Just Us

our little family

2009-12-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

We managed to get some family pics done yesterday...with much thanks to my photog friend angelina! (thank you!!!)
Moose was soooo good! Dixie...um well she was not herself! she is usually the good one!! That just shows to not have a vision or high hopes when you are working with baby dogs! They are waaay harder than children!

catching up...

2009-11-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

WOW! it has been a while! I guess I had less of a life in arizona and was able to keep up with this thing! hahaha
this really is the LAST thing I should be doing right now since I have a HUGE to do list with clients orders and lots of emails to tend to..oh and the new website I'm building!! exciting stuff...but that's all in the future! Right now we'll catch up on the past because there is a lot of it! We'll do it mostly with pictures...

First... Had a party for Cassidy & Cody's birthdays! sister niki and grandma worked very hard on their cakes! hers was a purse and his was an army tank!

spent the day in Lake Arrowhead

And my baby dogs turned 1 and 2! yes i did get them cakes from the dog bakery! They were awesome...peanut butter flavor in the shape of a bone <3 they loved them!
sooo awesome that they have the same birthday!!

can you tell she loved it?! Seriously love the cake all over her face!!!

yes my large dogs are in sweaters but it is REALLY cold here and i think 33 degrees justifies the sweaters! especially since only less than 2 monthes before we were in 120 degree arizona weather! and they look cute! ;)
I should also mention this was in their new backyard with the new fence andy and I built ourselves and moose proofed! well nothing is ever really moose proof but it's working now and he hasn't found a way to escape yet! and not to mention they LOVE it!!! it's on a slope (because we live in the mountains!) but they run up and down and chase each other and fight over sticks even though there are 1,000 of them but of course they want the same one! Honestly putting up the fence has made life in the cabin SO much easier (and the floors and dogs very dirty!)

And then there was thanksgiving...

we went to my mom's because my brother came out to find a place for his wife and boys and the new baby (due in march) to live while he is in afghanistan :( He deploys the day after Christmas...the baby will be 9 months old when he comes home.)

So I of course had to do some pictures..

Then the day after Thanksgiving we got our FIRST SNOW!!!!

Dixie LOVED it!! she was running around like crazy, sticking her nose in the snow, licking it...they were both shivering but once I grabbed a snowball and fed it to them they went nuts like it was a treat! (they eat ice cubes as treats too!) i was throwing snowballs in the air and moose would jump up and catch them! Dixie doesn't quite get the game...she wants everything to be handed to her like a baby ;)

Then andy made a fire and we put the dog bed in front of the fire for them to warm up...

That about brings us up to date.... I'll try to be better but I can't make any promises!

xoxo

ps. spell check isn't working for some odd reason and my eyeballs are tired and I'm being lazy so please excuse spelling and grammar :)

life...it gets in the way sometimes

2009-10-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

a couple people have been nagging me to update this poor neglected thing for a while so with a little extra time this morning here goes...
Things have been crazy busy! It has been so nice to be back around family and friends and thats been keeping me busy visiting everybody and hanging out! It makes the times of andy being gone much easier and the weeks go by so much faster.
We've also been working on getting this lil cabin in the woods ready for winter because it has already gotten really cold here! last week it rained for over 48 hours straight! no stopping even for 5 mins! Moose of course was a big baby and did not want to go outside to potty..when one raindrop hit his head he would shake like he was soaking wet then stand there and cry...andy says i ruined him and hes probably right but I love my moose snuggles!
We've been taking them on lil adventures on the road behind us and they LOVE it! there's so many smells for their hound dog noses. I managed to get a few pics on an adventure i took them on by myself...hard task, you'll notice dixie was more interested in exploring than paying attention to me!

she loved walking on the top of the dirt pile and when she did all the dirt and rocks would fall down the side of the mountain and she would perk her ears and tilt her head all curious and get low and watch them all fall down...now she's a little more brave and chases the falling rocks!! it's seriously funny!

The puppies birthday is coming up (i love how they have the same birthday!!) and i found this super cute dog bakery in arrowhead to make them each a birthday cake! I was going to do something myself but when i found these and they were peanut butter flavored and shaped like a bone i was sold!
Andy leaves for maui for work for 2 weeks next monday and sadly we werent able to pull off me going for a few days because theres so much going on...my little brother and sisters birthdays and i have 4 newborn sessions next month and a few family ones and somewhere in there theres thanksgiving and getting our little family pictures done...november is looking to be a little crazy but i am so looking forward to all of it!
My grandma and i have also been working on quite a few projects that i will share when we're all done...im so excited about all of it!
until then...

xoxo

we're HOME

2009-09-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

back in California that is...and it feels good!

We finaly got all settled in and andy's back to work without a day off until the end of the month which sucks.
We found a dog park up here a couple miles from the house which has been awesome and has become a daily trip for us. We usually take them in the morning so they get nice and tired so they lay around for the rest of the day!

my little mountain dogs..

and this is why i get asked if our dogs are dobermans...

that dog could have been dixies long lost sister!!

thats all i got for now because it's snuggle time with the baby dogs!

xoxo

I'm pretty awesome

2009-08-25T23:57:00.000-07:00

to be able to get a 3 day old to do this...

let's see my wanna-be copy that! :)

We think he is FUNNY!

2009-08-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

they were in their crates and andy called me over and this is what I saw....

so flippin funny! that eyebrow, that super cute lil bottom lip he actually sticks out when he pouts, and that smooshed nose!! goodness I couldn't love that dog anymore!! He is beyond adorable!

heres another one just because it is that funny!

I seriously had thee worst camera shake because we were laughing so hard and it was actually pretty dark in the room!

In other news...
the dogs are running around like maniacs enjoying the house getting more and more empty as Andy has been taking apart things like the dining room table and stuff. We're pretty much all packed just a few things here and there. This week is nuts! Have a couple photoshoots with some of my favorite Arizona people before we leave.
Very excited to see them one last time before we go!

4 MORE DAYS!!!!

So excited to be back around family and friends! especially with the holiday season fast approaching!

ok to be honest I really don't have time to be doing this but I just needed a break from the chaos!

