Happy Birthday Little Sis!

Thirty six years ago today my whole world changed, my parents brought my little sister Melanie home. I could have never dreamt at my little age of 2 what a little sister could possibly bring into my life. I have since learned a few things.

It means mom shares her time with you...


It means Great Grandma's lap can hold 2 of us now.
It means we will be dressed alike on many occasions throughout our lives.
It means you will wear the costume I wouldn't be caught dead in!

It means we share our favorite clothes with each other, especially the Camp Beverly Hills and Coca Cola ones.

It means you finish the last two years of high school and not be called "Leslie's little sister" all of the time.
It means we will share lots of hairspray! It means that someone will sit on your bed with you and console you after your boyfriend moves away and you have cried all day. It means you have someone to get in accidents with!
It means you have someone to stand beside you on the most important day of your life....
And she asks you to do the same. It means she won't tell you that you are starting to look fat in that bridesmaid dress when you don't know that you are pregnant yet! It means she will hold your tiny newborn baby for the first time and tell you how fabulous you look moments after you delivered. And she is the most excited person in the room!

It means she will let you in the room when she holds her baby for the first time too!


It means you have a best friend for life.

Happy Birthday Melanie!!!!

Happy 42nd Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Just wanted to wish my parents a very Happy Anniversary! 42 years is a long time!! Hope you both have a wonderful day!

(this is my new favorite song by the way, doesn't Journey just remind you of slow dancing with your sweetie! So glad they made a new love song, I thought it was perfect for today!)

More, more, more!

Here are a few more from the other days shoot with Myah, it is a good thing I didn't want her smiling in alot of them, yeah right! Oh well, that is Myah! I am learning how to use Flicker so please bear with me! By the way, the dress is the one I bought from Matilda Jane at Art in the Park this summer. I just realized how much she still looks like that very first picture that we ever saw of her (referral picture on the right of the screen). Just more hair! I never posted about her first haircut but we did have it cut for the first time in July, quite a bit came off to keep it healty. It was down to her waist and needed a trim. Hopefully it grows fast! I sure am thankful that the neighbors behind us can't sell this little spot of land, I love taking pictures back there!

Sneak Peak

Welcome to the World Claire

Today my sister called and said that her best friend Lisa just delivered her sweet little baby girl, Claire. I had the honor of photographing Lisa with her first pregnancy and when I was up north last time I took a few quick shots for her to celebrate the birth of her little girl. I love this one, in some of the pictures you can see little Claire pushing out on one side. She has 2 boys and now a girl, all under the age of 4! She is one busy mommy! Congratulations to their family!

Ballerina Girl

On Monday Myah began Dance Class! I have waited so long to have a little girl that can take dance! She was super excited and actually slept in her leotard when we first brought it home. She is in pre-dance for 3 and 4 year olds. She is learning a little ballet and tap at the same time. At first she went right in, I wondered how long she would last. The assistant was trying to move her legs and arms like the teacher was showing and I could see her shaking her head "no". That is the Myah I know! After that she came over to me with a big pout and tears. So we sat in the room and watched together for a while. The teacher then brought out a balance beam and the mats and I knew she wanted to join in. So I told her I would give her a whole pack of gum if she went out there. A little bribe but it worked like a charm, she sprang right up and joined in the fun. She was so cute! Half way through they yell "tap shoes" and the little girls all run to us mommies to put the shoes on for them. Boy did it get loud quickly! She was very proud of herself and kept looking at me for approval and to make sure I was still watching her. She has a friend in the class so I think that will help. She loved it and came home and showed the guys what she had learned. She looked so little out there, normally in a crowd of her peers she is the big one. I think she will get lots of one on one because many of the girls have been through this class before, she needs a little coaching. She didn't do anything before asking "what is that" or "why", typical Myah!
Forgive these awful pictures, I wasn't sure if photos were allowed so I just took the wimpy camera along. Trust me, I will have pictures! Actually just today I did a mini photo shoot with her in the back yard and am very happy with the results. I will post those later.

Happy 40th Sherry!

My dearest friend Sherry turns 40 today and I want to wish her the best day ever! She moved with her family to Wisconsin last year and my life just isn't the same. We still gab on the phone like we always have and try to see each other a few times a year but I miss knowing that she is just a short drive away. We met when our boys were 3 years old and starting pre-school. That means we have been friends for 10 years now! She is one person I know I can call at anytime and she is there for me. We sure have stood by each other in some tough times, she always understands and cares. She is such a warm and sweet person to be around and I have so much fun when we are together. She is a wonderful mother, wife and daughter. I am so thankful for her in my life. I hope you have a great day Sherry, wish I could be there to watch you blow out your candles, please blow them out before the smoke detector goes off! Ha Ha!!! Love ya!!!

