Tanner and Taylee, and Abby too.

One of Tanner's favorite friends is Taylee, a girl in his kindergarten class. They get along great because she is a little tom boy.They play swords, guns, ninja, and dress up. And they both love to color.

 

 I got to take pictures of this little cutie today. She turned one recently. See more here.

"I smell something"

Dallin is our child that makes you laugh without even trying. Always saying something weird with a totally serious look. 

Here is a video of him singing. (Ashyln chimes in at just the right time too.)

Nate took Dallin to the bathroom at Walmart, and Dallin insists on sitting on the toilet when he goes, so Nate took him in a stall. Dallin gets situated and sniffs. Here is how the conversation went.
Dalling: I smell something. [sniffs].
Nate: Uh huh.
Dallin: I smell poop! Then he bends over and looks under the stall.
Nate: Uh huh.
Dallin: It's him! Pointing at the guy in the next stall.
Ha ha! How would you like to be that man?

 **********************

After church today Dallin sees some pigeons. He rolls down his window and yells. I ask what he is doing and he said he is trying to scare the "Holy Ghostesses". Nate had told him about when Jesus was baptized and the Holy Ghost was present in the form of a dove.

I found a cute tutorial about how to make these bow ties. I think it is cute on Tanner. A little large. I will make it smaller next time.

Thanksgiving

I didn't get the camera out until we played a game of UNO at the end of the day. And then I took too many. My sister Kris came from Rexburg to spend Thanksgiving with us. It was just us and her. We planned to spend it with some friends also, but their daughter got sick. So it was a pretty quiet, even boring day. 

Nate and I went to a "Pig Out workout" at the gym this morning.  A 2 hours class of kettlebell, spin, and intervals. Pretty intense, but great way to start a day of pigging out. 

 

 Nate getting ready to put down his last card, then celebrating a win.

The last for a while...I think

Just did my last two scheduled photo shoots. 2 Cute families. It is getting kind of cold, so unless anyone wants wintery snowy pictures, I will probably just do kids in my "studio".

It has been a fun, and busy fall. I hope I can build up my clientele where ever we end up next year.

You can see more on my photography blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"I'm an indian"

We went to story time at the library the other day and Tanner wore this head band that he made at school. It has feathers on it and is supposed to be an indian head dress. Well, a bus load of preschool kids from the indian reservation in Fort Hall came to story time today. When Tanner was coloring after stories, he told the lady who did story time that he was an indian. I think he got some funny looks. :)

 Have you ever seen these squeezy baby foods? I love them for Ashlyn. She won't eat baby food from a jar any more because she can't do it by herself, but she will hold one of these and suck it down.

Took pictures of this cutie, Ashton, the other day. It was cool, breezy, and a it rained a little, but she was a good sport, and oh so cute. See more on my photography blog.

Cuteness

Ashlyn snacking. Sporting a messy hair do as usual.

 Tanner and Dallin doing homework. That is my favorite expression that Dallin makes. LOVE this picture of him. Tanner is pretty cute too.

This is Brock. Pretty sweet little guy. More on my photography blog.

Daddy's girl and annoying sister

Ashlyn loves Dallin. Loves to tease him. She woke him up from his nap today. I was hoping to get a video. She is so funny. She sat on his face!

 These pictures are of her after her pony tails were taken out.

She loves Nate. Lights up when he comes in the room. So sweet.

Clinical change & a cute baby and family

We just found out that Nate's next clinical affiliation (from January to March) isn't going to work out. It was supposed to be at a clinic 1 mile from our house, and it was going to be perfect. So it is up in the air he will be doing. Hoping to stay local still, but we will see.

I got to do another newborn shoot yesterday. People ask what my favorite subjects are and I am starting to love doing newborns. I think it is because Michaela has been helping me, but they just turn out so cute.

 

 Families are what I do most often, but they are challenging for lots of reasons.  An example of a challenging session was the Hinton's. Still enjoyed it though and what I can learn from them. It was cold, and had to be done in 2 sessions because their little guy didn't want to be photographed. Even candidly it was hard, because he was off and runnin' (and fast) or unhappy that he was being held. He is about 2, totally to be expected.

I do love doing couples too. They listen to your directions, and usually want their picture taken. :)

Don't worry, I should be slowing with all the photography posts soon, I don't think I will do many more families this year since it is getting cold. You can see more of the baby on my photography blog and more of this family soon, if you like. 

