Owen's 5th birthday, and first friend party!

Owen turned 5 on December 1st! He was so excited to open his presents and have the whole day be about him. Me and Chris took him to A Christmas Carol in 3d in the morning, and then went home to get the house ready for his friends to come over. He had so much fun, We played games in the basement and then watched a movie and had cake and ice cream. He is already counting down the days to his 6th birthday.

Thanksgiving at the Burtons..

Oh how I love Thanksgiving, not only for the yummy food, but a good nice break to spend with the whole family. This year we spent it with the Burton's up in Kamas. It was so fun to have every single person there this year. I fell in love with my little nephew, Julien, who I don't get to see that often since he lives in Arizona. My kids have so much fun riding on the crew, playing with dogs, swimming at the rec center, and just running around and doing tricks in the theater room. We also got to celebrate Owen, Adam, Madalin, and Andy's birthday!

Girls trip.

Some of my friends were able to make a quick little getaway to St. George the first weekend in November. I love my friends! We had such a great time, and can't wait for the next one!

Halloween fun..

Halloween just gets more fun with my kids the older they get. Owen had a fun party at his school, and then we made our way up to Chris's work to do a little trick or treating in his office. Later that night my parents came over to see them in their costumes!




Liv got to go to Owen's school party since I was helping out, doesn't Owen look thrilled?

Owen and his cute friend, Dayton.

Please mark your calendar for this..

I will be donating a photo session for this fundraiser, and I'm so excited to be apart of this. To hear more about Bridger's story go HERE.

Meet Harry.

Yep thats his name. It was between tiny or big foot, so I compromised with Owen to name him Harry after Harry and the Hendersons. As for Chris, well, he is not mad but doesn't want anything to do with him. I thought he would take one look at him and melt. Maybe with a couple more nights with him snuggled up to him while he watches his sports will do the trick!

Our new addition.

Meet Gus, Harry, Friendly, Tiny, or some other name. We are all so in love with him (except Chris, who hasn't met him yet). I hope I am not in trouble for this, but I think once Chris sees him he will be smitten (fingers crossed). Owen is so excited he keeps saying thank you, and I love my new pet.

Headless.

My little Owen can say some pretty funny things, but this one caught me a little off guard. I didn't know whether to laugh or seek some professional help. The other morning after breakfast I told him and Liv that they needed to get in the bath, and off course Owen started to whine saying "You always do this to me, why do I always need to get in the bath?" As I proceeded to answer him he cut me off and told me, "I am going to tell Dad to kick your head off." When I asked him to repeat what he just said he mumbled, "I am going to tell Dad your rude." I was completely stunned by this, and even found it a little funny. Where do kids get this? He doesn't play violent video games or watch violent shows, so where would he pick this up? Anyways I hope he learned his lesson not to talk to his Mom or in anyone for that matter like that.

On to another subject. I am completely, and utterly sad that Christmas is now over. No more excuses to eat yummy and unhealthy treats (like Jade's delicious cake balls). No more cozy Christmas tree in my living room. And no more talk about what Santa is going to bring us. But I am excited for what this New Year will bring!
We had such a wonderful Christmas and New Years, and I am sad that it passed so fast. Owen has become a little daredevil, which makes me a little scared at times. During the Holiday break Owen has jumped off the high dive (several times) and sledded down a big hill by himself on his belly going over jumps. Doesn't he know that his Dad has broken almost every bone in his body, and that he could follow in his footsteps? I really hope and pray that that isn't the case...

(picture below) Chris on low dive and little Owen on the big one.

Christmas day.

Owen was so excited for Santa to come! On Christmas Eve he kept telling me that he couldn't stop talking about it, he just couldn't wait until he came. We told Owen that he couldn't come into our room until it was light outside so about 7:30 in the morning he came running into our room yelling that Santa had come. He said he saw his boots going up the chimney, dang it we just missed him! So we went and woke up Liv (as you can tell Owen likes to dress her in soccer gear for pajamas, and Liv is always so willing). It was so fun to see their eyes light up at what Santa had brought for them. We had a great Christmas and were so lucky to share it with both our families. I was a little lame and only took pictures of Christmas morning at our house. Just now wishing I had more from that day.










