Van turns two!

Friday was Van's birthday. We had such a fun time celebrating. We had all the grandparents, 3 great grandmas, aunts and uncles. It was a very full house, and Van ate up every minute of it. I decorated the house with balloons and streamers while he was napping so when he woke up he was so excited to see the "laloons" as he calls them. I also made him a race track cake, which turned out so cute. He is such a great kid. He is fun and funny and enjoys life. I feel so blessed to have him in our family and look forward to seeing him learn and grow.

Here are some pics from the festivities...

Here is Van with his mountain of presents...this picture doesn't show just how many presents there were but his face is priceless.


How cute is this?


Sorry hun, I couldn't resist...this pic is just too funny.

Here is Lillie's version

And Joe's...he wouldn't eat it because there was coconut in the cake.

Something different...

I thought this was a fun idea! Thanks Becky.

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a marvelous homemade gift by me!

Let the games begin!!

Fourth file, fourth pic, little sis

I was tagged by Nicole. So here is the drill you are supposed to go to your photo files and pick the fourth file and the fourth photo, then explain it. This was a little tricky because my professional photos are mixed in with my personal stuff (something I keep saying I am going to fix, but just never get around to it) Anyway so I had to fudge a little and chose the fourth personal file. And this is what I got...

This is my little sister Bethanie. We did a shoot when she was here over the summer. She was kind of a stinker about it, but we had fun and we got some really cute pics, this is actually one of my favorites from that shoot.

Now I get to brag about her. She is so cute I love my sister so much!!! We are almost 15 years apart and separated by 3 very rowdy brothers. Don't you feel sorry for us. You would if you knew our brothers:) She likes to tease me about being old but that's ok her day will come. For those of you who do not know she was adopted. She looks just like me so you would never guess it. We had her in foster care when she was 15 months old and were finally able to adopt her when she was 4. I was already married by then so Ben and I got to go to the temple when she was sealed to my parents. It was so awesome. I have always felt like she belonged to us, and even though she was adopted she was always suposed to be a part of our family, even if she came to us in an unconventional way. Our family would definately be incomplete without her. I love you Bethy!!

I tag, Melanie, Shannon, Haley and TeKarri! Have Fun!

One year older and wiser too

So it happened. I tried to stop it but alas I did turn 30. Surprisingly it wasn't that bad. I think the weeks leading up to it were tough at times but my actual birthday was great. This is because I have the most thoughtful and loving husband ever. He started by buying me a new camera a week before the big day. It is awesome. This will mean very little to most of you so I will keep the camera talk to a minimum, but I have to brag a bit. Ben got me a new Nikon D90. This camera is a whole new class of camera. It functions amazingly in low light situations and it does HD video. Plus it is just a wonderful camera, I expect my photography to hit a whole new level as soon as I can figure out all the bells and whistles that this camera offers. I am excited to get out and shoot. Last week was so busy I haven't had much time, but it will happen soon and I will post some pics.

Then Friday night he came home with flowers and took care of dinner and the kids for the rest of the night, this is not atypical by any means but still very appreciated. Saturday we spent the day shopping (without kids, thank you grandma and papa) and went to dinner that night (without kids, thank you aunt Lydia) . Sunday I slept in and was awakened to a very cute rendition of Happy Birthday and biscuits and gravy for breakfast. After church we made dinner. Then I took a nap while Ben cleaned up. Later in the evening we had pie instead of cake. The kids gave me a very cute coupon book that I am very excited to use, full of great things like back massages and doing extra chores without complaining. I also got a new wii fit game I am anxious to try.

It was a great weekend; I don't think I changed a single diaper, Ben took care of just about every thing for 2 days.

So turning 30 isn't so bad, I think it helps that I am the youngest of my friends; Ben and the rest of my friends have all turned 30 so I figure it is better to be last than to be first, at least in this particular case!

Ok here are a few pics I took of the flowers Ben gave me. This is with natural light. Most of you probably don't care or understand...but this is a big deal. No flash inside on a gray day and look how good they turned out. And I didn't put a lot of thought into them I just wanted to show you some pics. Anyway it's an amazing camera.

If you are a cutie pie you might as well be a cake

In an effort to calm a tired and cranky Van down as we drove home, I offered to sing to him. He wasn't having it, desperate I asked "how about we sing Van is a cutie pie?" He stopped fussing got a large grin on his face and nodded excitedly. Now I was in trouble Van is a cutie pie is not a real song, but no one else was in the car with us so I made it up. Be so grateful you were not there! At the conclusion of the song Van said "Cake!" He wanted me to sing a song about him being a cake. He is so clever! I love being around him all day he says and does the cutest things.

Here are a few pictures from my new camera. More to come on that later! I do need to point out that these were taken at night with only the bedroom light and the built in flash...for having terrible lighting they turned out quite good, the new camera is awesome!

Back to the pics, the fist one is just cute. But the second is so I have a record of what this kid requires to go to sleep at night. 3 blankets, 2 mickey dolls, 1 puppy named puppa and the newest addition a basketball. Some nights even require a mach box car or two. And notice the silly smile...he is such a ham!