the night. The Bishopric didn't catch pneumonia from being in the dunk tank all evening. All is well, all is well.

I'm ready to refocus my energy. I feel like I've been so focused on preparing for upcoming events, and lots of photo shoots, that my domestic enjoyments have fallen way to the wayside. We have plenty of food storage but no real groceries- does that make sense? Hannah was thrilled to watch me sew her button back on her jammies and can't wait for another baking lesson. That is where my heart is right now. I have all these home projects that need to get done too. Every time someone says they have recommended my photography services to a friend I feel both dread and honored. Jared says embrace it- I'm not sure I want to. I enjoy it- I really do. I love it! I love it more when I'm doing it for service or for the love it, rather than getting paid. I love shooting weddings, receptions and children. I think I need to maybe only do two shoots a month rather than two a week. I rescheduled three of my shoots this week-and am so glad I did. Speaking of pictures here are the highlights from our week.

Sweet Gabriel was born on Monday Oct. 20th to my brother Sean and his wife Amy. This picture is from our photo shoot this past Tuesday.

Hannah's Baptism

The ward Halloween party

My nephew Zane- ARG!!!

PS- I love this song...

Bruises by Chairlift

Ahhh Mexico...

I love our trips to Rocky Point. In fact I have based my entire claim to being a beach person on my experiences there and have found that in reality I'm a Las Conchas beach person. This trip was longer than past trips and yet not long enough for me. Next year we're aiming for a week.

This year we revisited old traditions and had a handful of wonderful new experiences. We had The Hillman's, and Jareds parents with us, and it was beyond neat to have Maryn fresh from her mission sport her Spanish fluency. She got such a warm reception. In fact after the Hillman's left we revisited one of the restaurants we had patroned before with them and was playfully asked asked where was the Mexican girl?

Rocky Point changes every year- It's starting to be compared to places like Cancun, and while my heart sinks with every new condo high rise I'm also grateful for the boost in the local economy. During breakfast on our way out of town our waiter Benny shared with us a little of his background that I found interesting. He moved to Chicago from Veracruz when he was in middle school. He learned English finished high school and returned to Mexico and joined the Mexican Navy for seven years and was eventually stationed in Rocky Point. While in the Navy he was a diver certified in underwater welding. (He hates the water now-and has no desire to dive for recreation). He mentioned the difficulties the Navy faced trying to fight the Mexican Mafia. He and his wife were happy in Rocky Point where there is plenty of work and opportunity to raise a family. He proudly displayed pictures of his three year old daughter on his PDA phone and expressed his excitement about all the growth and progress of the area. He loved the summer months because he meets tourists from all over the world who are discovering the area. It was at that point I felt ashamed of my selfish yearning for days of old when Rocky Point was exclusively Arizona's beach.

Rather than go on and on about each experience I'll show you the highlights through pictures.

Kelly cooked up the yummy shrimp we bought.

Kelsey's Coach purse gonga!Clam Digging!Sand Dollars too...I caught a crab! and it caught me...Banana Boat!!

Family Time

September was a long month. We learned that when submitting Jared's availability to work Urgent Care to give specific dates rather than "options". We learned this because when we put down all four Saturday's in September as "available", rather than picking two of the four, he was scheduled for all four... A few good things came out of this though: We began early morning bike rides on Thursdays to get in extra family time,

we now have extra money for fun stuff planned in October, and just because we don't have something pressing planned, that doesn't mean we're available-down time is nice too. October is off to a fabulous start. Hannah turned eight on the first and it's been on going fun fun fun. Her birthday wasn't to eventful- cupcakes for the class, dinner at her favorite restaurant and the new magic tree house book/American Girl paper doll clothes designer kit. Friday we went to the school carnival which was really fun.

Saturday we slept in, ate cinnamon rolls and watched conference together. It was relaxing and recharging at the same time. I think one of my favorite moments was when the new temples were announced. After the announcement of the Rome Italy temple, their was a quiet pause then a great cheer, just as Jared and I said in unison "WOW!"

Saturday afternoon we headed to my parents where we had a dinner to celebrate Hannah's Birthday. Then we went to the jet car races that evening with them. (Jared took the first three pics-aren't they cool)

We have thoroughly enjoyed conference today. BYU TV is fun to get also-in fact right now a documentary on Lehi's family is on. Time to go! Yea for October!!!!!!!!!!!