Owen spreading out some food for Santa's reindeers on Christmas Eve.

Giveaway...

To enter for a free photo session with me go here!

Something to share..

Loved this post my sister wrote about my sweet parents!

Playing a little dressup.

I can't believe me and my best friend go back 20 years. And now look at our two little girls playing dress up together. We always said when we were little that we would marry brothers or best friends, live next door to eachother with white picket fences, and have kids the same age so that they could be best friends like we were.
I couldn't help but pull my camera out when I saw them playing in Liv's room. I kind of got a little teary eyed. They both resemble us alot and it brought back a lot of memories with Erin. I love you my sweet friend. I am so glad I have you in my life!

Owen meets Santa.

After an unsuccessful try to sit on Santa's lap this last Saturday at Chris's work party (his nerves got the best of him). Owen had another chance at the Conger Christmas party. He was so excited to tell him what he wanted for Christmas, because if he didn't let him know what he wanted then he could possibly get a girl toy, yikes! (thanks Chris for implanting that in his mind) So he sat bravely on his lap, and exclaimed that this year he wanted a snow globe. Yea he did it and he couldn't have been more proud of himself. As for Liv she was just comfortable watching all the kids do it, although she did give him a nice wave goodbye.
I love family parties! Thanks to my Aunt Penny for putting it together, it was so good to see everyone! Love you all.

Just one reason I'm excited for my little break this month..

is that I can take oodles and oodles of pictures of these two....

Owen and the big 5

His birthday was on the 1st, so this is a little late. I can't believe he is 5 years old, can't the time just slow down a bit. I have to say birthdays sure do get more fun with age. Owen has been counting down for months, so he was so excited when the day finally arrived. Me and Chris took him to "A Christmas Carol" in 3D, and then we had a friend birthday party at night. Wow that was a lot of work, but Owen was so glad to share his birthday with his buddies! Love you bud!

Happy Halloween, just a little late.

Well Halloween has come and gone and the holidays and cold weather are vastly approaching. Because I forgot to take pictures on Halloween I had to have my kids reenact it. We got some looks our way, and also heard a kid ask his Dad where the heck we were going in our costumes, did we not know Halloween was over. Um yes I did, I just think I might be losing my mind a little bit, some of my friends can I agree with that. So if you have any words of advice on how to balance or make things a little less chaotic, please do tell.
Anyways Liv was Snow White, and Owen was the black spider man. They both had a grand ole time, and Liv was in heaven with all the candy, and Owen was just excited to run around the neighborhood with his best buddy, Cannon. Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

A night out.

Owen and Liv enjoying the night at Wheeler Farm! I had pictures there tonight so I had Chris stay with the kids until I was done, and then we went on the hayride after. So fun!

Were still alive.

So I got this idea from my brother in law's sister, she posts a picture everyday on her blog. I really want to do this, I want to push myself to be more creative and try new things with my photography. So every day there will be a new picture on my blog, some might be great and others not so much. Today I really wanted to focus on a low aperture and lots of bokeh.




And as for my little ones. Liv has been spending a lot of time in her naughty chair, for me this works she knows that she can not get out of it until she is ready to be nice. Owen is loving his 4 wallets, we have conversations about how many cards he has probably every 30 minutes. He LOVES his wallets they are his babies, and if you see him around with them a nice comment like, "Wow Owen, those wallets are so cool. How many cards do you have?" it will make his day and you will be his best friend. I love being their mommy! Owen told me today that today is a good day. I have tried to spend a little more quality time with them, and I promise you they notice. So today is a good day, and what better way to top it off then to go on a scary date with Chris, my parents, Jill, Jade, and their husbands. Jamie you will be there in spirit and we will talk nicely about you the whole time, Love you.
Picture taken today, they really are the best of friends!