Attention photography friends...

Click HERE for a great lighting lesson...they offer some great tips on lighting basics.

taste of Italy

Thank you to our fun, crazy, generous, spontaneous, fun friends who introduced us to this wonderful restaurant...we will definitely eat here again soon! I am just so sad I didn't take a pic of the heavenly hazelnut gelato that I had for dessert...but I was so excited to dig in that I didn't even think one thing about it... next time...Kenny & Jer. {Oh, and thanks again!}



and, boy, am I excited for Italy!

My American girls

Boy were we excited to see this package show up on our doorstep! These dolls go everywhere with us right now...and I mean everywhere...the other day we were walking down the street and a cute neighbor girls put her hands over her mouth and said..."oh, that's from the magazine...". It was so cute...it made my day.

the birthday parties

i just can't believe she is two already!

Birthday tradition?

If so...we really need a new one!



one year old...a fall on the driveway scraped up her nose...



two years old...a fall in the front room (heaven only knows what happened) split open her forehead...it's now being held together with glue

Next March 11 will be spent sitting on the couch...wrapped in bubble wrap. Thank goodness we can still enjoy today! Happy birthday sweet Kendall! I love you.

So true...

...you would think I didn't have anything better to do, but I do and maybe that is why blogging sounds extra fun today. I had to share these...

not a hostel or one-star among them...

Every time we have been to Europe we have stayed in the cheapest places...ugh. Not this time...we decided we could splurge a little since the first-class airfare was courtesy of Delta.

{Holy smokes...I still can't believe it!}

For me, half the fun of a trip is the planning and research. I wanted to share a peek at the hotels we have reserved. I get giddy every time I take a look myself.

4 fancy ladies & 1 cute boy

Today Shaunee and the kids came over for a cousin playdate. Of course the ladies all got fancy, so we couldn't help but pull out the camera and have a quick photo shoot.





Shaunee you can see the rest here.

Why so random...? (I'm even asking myself.)

because I found one moment to search for free Photoshop downloads online...isn't free the greatest?



because I could look at these 2 cute faces all day long...



because I have been missing this cute little face and can't get him out of my mind today...xoxo



and because I have a mess...equally as daunting...as this one waiting upstairs for me. So...I'm stalling.

the weekend

We spent the weekend in St. George for Kyle's first bike race of the year. St. George to Zions National Park and back...100 miles on a bike.

While he was riding I had a chance to catch up with one of my best childhood friends that I haven't seen in about 10 years. We had such a great time catching up. You would have never guessed it had been so long...we picked up right where we left off. My girls had such a great time playing school (Sarah is a preschool teacher) and playing in the backyard...definitely better than sitting in a hotel room. Thank you so much for having us Sarah. We can't wait for you to come and visit us.

Our weekend was much less eventful than last year (thank goodness)...but we did have a little excitement along the way thanks to Erik and Kirk...but I will save that for their blogs.

I am so proud of Kyle for the strength and determination he has. He really is an animal on his bike. Way to go baby. I love you.