MERRY CHRISTMAS!

As you know my favorite holiday is Christmas! I love decorating the tree and trimming the house, I love the white snow, I love looking at the Christmas lights, listening to the beautiful Christmas music, the excitement for Santa, etc... But most of all I love the feelings I get during Christmas. There is just a different feeling in the air as we are all more mindful of our Savior. This year didn't disappoint, in fact this may be one of the best Christmas's our family has ever had and in such a different way. I can't even begin to tell you all the wonderful things that were done for our family. We are still trying to rack our brains trying to figure out where and who some of these blessings came from! Every year we have been able to do some great things for other families and we still tried in some smaller ways to keep that tradition alive. But this has been the first year that we have been surprised by the the generosity and warmth of others (who ever you are out there:)). Truly this was a magical Christmas and we had some really neat experiences. Christmas of 2008 will always be special to us.

I liked this quote by President Kimball "God does notice us, and He watches over us. But it is usually through another person that He meets our needs".

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families. We are so grateful for all of you.

ANDEE'S PHOTO BLOG

So I really don't know what I am doing as far as making a blog :) But I finally sat down and tried to create something plain and basic that I can use for a while until I have one professionally made. I will add my business name later (it's not Andee's photo's)! This will at least be an outlet for me to post photos from various photography sessions. Enjoy!

www.andeesphotoblog.blogspot.com

SNOW DAY!

I got my wish to have a white Christmas! We really are loving the snow. Aaron used Gabe's 4 wheeler to pull the boys around on their sleds (my kind of sledding)! If it's going to be this cold there might as well be snow on the ground right? I know once we hit the new year I will be ready for the snow to be gone and for spring to be here!

FUN WINTER TRIVIA!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? Switched to a fake a few years back, but I LOVE fresh!
3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend before Thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years.
5. Do you like eggnog? Gag!!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I always got the coolest make-up kits
7. Hardest person to buy for? My mom
8. Easiest person to buy for? Avery. Anything pink and girly!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, I have never found just the right one.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Usually mail, but this year blog!!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? (an ugly watch from Aaron...hey babe I'm just being honest:)
12. A Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a wonderful life,...oh and Christmas vacation!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In years past I have been done before Thanksgiving. This year with the dreaded economy, I am still pulling it together :(
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Those chocolate oranges
16. Lights on the tree? The lights on my tree are white
17. Favorite Christmas song? I LOVE Christmas music. I have been digin' Sarah Mclachlain's Christmas CD. I love the lyrics to Clay Aiken's song "Mary did you know"
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Definitely be at home with family.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes
20. Angel on the tree-top or a star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Open only one Christmas eve.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? It's Christmas, how can you be annoyed about anything?
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have a woodland theme (pine cones,squirrels, acorns, fall leaves, icicles, snowflakes, etc...)Very sparkly!!

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Ham
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A White Christmas!
*If you want to play along, just copy and paste the questions and put in your own answers!

BLAST FROM THE PAST!

Getting our own family pictures a few years ago was an event! The boys were antagonizing each other which was all caught on the camera. Plus they were pulling goofy faces and being silly. But those are some of my favorite pictures! I'm lovin' the long hair on the boys!! Peekboo photos did a great job!!

MESS MAKERS!

My kids can do a number on this place in not time at all. It seems like just after we clean it, I turn my back and it's a disaster again. It never ends. I need to get tougher around here! I was looking back through some of my old pictures of the kids and some of the grand messes they made then. Good thing I love them so much!!!

AVERY'S FIRST HAIR CUT......BY AVERY!

So for about a month I have been trying to conceal the fact that Avery got a hold of my scissors and cut several chunks out of her hair. She had quite the choppy mullet going on! We could disguise it through buns and pig tails but when it was down, it was pretty obvious that she had more than some slight slithering going on :) I even rationalized that she could keep it the way it was and I could just cut off an inch or so each month until it was even again. But I soon realized that my plan was just crazy. I needed to face the fact that the mullet had to go!

