My Very First Attempt at Digital - Be Kind!!

Here is the very first layout I created as a "digi-scrapper." Brittney has been trying to convince me to switch from paper scrapping to digital, and I've been a little hesitant. So after much soul searching and contemplation, I decided to give it a try. This is my first attempt, so please be nice! :) I have a few more things to do (Britt told me about shadowing this morning - never knew you could do that!), so it isn't final yet, but it's a start! :) If you look, PLEASE PLEASE leave a comment on anything you think it needs or changes to make it better. I've never done this so any secrets or tricks-of-the-trade you'd like to impart would be SOOOO appreciated! THANKS! :)

Changing of the Leaves

Ben's parents were in town last week for Angie and Jeremiah's wedding. So we decided it would be fun to drive the Alpine Loop with Rosalinda to see the changing leaves. It was beautiful!

It was so great to have his parents in town. My boys ADORE them! Grandma was so great to watch the boys so much while I was at work or when Ben and I ran an errand, and she makes the BEST food! And Grandpa is just too much fun! In fact, the night before Ben took Grandpa to the airport, Matthew cried because he didn't want Grandpa to leave. Ben and I both wish they lived a little closer than Texas! But it was great to see them for a while. They've been here 3 times already this year - we feel blessed! So here are a few pictures for you! Enjoy!

I love how dramatic this picture looks.
The canyon was actually gorgeous this day.
I took this picture just by sticking my hand out
the window and pushing the button. Lucky, eh?

Aren't the colors amazing? I LOVE the fall!!

I love the vibrant color of the single red tree.
It's a little blurry, but I still love it!

This is the temple where Angie and Jeremiah
were married. The Manti, Utah temple.
It was the perfect day! Not a cloud in the sky.

If you look closely, you can see one of the
multitude of bees buzzing around these flowers
in front of the temple.

Grandpa and Noah inspecting the flowers...

Three heads are better than one!

We were so lucky to have Grandpa stay with us
for a few nights this trip. The boys had a blast!
I'm not sure what happened to the pics of the boys
and Grandma (she stayed with us too!), but I'll
post them when I find them!! ;)

Bowling with the Fam!

Ben and I took the boys bowling a few weeks ago. Matthew and Isaac had a BLAST!! It was so cool to see how excited they got when the pins actually fell down! But I will say this, one game is enough when you're bowling with the boys! :)

Come on, knock 'em down!

Nice pose, Dad. At least Noah's
smile is real! :) Cutie!

Matthew learned to pose from Dad, yeah?

Sweet-awesome bowling ally pizza. Yum!

Nice teamwork, boys!

What the?...

I know what you might be thinking, it looks like my children were in a no-holds-barred brawl in the backyard based on Isaac's mouth. However, this is just Isaac being Isaac. He decided that it would be more fun to fill his mouth with the bright red drink and then slowly let it trickle down his face, than to actually drink it. Why, you ask? That would be a question all mothers of 2 year olds would like the answer to, but alas, you'd have to understand the mind of a 2 year old to figure it out. And of course, that is impossible. So there you have it, folks, my "bloodied" little Isaac.

Our New Car

Ben and I have been living for over a year with only ONE CAR. Let me tell you, trying to get people to work, school, the babysitter, to big boy school, home from school, from one babysitter to the next, back to work, etc. etc. etc. is no easy task with only one car. So now that Ben is finally done with school (YYYEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!), we broke down and bought a new one. One that we all actually fit in legally! :) All the kids are in car seats now and they're safe!

Here is a picture of us picking up the new car at the dealership. Ben laughed that I asked them to take our picture, but they said they do it all the time! We LOVE our cute little Pilot!

Not the best picture in the world,
but at least you can tell what it is!

Noah's Photos

Nicole just gave permission for me to steal Noah's photos from her site to post here. Yeah! So here they are! Aren't you just in love with him?!

Our First Visit from the Tooth Fairy

August 25th, 2007. This is the day that will go down in big boy history as the day Matthew yoinked out his own loose tooth! Matthew came to us to show us that his front bottom tooth was loose. He worked on it for days! Eventually it was just ridiculously loose, so I thought about the dental floss and the door knob trick, but knew he would never go for it. So I just casually mentioned that if he pulled on it hard enough, it would probably just pop out. By the time I finished explaining that, he'd tried once but the tooth slipped out of his fingers. I started to say that it might bleed a little, thinking I would get him prepared, but it was too late! He had grabbed that baby tooth and pulled it straight out of his mouth. He just looked at me, then looked at the tooth and looked at me again, just a little stunned! He couldn't believe it! He asked if it was bleeding (and at this point I thought he would burst into tears at the thought) and it was a little. No problem! He just went to the bathroom to get some tissue and that was it! Way to go, Matthew! He was spoiled a bit by the Tooth Fairy. He was given $2: One for the tooth and one for pulling it out all by himself! :)

He's so proud!

Sometimes it takes a kid....

to do a man's job! Isaac has been begging for a lawn mower for weeks, so Ben and I finally got to the store to buy him one. He decided that the MINUTE we walked in the door that he needed to march straight through the house to the back yard, stripping his clothes off as he went (it's hot out there ya know!), in order to get right down to work. Obviously someone had to do it, so why not him! I couldn't resist snapping a few shots of the boy hard at work. Better watch out, Dad! He's coming for your job!

Look at him all hard at work.
Don't get lost in that jungle of a lawn, buddy!

I'd like a drink now, please.
This is hard work!

Sweet-Awesome Photo Shoot

We were lucky enough to have Noah the subject of a Nicole Hill photo shoot today! (nicolephoto.com.) Nicole is an incredibly talented photographer/chef/designer and she asked if we would let her photograph Noah for her company, Rubberball. Of course I said yes immediately! I have always LOVED the photos she takes, especially of kids. How lucky are we?!? Click here to view a few of the pictures from today. I adore them!