Family Travel
This is what I now call vacations – family travel. It is completely different than the vacations that my husband and I used to take before we had kids. The day isn’t as packed to the brim with plans, and dinners no longer last for hours. Instead there is fun mornings in hotels snuggling in king size beds with kids, seeking out coffee shops for coffee and a morning snack for the kids when they wake at 5:30am. We plan outings around naps and take extra long drives so that the little ones can get a little more sleep before we head out on an adventure. We seek out family friendly dinners, where a couple cheerios on the floor are okay, and then we enjoy carting exhausted, sleeping children from the rental car thru the hotel lobby back to our room. As parents we fall tired into bed and prepping for the next day. Our recent travels took us to San Diego. Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, and Horses. Enjoying this with my kids was awesome! Enjoy…
Love these faces
I can’t deny it… these faces make me happy. It’s been such a joy to watch these two become pals. I can already tell that they are gonna scheme against me some day. It will be great… Enjoy.
Typical Morning
Lately I’ve been doing all I can to soak up the typical moments in my day. The actions that happen all the time, the actions that I worry if I don’t celebrate I will forget about and regret I didn’t do more with. Time seems to move so fast… perhaps having kids makes me realize that even more. But I worry that I won’t capture these typical, repeated moments of my day. I don’t want to forget about them. That is one of the perks of being home with my kids; I get to enjoy the day-to-day. The interactions, while not necessarily noteworthy, are what make each day. With that… these images are a piece of my typical day. A piece of the day that I love… our little lady loves to crawl over to the windows on the side of our front door and watch the activity outside. As you can see she always has the company of our dog or her big brother. Her big brother likes to point things out to her as they both stand and watch. I love it and I look forward to watching their relationship as the grow. Enjoy a little bit of my day…
quiet moments
We’ve had a rough start to the new year. Our family has spent much of the time with one member of our family sick. Sadly even our son had to take a trip to the emergency room the night before his birthday. Poor guy… he was such a trooper through the whole ordeal. While we’ve spent much time in our home, unable to enjoy some of the beautiful winter weather we’ve been having, I was able to capture some images of our play time and some of the more quite moments in the house. I am hoping that as February continues our family remains on the mend and we will find the opportunity to take some adventures. Hope that you are enjoying the new year… happy and healthy!
This wonderful weather
Pretty sure I was made to live in this area of the world. Me and this weather are tight, I’m talking like this (please picture fingers overlapped). When people complain about too little sun, no high temps, the rain, cold, clouds, or grey skies I get bothered. I love the wetness, and the grey. It provides me with options of either snuggling with a cup of something warm and a good book, or the chance to give my boots a workout. And whether it is cold or warm – a clear day in the Seattle area is by far one of the most beautiful places to be in the world. Now, while I say this I also think that sometimes a change in scenery is grand. So with the weather being so cold right now I thought it would be a great time to post pictures of my family vacation to Maui this summer. The warm ocean air, splashing in the water with my kids, drinks with umbrellas and snorkeling with my husband. On these cold days, just glancing at these pictures make me feel a little warmer. I hope you enjoy both the pictures and this wonderful winter chill!
Family
I’ve had to wait months to show off some of these images. For my Dad’s birthday we gathered up all the grandkids for some pictures. It didn’t take long to get some good shots and it was so much fun to see all the kids personalities come through in the pictures. Family is fantastic… I am a very lucky and very blessed by my family. Being able to snap some pictures of them was such a privilege. Enjoy!
Big Brother
My son is a terrific big brother. He is a typical rambunctious boy who loves to run, wrestle, get dirty, etc. But, when it comes to his little sister his is completely gentle, kind, and a sweetheart. Always asking if she’s okay, picking up her socks when they fall off, giving her kisses and hugs constantly. For me this image is a perfect example of how he loves her. I can only begin to imagine what type of protector he is going to be as he grows up.
Our family is smitten
As we continue to spend more and more time with our little girl we fall more head over heals. I’ve taken many pictures and as I go thru them I will place some of my favorites on the site. It is amazing how much happiness and joy such a small person brings to a family and home!
Little Lady
Well, things in my life just got more exciting, and joyful. We welcomed the birth of our second child, a perfect little lady, about four weeks ago now. My son entered this world with much excitement, arriving 6 weeks early and spending the first three weeks of his life in the hospital. That experience was all we knew and to be honest we were a little nervous to take our girl home just 24 hours after her birth. I kept thinking “is everyone sure that she doesn’t need to be hooked up to any monitoring device?”.
