understatement of the year: these pictures dont do the visit justice

brady, jocelyn and lucy came to visit us last week. they arrived just in time for tagg's birthday. we all celebrated at outback. dont even get us started on the poor quality of this picture. especially because the picture-taker said (after taking it and looking at the image) "oh yeah, thats a good one!". really?

the next day we ate at lunchbox down in ballard. i take lunchbox very seriously so i did not appreciate brady teasing me by saying he needed to make a stop at mcdonalds afterwards because he was still hungry. :)

afterwards, we crammed into the car and drove up to the cle elum cabin. it was SO cold when we got there that we had to huddle near the fire. after the babies went to sleep we made donuts and watched movies. very fun.

the last nite the smiths were here jocelyn and i walked around target (yup. thats our idea of vacationing) while the boys played rock band.

tagg playing with the big boys. this is his "tar"!

of course i was glad to see brady and jocelyn but really i just wanted to play with this little lady. she was such a delight and i loved having a baby around (so did tagg!). i also loved having a girl to shop for and may have made jocelyn buy multiple outfits for miss lucy.

so. these are the most pathetic pictures ever. they are kind of boring and do not even come close to documenting the amazing time we had with our bestest friends.

tagg's fishy party

the invitations.

the decor.

dont you just feel like you are drowning under all that water?!

of course, the tissue poms had to make an appearance. wouldnt be a party without them. they covered the big chandelier, making the room even more blue.

the birthday boy. he loved sitting at his little table (thanks to our building's nursery room!) with his friends.

charlie. this little guys makes tagg look like HE doesnt like sweets. we had to keep tearing him away from the cookies and swedish fish.

my pride and joy. a fish mobile made from melted crayons. i am obsessed.

loved using my collection of blue ball jars.

the food table. before the real food actually was on it. we served dewicious chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, tomato bisque and pb&j sammies cut out in the shape of fishies.

one of the surviving goldfish. we started off with five last nite and by this afternoon we were down to three. kind of depressing. (the lady at petco suggested buying a betta fish because they are easier to take care of. didnt want to tell her that betta fish didnt go with the theme of the party!)

the adults played a rousing game of fish trivia.

afterwards, the kids went fishing.

they caught some big ones!

tagg's birthday cake.

my parents bought tagg a highchair for his birthday. finally! i dont have to see him squeeze in to his bumbo anymore.

blowing out the candles.

tagg loved the seven minute frosting. mmmmm.

tagg's guests left with a package of one of our favorites: tangerine jelly bellys. the tags read: you made my party FINtastic.

my two year old. he was SO cute during the entire party. he said thank you after opening his gifts and loved playing with everyone. what fishy fun!

tagg's almost two

tagg will be TWO in a few days! i am.... i mean he is..... super excited for his birthday party this saturday. for the second question in the video, craig is showing tagg a battery. its funny the random words tagg decides to pick up. like battery. and tagg loves nothing more in this world than candy. hopefully that will be advantageous when we start to potty train. bribing: a mom's best friend.

my little man

smiling.

refusing to look at the camera.

studying tyler's picture. tyler is my cousin/best friend that died of cancer ten years ago, after a life-long struggle with a very rare cancer. i love that tagg recognizes tyler and loves to carry his picture around.

expecting a little girl

i had the pleasure of taking portraits of this mom-to-be. look at that glow!

she had the perfect round tummy.

sweet.

these two are SO excited for their baby girl.

this was my "artistic" shot for the day. i actually really like how it turned out. cannot wait to meet this little lady and take some portraits of her own.

cupcake store holiday party

you better believe that i won the award for "biggest cupcake nerd" out of the entire company! i was super excited but also a little bit embarrassed. this is some of the bravern crew. i love my cupcake friends.

here's to twenty-ten.

happy new year.