For the Beauty of the Earth

While we were on our June camp out I took the time to try some landscape photography. I tried out the filters that my sister Diane gave to me and a few different settings on my camera, here are a few of my favorites. They are mostly un-touched.

Strawberry Jam

I got my hads on these beauties...

And made some jam out of them...now we will get to use them all year long!

How much do you love books?

Matt's parents kept some books that were his when he was little and gave them to us when Bailee was just a baby. We put them up for a few years, until we thought the was old enough to take care of them properly. They have be down for a year or so now and Bailee loves them! They are often her choice for her bed time story. One night I went in to check on her before I went to bed and found this sweet sight...
Baille sound asleep with her book draped over her and tucked under one arm as if it were a blanket. I love that she loves books, so much so that she will fall asleep with them close to her heart.

Trying to learn to Ride

Bailee decided one day that she wanted to learn to ride her bike without training wheels. She gave it a good effort for about ten minutes, she was doing well and then got a little scared. I think that next summer with a little growth and a little more confidence, she will have it for sure!

Father's Day 2010

So if you know anything about Woodbadge-ers, you know that they are proud of their patrol critter. Matt isn't as proud as some....so I force it on him. *smile*

For Father's Day, I wanted to do something special. I decided to make breakfast, I don't make breakfast for breakfast very often especially on a Sunday morning. Since it was a special day I had to make his pancakes ina special shape. Of course it had to be the shape of a...

beaver!

Then Owen decided that he wanted to help... he love to help me cook. I sure love both of my men!

Girls Trip 2010

About two weeks after the wedding I got a much needed getaway. My sisters, Chantelle and I all headed to Austin, Texas for the annual girls trip. I was the last one to arrive and was picked up by Chantelle and Eric at the airport an quickly whisked away to a nail salon for pedicures. The lovely Mnisa(and Eric) treated ALL of us to pedicures...I wish I could to that every time I fly!

After the pedicures we all piled in the car and went to Chick-fil-A for some yummy food. Then we did what girls do best...went shopping! Karin had a fun idea to go to a flea market, we found some great bargains there.

Once our shopping was done we headed to our "resort". Eric and Mnisa have some friends who let us kindly stay in their beautiful home right on Lake Austin. We had a lovely time there filled with paddle boarding and kayaking.Of course we always get a little silly just visiting and playing games.Mnisa, Janae` and Julie after church. It was a nice relaxing week filled with tons of fun! I always love being with my sisters. They were great company and even let me practice my first Woodbadge presentation on them. Their feedback was awesome!

Pond Fishing

After the wedding it was time to get ready for me to leave for Texas for the anual Girls Trip. The night before I left we decided that we needed some family time before I left.

There are several ponds around the valley that are stocked with fish so people can fish at them
right in the middle of town with the backdrop of baseball feilds and one of the busiest roads in the state. This particular pond had just been stocked the day before so we decided to head over there. There were lots of other people there too, but we still had fun.

Owen tried casting a couple of times...without much success. He was perfectly happy throwing rocks in the pond and trying to catch things in the butterfly nets.

Bailee was diligent and was gettig pretty good at casting, her aim still needs some work. She crossed lines with a couple of people, but they were nice about it. I think that she enjoyed it.

Didn't seem like many people had much luck catching fish. But this guy and three of his freinds did great! We sure enjoyed watching them circle above and then dive into the water to catch their dinner.

The BIG day!

With only 7 weeks to plan, the time went fast, but I think we were all ready for the big day to be there. When it finally comes all you can do is hope that you have all your ducks in a row and that everything will go smoothly, especially when you have never really planned an entire wedding before.
The morning of the wedding Matt and I met Chantelle, Zach, and Janae' at the temple. The dress and all of the accessories were at our house so it was important that I deliver them. Chantelle got special permission to have me in the bride's room with her and Janae' so that I could lace up her dress. She definitely looked beautiful!

Bailee and Owen were the first ones to greet Chantelle and Zach after they came out of the Temple from the Ceremony.

My friend Lynette did all of the flowers and made these cute little mini veils for Bailee and Brianna.

Owen found a new best freind that week, Alex.

After all f the pictures at the temple, we headed over to Kathrine Albertson's park for more with he family. Thank goodness for Dave, he made a McDonald's run and picked up lunch for all of us at the park.

When pictures were done I had just enough time to take Matt and Owen home for a nap and pick up a few last things at the house and head to the church to finish up preparing the food for the reception and take care of a few last details. Lucky for me I found a wonderful lady to take care of most of the decorations, and my mom got us in touch with someone who made a fabulous cake. It was nice not to worry about those two details on that day. It was such a blessing to have reliable people to work with for the wedding.

Before I know it everyone was arriving for the family dinner, and then it was show time.

Zach's uncle is a DJ and did an amazing job at making this wedding fun for everyone!

By the end of the night, I was exhausted. At some point in the night I kicked off my shoes, because I was constantly running around to make sure things were taken care of.

This is what Emily and my feet looked like at the end of the night...disgusting.

Through all of this expeience I learned one main thing...when Bailee gets married, we are hiring a wedding planner! I am done planning weddings!

Wedding Pedicures

Of course every bride needs pretty toes on her wedding day. Especially when she has some awesome Pink peep-toe shoes!

I arranges for Chantelle, Janae', Bailee and I to have pedicures, by my friend Amy, a few says before the wedding.

Owen didn't want to be left out so we got him a bowl of warm water to soak his feet. Then Aunt Janae' rubbed them with lotion.

Bailee acting so grown up.

Owen happy to be in on the party!

Girls will be girls

It just wouldn't be time with my sisters if there wasn't at least one self portrait of us together. This was a little tricky with my DSLR camera.
My sister Janae` got to come for the week before Chantelle's wedding to help with things. We had so much fun hanging out (I mean running around like chickens with their heads cut off doing things for the wedding). Doesn't she just have the most beautiful eyes?!

Greatest Grandma

Owen has a special something about him that draws him to older people. He especially loves all of this grandparents.
One day at my moms he convinced GG to sit at the little table and play horses with him. He was so happy and she was a good sport and sat there with him.

Bad Guy!

That is what Owen refers to super heroes as... He is the cutest one around.