See you soon in Cali!!

xoxo

here's the BIG stuff

2009-08-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

we're moving!!!! back to california!!! we're sooo excited!!!andy will be going back to school to be a radiology tech so we'll be living at his moms cabin near lake arrowhead so he can go full time and be done faster. should be interesting...2 big dogs in a tiny cabin and it snows in the winter! kinda excited about that though! I'll finaly get the white christmas I've been longing for! the weather will be completely opposite of Arizona...might be hard for the dogs but I'm so ready for it!! the best part...in a couple months andy will be quiting his job which means no more traveling and we'll get to see him more...even if it is with his nose in a book!

The dogs and I just got back from a cali trip and we stayed at my aunt and uncles who have 2 dogs about the same ages as both ours and moose LOVES playing with the older one! well both of them but he used to play with elle more before we moved to arizona so we're looking forward to many more puppy play-dates! I loved how much he just wanted to be outside since its been way too hot here for them to be outside at all.
heres a couple pics from our visit..mostly of the doodle bug because moose was too busy running around like a crazy dog to even see him!

can you tell how much kami loved dixie??! and doodle was more than happy to give away all her kisses..especially to 3 year olds with yogurt all over their face!

moose loved that toy..and kami's bean bag!

momma & doodle playing in the spa

dixie wanting in the house

i know shes pretty much the cutest ever!!

can't wait to see you all back in cali!! 2 weeks!!!!!

xoxo

BIG stuff coming...but first the cutest kids ever!!

2009-08-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Have some big exciting news to share but first here's some pics from the cali trip...got to see my gorgeous lil sister and brother!!

it was awesome seeing them and how much they've grown! they are getting so old now :( i love them to pieces!

have lots more pics to share and the big news...all coming soon!

xoxo

getting ready

2009-08-05T17:18:00.001-07:00

for our trip to cali tomorrow which had to include a bath for these 2 adorable babies of mine!

they're so good they both just walked right in and they always just stand there till i'm done and then its crazy time! They run around and wrestle really crazy as if the shower just gave them a rush of energy! Can't blame them it wakes me up most of the time too! ok onto more packing and preparing...

xoxo

another river trip

2009-08-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

So Andy is working in Colorado for the next 2 weeks (lucky!!) and he left Friday so I decided I would take the dogs to the river so they could play in the water and stretch their legs since it's so hot here they won't go outside! Dixie was SUPER adorable and crazy playful in the water! She's been there before and played but this time she was swimming like a lil fishy! she went all the way out and came back of course because she listens....unlike mr. moo who had to be on a leash the whole time! i tied him to a long rope though and ran back and forth with him so he could have some freedom. We took them on the boat and up to the sandbar where I wish my hands weren't so full because I couldn't get any pics!!! Dixie was in love with this boogie board i had sitting in front of me in about a foot of water...she kept getting on it shed stand then sit then lay down jump off jump back on...it took some muscles to hold it steady for her! They finally both passed out on the boat giving my arms a much needed break of leash holding! so those are the only pics I got of my sleepy babies....

we're headin to California tomorrow to visit family and to do some photo sessions! I get to see my lil sis and bro so I am BEYOND thrilled about that! Kinda bummed andy won't be with us but sad to say we are so used to it with his job. We miss him so much when he's gone and I hate that he doesn't get to be there for some of the everyday stuff.
Well lots to do...have to pack for Cali get all the photography stuff ready and loaded into the car and my babies are in need of bathing! Can't wait to get to grandmas and relax in the pool with family! The dogs will be swimming in the pool too! ;)
Will have lotsa pics when we return....

xoxo

fun new product over at pureSugar..

2009-07-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about this! go check out the details on the pureSugar blog!

xoxo

1 year ago today...

2009-07-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

after being listed on the transplant list for only 13 days sweet angel got his (triple) transplant. A true miricale. tragic that another family lost a child but it saved another. Angel is the strongest child I have ever even heard of and his family is just as strong and amazing. my cousins adopted him and he wasn't supposed to make it. he turned 9 in december and although there has been many bumps this guy is making it! please continue to pray for them as their journey is still not over and bumps do come up often. when I was in california last month visiting them it was so awesome to see how much more active he is and how much healthier he looks! the boys kept wanting to play house and angel was my "husband" ;) He really is an angel in real life! and i love him to pieces!

angel about a month after transplant
(to see a newer picture of him scroll down to my california post)

also please pray for the family who lost their son as i can only imagine the pain and grieving they must be going through with the anniversary of his death.

back by popular demand...

2009-07-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

quarter of a century

2009-07-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

yup that's how old I turned on Sunday! We spent the weekend in San Diego and had the most amazing time ever!!! Seriously the best birthday weekend ever!!!!! (thank you my love!) We got there Friday around 1ish checked into our hotel in the gas lamp district and walked around seaport village for a little while before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the night. My cousin (who introduced andy & I) and her man (andy's bff) came down and we went to a nice dinner then around to few few bars and clubs before taking the funnest most hilarious pedicab ride back to our hotel! but then decided we didn't want to go to bed yet so we walked around until we found another place and stayed till they shut off the music. the next morning we went to breakfast and then headed to the beach where my sister and her boyfriend joined us. We then went over to Coronado and checked into our hotel...spent some time in the pool before driving around Coronado with Jess & Brandon (they had never been there) then took a taxi back over to gas lamp had dinner and then off to another club until the clock struck midnight and it was officially my 25th birthday! The next morning andy and i woke up and went and rented some beach cruisers and biked all around the gorgeous island stopping for breakfast and lunch and even at the beach for a while! Seriously so much fun!! Then we had to head home :( because we had to pick up our children from camp bow wow. Andy bbq'd yummy steaks for dinner and we had brownie sundaes for desert before passing out from our super long crazy fun weekend! Now some pics...sit back because there's a ton...

these are some of the pics we took on the beach in coronado before we went out that night...

My very handsome man

from sunday...

xoxo

check out this tiny little cutie

2009-07-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

there's more on the photography blog of course ;)

FIRE( no not works just fire!)

