Red Dawn

Disclaimer - These events happened EXACTLY as described.

My cousin came over for dinner last night. We were chatting in my office when Indy walked in (yes, he had been walking around for 2 days with a bandanna on and marker under his eyes...you can even ask our dentist...I took him there looking like this, having forgotten to make him wash his face). So he walks in holding duct tape and his pocket knife (another great 9 year old birthday present - apparently EVERYone has one) and whispers conspiratorially chuckling that Laina is outside and she doesn't know that he has left. I take one look at my Red Dawn warrior and jump up to see what he has done...


"Don't worry mom...we're just playing." -Indy.

"Can someone put the duct tape on tighter?" -Laina.

"Who wants a playdate at our house?" -Megan.

Sweet Baby (she's #5) - {Prescott Newborn Photographer}

When you're the 5th baby you get a photo session surrounded by all the family members who eagerly anticipated your arrival with joy and happiness. Elice is such a beautiful mother (and I just realized I have her holding her little guy on my website - he's now 3! Time to update :). This sweet little one was about a month old - a little older than I'm used to but she did so good and her brothers and sister loved holding her!

Belated BEST birthday

We voted to celebrate the ME birthday a few days after the actual date. It has been a bad week, (understatement of the year) but Matt was hell-bent on doing a good birthday. It started with the purchase of the Vitamix. When you start with anything fruit/vegetable your off to a good start. We hauled the viatmix from Newport to Utah back to Prescott. He made a green smoothie, whole wheat - oatmeal - flax - cranberry pancakes (oh yeah baby...) and blackberry syrup... ALL in the blender. Yes - this is worthy of comment - he even thought through it before hand (a must when in the kitchen) and took the kids to buy all the stuff. I am a happy woman. I require very little to burst with excitement - kids - spouse - fruits - veggies - flax! It was wonderful and MUST be repeated every year! :) After the breakfast (we could only handle about 1.5 pancakes each - they were thick buggers...)
Laina informed me that she would like for me to take a shower (it had been a few days) and that she was going to pick out my outfit and do my makeup. I tried not to freak out that my 7 year old was already beginning to want to dress me (Tia and I didn't start that with out mother till we were at least in high school!). She laid everything out nicely on my bed and insisted I put the shoes on (even though we weren't going anywhere...) I talked the kids into giving me foot massages (well McLaren at least since he was fighting over the makeup with Laina...) then Indy grabbed a foot and I was in HEAVEN! I asked Indy where he had learned to massage feet so well...he said, "In the book Fablehaven, they massage an OGRE's feet...I just thought I would try the same thing." Whatever. I'll take it. He also found a belated birthday gift on our porch from our neighbor...a machete. How nice

Prescott Family Photographer - Totally Chic.

I better start posting some work - otherwise my attempts at making excuses for my disheveled, unpacked house and diet consisting of cookies and cucumbers is going to fall flat!
This session was wonderful! I need to point out that Jeniece has been planning this session for a year and a half and has a wonderful knack for styling and outfitting her family. Although her husband said she went through quite a few different outfits...the red shoes were always a must! I need a pair of red shoes like this...(and some hair too...is it wrong to covet hair? I mean shoes - no issue...but hair coveting might be borderline tricky...either way I want it.)

Newport Beach

We took the kids out to Newport Beach this year for our first ever beach family vacation. Yes, we've been to the beach before...many times...but never on our own - in uncharted territory. This was a new experience for us and there were several times we chose to laugh instead of cry (a common theme as of late - eh??)
I must give a quick photo warning/disclaimer here. These images are purely documentary - no real "eye-candy" here. When traveling to the beach with four young children in tow (packing up the car, driving 15 minutes to get there, fighting to find parking, unloading the car, watching the children that can move run off before they can haul anything with them and the children that can't walk, sit there waiting to be chair-lifted to their destination - and when you finally make it to your destination you realize that you just drove for 15 minutes and walked 1/2 a mile only to have forgotten ALL your towels) It is quite the experience. This experience is not conducive to cameras. Therefore, the camera was pulled out for 5 minutes (no more...no less) - documentation done and then put away. I just lacked the energy (no idea why?!#$%) to be creative...so without further adieu...

(**Side note...the beach is really really cold...even when there's an excessive heat wave inland...its still cold...you must therefore pack 2 sets of clothes - one for cold and one for hot) and bring 20 towels...'cause wet towels and cold wet kids don't mix.

Yes, Matt is actually making motor noises with his mouth as he drives the trucks over and around his dirt tracks - occasionally he'll let Mac and Indy drive a car on them too...

Laina could not be coaxed OUT of the water. One day we were all standing around waiting to leave and trying to get her to come OUT of the water.

We had our friends the Behns there to witness most of our craziness...and to love and play with our kids :)

INDY...

We are ready for next year...we have a few modifications to make...we'll plan our attack a bit differently, but we will definitely be back.

