I’m an auntie again! Hudson Wright (Geoff’s brother’s first baby) made his entrance into the world on New Years Day, so pretty much he was born cool. Welcome to the world little buddy!
Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category
We have truly been enjoying our holiday break around here. Here are some randoms from the holiday season:
Decking the halls.
A visit to see Santa.
Bowling.
How baby Kate entertains herself.
Making a gingerbread house.
Making snowflakes with daddy.
We continued our Christmas Eve tradition with a smorgasbord of every one’s favorites and a nice program following. We were SO happy to have my grandparents, brother Matt and his family, and brother Luke with us as well. Christmas Eve pictures courtesy of my brother Matt.
Geoff made us play a game of “Frosty”, commonly known as “Chubby Bunny”. In true form, I gagged myself out of the game at 5, while my grandma got second place with 7 and Luke won the whole thing at 9. It was both of their first times playing. Untapped raw talent I tell you. And you’re welcome for posting such a sick picture of myself.
The kids reenacting the Nativity.
Christmas morning on our way to church.
One of my new favorite pictures. Classic brother/sister exchange.
Rudolf opening a gift.
Christmas Lucy after several healthy applications of her new chapstick.
Luke wearing a shirt my parents sent him from Fiji and a very cool beanie knitted by my sister Laura.
Have I mentioned how awesome my husband is? He made several homemade gifts this years (as he always does), one of them being this beautiful chessboard for Isaac.
These two have a special relationship.
I am filled with gratitude at this time of year for so very many things. On the top of that long list are you, my clients and readers. Thank you for your kind comments and encouragement. I look forward to yet another year of rewarding work and meeting you along the way. Here’s hoping your days are merry and bright.
It’s a well known fact that I don’t like the cold. With Christmas soon approaching, I try to embrace it, but I know that in a week or so, I’m going to be itching for a trip somewhere with warmer weather. Most likely, this will not happen, so I turn to the cheaper alternative: going through pictures I took when I wasn’t freezing. Looking at these the other day and remembering a fun family excursion to Spanish Fork Reservoir warmed my heart, and for right now, that’ll have to do.
Changes this month: two teeth, army crawling, 7:30pm-7:30am, scared of strangers, mamma’s girl.
Images by Ashley Thalman.
I have very little opportunity to shoot personal work, so when Kiera approached me about collaborating on a concept she’s been having roll around in her head, I jumped at the opportunity. It involved Priscilla, my bathtub, milk and some lovely light. Below are just a handful of images I have chosen to share here with you. I’m grateful for opportunities to expand, grow and hone my skills. I feel it’s a very important part of the work I do for my clients, as well for my personal creativity.
Priscilla’s darling son Zeke was a little confused why his mom was in the bath and he wasn’t.
Let me start this post by telling you that when I decided with Geoff’s older sister to do Thanksgiving at my house, I kind of forgot that I would be in charge of the turkey. Had I realized this bit of information, I would not have offered.
Go back with me about 5 years ago when I cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving for my first time. I could not for the life of me figure out which side was “breast side up” and ended up choosing the wrong side. When we removed the turkey from the oven, it looked like someone had shot it. I made Geoff cut it up really quickly before anyone saw.
Fast forward to yesterday. For weeks I have been agonizing over this turkey. While I am not vegetarian, large pieces of meat and I do not get a long, so I avoid them. I started asking people about how they cook their turkeys…bad idea. Everyone one has their own special way involving things like twine, juniper berries, large syringes etc. That only made me more anxious. I ended up spending almost twice the amount I spent on the actual turkey on a special Turkey Seasoning Paste from Williams-Sonoma that I was ensured would give me the best tasting turkey. I turned to the internet the night before and calculated the day of cooking down to the minute. An hour before the turkey was supposed to be done, I decided against all reviews on the internet about cooking in an electric roaster to lift the lid and check on my golden turkey. It was golden alright, golden turkey jerky. It was totally overdone. I hung my head in shame and told Geoff I refuse to cook a turkey ever again. Thankfully that pricey seasoning turned out some of the best gravy I’ve ever had, thus making the turkey palatable.
After the turkey mishap, the will to live was pretty much sucked out of me and I barely took a picture.
Baby Kate eating her Thanksgiving breakfast.
My niece Camille and I making rolls.
Kitchen helpers Camille, Geoff’s sister Elise, and one of Geoff’s TA’s, Joanna at the sink.
Here is where I should have a picture of all of us and the Thanksgiving spread, but instead I only have documentation of the aftermath. Tryptophan setting in. Please note my brother Luke with the massive bandages on his knees. Poor guy wrecked his scooter on the way over to our house. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet and a massive snow suit (don’t ask), which saved him from worse injury.
On a walk after the big meal.
Not the best picture because it was super dark at this point, but thanks to Jordan Ferney’s pie topper idea, our pies looked festive and pretty dang awesome if you ask me. I may not be able to cook a turkey, but I can make a mean craft with some alphabet noodles.
This year was so fun! The kids were really into the festivities. Last night the kids asked me if this was “the REAL Halloween”, since we’d gone to a couple parties before. We had dinner with Geoff’s parents and walked around their neighborhood, then went over to join Amy and her family. The kids were running from door to door like maniacs. You’d have though they’d never seen piece of candy before.
Isaac changed his costume last minute from a Karate Kid to this, something my sister got for us years ago. Whatever.
He said he was “a pirate who was in a wreck”.
Never seen a more perfect Alice in Wonderland. She got her first pair of “pointy shoes” and felt very grown up.
Such a sweet piggy.
Kudos to whoever can guess Geoff’s costume. I was a 1920’s flapper girl the evening before, but couldn’t bring myself to put on the itchy boa again for the night of.
Kate and Geoff’s mom, Bat Lady.
I made myself turn off the computer and forget about the three logos I have to design, two sessions to edit, dinner to make, and left my kids, ALL of my kids, in the hands of a very capable sitter. I jumped in the car with Geoff and some friends and didn’t look back. Because what I had to look forward to was AH-MAZING. So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 SLC tour baby!! It was beyond fantastic and just the break I needed. I thought I was obsessed with the show/talent until I saw the grown woman in front of me weeping. No joke.
