Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Ready, Set....SMILE!
Wow! I know.
Kellee Smith took Greg and Kristina's wedding pictures. Later, she called me and said that she couldn't get Abby off her mind and wanted to photograph her and use her in some of her concept shoots that she has planned coming up.
Great!
We have some photos upstairs of Abby and Tanton that have not been changed out in 8 years, and I have really been wanting to get that done before Tanton leaves on his mission. So, we took about 45 minutes for a quick session and took some picture in a field just around the corner from our house. They turned out marvelous!
I love, love, love them!!
These are the ones that she put on her blog:
momentsbykellee.com
you can go there to see it. You can also go there and look at the whole session. Click on photo proof and the password is larson. I just ordered the pictures so she will be giving me a disc with the session on it.
Such talent...and beautiful models!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
LaKe PoWelL JuNkiE!!
Oh Beautiful Lake Powell..... I am a total Lake Powell Junkie. Once the planning & packing are done and the food is bought it is Heaven for the rest of the week. This year we went quite late, The first week of September. Our summer was quite busy, one thing after another...and Tanton gave the ol' "you mean it will be 3 years that I will miss Lake Powell?" guilt trip (since he is leaving on his mission in November) -- so I got online and booked a houseboat for 5 days instead of our regular week. Then Tanton ended up only being able to come for 2 of the days!! Oh well, It all worked out in the end.
Brad, myself, Abby and her friend, Alexis, went down together. Tanton came down with his dad and Marnie for the first two days. It was great to have Sil and Marnie there. We are so blessed that we all get along as well as we do, Brad and I consider Sil and Marnie wonderful friends! Marnie brought her camera and took some ridiculously great pictures... which means that she is not in any of our pictures, bummer!
A couple of our other friends, Ken & Janae Lester came down with their boat and their 2 boys and 2 friends on Saturday and stayed until Monday evening. It was so much fun to have them there. It has been way too long since we have gotten together with Ken and Janae, they are wonderful friends, and we laughed a lot. We are so glad they came down.
Here is Abby, Alexis and the 4 boys that came with the Lesters. They are hiking up through Hole in the Rock.
Brad surfing, he did awesome! He dropped the rope and kept on surfing for quite a while!
Brad water skiing... of course, this is Marnie's photography!
Abby and her sunglasses, with Sil and Tanton in the reflection.
Abby water skiing, she just keeps getting better every year... little studette!
Abby even started catching some air when she crossed the wake while wake boarding. Looking good Bugs, soon you will be a professional. ;)
But tubing still remains the FAVORITE thing to do! At least these girls are young and flexible. I don't think my old body could take it for very long at all, but these kids can do it all day long!
Now here we go... I have become quite the woosy and I basically only like to water ski at Lake Powell now, where the water is super warm. Ohhhh, I used to ski anywhere on anything and those were the days!
Cousin "it" on Abby's head.
Tanton waterskiing, he only does this a couple times a year.
Tanton surfing, he could surf literally minutes at a time without holding on to the rope, it is super fun to watch. Too bad I can't figure out how to get myself up on the surf board!
And....Tanton wake boarding. Basically, he rocks at it. He landed a back flip a few times, then just played around a lot. He makes it look sooo easy it is sickening. But as I said, watch out Tanton, your little sis is gonna have 2 years on ya, eh.
All in all it was a great time. For a Lake Powell Junkie it really couldn't be bad... I just don't think we will go that late in the year again. The nights and mornings got a bit chilly (something we are not used to at Lake Powell for sure). We were bummed that more of our family could not be there, but the planning was not the best and it was thrown in last minute. But I tell you what ~ we will be there again next year for sure, once if not twice.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Better late than never?!? - Hilton Head
Finally! A family vacation, with ALL of us.... since Tanton is leaving to go on his mission soon, we thought it would be the perfect time to get everyone together, spend some quality family time, and get the much needed family picture taken.
Brad and I searched the internet and found this fabulous 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom home to rent on Hilton Head Island ~ which is just off the coast of South Carolina. The house was so nice and so perfect. One of the biggest "hits" of the house was the swimming pool out back.
The island was so beautiful and amazing. It was lush green with biking paths everywhere, we rented some bikes and took several bike rides. I do think, however, that we were there during the hottest week of the the summer. The heat and humidity were nothing like I have ever felt. I do admit that I loved it...but after a few weeks it would get old. That is how hot and humid it was.