The only image I did NOT get and wish I had was of Matt and his beloved new DROID X. He went to 4 different stores the morning it debuted and finally walked out with one. We sang "I love technology" all day long in its honor. He has officially been dubbed the family vacation historian and videographer now (although I intend to delete the megan diving board footage) and had to wear a diaper from peeing his pants with glee all day long.

On his older brother's birthday they listed all the cars he had owned up to that point (it was impressive and there wasn't a normal one among the bunch)...for Matt's 40th we will be listing all of his handheld technology devices...starting with the original palm pilot.

Good Buddy Mitch

Oh the extreme sadness.

Yesterday I celebrated my 33rd year of life by attending the funeral of a dear friend. He was our good buddy Mitch Menlove. He was 36 years old and had a heart attack Sunday morning while sleeping next to his wife, Elizabeth, who is due to have their 4th child in 2 weeks. We love them both so dearly and my heart continues to break into smaller and smaller pieces. The funeral was an opportunity to celebrate Mitch and the incredible life that he lived. There were pictures up everywhere, some of which I had taken and made me cry and smile at the same time - and when an image of Matt & Mitch popped up in the video photo montage, Matt and I both let out a cheer. Another picture came up of when Mitch and Elizabeth brought Max to visit us in Rocky Point - and Matt and I looked at each other and started laughing as we remembered them trying to climb the huge sand hill in their jeep and having to get a fast start which caused him to launch off a hill and sent us all to our knees with waves of laughter. We loved telling stories and laughing, that was what we did when we were together.

We met the Menloves in Central ward about 11 years ago. We were on the back row and they slipped in late beside us. Elizabeth grabbed a piece of paper and began writing us questions - we went to a Dbacks game that week and were inseparable during the next year. When Max was born later that year, Matt and I rushed to the hospital and held him when he was only 10 minutes old. Then Matt and Mitch went and broke into their apartment that had been locked by Jack Jack the butt-crack :).

Mitch nick-named my mom "Special K" a name that has spurred on my own nickname for Ella "K-K". Both sides of our family have welcomed and loved Mitch and Elizabeth.

When I was primary chorister and Mitch was teaching the 11 yr. old boys - we played Name that Tune during Sharing time - we had played a few songs and I had turned around after telling the piano player the next song and one of his boys yelled out "Popcorn Popping"! I was so stunned that he had guessed the correct song before a note had even played that I was left momentarily speechless...Mitch seeing my shock and realizing the boy had guessed the right one...exclaimed "the Church is TRUE!"

Perhaps one of the funniest memories was when Mitch walked up to meet us for something with his zipper completely down and shirt pulled through it (Matt seemed to have his zipper down EVERY time we were with them and poor Elizabeth always had to be the one to notice) so Mitch just showed up knowing that Matt's zipper would be down (of course it was) and he said "Oh - I just thought that's how we roll...zippers down all the time!

We love Mitch and Elizabeth and their 3 children who are in good hands. Its good to laugh and smile it makes the hurt and pain and sadness run away - if only for a few minutes.

http://www.mitchmenlove.com/

Happy 4th of July!

10 days later and I'm finally getting to sit down and write - although in my defense...there was a complete gutting and remodel of my office - so that buys me a few days.

We had a wonderful 4th of july...complete with fun pictures that I'm too tired to look at or post...I'll have to add them to my book before I publish (note to self...) and my dad said I was losing my touch and posting way too many images - blame him (or maybe applaud??)

I'm currently writing from my hotel room in Newport - with a baby trying to take a nap and a husband who braved Knotts Berry Farm with the kids (who is he kidding? we all know he was the one who wanted to go). My day with Ella turned into a day filled with tracking down Indy's new shoes that were left at a beach 15 minutes away...lunch with a friend at the Nordie's cafe...and then cleaning Ella's barf in that friend's car as she drove...I told Matt it's the second time I've washed this car seat with barf in a week and the first time I had to clean an accident out of the bathtub this week...to which he replied "you had an accident?" (he claims I never laugh at his jokes...but that one was good enough to pull me out of my VACATION downward spiral.)

I decided to take stock of the last week. I realize I THREW DOWN...and only had to take one little prescription pill to get through...not bad eh? A few family sessions and a wedding to shoot, packing to leave for 1.5 weeks, taking the midnight shift for driving (only had to drink one of those DISGUSTING - why didn't anyone tell me how gross they were??- 5 hr energy drinks - but highly effective) to get us here. Oh and the office remodel right smack dab in the thick of it.

I grabbed these swiftly as I went through the sessions I did...my little laptop just doesn't do these justice...I don't even know if the coloring is right on them...oh well - enjoy! I promise more later (much much much later...)

THIS (above) was the ONLY thing I wanted to do this week...TRUE a bike adventure on the coast when 3 out of the 6 people can't even ride a bike is a bit insane...but you know that's the way we roll...surprisingly it was Matt and his ol' paintball injury hip that ended the ride...the kids loved it (of course only one actually had to pedal his own bike :)

Prescott Family Photography - Just one.

Just one. But its a good one. Now its bedtime.