going to miss this

Julie and James Manning family returned to their home in Hawaii last Friday after 2 1/2 months in Arizona and they are really going to be missed.  One of the reasons I'll miss them is because Julie and i worked out and did strength training about twice a week.

Kristy and I were working out together before they moved to England and I hardly did strength again until Julie came into town.  On our last morning Julie brought Josie so I woke up Avery and Zara to join us!  Of course Beatrix woke up in the process and later Rupert also wanted to be a part of it. 

These are the least glamorous photos in the least glamorous garage but it was a fun time I'll miss.  Look at Beatrix with her 3 lb. weight and the stretch band on her legs! :)  

Happy for the Manning's they're back home though.  It was difficult getting back and they missed their home.  I mean, it is Hawaii!!

The Seymore's are here!

 

Everyone is so thrilled the Seymore's are here from Germany this Christmas!  They feel very fortunate to be here because of Covid, and the military was only allowing one person from Garrett's dental office to leave, and he still had to work hard to push the paperwork to be here now.  The traveled all day Monday and arrived that night, and we got to see that Tuesday afternoon.  It's been since last August that they were here.

Elliot showing off how tall he is!  Since he last saw them he has surpassed Mom, me, Julie, and Ruth in hight.  Not Nora yet.  Damon and Rupert were playing soldier/guards to Beatrix and Aubrey.  Aubrey and Bea really look like cousins in these photos.  Cousins everywhere and the Seymore kids have grown so much!

Jason wanted to show Rupert how to make snowflakes for the windows, and later Julie wrote out the "welcome home" banner we all decorated for Mom and Dad's return today!  Mom and Dad had their last day on their mission Monday, set off Tuesday and have been traveling the last couple days.

Manning family pictures

Last month I had the chance to take pictures of some great families.  Julie has been great about scheduling annual family pictures.  The Mannings are such a cute little family, it was really a lot of fun.

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.

Thanksgiving weekend

I'm a little late posting these but we had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  It started off with the pie making, I mentioned, a tradition that Julie made more special with a little pie announcement.  She likes to announce these things with subtlety.   I had a bad cold most of the week which caused me to miss out on the Turkey Trot but I still ate my Thanksgiving meal with gusto.  Elliot and Avery ate more than last year, which wasn't difficult since all Elliot had was ham and Avery pie.  On Friday we took some family pictures of Julie, James and Josie and took the opportunity to snap of few family pics of us as well.  That was interesting!  Saturday was a special day.  Someone turned 27 and someone else turned 9 months (hint).

I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to Christmas.

This week we plan putting some Christmas lights on our house,

buying a Christmas tree,

get my hair done (I'm itching for change),

making homemade ornaments for Andrew's family,

and celebrating Andrew's 32 b-day Saturday.

Pete and Em family pics

The other day Julie and I took pictures of our brother's family.  They are such a sweet family with THREE boys!  Such handsome little guys.  Peter frequently reminds me how nice it must be to have children with both genders so I don't have to wonder if I'll ever have the a girl (or boy).  Pete and Emily just dying for a girl but adore their boys.

I like how they all look like brothers but have their own looks and personalities, of course!

The hardest part about taking family pictures, especially with kids, is getting a good one with everyone.  That's why Julie and I made a good team.  She distracted the boys so I could get some of Peter and Emily.  She also took some of Dean and Robinson on the playground but I haven't seen them yet.  These are all from my camera.  I really love a good candid shot!

maternity shoot

I'm so excited to be so close to the end! I'm also excited to share these photos. My sister, Julie, took them on my camera and I love how they turned out. I never did a maternity shoot with either of my other pregnancies so this was a lot of fun. I'm glad I convinced Andrew to be a part of this photo shoot. He looks really hot! He's going to adore this little one almost as much as me!

Can I just say I love my new camera?!

So, do you think I'm having a girl or a boy?

When do you think this little one will come?

Andrew really wants the baby to be born on February 14 since Elliot and Avery were both on the 14th as well (Elliot - July 14, Avery - April 14). Avery also happened to be born on our anniversary and Feb. 14 is Valentine's Day (duh) and Andrew's dad's birthday. It's just easy to remember. I told him to not keeps his hopes up. Besides, the baby decides when it's ready to come.

p.s. Thanks Julie! You're a babe!

Manning family pics

Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a great photographer

that takes amazing pictures.

I just think taking pictures is fun.

A bunch of my family spent the weekend in Pinetop

and Julie and James wanted to take advantage of the

beautiful scenery and take a few family pictures.

I took a few pics with my camera

but mostly used theirs.

I love their camera - it's so much better than mine.

Their pictures would have turned out so much better

if I hadn't accidentally had it on the wrong setting

which made them all turn out too dark.

Proof that I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Ha ha! Oh well!

These are the pics from my camera.

Such a cute little family!

Pinetop was so beautiful!

Arizona is so beautiful!