2009-07-07T22:13:00.000-07:00

We spent our 4th of July at the river of course with our children safe at camp bow wow... we had a nice time on the boat...at the sand bar...with my cousin...watched fireworks from the casino...then we watched a fire! it started sat night of course and it was close but not super close... by the time we woke up sunday it was HUGE and quickly spreading our way! It was on the other side of the river though thank goodness but the other side of the river is a very short distance! So all day sunday we watched and inhaled a lot of smoke. the helicopter was getting water from the river right in front of us it was crazy!! We were so close it felt like you were standing right next to a campfire!

and just because my children are the cutest ever here's my little lover babies..

they love each other soooo much it really is the sweetest thing! she climbs all over him sits on him, lays on him, tries to sleep in his crate with him at night on the same bed, and he just puts up with it and loves her just the same :)

no pictures of fireworks sorry... I decided to watch them not through a lens this year ;) but here is a super cool picture of a sparkler because I'm cool like this..

that's all I got but I do have a newborn shoot tomorrow!! a 4 day old BOY!! way excited for that! and we're leaving early friday morning after we drop off the babies at camp bow wow and heading to san diego for my BIRTHDAY weekend!!! Seriously can't wait! So I will have plenty of pictures to share from that when we return ;)

xoxo

Doodles Vet Visit

2009-07-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

So before I left for California I noticed Dixie scratching her ear and thought maybe they were dirty (even though I am always cleaning their big floppy ears!) so i cleaned them and they weren't even dirty and just forgot about it....right before we were leaving to come home on our last day she was scratching it and was crying so I lifted up her ear and wanted to cry! It was bright red and bleeding like crazy! the blood was from her scratching...we got home and she cried for 2 days straight in agony poor girl before i could finally get her an appointment. It was heartbreaking her sad little cries and sweet pathetic helpless face :( So I left Moose home for this vet trip (he flipped poor guy) and took her to a new vet. We stopped and got her McDonald's for breakfast (hehe) on the way. She was such a good girl despite all her pain! she just stood on the table and tried to kiss the vet to death when he came close enough...sweet thing! so they came back with the results from the swab saying she had a "severe" yeast infection in her ear! they said it was probably from the trip we took to the river a couple weeks before from the water. So she has medicine that his pretty much impossible to give her by yourself but I have no choice since Andy's never home! shes to the point now that when she sees me grab paper towels she tucks her head and hides her ear really low and runs and tries to hide! its so sad but I have to give it to her. I'm sure it isn't fun having stuff squirted in your ear! Shes doing much better now thank goodness! here she is in all her cuteness...(took these with my phone)

LOVE her!!

oh i forgot... she weighs 44 pounds now! we think she has reached a little plateau because we dont think shes grown really at all lately but moose was done growing by 9 months old and dixie turned 8 months yesterday so we'll see! maybe she wont grow anymore at all and look like a baby forever ;)

xoxo

no words...

2009-06-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

because this picture is cute enough!

my California trip

2009-06-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

Last week the dogs and I went to California because I had booked a bunch of photoshoots out there. We were there the whole week and got to do lots of visiting too! Got to spend a couple days with nick and sarah and the kids! SOOO happy about that! The boys and I made cupcakes that sarah and I happily enjoyed ;) Angel looks AMAZING! perfect skin color, not all puffy from the steroids anymore or super thin, just really really good and healthy! made my heart super happy! I was actually alone with him for a lil bit while sarah had the other 2 at Hudsons swim lesson and Nick was at work and he was giving me a heart attack!! he was running through the house jumping and tumbling with his back pack for his feeds on and I was so scared he was going to hurt himself or one of his tubes would pop out!! They didnt and he was fine and we had fun!
Here's a sweet picture of Haven...

and some more fun pics from my visits with the most amazing family...

I also got to spend some time with my other cousin!! One of her handsome boys turned 5 that week so I went to his party and got him the coolest present ever!! no really I wanted to play with it!

the cute birthday boy...

and just one more pic of my cousin,me, and her youngest

I also got to visit more family and friends to but by then I was completely tired and didn't take any pictures :( but I love them just as much too!

Also have other stuff to blog about like lil miss dixie and the nice vet visit we had to have yesterday but i'll do that later...

xoxo

We did it again...

2009-06-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

we went to the river :)

{don't you wish your dog had cool ears like that?!}

Our wonderful plans we had for the weekend were ruined when andy's job ran over! so i said i wasnt gonna stay home when i had the weekend off so I packed up me and the dogs and took a trip to the river to visit their grandma! They had such a good time playing with uncle tucker and playing frisbee in the water. Dixie kept jumping up and throwing herself into the water and made big splashes onto her face! it was so funny and cute!! Moose saw way too many bunnies and birds so everyone got to hear his wonderful howling and had to come see who was making such funny noises. It was funny, Dixie was more herself this weekend than ever before outside of our house! she played and swam with uncle tucker, wrestled with moose, and even barked a lil! she usually never makes a peep and is so shy! I think camp bow wow did her good :) She did fool everyone though into thinking she was a lil princess and couldn't be sweeter! ha! I kept laughing because if they only saw how she beats up moose they wouldn't have thought she was so dainty then! but yes she is a princess (because of her daddy!) and a very sweet loving girl! Both my babies are such sweet kissers! And grandma took all the kisses she could get! ok thats enough onto pictures...

can you tell how much dixie loved the grass?!

so now i'm going to go pass out like dixie because i have lots to do before we leave for cali including a photo session tomorrow!

xoxo

is it friday yet??

2009-06-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

I sure hope this week goes by fast! I had to drop andy off at the airport yesterday for work of course but he left sunday because he has friday off because we are going to have some fun this weekend!! We are going to California for the Temecula Baloon & wine festival they are having the country concert on friday! We get to see Lonestar, Chuck Wicks, & James Otto!! then we are off to san diego for the rest of the weekend! but not before I drop the babies off for another weekend at camp bow wow!

The dogs have been sleeping in crates since we got back from the river and they have been doing so so good! I think they actually like it! Dixie cried till 2am the first night but hasn't made a peep since....They have been so good lately! it's been a nice change ;) I think it's the Arizona heat! All they do is sleep all day! They have misters and a pool in the backyard that Dixie insists on getting all the way in just to take a drink then comes in the house dripping wet and tries to cover you in kisses! It's really cute and funny but really wet! I need to get a picture of her in the pool!
but whats a post with out pictures so here's a couple..

i love this face!!! he always makes me smile :) sweet boy!

this was a very hard picture to get! but worth it!

the cutest thing ever! that is what LOVE looks like!