We drove close to an hour away back to Savannah, Georgia to check out the city. It is an old city with much history. We foolishly decided to take the "Trolley Tour", which was interesting and we learned and saw quite a bit. But the heat about killed off everyone, especially the young kids.
Savannah's pebble street, down by the the river and near some quaint little shops.
The STEEP stairs, now those could be dangerous and break a hip or two!
Fun on the beach..
Abby and Sophie doing some tumbling moves
Tanton, Abby, Greg and Kristina
Tim and Melissa's family
Aunt Abby and her shadow ~ little Miss Sophie
Doug and Krista's family
Greg & Tanton throwing, twisting and twirling Abby into the pool 
Abby, Trey and Sophie
Krista, Krew, Melissa and DylanThe pool, so much fun and such a great time for the kids. It was great to be able to get everyone together for a week of hanging out. Sadly, the time goes by so fast and we are always busy doing so many things that we didn't even spend much time just sitting around catching up with one another. We did get our family photographs taken out on the beach by the ocean. A local photographer took them. We are still waiting for them to arrive... I will post them when they arrive. They turned out fantastic!!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The time is flying by.... so fast!!
Life continues to unravel before me and I don't quite feel like I have my feet on the ground or control of my own surroundings. When Tanton got his mission call on June 30, it says that he is to report the the MTC on November 10.... okay, a little over 4 months, I can handle that. Well, it seems like he just barely got his call and 2 months are already gone! AHHHH!!
I honestly cannot believe how quickly the time is going. But, since he got his call he was ordained an Elder (pictures below) and he received his endowments at the temple. That was such a great experience. I continue to be so proud of him and the choices that he has made this far in his life. But mostly I am happy because he is so happy, and genuinely happy. What more could a mother ask for?
He was ordained by his dad, Sil, and we were lucky to have Greg and Kristina in town. It was on the 25th of July and Brad's brother, Blake, had just arrived in town for a week ~ so he as well as Brad's other brother Todd came over for the ordination. The following Friday, on July 30, (one month after receiving his call) we were all able to attend the temple together for Tanton's first time.
I am kinda freaking out because the time is going by so quickly. But, for Tanton I am sure the time is crawling. He is ready to go and he is ready to get to Spain...and he is so excited and proud that he wears his Spain belt buckle whether it matches what he is wearing or not! I love it!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
AbbyJade is finally 12!!
The time is moving so fast, my head is spinning and I cannot believe that Abby is going to be starting school this Thursday. What?!? Where did the summer go?? Honestly. Well, here is my baby girl, holding her youngest niece (Natalie). She is finally 12. NO MORE PRIMARY. Hooray!
Abby has grown into such a super fun, spunky and beautiful young lady. She is very thoughtful to those around her and although we are just reaching those "fun" teenage years, I am loving every minute of having her as my daughter and sharing her life with her. The ups and the downs. I am sure there will be plenty. Being a young teenage girl is not what I would choose to be again, especially these days. But Abby is doing such a great job. I love her just so much!!
So, it was the day after Tanton got his Mission Call that we hopped on an airplane. It was July 1, and it was Abby's birthday. We flew out to North Carolina to see Tim/Melissa and Dylan, Sophie and Natalie. Natalie's blessing was on Sunday, July 4 and we wanted to be there for that. She looked so beautiful in her blessing dress. Natalie is a little angel and she is just an extra special little girl. We spent some time with the family, went to an interactive museum, went to Natalie's blessing on Sunday -- which went very well and we were glad that we could be there.
After the blessing some of Tim and Melissa's friends had a 4th of July BBQ. It was a perfect day in Charlotte, NC. The temp was great, not very humid, what a beautiful day. Aunt Abby is always a favorite amongst the nephews and nieces. I don't know what it is but they sure do love her!! And I must say ~ she sure is a great Aunt. I would choose her for my aunt also if I were 2 or 4 years old.
After the BBQ we went to a local golf course for fireworks. The kids sure enjoyed that. But of course, after about 5 minutes they are all the same ~ and the kids just want to run around.
On Monday we headed for home. It sure was fun to see everyone. Dylan and Sophie warmed up to us really quickly considering they don't get to see us very often. We do try to Skype with them so they can remember who we are! ;) What a fun time, what great weather, and what a cute little family. ♥
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