Reading Time

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I have come to find out that not all books are clean, uplifting and happy-ended. I have also learned that not all books can be recommended to everyone. Here are a couple clean, fun, happy-ending books that I have enjoyed that I feel comfortable to recommend.

"The Goose Girl", written by Shannon Hale. It is a whimsical story of a young princess who can speak with the birds and horses. It has touches of magic and I just fell in love with it. Shannon Hale also wrote "Austenland", which I loved, and "Princess Academy", which is on my "to-read" list. I just learned that "The Goose Girl" is the first of a series, so I'm excited to read on. Yipee!


I am almost finished reading "The Undaunted" by Gerald Lund. I never thought my dad and I would be reading the same novel, but I was telling my mom about this book and she said my dad is reading it too! It is full of church history, pioneer stories, Indian encounters, inspirational moments, funny experiences and most importanly romance. Don't let the thick 800 pages scare you off. It is a great read and I can't wait to finish and see how it ends.


Others that I have read that I enjoyed but wouldn't dare recommend as a "good read" due to language and other content. Yes, they were all made into movies, motivating me to read the books before I saw the show. I have yet to see "The Time Traveler's Wife" but other two titles were much cleaner in the theaters, thank heavens.

Sooooo nice

Yesterday I had my carpets cleaned and they did a really good job. I LOVE having my carpets cleaned. I always curse that our rental house has white carpet because it shows everything. When I have it cleaned, though, I LOVE the white carpet. Too bad it doesn't last long. My kids thought I was crazy because I kept following them and rubbing out their footprints so the carpet would still be perfect. I've been cleaning out closets and cupboards and now I'm ready for people to come visit me. In other words- COME VISIT!!! SOMEONE?...ANYONE....?

Our Trip to Utah

Last week, we made a quick trip to Utah to see family. As usual, it was a lot of fun. The kids and I drove down to Logan on Monday, saw my family for a couple days, picked Kent up at the airport on Thursday, saw Kent's family for a couple days and drove home. It was a whirlwind but I am thankful we had the opportunity to see so many people and make some wonderful memories. I was so busy at my mom's (seeing movies, swimming at the pool, eating at McDonalds) that I regretfully did not get the camera out. I snapped some pictures while we were with Kent's family but now I can't upload them. Does anyone know about uploading NEF files? Anyway... we had a little China trip reunion at Mary's house. Mary is a friend of my sister-in-law's that joined us on our trip with her daughter. We had a great time getting to know theml I will add comments about them later. My bestest friend in the whole wide world (we've been saying that since we were 5 yeares-old) had a baby a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to go see her and her little man during my trip. She is gorgeous and little Liam is to die for. Today is too busy to keep worrying about uploading the pictures, as we are catching a flight tonight to Vegas, but I wanted to post this before I get too far behind. I will keep trying to figure out the pictures...

Keeping up with the Jones'

Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend a very muggy evening the beautiful Jones family. We had a lot of fun and the kids were super patient. Thanks for letting me spend some time with you.









Playing with some vintage wash here-

Not only did I think this picture was precious...

But I had to snap a picture of their kids sitting on the grass watching their parents kissing. Take a minute to look at each of their faces, they all have their own reactions. Love it!

This family was a lot of fun to capture, and if you look REALLY close, you'll see Joey is about to actually crack a smile... maybe.

Seaside

Our weekend in Seaside was a lot of fun. The first day we got there, the town was overcast and the beach was covered in a blanket of fog. Even though it was cold, the kids had a great time exploring the shore. I love this picture of little Ella facing the ocean.

Ethan and I were excited to go crab hunting, unfortunately we didn't see a live crab but Ethan was just as happy with fragments and empty shells.


Our hotel was walking distance to the beach. We had two balconies with beautiful views. We could hear live music being played from the pier.



We just happened to be in Seaside the same weekend as "Bike Week" so there was a lot of activity around town, which made the atmosphere even better.
There were some great places to shop, but with the kids we didn't have time to really dive in. I was hoping to get myself some leather chaps- maybe next time.


Look at the adorable lamps! Teapots and teacups- they are so unique.

We had a good time on the river in the paddle boats. As you can see, the sun came out and the weather was great.




For dinner we decided to skip the restaurant scene and have a bonfire on the beach and roast hot dogs and make smores. It was one of the best memories our little family has made together. We had a perfect night, bundling up next to the warm fire, feeding the seagulls and then watching the kids play and splash in the ocean.





My cup runneth over.

Seaside Pictures

Here is a sneak peek of pictures that I took of my friend's family at Seaside.

New Camera

Kent bought me a new camera that I already LOVE LOVE LOVE. I just got it two days ago and I am off to Seaside to take pictures for a friend of mine. I had to get outside and take some test shots. Thanks, Ella for letting me use you (not that she had a choice)! We didn't have much time, and Ella wasn't really "feelin' it" but here are a couple cuties