photo shoot

my friend shelly did a funny thing with her husband for valentines day where they bartered for each others gifts. one of her friends gave her a free photo shoot coupon that i ended up trading with her for a wii game. so i finally got around to scheduling our family photo shoot and i'm so happy with it!

when laura and i took our crews out to piney point lighthouse i knew we had to have our pictures taken there.

 the trees, the lighthouse, the boardwalk, the beach, all beautiful!

michelle, the photog is an up and coming photographer and she was great.

she even included some  fun outtakes.

 

love this little cutie.

it's so hard to get a good pic of 7 people, so it's a good thing that i think these ones of the girls making weird faces are so cute.

 

awww.

a picture says a thousand words, right?

frankie is allll about daddy lately.

i hear "not mommy, only daddy." a lot from that one.

that's okay, cause laney's my buddy.

i.want.to.eat.her.up.

favorite!

 i didn't even think we could get a cool one with the lighthouse in it so i was so excited to see this guy!

at the end of the shoot the kids were ringing the huge bell and addie go overzealous and hit her finger with the gong.

 it was pretty traumatic.

for everyone but lexi, that jerk. ;)

and some teasers for our christmas cards.

can't wait to order them.

i looooove pictures and am so glad that i've been blessed with so many good photographer friends! and glad that this years family pics are over, i always stress about them! outfits, location, getting everybody ready, blah!

glad i don't have to worry about that till next year!

sandy

sunday was the childrens primary program, probably my favorite sunday to go to church. all the kids did so good and the spirit was so strong. the sunbeams were so cute up in the very front. i know they all knew the songs, but none of them really sang, they all just kind of leaned on the railing and wiggled around, so cute. addie said her part perfectly "thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." such a big girl!

 

we had a little catastrophe before the program and i was a little worried that she wouldn't be able to get it together to participate. it was a rough morning and we ended up bringing addie one size 8 and one size 10 shoe, so she had to go shoeless joe style at church. she was so upset! thank goodness for halloween candy that i just happened to throw in my bag before church! 1 piece of candy and all was right in shoeless addie's world. :)

that night we really started to hunker down. it had started raining early and lightly drizzled all day. work crews had been set up at church and there was kind of a nervous energy just waiting to see what would happen. we watched the sound of music and ate leftover chili and buffalo wings. christian went home teaching with tony, it was just a nice evening.

then around 9 our doorbell rang...

 always so exciting!

we went to open it and look what we found!

a neighborhood boo!

so fun!

we got a candle, soap, whoopie pie mix, candy, ghost lights, and these cute little smore kits.

yay for neighbors that brave hurricanes to deliver goodies. :)

 

school and work were closed down so we all had a day off, hooRAY!

this is what i did most of the day...

who thought it was a good idea to buy 1/2 bushel of seconds apples?

i made 8 loaves of apple bread and an apple crisp for dessert.

that's 24 cups of apples, peeled, cored, and sliced.

and i still have a large bag left.

ugh.

 

we had had an appointment to get new tires for the truck, so we called in the morning and they said we were still on. so matt donned his camo one piece and he and frankie headed out. then he kept that silly suit on all day, "just in case i need to hurry outside for something." here's a pic of him getting ready to check water levels outside.

 

we watched i am number 4 and i cooked and we all cleaned about a billion times and i did laundry and matt studied and kids napped.

the missionaries showed up around 4 to have dinner and hang out for the evening.

we talked, they danced (elder v is quite the dancer!), we laughed, it was great.

after dinner we played a rousing game of aggravation that i, ahem, won.

they are so fun, we just love our missionaries.

 

after checking weather and roads, we sent them off around 9.

it was just a nice, homey day.

our lights flickered several times, but thankfully we never lost power.

our basement looks great and i think we're through the worst of it.

this morning is cold and wet but we can totally handle that.

 

prayers of gratitude for our safety and also for all the people that are still dealing with sandy damage.

goodbye, frankenstorm! 

9 whole months - by delaney

i almost didn't get my post done today what with celebrating my 9 month day with my first hurricane and all. :) i'm bound by duty though, so here i am!

my mom dragged me all around town again this month.

i don't mind though, as long as i'm being held, i'm a good little travel buddy!

i have lots of new skills! i walk along furniture. i can stand, for only about 5 seconds, but still. i drink from a sippy cup, very messily, but still. i clap, and laugh, and get into everything! i still put everything into my mouth but i'm getting better about not gagging on it. i make all sorts of noises including clicks with my tongue. i bang toys together and can (usually) occupy myself for longish periods of time.

and i play peek-a-boo!

where's laney???

there she is!

where's laney???

there she is!

i also crawl upstairs. not all of them (yet!) but one or two, and i'm there!

i know this is blurry, but this is one of my cool new faces.

i am so helpful. always working, always helping.

every day.

nature has won out over nurture again.

looks like i'm gonna be a hair twirler!

when i get some hair, that is.

when i nurse lately i keep my hand on my head and i pick at my hair.

just like my nani, uncle jeff, and big sissy lexi.

my mom says it's pretty weird, but what does she know?

this halloween business has been kinda rough on me.

i've had to try on so many ridiculous costumes!

i even had to wear some of them out of the house!

i don't like having things on my head, can you tell?!

dalmation, hot dog, kitty, what next, mom?

okay, it wasn't all bad.

just mostly.

(another cool new face!)

i love to climb! here i am doing two of my favorite things, climbing and making messes.

just look at all this fun baby stuff my mom's trying to get rid of.

she's crazy!

i've tried lots of new food again this month.

and i don't love it.

here i am trying tofu.

at first it was so good!

but then... not so much.

hopefully someday i'll like to eat solid food.

oh and eating with your feet up is always in fashion.

i'm still a pretty sweet baby, except... my sleep is pretty bad. like really bad, i like to wake up and eat a lot. and i'm getting lots of new teeth, so that's made me a little irritable. but other than that, i'm golden.

okay, sandy has me all exhausted, so i'm outta here.

i'll see you next month. until then i'll just be hanging out all jaba the hut, no neck style.

love,

 

delaney noelle