HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Yes, friends and family I am finally updating my blog! Thought I would give you all a little recap on the Tate family. For those of you who may not know, we are now living in Salem Utah (a.k.a. out in the sticks)! We like it here, but life would be perfect if we got a Target and a Costco...and a Chick-fil-A, and a big shopping mall. But who am I to complain!

The kids are doing well at their new school and Avery is in Kindergarten this year! Aaron is still plugging away in construction and managing to continue to be consistent with work. I have been keeping very busy with photography and the kids! We are looking forward to doing some fun things as a family when the kids are out on winter break. Hope you are all doing well this holiday season and enjoying your families! Gotta have a post with some pictures...right!

AVERY'S PICS

You've probably already seen these on my photography blog, but I thought I would post a few here as well. It will give me something fresh to post on my blog! So we are alive and doing well, busy as ever with kids and work. Aaron has been quite busy with remodels and even new construction so that has been great and my photography business has really taken off!

I am excited for nicer weather....Winter lasted far to long and so each day of sunshine and warmth is a great blessing! The kids have been to the pond each day looking for snakes of coarse! And speaking of snakes, Gabe got a Ball Python for his 10th birthday (I'm sure I will come to regret this). It's pretty fun to watch it eat a mouse!!

The kids are excited that school os winding down and soon they will be able to frolic and play with out to many cares in the world! They are looking forward to camping, hiking, riding their bikes and scooters, swimming, exploring at the pond, playing outside in the sunshine all day, water fights, etc.... Not sure how excited I'm going to be with kids home all day!

Catching up!

OK, I realize I have a personal blog that has been highly neglected. You know it's been a while when you still have summer pictures up! It's so easy for me to get focused on other things and my blog is one of the things that falls off the to do list. Hopefully I can be better about keeping it updated.

Family update: Aaron has been pretty consistent with work for the most part which has been a huge blessing in this economy. He has taken up radio control airplanes as a new hobby. The kids love to go watch him fly! I have been moving forward with my photography business. It has been a tremendous amount of hard work and I am still learning more and more all of the time! It has been a great outlet for me and I believe it is slowly paying off!! Gabe is almost 10 now. He makes some mean eggs for breakfast! He is still my big sweetheart and huge help around the house. Ethan is my very LOUD child! He is full of life and only slows down to sleep. He is doing excellent in school. Avery is loving preschool and is so in to books right now. It's been a fun stage with her. You can usually see her in about 5 different outfits each day as she loves to play dress up....with anything (church dresses, princess dresses, school clothes, swim suits, nightgowns, etc....)

Here are a few pictures of Avery taken recently.

SUMMER 2009 "HUGE" POST

I have been a bad blogger :( I have not posted a whole lot over this entire spring and summer season. Sooooo here comes an enormous post (mainly for my journaling purposes). These are some of our fond memories of this spring and summer which was jam-packed and went by way to fast!

GOBLIN VALLEY
Ethan was the lucky boy this year that got to go with Aaron down to Goblin Valley! If you have never gone before, make a point to do it sometime, it's awesome. Kids LOVE it. Plus there is an amazing slot canyon hike near by as well!

OREGON
Took a trip to Oregon with my sister Carolee. We went to visit my grandpa and also play around our old stomping ground. It was nothing but laughing our guts out, staying up most nights until morning with girl chat, and eating way to much junk! Yes,
good times, good times!!!

AARON'S HIKING TRIP IN ESCALANTE
Aaron and his brother Bryan and brother Eric went on a "boys" hiking trip to Escalante. They hiked 14 miles and did a crazy cool hike where you have to repel down 160 feet in certain areas into water. They loved it!


PICNICS
We did a lot of fun Sunday picnics with the kids. That's the ONLY nice thing about 9:00 a.m. church (I am NOT a morning person). Getting out early and having the whole day to enjoy as a family!


CAMPING WITH FRIENDS
We went to Pine Lake in south eastern Utah with 9 families from our old ward and man was it a blast! One of the funnest campouts ever! The boys were in heaven because they found lots of frogs, horny toads, and a few snakes (yuck)! But we had a fun obstacle coarse for the kids and games, archery, shooting guns, ATV's, paddle boats on the lake, fishing, pie eating contest, paintball, etc...The food was amazing thanks to the camp chef Carrie who makes the best food using dutch ovens!! Hope there is another Pine Lake campout in our future :)






AVERY'S 4TH BIRTHDAY
Avery had a "water" party this year with some friends and cousins. We put a sprinkler under the trampoline, had another wavy sprinkler going on the grass, lots of water balloons to toss around too! She of coarse wanted a princess theme (do they ever grow out of that)? Anyway the girls had fun playing, eating grilled hot dogs and cake with ice-cream. Hard to believe my baby is over 4 now.


4TH OF JULY
We had a big BBQ down at our house and lit off as many fire works as we could before a big storm rolled in. The kids always have fun getting together and playing with their cousins. I especially love watermelon, ice-cream cones, and corn on the cob this time of year.



CAR WASH
All the neighbor kids decided it would be fun to wash cars! Looks like a lot of work to me. I just prefer the local car wash! But they had fun and the car did look really clean :)


UINTA'S NATIONAL FOREST
We go camping every year in the Uinta's. It's one of our favorite spots. There are literally hundreds of lakes up there (most take 4WD to get in). I love breathing the fresh air, smore's over a "real" campfire, and hiking around. We have found some really good secret spots up there that we return to each year.


GRANDPA'S 90th BIRTHDAY PARTY
We celebrated my grandpa's 90th birthday party in August. We were lucky enough to get some 5 generation pictures which is kinda rare. It was really fun to see some of my cousins that I hadn't seen in years and also meet some other relatives I had never met before. My grandpa has lived a really really full life, but I think of all the things he has experienced and been able to do, his family and music/singing bring him the most joy!


SISTER TIME
My sisters flew out from Florida for my grandpa's birthday celebration, but stuck around for several more days for some sister time! When we sisters get together...forget sleep. It doesn't exist, nor do diets, or budgets (well I was good on my budget anyway). We spent some time up at the Gateway mall eating and strolling through some of the fun shops. And who can leave Gateway without a carmeled apple from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory? My sisters from Florida (and me) had never been to Dear Lizzy. It's a funky cool boutique out in the highland/Alpine area. So much fun! Now they have chunky charm necklaces to boot! I even took them on a little photo shoot in SL. I didn't get a picture of all of us together, but here is one pic of my sister Jennifer. Ahhhhhh sisters!


MOM AND DAD
My mom and dad have been coming out every summer to visit ever since my dad retired and they moved to Florida. It is always a huge highlight to see them. I LOVE my parents and feel like such a lucky and blessed girl to have them in my life. I can't begin to tell you how much they have influenced my life for good. They are two of the very best people I know.

(told you this post was HUGE)!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

September 1st makes 14 years of marriage for Aaron and I (sorry I don't have a more current picture of us, this was taken about 6 years ago). It sure has gone by fast and especially since having kids. The years just keep clicking away faster and faster. Aaron is one of the greatest persons that I know. He has so many qualities and I admire him so much. He truly is my very best friend, an excellent father and husband, and good example and support to me. I'm a very lucky girl!

MY NEW PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG!

CHECK IT OUT -- CLICK HERE

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

You are loved so much Aaron. Thanks for being such an amazing husband and father!