I have been taking so many pictures, that I forget about my own family. I will have more of my family soon.

He passed, and a photoshoot

Nate had his big defense this week at school. That is where he did a case study on a patient he worked with, and he had to do a 45 minute presentation about his experience and research. He had to "defend" why he did the treatment he did with that patient and show the board that he knows what he is doing. He was the first of his class to go, and he nailed it. I think he set the bar high for his classmates. That doesn't make him a Physical Therapist yet, but it does mean he will graduate from ISU. 

I am so proud of how far he has come. I have had recurring tendonitis in my ankle last night he came and grabbed my foot, and started doing all these test and told me, in very big words that I didn't understand, why I am getting it so often. He thinks I need an orthotic insert in my shoe to correct the problem. He wasn't so confident in the past. I think he is just about ready to be a Doctor of Physical Therapy. Just a couple more weeks of book work, and a semester of clinical affiliations, and he will be. 

And I am almost feeling like a real, professional photographer these days. :) I have been doing a couple sessions a week, and feeling happy with my work. I am also excited to get an official business up and running when we get settle, where ever we end up.

Here is my latest.

"I want everything!"

I told Tanner to look through the toy book from the Target ad and circle everything he liked so I could get an idea what to get him for Christmas. It didn't help. He circled everything! He is pretty easy to please.

6 Week Wellness Challenge

My friend Sharla told me about a wellness challenge she found online where you get points for doing healthy things like, eating fruits and veggies, drinking water, going easy on the sweets, exercising, stuff like that. We joined this challenge along with some other friends and family members. I feel like I do most everything already except I eat too many sweets, so that will be my focus in this challenge. We are allowed one sweet day a week, which I shoot for anyway, but with the holidays underway, I haven't done so well. I am glad to have this challenge to keep me on track. It starts on November 5th and it will go through Thanksgiving and stop before Christmas. So wish  me luck! I think I'd like to lose up to 5 pounds, but mostly I want to kick the sugar. I have to agree with this quote I found by some guy named Mike Adams. Who knows who he is, but I like his perspective.

"Sugar is, essentially, a legalized recreational drug that's socially acceptable to consume. And yet, just like other drugs, it destroys a person's health over time, rotting out their teeth, disrupting normal brain function, promoting heart disease and directly causing diabetes and obesity. The argument that 'street drugs are outlawed because they're dangerous to a person's health' falls flat on its face when you consider what sugar does to the human body." 

 I feel a lot like these people, "irresistibly attracted to sugar." 

In other news, I took another cute baby's pictures. This is Rachel. Isn't she sweet? There a couple more on my photography blog.

Ashlyn's 1 year old pictures

I finally got around to taking Ashlyn's pictures. She loved this little rocking chair. All of the pictures are of her in it because she didn't want to get out. Whatever made her happy.

Ashlyn got this doll for her birthday. She is learning how to kiss. See how she prepares by licking her lips. :)

Love this girl. She is such a joy to have around.

Halloween

We has a super fun Halloween this year. A few neighbors and I put together a progressive Halloween party. We went to different houses and did activities at each house like, painting pumpkins, donuts on a string, dipping pretzels, cupcake decorating, pin the eyes on the monster, stuff like that. I took all the kids' pictures. Check them out on my photography blog.

Here are our family's pictures. Nate was "sick and tired" for Halloween. Tanner, a doctor.

 

Ashlyn was a fairy. 

 

Dallin a ninja

 I hardly ever dress up, but I was a vampire this year. Pale skin, fake eyelashes and all. It was fun.

Our friend Cami did sensory boxes where you put dragon snot (gak), eye balls (eye balls), a heart (tomato), and stuff like that. This is Tanner after he felt something icky.

And Dallin decorating a pumpkin.

I love how kids put more toppings on their cupcakes than there is cake. In Tanner's case it was sprinkles. That would be one crunchy cupcake.

Ashlyn checking out a costume. And here is kind of what our group looked like going from house to house.

Donut on a string. One of my personal favorites.

After the party we went trick or treating. We only did about a block. It was a little chilly.

 Jordan and Michaela joined us. I think we have trick or treated with them every year since they have had Calin. Love having them around!

 Fun night!
Oh yeah, I also took some pictures of some old friends, the Plaisteds over the weekend.

See more on my photography blog.