My Ty

Christmas time is always a little hectic, but thanks to our children we take a step back and realize what is really important. All they have to do is say one little thing to make you stop and think. Ty has been so excited about Christmas this year and we always use the "if your not good Santa won't come" way too much. He really has been a good help and is so good to his little brother and sister. So get to the point already HUH!
OK - Christmas Morning Ty came upstairs and told us that Santa had been here and he brought lots of toy. Well, Kelly looks at the clock and it is 2:00am. I don't know about you, but I had been asleep maybe an hour and a half. I told him to go back to bed because Santa doesn't want us to open presents this early. So he goes back down to bed and sets his alarm. Now 7:30 comes around and his alarm goes off. I hear him shut it off and run up the stairs as fast as he can. Kelly was out feeding the animals so I told him to just sit by me until he got back in and then he could go wake up the kids. He could not sit still. I asked if he was excited and he started rattling off all the toys he saw and told me he was so excited. I was excited for him. Then he said "Mom, when I woke up earlier I went in and saw the toys and I got so excited that I wanted to cry. Wait mom I did cry a little bit." His voice started to get a little higher pitched and his hands were clenched together trying to hold in his excitement. " I can't wait mom I am so excited." You could just feel it in his body how excited he was. I am sitting here laughing inside because I can still see the look on his face.
That's when you stop and realize it is about the feelings and the emotions and your kids and your family. Can you remember how you felt when you were a kid? How excited you got and that feeling your stomach was just going to jump out of your body.
I am thankful for Ty for making me realize that It doesn't have to be perfect it just has to be fun and exciting and memorable. The house gets trashed on Christmas day anyway!!
I hope you all had a memorable Christmas!

Here are a couple pictures I took at Ty's class Party.
Keep watching for Santa Pictures!
















Gingerbread Houses - what a fun idea!


























Ty Helping Rylee Play BINGO

BFF

The other day I posted some pictures I took of my friend Heidi. (BFF) Maybe I could call her my "sista from another mista" LOL!! I got a comment from my other friend saying she was a little sad (as you can see in pic. below) because she thought she was my BFF! Well, truth is, I have a lot of BFF"S. Heidi is my BFF from Lower Providence. So here is my other BFF Lori in Texas isn't she adorable. I love her and miss her so much. This is so her personality and I wish you all could know her. Love you Lori - BFF!























More BFF"S to come.

Schiess Family

Wow - Look at this family. This is my BFF Heidi and her Family. Aren't they cute. Poor little Boston had a hard time today, but we got some great shots. Sandor even smiled when I asked him too! GOOD HUSBAND! Check out their fun slide show.

Slide Show

Wanna Ride???

This if for all you single ladies out there. Yes he is single, he owns a BIKE and he IS a PILOT. He actually can take you for a ride.
I can only do this because he is basically my brother-in-law. Brother to the Weeks family from a few days ago. My sister is married to his brother and he is like family to me. He was a lot of fun to take pictures of and at the end he loosened up a bit.
I did this photo shoot for his mother for Christmas. She is going to love them. Isn't he a great model. Check out his slide show for more information.

