we are kinda obsessed

my mom has done it again. this little christmas number is her newest creation and tagg and i couldnt be happier with it. i cannot wait to take tagg out and about to showcase his christmas quilt.

no idea what tagg is doing in this picture. just being a show off, i guess. i feel incredibly lucky that my mom is not only super talented but also VERY generous. these quilts are priceless.

they made me work for my food

thanksgiving 2008 was a blast. all of my mom's family came into town to celebrate the holiday and taylor's return. we had such a fabulous time shopping, going around town and eating insanely good food. however, it came with a price...... i was put to work as the family photographer. honestly, i loved every minute of it! these are the girls. my mom and her sisters. 

oh, taylor. we all love him so much. especially a certain little ten month old boy.....

 

pop and mom. they make such a cute couple. especially with the matching puffer vests! 

i had such a great time with my family. i cannot wait until we can all get together again. its always a party.

becca and devin

i was able to take these kids' engagement pictures last week. they were so fun and easy to work with. it was a piece of cake.

we spent the afternoon going around downtown and basking in their young love. it was a blast!

beautiful.

isnt her ring gorgeous? i loved it.

i drug my mom's chair down to the old brick road. i thought a red love seat would be perfect for engagement pictures.

they were such a fun couple. 

who would have thought that pipes on a construction site would end up being a cute backdrop? 

i swear, the oddest places end up working the best.

i loved having the opportunity to take their pictures. i just cant wait to see which one they pick to use for their announcements.....

houdini

i can never get tagg to perform on command. but this time around he did two tricks! he is such an attention monger.

tagg couldnt be happier...

because his uncle, taylor, returned home from his two-year church mission in florida! (i realize this picture doesnt really have anything to do with this subject but its just too cute not to post.)

this past wednesday, november the 19th, taylor came back. we are all so incredibly proud of his faith and hard work over the past two years. he is such a fantastic example to me of going outside of my comfort zone and doing the right thing even if its difficult. i am so glad to have him back so that we can play (until he goes off to school in january. boo.) .

of course, we went straight to outback from the airport. we have our priorities, k? and tagg LOVES his uncle. they hit it off immediately and already have a special little bond. i love it!

this is a video of taylor walking thru the security at the airport. we all got so anxious waiting that we took down bets of the exact minute we thought he would walk thru the gate. I WON. 12.18pm.

somewhere, over the rainbow

i had the honor hosting jill's baby shower. she had holden bram pollard on september 30th, a day before the originally scheduled baby shower! long story short: she planned for an at-home birth and had to have holden come a few weeks early in order to do so. she is one brave little woman!

all went smoothly with the birth and bart and jill are thrilled with their new baby. jill is already SUCH a great mommy.

holden is a great baby. he looks just like his daddy and has the cutest head with lots of hair!

so, the theme of the shower was wizard of oz. i had a great time thinking of ways to incorporate all the different elements and characters of the story. (special thanks to megan and my mom for their amazing help!)

the week before the shower mcdonalds' happy meal toys were all the wizard of oz characters! i was so excited about the coincidence that i quickly bought up all of them. this is the good witch and her wand-cupcakes.

i collect cake plates so when i saw this beautiful jade one i had to pick it up! it went perfectly with the emerald city and i think it will be gorgeous with christmas cupcakes too.

the wicked witch and her flying monkeys. i sent craig on the errand to pick up a set of barrel of monkeys thinking that they only came in brown. but when he came home with blue ones i freaked out. (cause the real monkeys in the movie are blue)

the tin-man punch. we froze red water in a heart shaped dish and floated it in the clear punch.

my mom made these rice-crispies and i drew little lion faces on them. then i tied a little badge of courage on each bag.

i cannot tell you what i had to go through to not let my cousins eat these lollipops before the shower. they have since been devoured.

this station represented the scarecrow. megan made her delicious lemon curd coconut cake. sadly, my mom threw away the other little crow i bought for the cake display thinking it was a halloween decoration... how rude!

me with gorgeous little holden. i was grateful that i could help celebrate jill and her new baby boy. it was a fabulous night.

pretty prettymy mom finally let me take some pictures of her last week. we came across this super old gas station and had to stop.

she is so gorgeous, it wasnt that hard to get some good ones. but the best thing about my mom is that she is just as beautiful on the inside. she is my best friend. i am the luckiest girl in the world to have her as my mommy.