This little lady came into the world with a relative calm. My husband and I were shocked with the ease of the delivery. I don’t read too much into this – I don’t think she will be the world easiest child by any means but I believe that God was smiling on us and blessed us with a much less stressful experience.
I’ve had little time to post pictures, but don’t worry I’ve taken many. I know that it is a little belated, but I thought I would start by sharing some of her first pictures before we jump to current. Enjoy!
Milkshakes and Fish
Before our newest family addition arrived we’ve been enjoying time with our son as a family of three and enjoying the lovely weather we have been blessed with in Seattle. With a beautiful Saturday we enjoyed lunch out at Luna Park with strawberry milkshakes and an outing to the Aquarium.
Ice Cream
A little family outing to get some ice cream at the fantastic Husky Deli. I love this picture for so many reasons – my husband, my son expressing pure joy at the simple perfection of handmade vanilla ice cream, and that I was able to capture it forever. Spring is in the air – much more ice cream will be eaten! :)
My Family
I had to share this… it’s my family the way I see us when I close my eyes. Simple and happy. They motivate me to be a better person each and every day. I love, love, love them! 
Swing
At the golf course the other day taking pictures and after we were done me and my son went to the putting green. This image makes me happy on so many levels. My son is happy, the weather was great, he was doing something that he thought was fantastic, and I got to stand there beaming as the proud parent. My husband jokes that if he one day becomes a pro golfer that this shot will be shown as an example of his early beginnings. Perhaps… but for now I will cherish it as a great memory and moment.
Two
Oh my… he’s two. I have a two year old. I can hardly believe it. We were able to spend his actual date of birth as a family – it was simple and wonderful. We offered my son cupcakes and he in his perfect way they quickly ended up on the floor. He is not a fan of cake but we thought we would give it a try any way. So as a family we enjoyed Dum-Dum Lollipops.
The weekend after his birthday we had a wonderful, small party. He was looking oh so dapper and completely understood how to open gifts. Additionally we enjoyed ice cream cones; candle included. It was a special time for my husband and I. We were able to observe our son interacting with all of our family. He made them smile and laugh – pure happiness. It is absolutely amazing to me how a child can influence a group of adults.
Looking Forward
Twenty-ten is here. I feel as though 2009 went by too fast but at the same time I met the new year with an excitement and eagerness for the unknown in my path. Last year I started up this photo business and was wonderfully blessed with supportive friends and family. I learned, made mistakes, learned, and made mistakes. It can be a frustrating but wonderful process.
With that… Let’s go twenty-ten! I am excited for multiple reasons. More time for pictures, more time with my son, new moments with family and friends, more business, meeting new people, and the arrival of my husband and I’s second child. Oh boy, oh boy! We’ve got some busy times ahead of us.
Because no post is complete without a little image or two – my son and I enjoyed some jumping on the bed last weekend!
Happy Holidays
We all have holiday traditions and one of my favorites is heading downtown the day after Thanksgiving and wandering around the streets soaking up the people, the decorations, families waiting in line for Santa pictures, and warm cups of hot chocolate. Since my son arrived we have added the parade to this tradition. This last year he loved it – while he slept for the first bit of it once he woke up he was all smiles. So much fun to see his little face light up with excitement. Additionally, we always put up our Christmas tree. It was so much fun this year. Our tree doesn’t have many ornaments along the bottom half because my son continually takes them off and piles them up under the tree. It’s almost become a game we play each and every day! I hope that you and your family have been enjoying the holidays to date. If I could toast everyone with a cup of hot chocolate I would!
Watching the parade on daddy’s shoulders.
So excited to put up the tree! This face makes me wish we could put up a Christmas tree all year round!
Sports Fan
Our son is incredible in so many ways, not the least being his ability to sit in the stands at a sporting event cheering on his home team. We have season tickets to the Seattle Sounders soccer games and we take him to all the games that we can – we recently took him to a Mariner game and he was happy to take in the game on a beautiful summer day and eat his red rope! 
A new favorite
My guy, I tell you he is too cute and hilarious for words. He is so happy all the time. I am a lucky parent. Took these during breakfast a couple of days ago and they have quickly become some new favorites.
Fun in the Front Yard
Sometimes some fun in the front yard can result in the opportunity to capture a great moment with a child. I say that to encourage all to remember that a good photo or moment to remember is not typically staged. Sometimes all you need is a Tonka truck and grass.Â
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Trip to Florida
The family took a trip to visit friends in Florida and spend some time relaxing. First stop on the itinerary was Walt Disney World. While there we also took a drive out to the ocean and spent some time getting our son acquainted with a sandy beach. It was a great break from Seattle while it was snowing.Â
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Fun in the sun at the ocean
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