SLIDE SHOW

Oh Little Kody

So let me tell you a little about my day yesterday. Most of you saw my post "A day with Kody" (or 45 min.) Well, It hasn't gotten any better. Maybe a little worse, but not better. Any way - All I wanted to do was fold a little laundry and pick up the downstairs. By the time I got Ty off to school, Rylee out of bed and fed, cleaned up 3 bowls of cereal Kody dumped on the floor because he has to do it himself, it is now 10 am. Yeah!! Kody's nap time. So I put him to bed, got in the shower, and started folding laundry. I was almost done folding when he woke up. I thought I would just hurry and finish before I get him out. Well, Guess who comes around the corner - Yes - Kody. Did you know he could get out of his bed?? Neither did I! So I had Rylee keep him busy for a minute while I finished. I went upstairs to put some towels away and use the Ladies room and came back downstairs and guess what - yes you guessed it - ALL MY LAUNDRY NOT FOLDED ANYMORE!! It is now a cannon ball landing for Kody and Rylee. Was I mad? Of course I was. Did I yell? Of course I did. What did I do? I took all the laundry up to my room and shut the door!! It is now 1:00 and I have to finish getting ready because I was going to take pictures and had to pick up the babysitter from school and be back by 2:50. So I am down getting ready in the salon and Kody wants some goldfish. I open him a little bag and set him in the hallway to eat them while I did my hair. While I was blow drying my hair he went upstairs, pulled about 5 bulbs off the christmas tree and broke 3 of them. I came up to check on him and he showed me his cut finger. We fixed that up and went back downstairs to finish my hair. This time I put the gate up so he wouldn't go back up. Well, he grabbed the bag of goldfish and dumped it all over the salon floor. Did you know no matter how much you sweep up hair you never quite get it all. (bag of goldfish - gone) So by now Celeste has had enough. I grabbed him, I put my hands on his little face and put his face close to mine and told him how naughty he was. No, I was not calm about it. You know what he did? He opened his mouth, gave me a big huge slobbery kiss, and gave me a hug. You know what I did? Started Crying. Did you know that no matter how mad or hurt or disappointed in your children you are all they have to do is smile and everything is all better. So today is a new day. I may not have a clean house or my laundry or dished done. My family might get take-out 5 nights a week or pb&j, but you know what? My kids are not going to remember what we ate or how clean the house was. They are going to remember that mom played dress-up, and basketball, and silly little made-up games that only a 1 year old thinks is funny. One of these days I won't have anyone to clean up after and I am going to be sad. So if you come to my house and it is a mess I'm not going to appologize or be embarrassed (maybe a little embarrassed) because I would rather have happy kids than a spotless house. Like Dr. Laura says " I am my kids Mother" and I love every minute of it!!

I love this little Stinker that gets into and ontop of everything!

The Weeks Family

Meet the Weeks Family. Scott, Michelle, Tiesha, Cassie, and Cole. (Dianes in-laws, Todd's sister) I have spent a lot of time with their family over the years and I love them just like my own. What a beautiful Family! Thanks Scott for being so patient with me.

SLIDE SHOW

Beautiful Girls!

Just had to show you this Amazing picture of my Sis and her daughter Kenna. What Beautiful Girls!!

Hot Mama!!

Look at my Hot Mama!! Doesn't she look amazing. She has been here for a week while my Dad and Richard worked on Diane's house. She just had her um.......39th birthday on Thanksgiving this year. Happy Birthday Mom! We Love You!! Come back soon.

Diane and Kids

I am so excited to show you these pictures. Diane and her kids came out to Paradise and we got some amazing shots. It was a beautiful day. Diane looked so Beautiful and her Kids were so adorable. Thanks Diane and Kids for a fun afternoon and thanks Kellee for everything!

Slide Show

Happy Thanksgiving!

No pictures this time. I just wanted to take a minute and tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving! We are staying in Cache Valley this year and going to Kelly's mom's for dinner and majority of the day. I get the easy job of making rolls and I wish she would let me bring more, but I think she likes to try new things. We always have a great dinner and I love, love, love, Grandma Chugg's Stuffing!! Our Meal will consist of Turkey, candied yams, sourcrout & ham, stuffing, potatos, a salad of some sort (new every year), and rolls. My mouth is already watering. I am sure by Kelly's 3rd helping he will do his usual "slop everything together in one big pile and cover it with gravy". He will be too sick and full to move and he will sleep while we clean up and get ready for dessert - yelling at me to come get the kids out of things (mainly KODY). Hope your Thanksgiving is as memorable as mine always is. I am so greatful for all our friends and family. Best wishes and a Big Hug from the Russell's!

Twilight

Yes, all you Wyoming girls - I just got back from Twilight and it was AWESOME!! Sorry it hasn't gotten to you yet, but it is a must see. Don't make your husbands go - grab a bunch of girls and go see it together. Make your husbands watch the kids!!! Still not sure about the Edward they picked out, but he is really Great in the Movie!! Can't wait for the next one to come out:) Let me know how you all like it.

Off to Vegas in the morning to do a Photo Shoot with Kellee. I am so excited!! Have a Great Weekend all!