An old Favorite of miss doodle bug

I seriously do have the cutest dogs in the world! :)

oh and I almost forgot! Dixie has 5 new brothers and 3 new sisters! her mommy and daddy (the dog version of mommy and daddy) had a new litter may 2nd! they are so cute! If you want a cute dog like mine i'll send you the link to their website!
here's a pic of the new pups with doodles dog mom and dad

xoxo

california mini sessions

2009-05-27T17:03:00.001-07:00

soooo very excited about this...

can't wait to see all of you!!

memorial weekend

2009-05-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Goodness we had so much fun!!! we got to the river early friday morning after dropping off the babies at camp bow wow and got a full 3 days out on the boat before we came home monday! I was so excited to pick up moo and dix!! andys used to being gone but not me i see those cute faces every day and always get my snuggles at night so i was on the web cam checking on them a lot! moose had a blast...dixie well she pretty much walked in circles and kept getting the "camp counselors" to pet her. well thats what the report card they gave me said! yes they really gave me a report card and they got the best score possible! hahaha
we also decided now would be a good time to start making them sleep in crates at night since they had been for 4 days..well what they were in was not really a crate but we did it anyways. we tried it with moose when he was a tiny baby but he hated it! like didn't stop crying at all and figured out how to get out hated it!! but this time around we can't get him out of it! he loves it! dix on the other hand cried till 2am! she's a drama queen what can i say?! i think it's harder for me than it is for them because i so miss my snuggles!!
on to pictures....

how lucky am I..

2009-05-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

that i get to wake up to these sweet faces every morning!!

and yes in the morning they are so sweet! like lil angels! I wish it was morning all the time!!! Probably because most of the time when the lights go out at night for bed time moose looks for trouble and dixie follows him! Last week when I was sick I came out to the kitchen and moose had opened the fridge and got andy's left over pizza off the top shelf (without making a peep or moving anything else in the fridge!!) he had the box open and him and dixie were swallowing their last bites as dixie was starting to stick her nose in the fridge to look for seconds!! Honestly??! He's so so smart but so dumb! as if it wasn't enough that he could open doors, cabinets, the oven, and even the gate in the backyard?!
I always get the best pictures of them together on my phone which i hate because the quality of the picture but goodness they are so stinkin cute together I have to show them off! (The first pic was taken with my phone too)

they so love to snuggle with each other and when dixie wakes up she smothers moose in kisses and he puts his paw around her! it's way too sweet to explain how cute they are to each other!
in other news we are going to the river for the long weekend (shocking i know!) but this time the dogs are going to camp bow wow!! Moose has been before in California and he loves it! they had their "interviews" on monday...they just make sure the dogs won't bite or be aggressive and just see how they do with a large group and of course they passed! it's so funny when you pick them up they give you little certificates! it was like i had dropped my children off at their first day of school or something!! it's such a cool place though because at anytime i can watch them and see how they're doing on the web-cams they have.

Hope everyone has a fun safe holiday weekend anmd don't forget about our troops!! they are the reason for that extra day off! ;)

their certificates...

they told me they took about 20 pics of moose to get this one ok one because he wouldn't stop playing! that's so moose! he loves other dogs so much!

how cute is she??

2009-05-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

From my newborn session today... there's more on the photog blog! lemme know what you think!!

xoxo

a short scrappy share

2009-05-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

nothing much new going on with us...just counting down the days until river season is officially here! Memorial day will be our kick-off weekend of course and the dogs will not be coming, they will be going to camp bow wow :)

I have a few new pages to share! As always some I like some didn't quite turn out how they were pictured in my head but that's with most ideas though!

xoxo

The most perfect day

2009-04-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I was off and Andy was home so we decided to get out of the house and do something fun...so we decided to take the dogs up to sedona to go hiking and camp for the night! We went up super early to get a camp site and got a really good one very close to this creek so we set up the tent and unloaded the car and started exploring. It was a little cold that day but perfect after we started hiking. The dogs LOVED it! Dixie had only been hiking in the middle of cactus and moose has been places like this before. Dixie was so cute jumping on all the rocks and Moose just wanted to go swimming all day! He kept pulling us into the water! I can't even say how perfect it was! Just really calm and so pretty and just a super nice day! After exploring all day we roasted hot dogs and ate lotsa smores for the rest of the night! Thank goodness for my very large lapwarmers who are such big babies and had to be snuggled on our laps next to the fire in blankets! i wasn't complaining they kept me warm and were so cute! I never turn down snuggles from them! Heres some pics we got from our amazing adventure!

We plan on doing camping trips like this much more since it was so fun and it wasn't hard with the dogs like I was thinking it was going to be.

In other news...
The city we live in out here in AZ has these festivals and this Sat they are having a salsa festival and I got a booth to promote my photography out here! I'm pretty excited about it because we don't know very many people out here so it's been chalenging to get buisness. The buisness I have got has been really good but I honestly love it so much I could do it all day everyday so I'm hoping to meet lots of new people and potential clients! I just ordered my buisness cards (they'll be here in the morning) and have lots more to get ready before sat! The city said that more than 7,000 people attend so we'll see how it works out! Just want to say thank you to those people who have been very supportive and encouraging!
I'll let you all know how it goes!
want a lil peek at the front of my new buisness cards??
here you go..

so what do you think??

xoxo

Dog park days are almost over

2009-04-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

(Moose @ the dog park)
it's going to be getting way to hot here and since Arizona doesn't believe in real trees that give any kind of shade we've been trying to get in as many trips as possible. Moose LOVES it anywhere that has other dogs and somewhere he can run makes him pretty happy! Dixie well she's a lil more timid. It's funny because at home she is waaaay different then if she goes anywhere else! she is super quiet and wants to play with moose but gets nervous with all the other dogs and pees herself. she's quite the character!
So off to the dog park we go today!

i have more scrappy pages to post but I need to get these dogs out of this house before me and Andy go nuts!!

getting creative..

2009-03-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

again finally!! I sat down the other night and went through all the pics on the computer I hadn't printed yet and wanted to scrap (only 175!) and Andy being amazing like he is set up my lil tv in my scrapbook room all perfect so I had no excuse but to scrap again! It felt so good! especially to get to do some girly pages thanks to our lil Dixie doodle! I had a blast using all the fun pink and girly stuff that wasn't just right to use for my boys! I also have been using my sewing machine on just about every page and I love it!! It was kinda scary at first because it is weird sewing paper but now that I got the hang of it I love it! My grandma had given me all this amazing thread in all these different colors and they have come in quite handy! (thanks grandma!) Andy's gone for another kinda long work week so at least now that I have everything all set-up I have something to keep me busy until he comes home or for when he comes home and watches his shows I don't like such as Survivor man and dirty jobs!

this one is my favorite...

i love this picture of her in her lil hoodie! she has gotten so huge!

