olea GRACE!

my black eyed baby, Olea Grace is just like her mom, a little clumsy! after looking out the window to see the crazy snowstorm we had last week, she turned around and ran right into the corner of the desk! it was immediately swollen with a dark purple center! she gave a cry like none I had heard before, I knew it hurt bad! so sad! these photos are taken a few days after. To make her feel a little better about her (eye makeup) I went and bought a small barrel curling Iron to give her bouncy curls because she is always wanting her hair curled! she's so girly and yet not so much, my perfect little combo!

My two chefs

How lucky am I? My man likes to cook gourmet, and daughter wants to be like him! I love a good salmon dish, its my favorite! especially when these two make it!

little italy

little italy is not so little anymore! Rohme is growing like crazy, and I love it! I got to babysit the other night, check out those cheeks! and my favorite, knuckle dimples!

Valentine in San Diego

Ben had a business trip in San Diego last week. He surprised me and the girls by flying us out there to spend Valentines together. It was so fun to take my two little girlfriends on the air plane and see them be so excited. I wish I would have got pictures of thier expressions as we took off into the air, even though Bella has flown a bunch of times, it was like it was her first, and to see them both walking down the halls pulling thier own little pink suit cases was so flippin cute! Ben greeted us each with a rose as we came down the escalader to baggage claim. ahh, so sweet!
San Diego was perfect! 80 degrees and sunny, just how I like it! We spent sunday at the board walk with Ben's good friend Gabe and his family. Monday we took the girls to Disneyland. I kept telling them that we were going to see real princesses, but all we saw was the back of Marry Poppins and Burt. We totally spaced that it was Presidents Day, so it was packed! They loved the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Peter Pan, and It's a small world. Those are really the only rides we went on, but it was just enough, and the girls loved it!


waiting in line for a ride.

after coming out of a ride, she kept saying, it too bright mom!


tired eyes!


The next two nights we stayed in the cutest little blue and white beach house on a pier over the water. You could feel the house move a little when the waves would come in. It was kind of scary, but super fun! We spent all day at the beach. At first, Coco would not walk on the sand because there was sea weed and she thought it was going to bite her toes. We all had to take our turn at explaining that it was just a plant, and would not hurt her, but she was not ok with it until the next day at the beach. Bella is a water girl at heart! No fear at all, she just goes for it, and the whole day we had to keep telling her to not go out so far! she loves to belly surf, and there were some big waves! Wednesday was a sad day when we had to leave the beautiful weather and head home. When we got home to Utah and walked in the door, Coco started crying, saying, not this house, I want the blue house! she thought we had moved to California and wanted the beach house! :) it was a perfect Valentines! Much comparable to last year! What a sweet Man us three girls have! Thank you love!




how come my girls don't like to take a picture with me?












these little girls were part of Gabes family that Bella was able to play with.

a Forever Family!

Ben and I had the privilege of having Paul, Katie and baby Norah stay with us last weekend. They were sealed in the Draper Temple. It was bitterly cold that day, but we managed to get a couple shots of them afterwards. It was a happy day for all of us, and we were so sad to see them go! we love you guys!

Jane Taylor

My beautiful sister-in-law, Rachel, came to visit all the way from Cambodia with her two babies, Jack and Jane. We had SO much fun with them, I was sad to see them go back! but we did manage to do a quick shoot with Jane! she turns one soon. Isn't she the most beautiful baby?! I love her!

Its a new year! and were starting off cold!

In trying to be a fun mom, even though it is way too cold for humans to exist unless under some serious snow suits, I bore the January weather and headed out for a snowman making! The girls could not get enough of the white stuff, they lay in it, and eat it, and try to smell it, and throw it around. I do remember a time in my youth where I actually enjoyed playing in the cold! but I did enjoy seeing the excitement on my girls faces as the snowman got bigger and bigger. He turned into a she, Bella named her Lola!

Gem No. 3, A BOY!

It's a BOY! I still can't wrap my head around what you do with a boy, but I am sure I will figure it out in time. I had a feeling it was a him, and I was right! We were able to get in on Christmas Eve to find out the sex. Ben and I were so thrilled! It was the perfect Christmas gift to see the little guy stretching and kicking and yawning!
yes, I already have a massive belly!

what Christmas looked like

It was perfect! Bella woke us up at 7:00am by saying, he came, Santa really came! and ran down the stairs. Ben and I woke up Coco that had climbed into bed with us at some point and informed her of the reality of the day. We watched girls light up with excitement! Santa did come, and brought all the right gifts!, Grandma made special the Raggedy Ann dolls, I made Ben a mustache pillow for his man room, Ben made a fantastic Breakfast! and the girls were finally able to place the Baby Jesus in the manger! We then packed up and headed for New Mexico to visit Grams and Peeps and all the cousins!

Bella's preschool program

Her preschool is a great one, she's been learning all kinds of things, in particular, taekwondo! and during their Christmas program, they showed off their moves! afterwards the (REAL) Santa came to visit and give gifts! Olea thought she was one of the preschoolers and anxiously hopped up on Santa's lap. She wasn't going to leave without letting him know once again her desire for a barbie and mermaid! Bella, a Moxie girl, and Ariel!



This gem of a photo is a gift the parents were given along with a hand made mug by Bella from her school. Can you believe how stinking cute this is? it was so funny when Bella looked at it, she kept saying but why is my chin like that?