this is halloween!

 so, we carved our pumpkins the night before halloween and they looked great!

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we had so much fun with our friends, 

  

 and as siblings!

happy halloween!

halloween costume portraits

i love doing Halloween mini-sessions.  i only had a limited window this year with wedding/portrait season, so i took the kids for a quick after-school shoot.  

i a so glad i borrowed this frog costume from Ali.  originally, Colin was supposed to be a fireman, but he refused to wear the costume.  i think this frog was just perfect. 

 Anna's best friend joined us and we got a little pick of these two princesses.  

 we had my cousins along too, Merida and Mickey were a great addition.

 Anna had a hard time deciding what to be this year, but once she spied this "celebrity startlet" costume at Party City, she was in love!  she knows how to work the whole startlet concept.  

 we tried to kiss the frog and see if he turned to a prince, but this just made him grouchy. 

 Avery is our Rapunzel lover in the family.  and for months she knew she wanted to be "Rapunzel in her wedding dress."  (thanks again Grandma and Grandpa.) she was an adorable pretend bride. 

 i love these groves for that storybook woods feeling.  i always do my halloween minis here.  

 Madeline was a mermaid this year, she donned an Ariel wig for Halloween night, but opted to be herself as a mermaid for these portraits.  i always dreamed of being a mermaid when i was her age too!

so fun to capture these sweet imaginations while i can!  Happy Halloween.  

we are the pi phis!

these days when i meet people and they discover I was in a college sorority, it usually garners an chuckle of disbelief.  i suppose these days i don't really fit the mold of a stereotypical,  made-for-tv sorority girl. but, i am in fact a member of Pi Beta Phi, and i had a fantastic time in college, and met an amazing group of friends that continue to enrich my life.  

each year, bunch of my "sisters" get together for a girls weekend.  over the past few years babies and nursing have gotten in the way of my attending.  but this year, they came to me!  we rented a house in Scottsdale and played all weekend.  

after picking up out-of-towners from the airport, we gathered at the house and hit the town for a night of shopping and yummy food, and of course late night catching up!

Saturday found us hiking Camleback.
(from left, Elizabeth, Vicki, Erica, Jess, Me, Ali, and Shira)

this was a first reunion of our "London group" from 1996.  Ali and Elizabeth were my flatmates during my semester abroad in London.  how can it possibly have been 16 years?!?! we are for sure doing a 20th anniversary trip to London.  i've got 4 years to save!

our fancy night on the town was both fun and delicious!

 love my Doherty!  we cannot wait so long for another reunion!!!!  (and how is it she looks the same if not better than 16 years ago?)

 Sunday brunch was a sad farewell (but delicious) farewell.  though we took some group pics, this one is my favorite.  Jess is just so beautiful!

Pi Phis!  i had so much fun with you ladies.  it's amazing how so much time can pass but the feelings stay the same.  i have always felt like our group was so special, and I was right.  each of you bring a so much to the table with your individual intelligence, beauty inside and out, experiences, and above all senses of humor!  i count my lucky stars that something as random as  rush, could bring us together!  

here's to many more years of friendship!

fixing rapunzels hair, thank you Pinterest

so, i didn't really take a "before" picture, but this poor dolly has suffered from a serious case of doll hair syndrome.  it kind of defeats the purpose of a Rapunzel doll for her hair to be a disgusting mess.  so, i tried this trick i saw of Pinterest.

we just sprayed a mixture of water and downey and worked through those knots.  now, i wouldn't call this factory condition, but it definitely made it more workable and lovely.  

 and with a pretty braid, we will put off those knots for a while.  

he finally wore the hat

so, remember when i had the cutest idea for pics of the kids in the woods, and their wardrobe centered around the cutest hat, that Bubba absolutely refused to wear in said pictures.  

well, now it's his favorite!

Avery's birthday party!

Avery was so excited for her birthday princess extravaganza!  

 she invited all her friends over in their princess best for a tea party, hair, nails, the works!

 the princes got to watch from the sidelines.  

 Avery went with grandma and grandpa Beardsley to get her birthday party dress, Rapunzel's wedding gown.  complete with veil, bouquet and ring.  (daddy is not a fan)

everyone seemed to have a great time, look at all these happy princesses.  

and no princess party would be complete without the ceremonial bashing the pinata with a bat!

it was pretty fun watching these girls scramble for their candy!  

God be with you 'til we meet again

so, it wasn't for a fun reason.  but Bubba and i took a little trip up to Monterrey, California.  it was a really quick trip, but we got a few hours of down time, so Barrett and I took our kids for a scenic drive through Pebble beach.  Colin was so happy seeing all the golfers, and about came out of his skin when he saw about a million sea lions.  

 and hanging out with these guys was the icing on the cake.  

 so, the reason for our trip was a sad one.  my Uncle Ralph passed away, and we went to the funeral.  it is never easy saying goodbye to the people we love.  nor is it easy to see the grief and pain of your family who lost their husband, father, grandfather, brother.  but there is a silver lining to moments like these.  the family reunion we had this weekend was a celebration of generations of love.  we feel blessed to know that our time to be separated from lost loved ones is brief.  we are so thankful for the Lord's plan of happiness that allows us to be sealed to our families through generations, and for eternity.  

Colin was able to meet is doppelganger finally.  everyone says he is the spitting image of my cousin Matt.  seriously, Colin, this is a good thing.  lots of people would love to look like that when they're 40(ish).  incidentally, growing up everyone though i looked like Matt and strangers mistook us for siblings often.  

 remember in September when i took a family picture that included 2 of my cousins.  well, here are a few more.  (we were still missing, Collier and Jane.)  and some of our kids are pictured, though by my count 35 are missing!  yeah, i have a big and also awesome family.  and also, sometimes when i talk about my many cousins i feel like people assume it's so big i don't really know everyone or something.  well, this is not the case.  we were raised very close, (some geographically) but mostly close in that we got together often, and made time to attend each others special events (baptisms, graduations, etc.) each of my cousins is also my friend, and those in my age group are among my very best friends.  so looking at this photo i see nothing but a huge group of dearly beloved people.  it's a great blessing and a privilege to have friends like these that you get to call family. 

 my mom and her siblings, including my sweet aunt Nita who lost her husband of 60 years!  what a great example!

 and our little Beardsley contingent.  so fun being with my siblings, even if i was a little whacked out from lack of sleep, and our reunion lasted all of 30 hours.  we definitely made the most of it.  

(dear family  i have barely begun to go through these images, but i will send disks out soon)