We also went to the Padres spring training this weekend! My favorite part...the GRASS!! oh my gosh it was so nice to see green grass! we sat on the lawn and it felt good to just put my bare feet on the grass! crazy I know but until you go without you have no idea how wonderful it is! :)

that's all that's going on here! but just because I can't not show you how adorable my babies are here's a typical picture of nap time...Dixie always lays on top of Moose and it is the cutest ever!!!

i wish they would do this right now but instead they are wrestling over the smallest piece of toy and having a barking contest! they lay on the floor with their noses almost touching and just bark at each other! funny at first because they're barks sound so funny but it gets really annoying after the first time! but i love them to pieces anyway!

Mostly pictures...

2009-02-26T18:07:00.000-08:00

I haven't been much in the mood for this thing because I don't want to sound all sad and stuff because of the funk I have been in. The funk is from being sick of Arizona! I do not like it here I'm over it and ready to go back to a place with grass!!!! I hate cactus (we don't have any at our house) but there's plenty of it everywhere else! why do people even like it?? it's so ugly! there's weeds coming up between the rock in the backyard and I actually asked Andy not to kill them yet because at least they are green! so sad I know...poor moose would love to be outside more and Dixie doesn't even know what grass is since she came from snow to this ugly place! ok I'm done complaining now...

So I have lotsa pictures mostly of the dogs of course! we took them hiking... not so fun because right when we stepped out of the car (no joke!) moose stepped in cactus and dix had a ball of cactus on her arm :( this kind of thing continued all during our lil adventure and of course when Dixie was the injured she was very dramatic as she always is. not to mention it was not even pretty it was just desert...oh sorry I said no more complaining..

We also spent a weekend (valentines weekend) at the river visiting my mom so moose got to play with his friends and they played in the river which was nice!

Andy comes home in the morning from being gone in Florida for the last 2 weeks.

Oh and miss Dixie Doodle has some little things going on that prompted a 2 hour vet visit. after her last shots she started biting her are in the same place and made herself a bald spot and was starting to do the same in a few other places and they really seemed to be hurting her so the vet did a skin scrapping..they took a razor blade and scraped her skin down to nothing until it bled so they could test it in multiple spots (poor baby) this of course created more bald spot than just the one :( and since she's black they are very noticeable. well it turns out she has some form of non-contagious (thank goodness) mange. the way it was explained to me is everyone including dogs have those mites that live on you and they are usually never a problem because your immune system keeps them in check, but Dixie had a dip in hers for some reason and has not been strong enough to fight the lil buggers off. poor pretty puppy...so now she has this liquid medicine i have to squirt in her mouth for 30 days with all these different things because it's a different amount everyday...but I am happy to report it's been almost 2 weeks and some of her hair is growing back! yay!! oh and I forgot to mention what a porker she is...she is up to 20 pounds!!! she doesn't look like she is that heavy but when you pick her up you feel it! And moo is 65lbs. he's only gained 2 lbs since Aug so we think he's done growing and hoping Dixie won't be bigger than him because both of her parents made moose look like a runt! ok that's enough here comes lotsa pictures of my adorable babies!

I found the perfect shade of pink to match her collar :)

on our hike

at the top of the mountain that was more like a hill

don't let her fool you she's a daddy's girl

my babies

poor moo with a cactus nose

and a cactus foot..dixie making sure he's ok

told you..she's a daddy's girl and he equally loves her to pieces although he won't admit it because he didn't want another one in the first place

sleepy heads on my lap on the way home..yes they both sit on my lap because I can't let one and not the other...bad mom i know!

pretty river girl

he loves visiting grandma...can you tell?!

hehehe i just thought it was funny with his ears and big lips!

moo under water getting the ball

he got it!

isn't she pretty

I didn't realize till I got home that I got these pics of them that were almost identical! yes that is dixie I know she looks big but she's more zoomed in than him...they look the same but so so different! the females are just different looking in the face and moose well he doesn't look like your average black and tan coonhound..he's much more handsome! that and he has more brown and he's smaller and a skinny lil thing but he's perfect to us!

that's all I got for now! hope evryone is doing good!

xoxo

The Good stuff

2009-01-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

After 2 weeks in Hawaii Andy finaly came home! and they even gave him the week off so I took off a couple days too to spend some much needed together time. I can't even begin to say how amazing it has been! The weather here (until the sprinkles we got today) has been perfect! We took lots of walks rode Andy's new bike his mom got him for Christmas and just hung out. Perfection! I wish every week was like this week has been....
So I have been meaning to get some pics of Dixie doodles for this set up I wanna do above our bed and also because I feel like I don't take enough pics of her alone..but to be honest she's a lil stinker!

She is nothing like moo was! he would just sit there and pose and be calm, not dixie! no way! she's a crazy lil thing! she wouldn't hold still if her life depended on it! you should see her when we give her a treat...haha she goes insane with her lil nose trying to find it then she takes it into the corner of the kitchen so moose can't steal it! he takes everything from her! poor thing but she trys to take it back and plays tug a war and when that doesn't work she jumps up and bites his ears till he let's go! i really should post a video because they are too much! but when they stop playing and sleep they are the sweetest because they love to snuggle each other! andy swears I would always pose them like that until he saw for himself this week that they do it all on their own! as long as they are touching they are happy lil things!
I have so many snuggly and funny pics of them but I have a house to clean that has dog toys EVERYWHERE! So those will have to wait!
~our lil bundle of cuteness~

<3, Nicole

This is going to be a long one....sorry!

2009-01-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

So it has been a crazy and very tiring couple weeks and have been meaning to get around to this but the energy has been lacking and Andy has been home (yay!!) and we have just been having too much fun watching the babies play together!! They are so cute and funny I really need to get a video of it! So I'll start from the begining but first I'll share a super cute pic of lil miss Dixie!

