Fun in the Studio

My Brother Bryant will be taking portraits for Audrey's Dance Academy. He is such a talented photographer. You can check out his site by clicking this link: http://www.blphoto.com/index2.php

The top three are just a sampling of many that he took using Audrey for the ballerina muse. He needed to sample the backgrounds, and while he was busy, I couldn't help but snap a few for myself.

My Brother's daughter Breanne was there to give moral support and be photographed in her dance costume too. The girls had a great time playing and dancing all around. Breanne is actually older than Audrey and Bryant and I were getting a kick out of the size difference between these two. Cute girls.

These last two and the one at the top of the blog happened by chance. I tried not to use my flash so I wouldn't mess up Bryant's pictures, so these were ones I took at the exact moment he took his with the massive flash bulbs; his camera knows what to do with all that light and mine does not. Here's the result, a kind of a cool eerie effect.

Audrey, we're so proud of you! You're a joy to watch change and grow. We love you, and Thanks to Bryant and Betsy for a fun evening!

phone pics

..... And the winner is.....

This is one of my favorite pictures from my phone, it was just on the drive home from the store. I felt like it kind of had that "Gone With the Wind" thing going for it...

Now on to more pictures of lesser quality from my phone:

Sam's never-ending quest for new bands he likes has led us to all kinds of fun music. He's also been watching and getting concert tickets because he loves concerts so much. Here we are at the Vampire Weekend Concert:

This was a concert for a band called SPOON, Sam's loved them since high school and because they're not very mainstream he thought he'd never get to see them. Well, wrong he was, because he did see them and we wiggled our way right up against the front rail. The picture of the base player you can see is very close; our phone camera doesn't even have any zoom people!! Anyway, we were right in front of the guy. You can also see he's reading his "set list" in the picture; which I asked for at the end of the concert and he kindly gave it to me... Sam was over the moon and decided he needed me to come to every concert just so I can get him stuff.

Here's some randoms of Elle, you can see how much she really needed that sling after a while..

Here's just a few more, this is Elle's version of "Theatre Seating"

Lastly but certainly not least.... Sarah, our friend's dog. The poor girl has been the butt of many jokes and sneers due to her slightly off-beat looks. Sam however loves her dearly so I snapped this one just for him. Sarah told me to send it to him with her love. You just can't help but have pity, pity and awe for the creature. :)

The owners of this lovely mutt are Liesl and Travis, our good friends who live in Logan. They're also the proud owners of Lazy One Pajamas. Here's Liesl giving me a tour of the new warehouse. They've done so awesome, and we're so happy for them!

and that about wraps up this edition of phone pics.

Easter Fun

Thanks to Elle, somewhere along the way we've adopted the custom of holding up things to our faces, like eggs.... toys... or anything else we love. :)

Happy 92nd Birthday to Grandma! She's just so happy and sweet, it was great to see her having fun. We had a joint party for Grandma and Jessica since Jess will be in Vienna for the upcoming semester and won't be here for her birthday, lucky girl!

Our naughty niece Jessica called, (or should I say made her mom call) and told all of her Aunties that she was engaged. After leading us on and on, she finally said, "April Fools!" So Betsy got her back by getting her a special present for her birthday. A gloriously large ring with a "Congrats on your Wedding" card. That's what she gets for playing with her Aunts' heartstrings!

Spring Break!

What a blessing it was to be gone over spring break!! In light of the snow storms and virtual fire storms going on here at home, I have to say I was ok with being gone; (and if you don't have your speakers on, turn em on so you can have a little dance party in your chair :) Here's a few quick snaps of Sam in his happy place, Audrey still being my sweet little girl, Reese feasting on yet more licorice, and Elle all tuckered out-for good reason, we had a blast!

(Click on the collages to see them closer)

Thanks to these two wonderful people, (our good friends Cory and Sara) we tagged along during their stay in Sam's company's condo (Cory works with Sam), they were lucky enough to secure the place during the coveted spot of Spring Break. Here's a picture I took in Guatemala. I forgot to take one of them over the break, but felt they definitely deserved some credit here. Thanks for the great times!! Here's what I like to call the "boys club." They stayed in a room together, played hours of video games, messed up and stunk up their room and had a blast doing it. Elle was also an honorary member thanks to her best-est boy-bud Ty, the red-head pictured below.

The bigger girls had a great time shopping on our girls day out and were ecstatic to be "twinners." They also got a matching pair of skinny jeans they had shamelessly if not relentlessly begged for, eventually wearing Sara and I down into submission.

Acrobatics in the pool courtesy of Sam, always good times.

On our last day, our friends had to head out of town early to make it all they way to their grandparents. We on the other hand didn't have any definite plans so we decided to stroll around in the sunshine and ended up stumbling on the St. George Arts festival! So fun, I love that kind of stuff. Sorry to Sam for using this picture of us, but I liked it and yes, I know his eyes are closed but felt at least half the picture turned out.... am I right???

Put me in coach, I'm ready to go back any time!

Fun with Christie

My fabulously talented friend Christie made this absolutely adorable bike basket. She was working on it for an online contest and we were lucky enough to be the ones with the style of bike she needed for her photo shoot.

We also happen to have Audrey, who is always a cutie. Christie decided to use her for her pictures too, the result: total cuteness!!

