a little story

About a little girl named Lucy with tiny quick feet and a very brave adventurous spirit.
She traveled to a beautiful land
and found a hidden waterfall.

She found the the little pool intriguing and wandered out on her own.
Getting a little more courageous with each step.
This little taste of big girl freedoms made her almost burst with happiness.

Yep, it sure did.


She found a very large stick for a little lady and got in over her head {literally}

She did not like this....nope not one bit.


How many times did you go swimming Lucy....4 times.. oh poor girl.
Sometimes there are no lessons learned because the consequence {soaked, scared} is better than sitting on the sidelines watching.
So back into the water she goes to join her favorite friends.

The last piece of dried clothing was spared from getting drenched in case of another mishap.
This made Lucy feel free as the little bird she is.
She was in her element.

Dancing, prancing, copycatting {she does this best} climbing, jumping.
No clothing restrictions holding her back.
Beaming with joy.

And as the afternoon was winding down.
She was content as could be...taking in the view.
I think she was reflecting on how proud she was that she was not sitting on the sidelines.
This could have quite possibly been the best afternoon of her life.

summer love

We thought the start of summer needed to be celebrated. So we headed to one of our favorite summer spots. This place never ever fails us. We loved every minute of it.

Today I'm doing the day after getting back things like unpacking,more unpacking, and a 1,000 loads of laundry. Oh, plus the regular stuff of life that needs to be caught up on that I wish I could wish away like bills..ugh. It's hard coming home and doing all the dirty work. I found a minute to download our pictures of the trip. This was the first picture I saw and it made me smile and realize that all the stuff I hate doing when I get home is worth it for one perfect moment like this. I loved that afternoon eating ice cream under the big old Zion tree, a favorite family Zion's tradition.

p.s. more pictures to come.

on you mark, get set, go

We went exploring and found a stream and a weird plant {that we called turnips}.
We decided to make some boats to race in that stream out of turnips and sticks.
Lucy tugged and tugged on those turnips.

Then we decided to race snowballs.
Canyon won first place.


While we were at it...why not race the turnips?
So we did.
Lucy got the gold this time.

We stayed until the stream turned our feet bright red.
It was a good spring day.

lets eat outside....pretty please.

There was something I wanted really, really wanted....pretty bad.
I wanted to eat every single meal outside all summer long. {weather permitting}
A pretty big request.
Mother's day seemed like the perfect opportunity.
I was crossing my fingers...with summer time dining thoughts prancing in my head.
The result was better than expected.
And so far the gift of eating outside has been the best thing ever!!
I'm in love...with the gift and the gift givers.
Thank you!!!

3 hour hair

When her hair looks like this it means she has just spent the last 3 hours in a afternoon nap dreaming sweet baby dreams. It truly does take the full 3 hours to pull this look off. A 2 hour or 1 hour nap create something totally different.


I love when her hair looks like this. It not only means that I just had 3 hours to myself it also means that when she wakes up she is very content, observant and mushy as can be. She will lay her mushy self close by you for a while and watch birds flutter and airplanes zoom out the window.


Turn on on some music and typically she is in the mood to sing. Not aware that anyone is listening....she is to busy concentrating on birds. It's entrancing laying by her listening to her sweet humming to her favorite song which has stayed constant for a full year If you want me - Swell Season. She even adds quite a few words now in between those hums. Not your typical baby song, I know. Kind of weird...maybe but I won't complain. I like that she has good taste in music.



If You Want Me - The Swell Season

love story

I love this love story so much.
Everyone should fall in love in a setting like this....and she is so pretty!

love note

apology accepted

10 little happy things

{Fall 2008}

I was inspired by the blog rockstar diaries to make a list of the little things that make my heart happy.

Here is my list.

1. Writing my name with a sparkler
2. Snowflakes so big you can catch them on your tongue.
3. Love notes from my daughter (she is barely 6 and completely charming)
4. Rope Swings
5. Hearing a song that brings back a dreamy memory
6. Campfire under a star filled sky
7. Tippy toes
8. Running Further than I thought I could.
9. When a instant message pops up that says "I love you"
10.Finding the perfect gift.

It's nice to think about the little happy things in life.
It's also fun to read what makes other people happy.
Go check out her blog {it's really...really... irresistible}.
You can find my happy list on there and others' happy lists too.
It will make you happy.
satisfaction guaranteed.

six + nine

Canyon and Ellie both had Birthdays this week.

Another year older and wiser for both of them.

These are old pictures but some of my favorites.

I was looking at them last night.

It made me a little sad.

It seems like they haven't been here with me for very long....how can they be so grown up?

I miss them being smaller...but I love who they are becoming.

I am in the process of getting their birthday photo shoots done.

Because a few years from now I will probably stare with wonder and amazement on how much they have changed since they were six and nine like I do with these photographs now.

{shane does all the fancy collage work... I love it.}

{p.s. Shane is going to start doing some of his fancy collage work  for others. If you are interested see here or you can e-mail me}

spring love

It's May.
May is a crazy month for us every year.
Birthday's galore
Lots of Party's
End of School activities
Dance Recitals
Soccer games
ect...ect....ect....
Good thing Spring and all the green gives me an extra burst of energy.
and....
Good thing this view is my commute into the city.
When May arrives we tend to go to the city a little bit more.
I can't get over how pretty everything looks right now.

{photograph by Shane Cox}