Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!

So far this month has been filled with joy and happiness.  I'm taking a few minutes to update you from this busy Christmas day to say that all is well.  The Savior was born and I am so grateful for the blessings it has brought in my life.  I love my little ones.  They make this holiday extra special.  I'm grateful for a loving husband.  We have a great life and I can't believe how lucky a girl I am.

Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

DJ and Sara family photos

Last time I took pictures of DJ and Sara's family my favorite lens was in the shop and the pictures weren't what I was hoping for.  This shoot was my chance to redeem myself and they turned out great!  Not that I can take all the credit.  Those are some cute kids!


Thursday, December 5, 2013

Nora Maternity shoot

Nora was born to be a mother and now she has the sweetest little baby girl Maggie who is already a few months old.  But Nora was adorable pregnant too.  It's funny seeing her hair long here because after Maggie was born she chopped several inches.  New life, new hair.  I did the same thing after Avery was born.


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Julie maternity shoot

Lately I have been blessed to take pictures of some of my favorite people!  Here are some of my beautiful sister before Jason was born.   It's hard to believe Jason is already 5 weeks old.  He was a surprise gender and also the biggest grand baby.  At 37 weeks Julie is just glowing.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

November snapshots

Today is Andrew's birthday!  He turned  33, which sounds like a good number don't you think?  This is going to be a great year!  In November I turned 28 (yay!), we went off sugar, again, until Thanksgiving, I made my first lattice pie, Ruth and Ammon announced they're expecting, us sisters threw Julie a baby shower, Maggie had her baby blessing, Elliot's teacher called and said he has better handwriting than her (awesome!), we celebrated Guy Fawkes Day, and Andrew learned how to tile.  The kitchen has been a big focus these past few weeks and will continue to be for a while.  It's looking great though!



Wednesday, November 20, 2013

October snapshots

Let's just say this year has flown by really fast!  October was great because we got to play with Elliot a whole week during October break.  During that time Andrew was in D.C. for work and got strep throat that lasted until the end of the month.  But the end of the month ended with a bang with the birth of a Julie's baby and Halloween! We were off sugar the whole month until Halloween day so Andrew and I especially looked forward to Halloween.  Next week is our birthday week, Thanksgiving, and Andrew took the whole week off so we're going on a lot of dates and having fun getting into the holidays!

 

Friday, October 4, 2013

book review: Eat & Run

It's been a while since I've done a book review but this book was too good not to share.  Eat & Run shares some of Scott Jurek's most challenging ultra marathon races, his journey to running, his journey to healthy eating, and everything in between.  If you don't know already, an ultra marathon is any running race with a distance greater than a marathon (26.2 miles), but are often 50 miles, 100 miles, or more.

Scott mentions that most good marathon runners "hit a wall" during a race, or after it, but ultra runners hit wall after wall after wall and still continue to run.  These walls are often mental.  Scott wanted to challenge his body as far to the edge of physical/emotional limit without going over the edge and won many ultra marathon races.  An astounding fact is that he is Vegan, so he had to find ways to get plenty of protein in his diet without meat and eggs.  Each chapter shares a Vegan recipe he would eat before, during, or after his races.

Scott also mentions a woman who ran the Wasatch Back ultra marathon 8 weeks after having a baby, nursed her baby at every water station, and finished the race with a new women's record.  Crazy!

I don't plan on being an ultra marathon runner, or even become Vegan, but this book fascinated me and inspired me to run harder and realize that what I eat affects my runs.  Over that last several weeks I have had a goal to run a certain number of miles each week.  I started out at 4 miles accumulative by the end of the week and now I'm at 13 miles and use an app called Run Keeper to keep track of my miles/pace.  With a triathlon and turkey trot next month and plans to do a half marathon in February it's great to see progress!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

September snapshots

This month Avery and Andrew went on their first daddy-daughter camp out, Zara continuously made new funny faces, Elliot started climbing in the tree again, and I have been working on making meal plans, and sticking to them!  We look forward to all the great weather and activities October has to offer us.