Isn't she the cutest?! so back to the begining... our trip to get her all the way up in Oregon wait not just Oregon but the middle of Oregon above Bend was the worst idea I think I have ever had! There has been others but I have to say this one is for sure at the top right now! We went through every posible weather you could think of...pouring rain, really bad fog, snow, icy roads, snowy roads...it was so bad I even spun out the car on black ice and almost killed us! No really! We had to take this highway that was 1 lane each way and covered in snow and ice and 70 miles from picking her up I spun out and crashed into a huge pile of snow, we had to be towed out because we were burried and while they were towing us I picked up pieces of my front bumper out of the snow....lovely! The rest of it was so bad I can't even think about it anymore....over 50 hours in that car....BAD IDEA i know! so we got home Christmas morning at 3am Arizona time and woke up pretty late. We did stockings and presents and I made a yummy pancake breakfast then we left the 2 babes home alone for the first time (scary!) and went and saw Marley & Me. I swear they made that movie about moose! most people were watching it thinking theres no way a dog would do such things! i mean jumping out of a car while it's moving??! yeah moose has done it sad to say! It was actually the morning I was taking him to get fixed he rolled down the window by stepping on the thing and jumped out...he must have known what was about to happen :) I loved that movie!!! and was so happy that when we came home it was perfect the way we left it! no accidents and nothing trashed or outa place! it was the best christmas present ever! here's all the pictures...

Our first family photo as a fam of 4!

Moose finaly giving Dixe the time a day! he wouldn't even look at me for a good couple of hours! I was so sad :( but he got over it and loves her now! he actually gets mad when he can't play with her.

andy giving them their stockings..can you see lil Dix?? oh and I LOVE the stockings I found for them! they are hound dogs with big ears!

chewing on Mooses big bone he got from santa... moose had already taken hers and burried it in the backyard to keep it from her..meanie! and as I sit here typing this they are fighting over the big bone right now!

my attempt at getting a pic of them both in their santa hats by the tree..I'm funny i know to think i would really get one..

the only one i got of her in hers..well it' was really moose's last year he got a big boy one this year..

and i forgot to share the pic of him in his...this was the night we got the tree and decorated it!

this last weekend we went to the river to see my mom and for my dad's birthday. It was funny because it was exactly a year ago we took moose for the first time at the same exact age (they have the same exact birthday) so it was kinda funny but strangely more difficult this year...hmmmm
Moose was so so so happy to see and play with all his friends and of course see grandma! his bff rex is almost full grown now and they had a blast playing rough and beating each other up rolling around all over the place. we also let him off his leash to run down at the river he of course went nuts and Dixie was trying to run after him...I must say she is so fast for being so small! way faster than moose was at this age!

this is moo and buba one year ago.. (buba would put all moo's toys in his mouth at once to get moose to play with him and ever since moose has always tried to get more than 1 toy in his mouth and now he's doing the same thing to dix)

and this last weekend..

i love moo's ears in this one!

moose and rex on mother's day...

and now...

pretty miss Dixie staying warm..

this is her "tree stump" pisture like the one we have of moo in his but this was as close to a tree stump as we got and by the time we will see another stump the jacket won't fit so we settle for this one.. i think it's still cute though!

moose last year in his hoodie :)

and if you made it this far i have to share a few more pics of everyday stuff.

she falls asleep with her lil toungue sticking out all the time! it's the cutest thing ever! and she's wearing a shirt my mom got moose i put it on to see if it fit her and she passed out

my morning snuggle bugs

and so this is what they are doing now and I think I will go join them! Andy is gone for 2 whole very long weeks working in hawaii he comes home on a sunday then leaves again for another week so we basicaly won't be seeing him the month of jan! not thrilled about that to say the least. oh and don't think he's lucky he has some pretty yucky jobs over there and his toes i'm sure won't even touch sand. i'd be shocked if they did! Hope everybody had a merry Christmas and wishing you all a good new year!

xoxo

My Favorite

2008-12-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

I have a new favorite picture of me and the silly little moose baby and have to share it because he's so stinkin adorable putting his paw on momma's arm to pose and everything....

we took him to the dog park today to run out all his puppy energy since he'll be stuck in a car for over 40 hours to go get Dixie tomorrow. We found a new one much closer than the one we had been taking him to, it's not as nice just an open area with other dogs but he loves it the same and I love how close it is! It will be fun to take our matching pair when she's old enough!

I got them both the cutest stockings ever the other day and found a lil hoodie for dixie which turns out to be the same one moose had but pink instead! it's the cutest and I can't wait to put her in it! Moose was so adorable in his! This is him in his...this is one of our favs of him as a baby, he has the string in his mouth and that just makes the picture because he was so cute hiking around with it in his mouth the whole time...

We went to pick out her collar today and I got a pink one with heart shaped diamonds! :) Oh having a girl is gonna be so fun! Andy just rolls his eyes and is convinced that 2 will be the worst thing ever but we'll see! I think it will be good for Moo to have somebody to play with and not be so sad when we leave for work because he won't be alone... When we come back I'll have plenty of pics to share of Dix and christmas! Hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!

xoxo
<3, Nicole

Happy birthday to Andy! ...and some pics of Dixie...

2008-12-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

Today was Andy's birthday! but the poor guy is in Texas working and has came down with the same thing i've had for the last 2 weeks so he's sick and on a tough job this week :( sounds a lil like the birthday I had this year too! I so hate that he's not here on his birthday and I don't even get to see him. We had a lil dinner for him on Sumday with our new friends down the street. We made some tacos and enchiladas and got this cute cupcake that I put all 24 candles on of course but then made brownie sundaes for desert because Andy looooooves his brownies! Evan, Dan & Kristin's handsome lil guy had to sit on andy's lap to help him! He's one and so so cute!! He loves moose but can't really talk that much besides the momma and dada's but he tries to say moose and it comes out "mmmmmmmmm" hehe so flippin adorable! here's Andy bowin out the 24 candles on his birthday (cup)cake!
andy makin a silly face...like always!