Sunset

The other day I took a picture of the beautiful Sunrise. Here is a picture of the Sunset. I love living in Paradise!!

Hulme Family

These are our good friends Travis and Rachel and their family. Yes another one of my practice sessions. It is fun to go to the different locations each family picks out. This was at another friends house in Avon. He has some fun out buildings and a bridge they wanted a picture on. I had a great time. Thanks again Rachel for letting me use your family!!


Click on the picture to view their album on photobucket. Click on slide show in top right hand corner to see more of this shoot.

Finally - Halloween pictures!

We had a fun Halloween. I love this fun holiday because the kids think it is so fun to get all dressed up and wear their costumes all day (and week at our house). Ty was a NINJA, Rylee was a SPIDER WITCH, and Kody was a little GREEN MONSTER. check out the BINKI!! I first went to Ty's class to take pictures of their class Halloween party. We then went to Diane's to get the rest of the kids ready to go Trick-or-Treating to thier dad and Grandma Jo. They kinda got tricked when they went to see dad. I guess I need to send Candy with him next year. He gave them each a quarter and let them get candy out of the little machine. They saw Grandpa at work too then we went to Grandma Jo's. She gave each of the kids a Dollar Bill and a rice crispy treat! Their favorite!! Then we were off to the Carnival at Providence Elementary school. The kids had fun going down the slides, climbing the rock wall, and doing the cake walk! Ty was upset because Rylee won a cupcake and he didn't. After the carnival we went trick-or-treating down a couple of streets in Providence. My favoite was at the first house Rylee went up to the door and said "trick-or-treat" then turned around and came running back. She didn't quite get it. We had to explain that they give candy if you say that. Kody figured it out after a while and started going up to the door with the other kids and jabbered something and holding out his hand. He got quite a few suckers! It was a fun day, but I am glad it is only once a year. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!!!!

Here are a few Pictures!

My Little Subjects

So here are my three little subjects. I had Colton over for a few hours and decided to take advantage. It is funny because everywhere I go lately I think about how great of a wall I see or how fun that field would be to take some family pictures or the light would be perfect right now. I know I am a little picture crazy, but I am loving every minute of it.


Here is my little "poser" Rylee
















Here is Kody who I had to take on the run:) He would not sit still for a minute.
















This is Colton - He has got the most beautiful brown eyes. In some of the pictures I could see myself in them.















I am trying to figure out how to do a slide show so check back for more pictures of these three cuties!!

Kelly's sister Kris invited us to go to a little Halloween day for the little kids. There are a couple of ladies that decorate their whole yard and field for Halloween. They took us on a wagon ride around the field and the little kids got to ride the barrel train. They had such a fun time. I put Kody on the train with Colton (nephew) and off they went. I looked out there after a minute and couldn't see Kody next to Colton anymore. I got a little nervous and thought maybe he fell out, but didn't see him on the ground anywhere. As they got closer I still couldn't see him and figured he was at the bottom of the barrel. Just as they were coming around the last little turn he POPPED his head up with a great big smile under his binki. What a little stinker.
















This is how they started out

















Still can see him - third one from the back
















Where's Kody?? Should see him in the little red barrel in the back (not there)
















PEEK - There he is!

Furniture Shopping with MOM

I had the PRIVELAGE of going furniture shopping with my mom on Monday. It was quite an adventure with Kody and Rylee. Kody wanted to climb on everything in sight and Rylee wanted to just go home. Finally after 4 furniture stores she picked out what she wanted. It was hard to get her to decide because after 35 years of Marriage this is the first time she has actually gone all out and picked exactly what she wanted. I think she did a great job picking it out. Can't wait to see it in her house.






































This couch is so comfortable! You just sink when you sit down.

Fire in the Sky!

I woke up the other morning and went into the kitchen and it was ORANGE. It took me a minute to first WAKE UP then realize why the room looked orange. It was so beautiful outside I had to take a picture and share it. Have a Beautiful Day!!
















about 1 minute later...

The Danielson Family

Barbara called me the other day and said she had a silly question for me. She asked if I would take her Family pictures. Of course I jumped at the chance. Her family was so fun and they were so patient with me. Thanks Danielson Family!! You are always so fun to be around.