Happy Halloween Birthday

It's my father's birthday today. Halloween.
I have to be honest - this would have to be the hardest day EVER to be born on. (It's also my aunt Alisa's and our friend Alexis and a few others I'm forgetting - because that's what happens to birthday that fall on THE most insane day of the year for mother's!)
But I didn't forget my father's birthday. I bought his birthday card 2 months ago. Sure - it's still sitting here next to me waiting to be mailed, but its the thought...
I love the image with he and Mac and thought it was fitting to use it since one is born on Halloween and the other is born on 6-6-(0)6 - feel free to draw any conclusions. Throughout the craziness of the week I did reflect on the wonderful things about my father. First of all, you have to know how to speak his "language" (Matt still hasn't figured it out). If you aren't well-versed in music then you have a strike against you...know your movies? then you may have gained a few steps...theater? even better. I figured out young that the answer to most of his "question games" were: Beatles, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Harry Chapin, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Beatles. Some of my fondest memories are cruising around in the BATMOBILE (a nissan 280 Zx - a 2 seater car for a man with 5 kids - this did not cause him to even pause, because the specific memory is of all 5 of us kids smashed like sardines in the back while he shut the back door - I'm sure Jace didn't have any shoes on.)
I can remember him taking all 5 of us kids on a Saturday to the old Yuma Plaza theater (so my mother could catch her breath). He would get 2 huge buckets of popcorn and dump hot tamales in them and then smack your hand if he caught you digging around for the candy :) Occasionally he would fall asleep during the movie :) (So many of these memories remind me of my own little family - weird). I loved when he would get an apple and go sit down in the living room with a knife and cut off chunks - we would all swarm around him like little beggars (my own children do this now) and he would cut off pieces and feed us. As I got older, he would take me to early morning seminary - he usually was awake around 4am. Occasionally we would "skip" seminary and head on over to Ray's Chat 'n Chew and eat biscuits and gravy with all the oldies/truckers. I was in heaven.
Then he was called to be a seminary teacher and he ended up with a class that was massive (we had at least 4 kids who weren't even members showing up regularly - and it wasn't even for the Friday morning spread - which was pretty impressive consisting of Mostly Muffins, yogurt, fruit, juice & donuts - slightly over the top :) During all this time he participated actively in scouting and truly has a love for scouting that compels him to serve above and beyond what is asked. His ability to "go the extra mile" can be quite astounding. He will drive 8 hrs to watch his grandchildren play 2-30 second piano pieces or to see them play a soccer game or pitch 2 innings. He would call Indy when he was younger and talk to him on the phone "just to make sure he could practice talking" and would send Laina boxes of Twinkies because he thought her mother was evil "holding out on her".
He loves to send the kids little packages in the mail - and had address labels made up with their pictures on them so they knew which packet was theirs - the kids of course go crazy for these.
I'm thankful for a wonderful father who works hard and works hard at being a grandfather. Since my birthday gift is still waiting to be mailed - I'll post this little "gem" of a Halloween image. Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa Wade!

**Yes my kids found Easter baskets to trick or treat with. No - I do not have any idea what Laina is NOR will I be buying her a Halloween costume next year since she had 2 and isn't wearing either one of them. Yes, Mac dug out an old hand-me-down costume and decided to wear that - no I don't know where he got the green clogs - and yes he ended up barefoot at the trunk or treat.**

Brave.

It is not an easy thing to gear up for family photos. NOT. EASY.
No matter how many deep breaths you take, or how you talk yourself into it - it still can TAKE YOU DOWN.
Do not panic. Do not fear.
After the crazy insane session has ended - go get yourself some frozen yogurt and take a few more breaths. Dry the little tears that may have welled up in the corner of your eyes as chaos reigned supreme. Tell me that you'll need about a month before you can revisit this "snapshot in time".
I'll understand. I'll understand because I know there will be a smile on your face when you see how wonderful and beautiful your family is.
(*Please note* The actions described above may or may not have happened. I just thought they might be useful, if anyone ever found themselves in a photo shoot with twin 2 year old boys.)

I'm a sucker for a killer husband/wife image. We could have kept the kids in the car watching videos the entire time and just photographed these 2 all day.

Cheeky.

It's Sunday morning - usually a time of high stress around here. I started the day off by getting ready, then getting Ella ready. When I finished doing her hair - I thought (for the thousandth time this week) she is so stinkin' cute!! I want to take a picture! My dad sent me a text yesterday to remember to "stop and smell the {figurative} roses" and to remember the reason that I take pictures is because they make me smile.

I told him to smell them for me - I didn't have any time this week or next week...or the week after...besides they're all dying - and cold rainy weather depresses me.

So - I took Ella off the bathroom counter and grabbed my camera. We get asked often how we can possibly stand the cuteness of her and her CHEEKS!! All I can say is you have braggin rights when blessed with such utter lusciousness.

