the greatest gift....

Blaine loves play-doh...or as he likes to call it..."the cool"

"Do I have to put it together myself, dad?"

"Are you sure I can open this? You're always telling me not to touch!"

Is love, would you not say? Spending time with your family, enjoying each others company is one of the best gifts of Christmas~ (again, I will post video of Blaine's first steps and his 2nd Christmas when I can figure out how to convert the vid files lol)

just another day at the beach....

"what? this isn't a nudist beach?"

daddy builds a sandcastle and blaine destroys it....

shell hunting...

"no thumb for you..."

'on the boardwalk, we'll be having fun'

Where else could you go to the beach in November, but Florida (and probably California)? We just wanted to spend the day together, outside of our home and into the fresh air. The weather was nice and we had a fun, fun, fun time!

lazy lounge lizard....

"There are just some days that I feel like doing nothing."

fall for it....

Autumn is my favorite season. The leaves changing color, the breeze and getting to use the fireplace....ahhhhh.

You know how a while back I would blog a quote that I liked? I'm baaaaaack (please do your best to adopt a sing-song voice when repeating this phrase in your mind). :) Here's a couple from the Dean Koontz Odd Thomas series that I like so much.

Odd Thomas' narrative; The flesh on the nape of my neck did the crawly thing that it does so well. Some say this is God's warning that the devil is near, but I've noticed I also experience it when someone serves me Brussels sprouts.

Odd Thomas' narrative on descending into the unknown; On a high number cable channel that I think is called CRAP THAT NOBODY ELSE WILL SHOW TV, I once saw an ancient movie serial about these adventurers who descend to the center of the earth and discover an underground civilization. It's an evil empire, of course.
The emperor resembles Ming the Merciless from those old Flash Gordon festivals of hokum, and he intends to make war on the surface world and take it over as soon as he develops the right death ray. Or when his immense fingernails grow long enough to be appropriate for the ruler of an entire planet, whichever comes first.
This underworld is populated by the usual thugs and knaves, but also by two or three kind of mutants, women in horned hats, and of course dinosaurs. This film masterwork was made decades before the invention of computer animation, and the dinosaurs were not even stop-motion clay models but iguanas. Rubber appliances were glued to the iguanas to make them appear scarier and more like dinosaurs, but they just looked like embarrassed iguanas.


Hahahaha. I've really fallen for Koontz' style. He can make me laugh, cry or pee my pants in fear. So, bummer for all of you out there that don't appreciate his genius, I will be posting some more of his literary tidbits in the future.

introducing.......popcorn!

this....this right here?

hmm, ok...i see what you mean....

it's delicious!

halloween....

a late-in-the-day wardrobe malfunction led to a costume change...from railroad engineer to santa clause (thank you jared and dee for sending the outfit, otherwise we would have had nothing at all, haha)

our fall festival was loads of fun thanks to a local blue grass band (they were excellent)

no one was willing to stuff their faces with pie, so to get the ball rolling...i signed up (eventually 5 guys decided to compete). i lost terribly but i'm glad i entered being the only woman EVER to do so, lol.

What a great time we had this Halloween! On Friday we stayed at home handing out candy to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters. On Saturday, we went to our ward's Fall Festival and Trunk-Or-Treat party. Blaine really got into the whole thing and was a lot of fun this year. Hope next year can live up to it, lol.

an unexpected gift....

applying proper etiquette techniques...blaine reads the note before tearing open the package

where to begin?

...making a catalog of 'said' gifts...

enjoying the fruits of his labor...

Some friends of ours sent us a surprise package filled with goodies (syrup lollipop, some strawberry preserves, cookie mix, yum!). They've always been so generous....so many thanks!!

fashion forward....

minus the fencing accessories...these dresses are chic!

beautiful print, don't you think?

I really love these ruched puffed sleeves...

fun two-piece suit with a scarlet obi...

You've got to ignore the head pieces to really appreciate these designs, lol. Enjoy my favorite choices from the Alexander Mcqueen's spring 2008 collection (I know I'm late).

portraits....

Picture time for Blaine!

zoo-tastic.....

you two are nothing but a bunch of fruit loops....

lonely and majestic....

Here are some more pictures of our zoo trip. Enjoy :) ~

zoolander.....

rhinoplasty, lol....

can't remember what this animal is called (so sue me)...

uncle james (really, its cousin james) with blaine and andrew..

you can feed the giraffes, but you have to pay for the leaves....go figure

andrew and blaine getting a close-up view of the fish...

On Saturday, Blaine had his first ever visit to the zoo. We got to see the coolest animals (rhinos, silverback gorilla, bears) and some not-so-cool animals (boa constrictor, sloths, giant toad). I think Blaine liked it and heck, so did we! More pics on the way~

toeing the line...

...and yes, there is pink on his baby blanket. Or should I say, my baby blanket. Hurrah for Care Bears!

right before my eyes...

you got me!

i surrender....

don't mind me...just passing through..

reading a book...

It's hard to accept changes. Blaine is growing up and I will always miss my baby, but I'm excited to see what life has in store for him~

a summer moon.....

this last one is my favorite...

While home, I was able to take some pretty amazing landscape photos. Dad took me all the way up to McBride and back around on the Richland side. That rhymed....weird. Anyway...we had a wonderful time and I was able to see the valley in a totally different light. It was incredible! Critics agree that I am no Ansel Adams...but I think I was able to hold my own~

enjoy being family.....

do as i'm doing....

uh, what's wrong with the baby?

bff, best friends.....forever.....

peace and quiet....