. mia maids .

i was asked this last week to photograph the mia maids in my ward. these are the girls between the ages of 14-15. they are a beautiful fun bunch. i got to spend 2 hours teaching them photo tips and photographing them. it was a blast!

cutie girls, they are amazing and beautiful. watch out world!

. baby p .

i'm one lucky girl. i got another niece {well, honorary aunt status} in july. i got to photograph this beauty and hold her while she slept that night. this girl is gorgeous, half hawaiian with the perfect tan, but so is her mother. such a wonderful woman, one i inspire to be like. congrats l* & k*!

see? i'm a lucky aunt.

.. stewart falls ..

this weekend we decided to hike to stewart falls here in lovely utah. we decided to take our little jet bug with us up there, and he was just a crazy. let me tell you. it is about a 4 mile hike round trip, 2 miles up and 2 back. we started at aspen grove, which is just above sundance. it really was a beautiful hike and fairly easy. it did have some rough spots and some rocky spots but for the most part super pretty and shaded most of the way. highly recommend it!

{jet on the way to the hike, he loved the drive}

{getting started, jet was so excited about all the smells and bushes, he got to be mountain pup}

{half way up, he got tired and had to take a break laid in the dirt, hello dirty boy}

{ at the top}

ok funny story on this one, jet HATES water. like won't walk in sprinklers, doesn't like stepping in slushy snow, won't walk through puddles, and when we tell him it is bath time he runs and hides in the shower. so we didn't think he would be to into the water up there. we got the top and walked him over to the fall and he jumped in. like spent the whole time we were at the falls in the water, what the?! i was so confused, he loved the water!

{cody and i at the top, probably working on the killer sunburns we both got}

{ the falls}

the rest of the night and the whole next day were spent like this. after 3 baths to get the dirt out, he was one whooped pup and slept all day. he is too cute. 

any hikes you have been on lately that you thought were fun?

.. saluto roma ..

so a few weeks ago i told cody he was taking me on a vacation, since it has been a year since our last vacation together, and that i didn't care where we went just that i could relax and not be attached to a phone or computer. to just get away. so after much debate we have landed on the choice of going to rome. ooo i am so excited. i have never been to rome, it's been on my wish list forever i can't hardly wait to go. here is where you come in. i have never been there, and i need to know what i just HAVE to see. so far on my list are

. colosseum

. trevi fountain

. vatican city

. st. peter's basillica

. pantheon

. sistine chapel

. spanish steps

. roman forum

. catacombs

we are thinking of staying near the spanish steps, since we found a good deal and from what we have read it is a good central place for getting to other things. so.. people share your advice. we are going mid- august, help me out if you would please :)

.. love this boy ..

this boy brings me hours of joy and laughs. his newest thing is to sit in the window and wait for cody to come home. we bark at every bird, every person, car and even if a leaf blows. but he waits and waits for that black car and he knows that his dad is home. i love him. 

.. a dog problem ..

so recently we decided to watch disney's up. we had never seen it and had been told over and over that it was a great move, so cute and that we had to watch it. so we did. well so did jet. he saw the dogs on tv, in particular he was fond of doug. he would stand and stare at the tv every time doug came on and talked. but don't you worry it doesn't stop there. whenever they barked or doug spoke a bunch jet would cry and whine at the tv, and then proceed to run outside to see if he could find him. and since up, he now watches tv everytime there is a dog on it. oh boy.

{jet watching doug}

{here is a clip of him barking and whining at doug}

looks like we have a dog problem. 

.. freedom running ..

so i have caught the running bug, i still haven't found how to get into my groove and go for a while but i like doing it. it is a fun thing to do and it costs virtually nothing and it is something that can pound the crap out of myself when i am frustrated. so this is my second 5k this year, i am on a roll :). 

i decided that i wanted to go faster for this run. so i worked on it for a few weeks. and i am happy to say i cut 2 minutes off my time. not a huge feat but one none the less. this run was fun, except when i got a nasty cramp in my left hip and had to walk for a bit. it was a great way to start off the fourth.