Oh and on to our sweet Dixie! The sweet people we are getting her from sent me lotsa pics tonight and I have to share!! I would die to be in the middle of all those sweet lil black & tan coon babies!! so gushy and sweet! goodness I can't wait to hold her! I was lookin through some pics of Moosey last night and it made me sad to see how much he's grown so fast! worse than kids, it sucks! but i also remember how exciting it was when he learned how to do new things! it was so not exciting when he learned how to open doors and jump over doggy gates though let me tell you!! that was more like a horrible dream!!!! So here's the pics of our sweet Dixie and some of her "birth" family (haha)

her birth family with all her siblings

and I had to make this to see the 2 side by side at the same age to see the differences...these are the pics that both the different breeders sent us before we got them..how strange that they are exactly 365 days apart?! love them!!

oh but I messed up this is them at 5 weeks but I'm too tired to change it right now...

okay and just so moo knows I love him and he's still my baby here's some good night kisses! xoxo

xoxo
<3, Nicole

recent photo shoots

2008-12-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would share some of the pictures I've been doing since I've been building my portfolio so I can get a web site and all that fun stuff going....

that's enough for now... let me know what you think!!

it's OFFICIAL!!!!

2008-12-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

meet our newest addition....

DIXIE

we pick her up in Oregon a few days before Christmas (she's mine and moosey's christmas present!) she even has the same exact birthday as Moose!! they were born 365 days apart! It was all so meant to be!!! you can expect all kinds of new pictures of her once we get her!!!! gosh i'm so excited me and moo did a lil dance and everything!! oooooo I can't wait!!!

another quick Cali trip!

2008-12-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

This thanksgiving was so so different then I'm used to! It was the first Thanksgiving that I did not see a single member of my family (besides my 2 boys of course!) but no mom, no mickle, no grandma, nobody! Ooooh Arizona! I did however make my first turkey and I'm super sad because it got cut before I could even take a picture of it! but it was yummy! No thanks to Andy who didn't help me pull all the yucky stuff out of the poor guy! stinker!!! so I used salad tongs instead ;) Andy was home all week which was nice for him but i still had to work but it sure was nice to feel his toes under the covers for a whole week!! Saturday after I got off work we went up to Big Bear (yes all the way back to cali) because Sunday Andy's mom was doing dinner up there. And of course while we were there I made the boys do some pics hoping to get at least 1 good one for a christmas card. I don't know what I would do without tripods and self timers!! hehe I'll share a few... Andy took some of me and my moosey baby too!

And I'm really excited because next week I have 4 photo sessions and 2 of them are newborns!!! I can't wait...one of them is only 1 week old! I have other pics I've done recently to share too but maybe later....

oh and one more thing... as I said before Angel is home but is not done with his recovery, please pray for him still as his health is not so good right now and for the family for some other burdens that have been placed on them recently...Thank you! xoxo

LUCKY

2008-11-23T18:34:00.000-08:00

I just found the most amazing song ever! I could listen to it over and over... it is so me & andy it's crazy!! here's the lyrics...

LUCKY by jason mraz & colbie caillat

(Jason)
Do you hear me,
I’m talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I’m trying

(Colbie)
Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

(Both)
I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooohh, ooooh, oooh, oooh,
Oooh ooh ooh ooh

(Both)
They don’t know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I’ll wait for you I promise you, I will

(Both)
I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we’re in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

(Jason)
And so I’m sailing through the sea
To an island where we’ll meet
You’ll hear the music fill the air
I’ll put a flower in your hair

(Colbie)
Though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you’re all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

(Both)
I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I’m lucky we’re in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

Ooohh, ooooh, oooh, oooh,
Oooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooooh, ooooh, oooh, oooh,
Oooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

I don't think this is the real music video just one somebody made but you can hear their amazing voices singing it! (and I love the disney clips) ;)

and just for fun some pics of my handsome guy and me!

I am so so LUCKY to have this man! He is so amazing and is more than I could have ever dreamed for and I hate that he is away so much for work!! It is so not fun only seeing him 48 hours a week (if we're lucky!) So since he's home now I'm gonna go snuggle with my boys (because moose of course won't let Andy have all the snuggles and kisses to himself!) silly dog!

Welcoming home Angel and the most amazing family ever!!!

2008-11-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

Angel's home!!!!!!!!!!! So so so amazing! 119 days... so much has happened for them in 119 days... angel's transplant, moving to another city(to be close to the hospital), a new sweet baby girl joined the family, Nick (the dad & my cousin) had a big birthday... amazing, I can't think of any other family who could go through so much and come out still so strong and loving. Let me clarify though that Angel is not out of the woods yet so don't stop praying! He still has a long road ahead but at least for now the new family of 5 is all together in their "home" just in time for Thanksgiving, and wow do they have so much to be thankfull for! Sunday some family and friends were waiting for them in their front yard to welcome them all home and we sang Angel's favorite worship songs and he got to see his "make a wish" which was them turning the playroom into a lil movie place with a flat screen, new game system and games, along with recliners with cup holders and even a popcorn machine and candy! The day was so emotional and I am so thrilled we got to be there to celebrate with them! I took so so many pictures hoping that some would be in focus because I couldn't tell from all the tears in my eyes. ok enough of that here's some pictures of the special day...

The family pulling into the driveway of their gorgeous house for the first time as a family of 5

Angel and his Aunt Chrissy (side note...this gorgeous cousin of mine is the one that introduced me and Andy, they're really good friends!)

sarah might kill me for this one but this picture is full of emotion and love and support so I just couldn't help it... Nick is such a rock for her and this family and I just love how this picture captures that and the overwhelming emotions of the day. This man spent EVERY night sleeping in a chair in the hospital at Angel's side for over 100 days! Best Daddy (& husband) in the world hands down!!!!

Sarah's amazing parents leading everyone in worship

Sweet baby Haven smilin at momma...she finaly got to see her room!

Sweet moment between momma & Angel... this picture also has small reminders that Angel still has mountains to climb (you can see his mask in sarah's hand and one of his tubes at the bottom of his shirt)

Sweet Hudsy giving Chrissy kisses

the family of 5

Angel feeding his horse which is what he told his parents was the first thing he wanted to do when he got home! sweet funny boy! :)

I actually got to hold Haven!! So glad to finaly meet the sweet addition to the big bunch of cousins

Thank you for everyones prayers for the family! They are paying off in a big way!! Please keep them coming!

Cassidy & Cody's party

2008-11-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

I'm going to post angel's homecoming in a different post just because both these days were huge and I took over 200 pictures on each day.... so oh my gosh I can't even tell you how amazing it was to see those kids!! Cody has just gotten so huge and more grown up :( he talks like a big boy and all! They had some guy called "the lizard man" there that had all kinds of frogs, turtles, and nasty stuff like snakes and spiders! Here's the birthday kids....

