Girls Week

It's girls week (well, weeks) while Daddy is in China, so we made chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting, sprinkles, and red M&Ms on top.  Calling it Girls Week kind of takes the focus off missing Daddy so much.  Well, for the little one, anyway. The best part of the evening was when the cupcakes were cooled but I had not frosted them yet, and Rachael looked at them and said, "Those aren't cupcakes.  Cupcakes have frosting and sprinkles on top."

More "girls week" adventures to come.

Time

Church doesn't start until 11:30, so most days we have a little time to make ourselves fancy for church.  Today we did two french braids.  (And I wasn't going for the 'artistic' angle, it just worked out that way.  But I'm happy with it!)

Happy New Year!

Plan for this year: take a picture every day, kind of like the Flickr: Project 365, except I'm going to try to photograph moments that capture events, things or people I am thankful for.

Wish me luck.

With that in mind, here is today's offering:

Ryan giving Rachael a hug at the airport before he heads out for a three week business trip to China.

Christmas

One of my favorites from Christmas

Temple Weddings

I took a few pictures at the temple for my friends Jessie and Josh who were married December 18.  These are my favorites:

Congratulations Jessie & Josh!

Opportunity

There are 10 cake mixes, 30 eggs, 3 cups of oil, 4 cups of water, 2 pounds of raspberry filling and 18 cups of buttercream frosting in that wedding cake. And about two full dowel rods.

How do I know?

I made it.  

I am that crazy.

(Special thanks to Ryan for being a capable pastry assistant and for constructing the base.)

Congratulations Jessie & Josh!

Photography Assitant

To earn some money for her ballet recital costume, I "hired" Rachael as my photography assistant and we are taking family pictures of some friends. We arrived a little early at the park to check the lighting conditions (good) and the fall color (pretty much over). I took this of Rachael skipping down the bridge:

This was my favorite family picture.  There are a couple where the youngest one looks more cheerful, but I loved the color in the background in this one.

And sometimes, you are just in the right place at the right time for the right picture of a stubborn four-year-old:

Love it!

Still crazy after all these years...

Some pictures I did for my friends the Christensens. The second is my favorite!

Colorado Trip

A few favorites from our trip out West...

 Gateway Arch in St Louis, MO

Fall color at the AFA

The Denver Colorado Temple

Rachael making a snow angel at the top of Pike's Peak

My nephew (#79) playing football.
(He broke his arm the previous week, hence the huge cast).

Ryan and I were his paparazzi section.

Twirling

Took some pictures of a sweet friend's daughter.  Lots of cute close-ups, but this was my favorite spontaneous moment.