I’m back from a WHIRLWIND trip to Washington where I did two photoshoots and managed to squeeze in some time with my older sister and family. It was a great trip despite all the driving, where I listened to CD after CD of Christmas music and got thoroughly in the Christmas spirit. (as a side note: we purchased Hotel Cafe last night and it is a MUST HAVE. Seriously, my new favorite Christmas compilation next to Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton).

And where were my children during this you might ask? With my fabulous husband who winded and dined them on a variety of sugar cereals, trips to Kangaroo Zoo, loads of Christmas crafts and ended it all with a ship-shape house. Am I the luckiest girl alive or what?

And now for the Seattle-Andertons:

Totally started raining here, but how dreamy and stormy is it?

For all the camera techies out there, this image is SOOC (straight out of camera). Absolutely nothing done it. Three cheers for the 24-70mm on a 5D.

Jade walls and lime green grass, yes please!

And now I need to go ice my camera trigger finger.

These pictures are fairly unfortunate, but it’s the best I can do with my child who hates the camera. But, in celebration of her year and a half mark, I had to post a picture, because what kind of a mother would I be if I didn’t? This little one (and I do mean little after getting her weighed at her checkup), is the snuggliest baby girl. She loves, loves, loves getting books read to her and eating anything sweet. She added “cracker” and “shoe” to her very minimal word list this last week. And as you can see from previous posts, she defiantly keeps me on my toes. We love our Lulu!

In town from MY home town in Oregon, this family is full of personality and has most gorgeous eyes you’ve ever seen. There’s a lot of pictures here, couldn’t help myself. Thank you Georges for sticking it out in the BITTER cold!

I thought we had skipped over the climbing stage, apparently not. We found Lucy in the upstairs bathroom, in the sink, brushing her teeth. This involved some serious maneuvering. We seem to be finding her in similar precarious positions every since. Thanks be praised she can’t open doors yet!

Geoff’s sister and her family were in town for the big wedding and I got to take some pictures of them. We love every second that we get with them. Isaac and Lucy miss their cousins!

I was grateful for the opportunity to go up the canyon and enjoy the beauty of nature today with this beautiful family. It was really cold, but their baby was a trooper. Isn’t she darling?

and my two handsome boys! Happy Thanksgiving!

And they came to see me! Ok, they might be here for Thanksgiving, but still. They’re just about as sweet as they come. It was a pleasure to spend a couple hours with you guys!

We’re always happy when the Wilson’s come through Utah. We miss our two old roommates!

Geoff had a conference in Vegas this last week, so the rest of us tagged along for a much needed break from our daily routine. Unfortunately, that break included virtually sleepless nights with Lucy only sleeping on me for one three hour stretch each of the three nights we were there. Needless to say, vacations with children are not relaxing! BUT, despite all of that, we had a wonderful time with Geoff’s sister Whitney and her family. Geoff and I both despise the Strip, especially since we have children with eyes, so we didn’t go there, but we had a great time just hanging out with the family, shopping!, eating yummy food and even going to a movie one night. With this being the holiday picture taking season I have been totally and completely buried with photo taking and editing and my design work on top of that, so I was very grateful for the break. Thank you for your hospitality Cromwells!

I was totally proud of my husband for not having a near heart attack when Isaac came down the stairs in this getup.

Isaac and Parker, cousins and best friends. They were totally inseparable.