{ my bib, don't worry i apparently safety pinned it to my pants that turned out great..}

{ us post race, feeling pretty good!}

{ me and my medal, yes i know i look like i am going to fall over, i was so tired at the end}

{ cody and his medal, he obviously was not as tired.}

alright so here is a funny story. we had got our results, i placed 157 and cody placed 113 in our age groups. not to bad. especially since i just started running about 3 months ago. so we figured that was the end and all was good. about a week after the race i got an email from the freedom run saying they had pictures of us running the race. fun, so i clicked on the link. i typed in cody's number and this is what i found..

{ such a studly runner}

{crossing the finish line}

so i put in my number.. and this is what i get. 

0 photos?!?! are you kidding me? I guess they knew i was a newbie and not that good, cause the best shot of me was the one above  crossing the finish line. ahhh! so until next year until then.. watch out I will have a photo!!

.. a little independance day ..

so normally on the fourth of july we go all out. like sleep on the parade route, watch the parade, do the freedom fest (a little local market over the 4th), eat food and then watch fireworks. this year none of us wanted to sleep on the parade route and cody and i decided to run in the freedom run, post to come. so it was a quiet one. we went to balloon fest the day before

 {right after launching}

{a bunch of polaroids we took}

 {driving up to the field}

the next day after the race cody and i took a 4 hour nap, i was whooped. we spent time with family which included dinner and a movie, super fun. then cody and i went to fox field to watch the stadium of fire's fireworks. we did this the first year we were married and it was kind of fun to do it again 7 years later. 

{ the kid in front of us had a glowstick hat, hence the weird globe thing..}

the next night we did family fireworks outside our house..

{ it started like this, all three of them were into the flowers, loved them}

{ended like this, daisy freaked out and couldn't hold still unless she was covered}

{jet took cover in cody's legs, and yes he is winking. i guess things were good!}

hope you all had a wonderful fourth we sure did!

.. baby b ..

i got the chance to go visit my sister and b-i-l and their new baby b a few weeks ago and i happened to catch him on the day he was wearing the onesie i got him. oh he is too cute. 

please don't mind my nappy hair, it was a rough day and at the end of it to be even more clear. I promise I do my hair and look like a normal person, most days. 

he is a cutie pa-tu-ti. he has gotten so much bigger since this picture too.. oh he needs to slow down, i like him little :)

.. a blog award ..

recently my sister in law nominated me for the liebster blog award. she rocks. you can check out her blog here. 

so since i was nominated i get to pay it forward. :)

first - my 'sister' elisha. she has the cutest kids in whom i get to be auntie too. they are fun and full of excitement plus she does creative things like photography and crafts. she is a real live vitruvian woman.

second - my friend kelsie. i got the luck to have multiple classes with this girl at uvu. she has mad skills. she is a designer, photographer and bee keeper. crazy, but her stuff is always fun to look at. 

third - my friend ann-marie. i got to work with this girlie at american crafts for a year plus some. she is always on the look out for creative stuff and i love seeing what is new in her life. she is crazy creative and crafty gal.

fourth - my other friend from ac lindsey. i first met this girl in a 3d design class at uvu. she is hilarious and also super creative. she works for silhouette so she is uber crafty, i mean to the nines. 

last - a school mate from way back, sarah. this girl cody and i went to school with back in junior high, i think her and cody might have even been a elementary school couple :). she has a girl who is growing up with CMV, and is a total inspiration to me how a eight year old can do what she does with the best of attitudes. you rock. {she has a blog just about CMV check it out here.}


so to all of you.. pass it on, pay it forward whatever you please.

In order to accept the award: 

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you.

2. Post the award to your blog.

3. Give the award to at least 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers.

4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award.

.. a graduate ..

alright so here is the schpeal {yep a made up word, deal with it}. i feel old. my baby brother, although i have to admit he doesn't look very little any more, graduated from high school. um WHAT?!?! i am 10 years older than him, so this was like a sucker punch to the face watching him walk across the stage and call high school quits. This handsome dude has officially joined the ranks of adult, his announcement {which you can see here} turned out awesome and he wasn't even phased by it. 

{cody and I at graduation, right before cody blew the air horn we smuggled into the arena}

{ his party, graduation cap and him at his graduation - he is in the center with the slightly orange cap}

congrats J* we are super proud of you and your goals!!

oh and don't you worry we did get him a rocking graduation present. we took him to washington dc, which you can see here.