Where did the week go?

Oh my, with all of the craziness of car troubles around here it really makes me realized how much we are on the go. Having 2 cars is a must! I did get kind of crafty for the few days that I was house-bound though! I don't know about where you are but we have had some major rain here this weekend, we had record amounts of rainfall, seems Ike made its way to the north. Please say a prayer for my friend Kim at 3 Peanuts, she and her family just moved to Houston and were right in Ike's path, they left their apartment ( haven't had time to buy a house yet) and headed out of town. Who knows what they will find upon their return.

This was a week full of birthdays! I am party pooped! I just uploaded pictures from my both of my cameras and realized how many places we have visited over the past week, whew!! I have to journal on here or I will forget by tonight! Here it goes:
Myah and I made an impromptu visit to my cousin Jed's house last weekend, he and his wife Annie had their first child in April. This is our first time meeting little Alaina. She was so tiny! I have a cute video of Myah holding her that I will have to post later. I could just eat her up with those huge big eyes. This also made me realize how old I am getting, I remember clearly when Jed was born, I was 12! Now he is a father. For the record, I am patting her back!

Myah loves being a big cousin!

Dayton went to his friend Zack's paintball party. They own lots of property and have a great set up for paintball, Dayton said it was the most fun he has ever had!

I was able to celebrate my Dad's birthday with him, it was a super quick trip but so glad that I could. I have a cute video of his birthday cake too but will post that later too! This is me and my sister Melanie with my parents and our girls.

We went to Taylor's football game and enjoyed ourselves before he got hurt. His birthday was the next day too!

On Saturday we were honored to attend Mrs. Wallace's 80th birthday celebration. She and her husband were my grandparents best friends forever. Since my grandma passed away 6 years ago I have tried to make an effort to keep in touch with them. Mr. Wallace passed away a year and a half ago. We love her like family and we were so glad that we could share this special day with her. Her son made a beautiful toast and said that when Mr. W. passed away during the dinner after the funeral Mrs. W. said "your dad would have liked this, all of his friends and family together in one place" So he said they decided to throw her a grand 80th so that she could experience this joy in her lifetime. So many tears and laughs. Myah just loves her and keeps calling her Grandma. Mrs. W. reminds me so much of my grandmother. They traveled the world together and shopped all of the time, so many things in her home are the same things that my grandma had. It does my heart good to have a place like that to visit to remind me of how things used to be. I miss it!

I just love her to pieces! Such a classy lady! Mark lived with them when he first moved down here almost 20 years ago, he was right out of college and was hired as a police officer. They lovingly opened their beautiful home to him so he could get acquanited with the area. Dayton took alot of pride in knowing he was now taller than Mrs W!

After her party we went to the home of one of Mark's officers. He has an annual fish fry and invites alot of the guys from the department. It was fun catching up with everyone. Myah loved playing with all of her little friends. Little Allie was adopted from South Korea a few years ago, Myah was so cute with her. Dayton had a blast playing in the rain with the kids, they were soaked at the end of the night.

This is Paul, Rachel and Dayton , yes Rachel is taller than Paulie and Dayton! She is 5'8"! The boys were trying to be goofy and stand on their tippie toes!

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Today is our nephew Taylor's 17th birthday! We went to his football game last night and he got hurt during the second half. So I am sure he is recooperating today, probably not what he wanted to do on his birthday. He will be fine, just sore. He is a really special young man and makes us all very proud. Hope you had a great day Taylor!

The "Good" Child

I don't know if I mentioned a few months ago we purchased a new car. After driving Mark's big Dod*ge Ram for a few years (he drove it not me), and paying $4 a gallon for gas we decided to turn it in for a much more economical vehicle. We really wanted a small car that got good gas mileage. We looked at alot of cars but I really fell in love with the Chrysl*er Sebring. The bonus at the time was the $2.99 gas card that came along with it. We pay $2.99 for each gallon of gas no matter how high the gas prices get. This morning I was listening to the news and heard them mention that gas could get up as high as $5 a gallon soon, I am so thankful that we found this little car when we did. Seriously, $5, a gallon??? Who can afford to drive anywhere at that price! I just love this little car, it is so zippy to drive around town in and it is so cute on top of it! I am so grateful for this sweet little car, it is really stepping up to the plate in so many ways these days! Wanna know the best part? I can upload pictures of my kiddos onto the cool little radio screen and stare at their pictures while I drive. Ok, that doesn't sound very safe now does it!