12.28.2009 -- Brighton

For a few years now, my parents have been renting a place up near Brighton for a Christmas time family reunion. It's great to spend time together. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

Last year, I brough my camera. This year, I didn't. It's a mixed bag because with my camera, I am less centered and sort of swooping around trying to get the perfect candid shot of everyone. But with a real camera, I have better chances of getting good pictures. I decide this year to go with more centered and less swoopy.

One thing I've been realizing lately is that I get pictures of Lucy that I take with my phone pretty often, but that I can rarely use pictures that I take of Gabe. The reason? He doesn't hold still long enough for me to catch him. They're a blur.

One of the few..

One highlight for our little family this year was that Lucy really started skiing. We missed skiing the first day because her skis were in Salt Lake with Brian, who had to work. We went to the hill to watch the kids doing ski lessons anyway. That's where this picture was taken. The next day, Lucy took some lessons with a girl named Kate, from Colorado (who, incidentally, had an earring in her tongue, according to Lucy). Lucy had SO much fun with Kate! She ended up a level 3 skier and didn't want to come in, even when she was wet and cold. Here is her ski button:

And this is how Lucy looked when she had to come in from the mountain with her daddy. She wanted to go on the Majestic lift before she come in, but was pretty tired. I was so happy that she had more good experiences with skiing this year. She enjoyed herself last year with her Grandpa and Dad on the bunny hill, but now she can put her boots on, stop, turn, and do the lifts by herself. (I didn't actually get to see her do this, but I have it on Lucy's authority.)

Lucy with her cousin, Cameron. She cannot get enough of all of her cousins, but especially Cameron. Somehow, he was able to withstand almost four days of continuous instruction from Lucy about how to play the role of "Joseph" in her nativity fantasy. She was Mary. Gabe was Jesus.

12.24.2009 -- Who Dat?

12.14.2009 -- All Mine

I have a funny husband. He has a quick wit and is capable of some very clever double-entendres. It's one of the things that I loved about him early on when we were getting to know each other.

And well, as far as humor goes, his sense of it tends to get a little corny or off-color sometimes and can even cross "the line." One thing I say when he pushes the envelope a little too much is, "He's mine, ladies--all mine!" I say this to let him know that he's pushing it, and to lighten the mood in case he actually did offend someone. Of course, it comes off as, "Take my husband, please!" (Ba dum bum.)

These pictures are from yesterday, when our nephews were blessed. I couldn't have been more proud of him. He's a good man, and I am so happy that he is mine.

He's mine, ladies. All mine!

Gabe's Birthday -- Part II

12.09.2009 -- Who I am...not

A friend said to me a while ago that she saw pictures on my Facebook profile and that she liked them. She liked them, she said, because they "real," not posed, professional and perfect. (I can't remember her exact wording.) She seemed like she wasn't sure if that was offensive or not and tried to make sure I understood that she thought it was nice.

As I made up and ordered our Christmas cards today, her comment came to mind. The card took me under an hour from turning on my computer to getting a confirmation e-mail and included pictures that were taken spur-of-the-moment. Not a single picture was retouched.

I am definitely not perfectly professional and I'm okay with that.

12.01.2009 -- Gabe's First Birthday, Part I

Our family picture history has been miserable up to this point, so I took advantage of my brother's presence this past weekend and had him take some pictures of us. Thanks to him and to my fabulous husband for letting me rope them into this last second photo shoot. It was nice not having to stress out days in advance about what to wear and how everyone should be styled. We'll leave that to another time.

Our Thanksgiving was lots of fun. We drove up to Idaho to spend a couple of days with my side of the family. For me as a kid, Thanksgiving was magical, and we always celebrated with my mom's side. Because it's been YEARS since we've spent Thanksgiving together, my expectations were high. This year's family time didn't disappoint. Thanks again, Aunt Laura Lee and Uncle Benji!

Holidays are hard for me. I'm a festive kind of girl. I'm all for celebrating. The problem is that they rarely live up to the hype. For example, when I think about how Christmas or New Year's ought to be, I'm probably using theatrical references for 80% of my idealization. Real life just has a hard time living up to that. Things like holiday burnout, budget exhaustion, and a scope that includes too many wishes (I wish I could give really well-considered gifts to a lot of people, I don't think it's ever worked out the way I really wish it could), these real life hiccups put a damper on holidays for me.

Thanksgiving is easier, though. It's simply family and food.

It was so nice to have my sister-in-law, brother and our niece with us for a few days. Poor little one had her first experience with an earache and teething pain, and my brother was dealing with a cold, but they were troopers.

Each of the photos in this post were taken on Gabe's birthday. We started off with a berry-filled crepes brunch with friends, then dove into birthday cake baking for the Tayler family party on Sunday. While the BYU-Utah game was on, Brian set up Gabe's birthday present from us: a slide. The pictures below show just how Gabe (and Lucy) reacted to the slide.

By the time we got around to dinner, both kids were asleep, so we enjoyed our dinner with our beloved (beloved? yes. beloved.) guests. Fun day.

This picture sums up how Gabe felt about his birthday.