Christie has a website that contains all sorts of awesome tutorials and a link to her Etsy shop. Here's the website: http://alemonsqueezyhome.blogspot.com/ Enjoy! and Great Job Christie!!

Christie graciously gave us this adorable basket for our help. Audrey absolutely loves it! Not to mention everyone else who sees it loves it too! Thank you Christie! You're awesome.

Home Sweet Home

Sam and I both love our hometown so much, and anyone could see why. We loved being there even though the circumstances weren't the happiest ones. We'd love to move back someday but have been very happy here with all the great friends and neighbors we enjoy. For now, we'll keep on enjoying the best of both worlds as often as possible.

Sam's sister and his cousin came along for our little stroll.

Elle kept insisting on being carried but was too cold to let go of the blanket, the result: limited visability.... at least no one ended up in that ice cold water!!

Here's some quick shots I took of the kids at the Country Club after Grandma's funeral. It was a beautiful setting to celebrate the wonderful life that she lived.

Til next time CdA, we'll miss you!!

Shamrocks and Silly String

"Carn-Beef n Cabbage!"

A St. Patty's staple at the Kienow house

Spry lil leprechauns

Elle wasn't too pleased at first but was soon ready to execute her revenge!

St. Patty's Day Parade - Cd'A style!

Had to include the bagpipes, every summer bagpipers walk around the college down by the Lake. There's something so magical about the sound to me, it just feels like home.

Hope you all enjoyed your St. Patricks Day with friends and family!

Love, Always

Recently we've experienced heartache in our family. We've found ourselves unexpectedly saying goodbye to one of the most interesting, loving women anyone could have the privilege to know, Sam's Grandma Jeanne.

This picture is from a few years ago and I thought it exemplified just exactly how she was, a happy, hard worker who made the best of things in any situation. The Lake house has a septic system, so when the tank was in danger overflowing, Jeanne would simply take the dishes out back and wash them on the stump with the hose. Sam and I both owe his Grandma so much. She was instrumental in who Sam is as a person, husband and father. She taught him faith in God, to study the Bible, the value of work and how to think positively. Sam remembers getting up each morning to her "to-do" lists that were lovingly written as reminders for Sam, signed with her signature smiley faces. She also did her part to help him enjoy health food and all kinds of crazy vegetables, to enjoy reading, and acclimate him to musicals, ballets, plays and road trips.
Granny, always trying to keep everyone hydrated at the lake.

Anyone who's met Jeanne knows what force of energy she is. She's been a wonderful example to me of living life fully and trying new things. Just some of her interests were, (but not limited to) Dancing, singing, drumming, (she had a set of drums in her bedroom), pottery, learning new languages, being physically active, theater, travel and of course her family. Jeanne has for many years made the trip to Alaska each Feb/Mar to be a volunteer at the Iditarod. She truly was a woman who grabbed life fully and looked to what she could make of it.

Some of Sam's memories include traveling through Yellowstone with just the two of them, also driving up into Canada sightseeing. She was fearless in her little Subaru as long as it was stocked with plenty of water and healthy snacks. Sam also remembers her coming to his swim meets wearing her specially made T-shirt that read "Sam's Gram". He remembers her always believing in him and telling him he could've been a dancer or singer (or anything in the world he wanted) with his long legs and beautiful voice.

She also loves her great grand kids very much and would often refer to them as her lambs. She was quick to praise and made it a point to tell me how thankful she and Grandpa were that I had come into their family. Through each of her life's trials and those of her children, Jeanne has been an incredible example of unshakable faith. I don't know if there could be a mother who's prayed on behalf of her children as much as she has. Jeanne has been an amazing example of endurance and keeping her faith throughout her life. For this we thank her.
We love you Grandma, and we have no doubt we'll see your smiling face again.

Ke-no Conundrum

And... here's the conundrum. How can we bring home awesome things from our awesome trip and keep our kids from getting not-so-awesomely impaired/broken/cracked, etc?.... Why are all the fun things this way? Maybe that's what makes them so fun. I never expected that my children would try to do acrobatics ala hammock, but then again why not? I'm a mom, I should've expected it. Duly noted.

New hammock from Belize = Broken colarbone for Elle

Other miscellaneous happenings and catch ups: We ate an awesome banana cream pie for Sam's birthday - see below.

P.S. I also got a fabulous new white coat that inspires Elle to call me Doctor Mom. She's also taken to calling me Mama Obama. I really didn't know she'd ever heard the word Obama, but obviously, she has and enjoys the fact that it ryhms with mama.

Elle had a great time at her preschool field trip to the Dinosaur park; swept the sand away from the "bones" and ran around in every direction yelling, "mom look how huge their necks are! " It was very cute.

Lastly, we went to my sisters and upon arrival following a nice dinner out, found Audrey and her cousin Lindsey awkwardly bounding around the front yard in Moon shoes with Audrey wearing these:

She says she loves them.

Oh, and I just remebered, at the store Reese informed me, "Mom, I've got a tight schedule today."Me - "oh really?" Reese- "yeah, I need to get home, eat a PB&J with white bread ( a victory in begging skills for Reese, I never buy the stuff ) , play with Nigel, play ballooon tower defense on the computer and play with my legos." Me - "Wow, you better get on that".