A few of my favorite houses...

I always love having a reason to pass by these houses. The first one is top on my list as I have always loved colonial style houses. In high school we went on a trip to Boston and we toured Concord and Lexington and a small town called Grafton where some of my ancestors were from. We were able to see some of the actual houses that my ancestors lived in including going into the home where my great-great grandfather was born. I love the symmetry in the architecture and just how classic the style is.

The last three houses are such cute cottage houses and I have always loved driving by them. The last house is one that we often pass by on the way to my parents' house and it always looks magazine perfect. I especially love how the decorate for the holidays.

Is anyone up for the challenge to find some of your favorite houses?

Just some random cuteness...

One of the cute words that J has been saying is "hostable" for hospital and I just love how she says it when we read her "Madeline" book. She had RSV a few weeks ago and she asked me if she could go to the "hostable" to help her get better. I don't want to correct her yet because she melts my heart when she says it.

Another random topic that is often in our conversations is fire alarms. In the Fall, we had a one month period in our church building where the fire alarm went off three times. This has made J so observant to the point that anywhere we go in most public buildings, she has to scout out where the fire alarm is. She knows that it is very bad to pull the alarm, but she is inquisitive as to why we need them. I can't wait to work past this phase because I do not want her to be afraid of the alarm.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I figured that I better do this post early because knowing how unfrequent I am about posting, I did not want to miss Valentine's Day. I love the third one down of Miss J with her friend because it says so much of their personalities. Happy Valentine's Day!

A Beautiful Day!

I love to get in the car and go for a drive. It is the best time to talk and to feel refreshed and recharged. That is something I loved doing with my parents when I was growing up and it continues to be something I love with my own little family. A couple of weeks ago we drove to one of Truman's favorite places, Hobart Creek (even though we didn't actually see it because you have to hike to get there), and then we drove to Lake Tahoe and had lunch at Tahoe City. It was a perfect day!

My Twinkle Toes

I love this girl of mine! Last week I was able to practice taking pictures of Miss J and her adorable friend. More to come...

My nanny family!

My nanny family came to Gabrielle's reception and she also had a part in their lives because she spent many hours taking care of them as well. Though we are not related, they are family to me and the kids are like my own. I started with them when the oldest (in the gray and white striped sweater) was 11 months and then we anticipated the twins birth when she was 15 months and now she is almost 9. The boy in the blue sweater and the girl in the black dress are the twins. They mean the world to me and we have such a special relationship with their family.

The top picture of J with K is so symbolic to me because I have never thought that they could look like sisters as I think they do in this picture. J's hair has lightened and it is almost the same color as K's. My nanny kids are the reason why I could survive before we were blessed to have our own daughter because they were and continue to be like my own. Their parents, Karen and Tom are wonderful friends and I am so thankful that they are such a special part of my life.

Just a few pics of the Reception...

The first two are of the kids table and then the third one is my sister-in-law and my brother and their adorable little one who is 17 days apart from J, then my cousin and Truman.

Gabrielle's Wedding

This past weekend, we celebrated my beautiful niece's wedding. She and I are six years apart and we grew up like sisters. It was such a special day for our family and we are beyond thrilled that she found such a wonderful man who could take her to the temple.

One regret that I have from our wedding day is that we do not have good good wedding pictures. We had a photographer that was recommended to us and he really did not know how to take pictures at the temple...so you can imagine what was top on my list for Gabrielle. My beautiful and extremely talented friend, Marielle, took their wedding pictures. You can see some of their wedding pictures on her website: www.mariellehayes.com

Just a few memories from 2010...

You can tell who is the joy of our lives. We are thankful for a wonderful year!

Gingerbread Houses

J had a gingerbread house party at her preschool. Miss Susan is such a wonderful teacher and she is always doing something fun and special for the kids. She invited the moms to come. It was such a privilege to come to this little party to see J in action as well and to see all that Miss Susan had done for them.

Friends

I had my first trial run photo shoot with our friends just before it got too cold. I was very nervous to say the least, but you have to start somewhere, right? Aren't they a cute little family? My wonderful friend helped me edit the last picture for them.

The playhouse

You might remember a post from several months ago about the child size china cabinet that is special to our family. A few too many projects took over and I did not get to finish this when I wanted, but it is now repainted with new hardware. The doll bed in the corner was my mom's and grandma's. For the playhouse, we have turned the closet under the stairs into a little play space for J. I always dreamed of having a playhouse as a little girl and since I never had my playhouse I have always wanted to build one for my children. I still have that dream, but the closet is perfect for now until J grows too tall. She loves it!

"Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?"

We had J's friends over for a little cookie decorating party and their moms brought fondue for lunch. What a treat!

"Baby A"

There is no end of what you can know in the world of photography and I am so excited to learn new things all the time of how to take better pictures. Truman surprised me on my birthday the year that J was born with my camera so that I could capture the special moments with our baby who was and is such a miracle in our lives. I take pictures of our family moments often, but I only wish that I could have known how to take better pictures when J was born. There is nothing like a newborn baby and oh how the time goes by way too quickly. I was so fortunate to take the above pictures with my sweet friend who has been wonderful to give me some lessons on what she knows with photography and we were able to take our other friend's baby pictures. I have been so excited that I have a couple of friends with new babies so that I can practice taking baby pictures.

More of Apple Hill...