Missionary Prep!

So, Cameron got a "real" tie for Christmas. Not a clip on, or zip, or any other means of easy tie putting on. A real tie. I thought it was cute and would be kind of fun for Pug to start teaching Cameron how to tie a tie. Pug would hold the tie tight and tell Cameron what he needed to do.Well, after 4 weeks of having Daddy help I think he is starting to understand how it all works. Cameron came up to have Dad help him with his tie, but Dad was in the middle of something and couldn't help right away. So, Cameron tied his own tie, all by himself, a double windsor knot! I know the proportions are not quite right, and that will all come in time.... BUT look at how nice that knot looks!! How many 7 year olds can say they know how to tie a double windsor knot?!

Here is Cameron just goofing off- after the tie has been tied again.

This picture- besides it being a really cute pic of Cameron- kind of shows you the black eye I game Pug. For those of you who don't know the story, I will just say it happened in the middle of the night with my elbow. WHOOPS!!

Party Hair

McKenzie went to a party on Saturday night, hwere they did the girls hair and nails. Well, she wanted to sleep in her hair and wear it like that to church on Sunday. Every morning that Kenzie wakes up her hair is always a mess! So I told her to try sleeping on her back to lessen the mess. Sunday morning it actually didn't look too bad. So I pinned up the parts that had come out as best I could. This is what it looked like for church.


After I took her pictures she told me that I needed to post it on the blog, so here she is. I just hope that she doesn't expect me to be able to do that to her hair!!!





And just a random picture of the cutest little waterdog out there enjoying her bath!

Is it really that hard?

Is it really that hard to smile "normally" for a picture? All of these were taken in one night. Pug's Mom wanted a nice picture with all of us, and this is what we got to pick from.









It is a good thing I love him. He really does have a nice smile (as evident in my previous post)

Some of my favorites...

Okay, so most you you know that I got a new camera for Christmas. I have always wanted a nice camera, and I have always wanted to learn how to take nice pictures. Well, I haven't really learned anything yet about how to take pictures (hopefully someday). But I have had fun just trying different features on my camera. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Abby is just the cutest little thing there is. But she can be sooo naughty! I took this picture of her sleeping so I could always remember how sweet she is... when she is sleeping. :)

I kind of cheated and took my camera out of the box before Christmas, just to try it out. Unfortunately I had to do it when the kids were at school, so my only subject was Kirby. Needless to say, whenever he sees me take my camera out of the bag he now runs and hides under the couch. Anyways... I liked this one of him.

I don't know why I like this one so much, you can't see McKenzie's beautiful face, but I really like it. I think I like how I was able to have focus up close and a blurred background. Don't ask me how I did it, cause I have no idea!

This is actually one of the first pictures that I took. What can I say, I love the subject so I should love the picture!!

This was taken one morning in December. I went to let the dog out around 7:00 am and this is what I saw. I just stepped out onto my porch and snapped a picture. I LOVE the sunrise and sunsets here. Always beautiful.



Anyways, so there are just a few of the pictures I took that I really liked. Now, maybe someday I can get photo shop, a new lens, a flash, and whatever else I feel like I might need, and take some really nice pictures!

New Years Eve

Okay, I know New Year's Eve was like, 2 weeks ago, but like I said in my previous post, I have just learned how to make my pictures small enough to download here.

We have made it a tradition to get together with our good friends the Naccaratos. We have done it for the past several years. Even though we live almost an hour away we still do it- only now we make it a sleepover!! Here are just a few pics of all of us having fun.

The BIG girls having fun.

The LITTLE girls causing trouble.

The boys playing wii together.

Melissa and me.

Pug and Tony.

Toot my own horn

Okay, so I have been trying to post things for about a week now, but my new camera takes way too big of pictures, and it took me awhile to figure out how to shrink them, but now that I figured it out hopefully I will be able to post some more things.

These cutie patutie (is that even a word?) girls are wearing some skirts that I made (yes I made them) without a pattern. Now I know for wonder women, like my Mom and sister that is no big deal. BUT for people like me who struggle I think I did a pretty good job! In fact McKenzie has asked me to make more of them for her!! And even some of the girls in my activity days want some. So, here I am tooting my own horn.

Okay, I am done now :)

Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas. The kids all got what they asked for, and so did I!! I wanted a new camera. Not just a point and shoot, but a nice good camera. I got a canon rebel ES. I needed something that has a quicker shutter so I can take pictures of my kids playing sports and not have them either blurry or not in the picture. Also, I have always wanted to learn how to take good pictures. So, now I just need to learn how, trial and error.
Anyways... here are just a few picture of Christmas morning.Sorry, they are going backwards

Here we are all dressed and ready to go.

Every year my Mom make the whole family Christmas pj's. We had a huge bin full of old jammies that she has made. So, for one of McKenzie faith in God projects, we decided to cut the pants up and make a blanket out of them. McKenzie did most of the cutting (which turned out to be 300 squares). Then she sewed the fabric and batting into "sandwiches" and I sewed them all together. I think it turned out really cute!

Kenzie thrilled with her ipod shuffle.

Cameron opening his ipod shuffle.

Abby opening her Madame Alexander doll.

I was so proud of my kids this year. They were so grateful for all of their presents. It was a smaller Christmas, with a lot more homemade gifts, but they loved it. That night as I was tucking Cameron in he told me that this was the best Christmas ever.