Saturday we went in and had her hair cut into a bob. If anything it just seems so much healthier.
I will miss styling her long hair but I think her new hair cut is a fun change!

COMING SOON........

It's official, I will be starting a legitimate photography business soon! It's something I have thought about for a long time and often wondered if I would really ever take it that far. I can't think of any creative outlet I enjoy more. There are so many steps to take, so much to do, so much to learn. Thankfully I have a new DSLR camera with a couple of different lenses that will make a big difference. I have spent hours and many late nights trying to learn my camera inside and out, and there is so much to it. So it will take a while to master that. Also PhotoShop know how is a huge must in today's digital photography world. So there will be a huge investment in time with that as well. I am just in the beginning stages of this, and it may be months until I am up and running with a professional website and blog. For now I will probably just come up with my own simple blog where I can post images from different photo shoots. I will link it to my personal blog. I have been using my niece Kenadee as my little muse lately, dragging her around to different locations and working with my new camera. Here is a preview of some of my favorite head shots (also to get my blog off my Halloween post)! Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging and helped to steer me in this direction. I appreciate your support and confidence!!

HALLOWEEN WAS GREAT IN 08'

This year our family was in a new area and a new neighborhood which provided some new adventures for Halloween! The kids loaded up once already at the fun ward trunk-or-treat! Then on Halloween we had family over for taco soup with all the trimmings and plenty of other munchies and baked goods. This year I was brave and let the kids run through the neighborhood with their cousins and friends to trick-or-treat. They had a blast and enjoyed some freedom :) The weather was so fantastic this year. My neighbor even had her grill out doing a BBQ for all the little trick-or-treaters that came by! It was so fun to see everyone in their costumes (kids and adults)! I LOVE Halloween......almost ..... as much as I LOVE Christmas!

ONE LAST CAMP FIRE

Aaron found a really awesome picnic area, so we decided since the weather has been so nice to have one last camp fire with the kids. I don't know what it is with our kids and being in the outdoors. They just open up and we learn the most amazing things and have some of the best experiences. I think it has been a really great bonding tool for our family.

PUMPKIN PATCH

Ahhhh Fall time! The colored leaves, the crisp air, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and ofcoarse....pumpkins! Avery had so much fun today goofin' around in a local pumpkin patch. She was so mesmerized by all of the pumpkins and their various shapes and sizes. She could have played there for hours!

Sweet Girl

I have been close with my niece Kenadee ever since she was a little girl. I used to pick her up from pre-school and she would sing me all the songs she was learning and we would have sleep overs and draw princess pageant pictures! She was such a spunky fun kid then and she is turning into a sweet young lady now! It has been so fun being her aunt. Every year she lets me drag her around on a little "model" shoot. Infact she was the very first person I ever took pictures of. Thanks for the fun funky photos Kenadee!

NEAT OPPORTUNITY

My friend Lauren has a really awesome uncle, and his name is JOHN BYTHEWAY! On Saturday he came and spoke to the RS sisters of my old ward. I love to listen to him speak and I have a couple of his cd's. My favorite is "The five scriptures that will get you through almost anything". It was nice to be part of such an intimate setting as he usually only speaks at large forums. It was interesting that the topic he spoke on was "Having Faith Instead Of Fear. His mother spoke first and then he spoke and they both did an excellent job. He quoted so many scriptures, prophets, and apostles, and his mother quoted many hymns. It was such a great reminder of who is in control and who we can put our trust in, especially during these trying times we are living in. It was such a special treat :)

FUNNY......BUT KINDA TRUE

This was titled "Halloween is gonna suck this year"! There probably will be a lot of this unfortunately :(

PHOTOGENIC

I have been busy lately taking family pictures. Why is it that some people are so photogenic? My nieces and nephews are just so dang cute! I guess I am a little partial though :) It is so hard for little kids to get their picture taken. It's pretty boring and demanding and I don't blame them. Ok, even for adults it can be a challenge! These guys were troopers though :)