Monday, September 30, 2013

up, up and away

Avery's favorite thing to do on a playground, hands down, is swinging on a swing.  Right now we're working on teaching her how to swing by herself.  Maybe some of that teaching rubbed off.  The weather has cooled down so much the last week or two and we are so grateful to be able to play at parks again!
While park hopping we discovered how much Zara loves to swing too.  It started with a little push from Avery and now she can swing for 30 minutes fully content.
It sure beats throwing sand in her hair!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

August Snapshots

Three weeks late but here are my August photos.  Summer and swimming seem like a long time ago and we are looking forward to the holidays.  I'm feeling out of element here but I hope to be back soon!



Wednesday, September 4, 2013

school and a couple videos

^ ^ Grandpa returned from a camping trip! ^ ^

Thought I'd stop in and keep things current on this little blog.  Time has really been zipping by for us lately.  Just the usual: Elliot in school, Avery pre-school, Zara showing us more every day how funny and active she is. Teddy is doing much better!  Home and healthy.  Many prayers have been answered.  I made a little video from a visit in the hospital.  His cheeks have grown since then.  Same with Maggie.  Love being so close to my family.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

auntie marilyn

 On Monday I got a new nephew and niece.  Chris and Kristy gave birth to their third child, Theodore, and Nora and Garrett gave birth to their first child, Maggie.  It was a day filled with wonder and miracles.
^ ^ 1// my parent's at the hospital 2//a note my dad wrote to my mom 3// my dad holding Maggie ^ ^
Since Monday I have taken about 200+ pictures of Maggie, but Theodore is in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and he and his family needs our prayers.  Our hope and prayers is that doctors will find out what is causing is sicknesses and heal him so he can come home.
We're also praying for no long-term health problems.  This has been a long week for the Stapleys and as tests are being taken and they live day-to-day we can only hope for some normality sooner than later.  All of this makes me even more grateful for my family's good health.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Martin wedding | part 2

Julie and Jame's wedding reception was at the Wright house and it was perfect.  My kids ran around and got to know the place very well while I played the role of Matron of Honor and Andrew enjoyed the orange frappe.  Well, he would have if I didn't keep eating all of his.
^ ^ Prettiest color scheme. ^ ^
 ^ ^ She was hot, ok! ;) ^ ^
 ^ ^  Lookin' good, Honey! ^ ^
 
I hope all of Julie's and Jame's dreams came true because they deserve it.

Martin wedding Part 1
professional pics and video here.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

July snapshots

July!  What a fun, not to mention hot, month!!  In July my best friend got married, we painted our house (finally, yay!), we pool hopped and went to the lake, and Elliot turned 6.  What a big boy!  We are just about ready for school to start.  Less than a week.  As much as I'm looking forward to the new school year I'm really going to miss Elliot.  This will be his first day being at school all day and I can't help thinking how much growth and change will happen.  But it's time and I need to let him go.  A little at a time.

 

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Martin wedding | part 1

Almost two weeks ago my best friend, Julie Dangerfield, got married to James Martin.  I have to mention this irony but my sister, Julie, also married a James and their last name is Manning.  So I have two Julie and James M's is my life that are very important to me.
Julie was absolutely glowing and beautiful and stunning and even those words don't do her justice.  I can only imagine how James felt.  Lucky guy!  It was wonderful being a part of their sealing and wedding day and I enjoyed snapping some pictures and being the Matron of Honor (yes!).  Such a mature title, and a true honor.
Julie, you have wonderful years ahead of you!  I'm so glad you found your other half!!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Ammon and Ruth wedding part 3

Every wedding in our family I try to get inner-family pictures. 
I didn't get everyone this time but here are a few.
^ ^ Let's just say it was a long day. ^ ^
^ ^ Loving Nora's belly and DJ and Sara's recent edition. ^ ^
^ ^ Two more pregnant bellies. ^ ^
^ ^ Very sweet! ^ ^
^ ^ All the sisters and sils (sister-in-laws)! ^ ^

And that's a wrap with Ruth's wedding pics!  See more on the photographer's website.  I especially love the reception pictures. Most of mine didn't turn out very well.

A&R wedding part 1 and  part 2