The happiness faded for a bit when I had to stop working on the computer (Matt will bust me later I'm sure - for being on the computer when I'm supposed to be getting everyone ready - but I don't care - I'm smelling roses). Besides I needed the happiness after turning my entire house upside down looking for a 4 year old boys church pants that should have been hung up last week when he walked in the door. We have to settle for dirty ones that don't fit :(

So back to my roses. Piggies and Cheeks and Shoes...child #4 is following in her family's footsteps with an obsession for shoes. (Indy asked Santa this year for a "Bunch of Shoes")

Prescott Newborn Photography {Lloyd}

I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to come up for air this week...but the week isn't over and if it weren't for 7am soccer pictures and games then I might still be holding my breath! (Who would've thought I'd be thankful for getting up at 6:30am on Saturday morning?)

This teeny tiny made her debut 6weeks and 2 days early (her mother knew how long she had to keep her in if she wanted her born here :) AND her sweet mother put her bed-rest time to good use...on ETSY ! Isn't this hat adorable??

Love Language - Service

There are some books out there about the different Love Languages. I'm not able to give you an in-depth look at these books (there is one for kids and one for adults...I think) because I've never read them (what kind of person writes about books they've never read?) Anyway, my family has read them and told me about them - that counts right??

I've determined (through listening to them explain the different languages) that mine is "Acts of Service". Over the past week it has become very apparent that speaking someone's love language makes the world a better place. Seriously. The sun is brighter, there's a skip in your step, you feel like singing ever time they walk through the door. You have a huge smile that you can't wipe off your face - you say yes to every golf game that hits the calendar and then ask them to tell you IN DETAIL about every hit (what do they use to describe their plays??) that they made - once again - I'm serious. This is what happens when the stars align and you leave the land or tower of Babel and start speaking each others language.


So - what were these acts of service that made me want to start speaking in prose?? Dishes.


I'm a simple woman - really, I'm very simple, and German (not sure how that makes any difference, but Matt assures me that it is a very notable part of my character). My simplicity delights in other simple acts. Dishes.


More specific? My husband coming home during his week of personal tax extension deadline - October 15th (I hope everyone got theirs filed in time :) and doing the dishes.



Just when I thought life couldn't get ANY BETTER than that - he does the dishes with....(wait...wait...) my SON. Indy and Matt doing the dishes together. I was OVER THE MOON happy. I told Indy this was how Grandma Kathy and her father did her homework - while doing the dishes. I was so overcome with joy and gratitude that I didn't even think (until right now) to take a picture.


Now in the course of the week of doing dishes - our lovely little ol' dishwasher took a nose dive -coincidental eh? I joked that it didn't matter if it was broken 'cause I now had my own personal dishwasher. My NEW dishwasher didn't think it was very funny and after trying for 3 hours to fix it - he ended up declaring that it needed to be replaced. So in the course of a week I got 2 new dishwashers - the first one was much more charming then the second one and a lot less expensive.
**Side note - I read somewhere that if you ever want a new appliance, just have your husband use the old one and it will be replaced within the week!**Another side note - contrary to what you may be thinking - I DID NOT sabotage the old dishwasher.

The Bragg Family - Prescott Family Photographer

I can't resist jumping at the wordplay - I'd love to "BRAGG" about this family!
First of all - they were happy (not all were happy to be there, but once the session started - the happiness flowed - is it my ultimate skill as a photographer??? Hey - I'm not braggin' - just sayin.)
And speakin' of braggin' - they have serious braggin' rights in the hockey category. All three of them play in the hockey league - and this was by far the funnest thing I've been able to shoot in a long time!

Holiday Cards - LUXE

*samples thanks to my lab and photographers of the lab - the above image(s) are not mine - I was too lazy to do my own*

Eek!! It's only the second week (or is it the 3rd?) of October and I'm already behind :( No worries - the kids will have a marathon week of cartoons and pajamas and I'll be all caught up. I just got this email from my lab with these killer new card styles. Love the scroll and the scalloped edge. These are great for baby announcements, holiday cards, graduation cards etc...Give me your ideas and we'll create a custom design just for you.

Dutch Harbor - Unalaska

Matt braved the wilds of the edge of the northwest continent. He flew out to Dutch Harbor with his older brother where they met up with his father and began to catch their fill of salmon. The following image was the taken on the only sunny day :) You know Matt's favorite weather is gray and drizzling rain - HA!!

They stayed in a 5 star hotel complete with turn-down service.

The story that he came home with was that of being out on the sea in a small boat with a tiny little motor that his father was in charge of running. There were 11ft. swells on each side of them. Matt clung on for dear life and both he and his father decided they'd better find some diapers if they were going to brave that again - because remember NOVICES are NOT invited.

You'll also notice that he grew a beard for the wilds of Alaska - everyone but the kids lOVED the beard. He lasted for a week with it afterwards - and when he was satisfied with the burly beard that he was able to grow (ya know in case he ever needed a hair transplant) he promptly shaved it off.

And so concludes the adventure of Dutch Harbor (home to Deadliest Catch). Matt returned vowing to NEVER leave us again for that length of time - we'll see how long it lasts.