Cassidy was too cute when she was opening the presents we got her! I have always called her my "gorgeous" so that's what I put on her card so when she was opening her present she put the bow on her head and started singing "I'm sister's gorgeous, I'm sister's gorgeous"... made me smile so big! so anyways we got her some stuff for her easy bake oven because that's what she asked me for and was so excited when she opened it along with a horse and pony book that she stopped to look through after opening it (this girl loves her horses!) and when her friend said "cass don't you wanna open all your other presents?" she said "no! my sister got me this book and I wanna look at it!" hehe then we also got her this hannah montanna thing with all kinds of lip gloss and nail polish and fake nails (all stuff she goes crazy for) so when she opened that she said "this is exactly what i asked for sister!" oh that girl! I just love her to pieces and so happy I got her stuff she really loved! Then cody was pretty cute too! he wanted me to tell him what we got him befre it was time to open presents and even asked if he could make a lil hole in one so he could peek! haha instead I gave him a hint and said it was like what brother Derek does... and he yelled "army man! you got me army man sister niki?!" smart kid because yes we did get him army men stuff because cass told me that's what he really wanted and after he opened his presents he just wanted Andy to open and take out every lil piece so he could play with it all right away. Another success!

And one more funny Cody bear story.... we were standing there playing with him when he stops comes over to me has me pick him up and then says "sister niki, I have a secret to tell you" so he starts to whisper in my ear then says "wait I have to take you inside there's too many people here.." so he takes me inside all the way to the corner of his room and shuts the door and says... (moving his hands real funny) "ok (big breath) Sister Niki Jenna (a cute lil girl at the party) is my gewlfwend. she's likes me. she's in Cassidy's class and Cass said she likes me so that makes her my gewlfwend!" hahahahaha I was trying so hard not to laugh because he was being so so serious and adorable so I said ok well let's go find her and I'll take a picture of you guys together so we cleaned his face so he'd be all handsome and he runs outside to the jumper yelling "jennnnaaa, jennnnaaa" then he comes out of the bouncy and she was standing there with cass and jenna looks at cody all cute and shy and says "hi cody" in this sweet tiny voice and I asked her if cody could take a picture with her and this is the cute shot I got...

They put there arms around each other and everything.... so cute!

okay I'll stop because I could go on forever about those 2 so here's some more pics...there's way more but only I care that much to look at them all :)

the lil Bear peeking..

cass opening one of her presents we got her..

those are real frogs..

cass in the jumpy...

4 outa 5 of my dad's kids... (we miss our soldier brother)

the kids makin an Andy sandwich..

And of course when we first got there and Cody gave me a hug the first thing he said was "where's andy sister niki?" and when I pointed to him he went running and gave him a big squishy hug that he always gives Andy where he squishes his cheek on Andy's cheek! I love it! ok I'm done for reals now!

life in Arizona...

2008-11-13T14:05:00.000-08:00

So it's been a loooong time since I've done anything with this for lotsa reasons but the main reason is because moving sucks! It's so much work so stressfull. But we have survived and things have calmed down and are starting to FINALY fall into place! Andy has been gone for 2 very long weeks for work in florida and comes home in the morning! Seriously can't wait to see him again!! We are headed back home to Cali this weekend for my lil brother and sisters birthday party--- so can't wait to see the 2 munchkins!! And some more exciting news...after over 100 days since Angel's transplant and being in the hospital 99% of those days the family is finaly coming home to their real home on Sunday!!!!!! Amazing! So excited it's happening this weekend because they want to suprise Angel and have people in the front yard to welcome him home from this incredible journey this family has been through and we will be in town to take part in the celebration of this amazing kiddo!! So to recap all that has happened since the move.... we ran into a crazy monsoon the night we moved here with all our stuff in an open trailor, went to the river one last time for the summer, found the best dog park ever(it's like the 5th best one in the country), I had to have a tooth pulled right after we got here(not fun), Andy got a raise at work, Moose turned into his momma's protector when dad's gone he even started growling at every noise and then comes to see if I'm ok before he lays back down to sleep (soooo cute and funny but so annoying at 3am!), we met some new neighbor friends (super cool people!), I got a new job (nothing exciting at all-trust me-but it's right around the corner), Ive been taking more pictures to beef up the portfolio, oh and Moose turned 1 last week!! We went shopping together and picked out some new toys for his birthday then i wrapped them(yes i really did cause he loves to shred paper) and he opened them on his birthday! He was such a happy boy!ok now for some pictures....

the dog park...we took uncle tucker(the lab) and there was a bloodhound there named ginger! so moose wasn't the only big eared baby!

Moose's 1st birthday...

we took a trip up to Sedona to go hiking but sadly 2 mins after these pics it started pouring. oh and moose had to snuggle on Andy's lap! poor thing misses him so much when he's gone.

Moose and tucker napping on my lap on the way to the river....aren't they adorable?!!

ok I know it's more Moose but I couldn't resist his funny sweet face! he was using his baby bowl from his toy basket as a pillow! love him!!

That's all for now! Have to pack for Cali and I'll try to be better at this and I'm sure I'll have tons of new pics from this weekend! Oh and I'll try to post my latest from the photo shoots i've been doin!
wait I forgot here's one of me and Andy i got using the tripod...

i DO have a scrappy share!

2008-08-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

I just realized I never did post the mini album I did of my cousin's fam (angel's fam) It was a suprise for sarah that I gave her a few weeks before angel's transplant when they were in isolation. I had the honor of being able to go over there a few times to help sarah out so she could do things like go grocery shopping! I had a blast spending so much time with the boys and I miss those weekly visits! but anyways Nick e-mailed me some fam pics most of them of course taken by sarah and here's what I did with them....

aren't they all just so stinkin adorable?! ok more packing....

xoxo

So so much has been going on!

2008-08-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

let's start with the first thing...Angel got his transplant and is doing amazing!!! It hasn't been without a lot of tough times for the family though and continued prayers are so appreciated!! they have a public blog where you can check his progress and donate if you are able.... http://angelswings708.blogspot.com/
if you head over there you will also see that they welcomed sweet baby Haven this past wed! she is healthy and so is Sarah and she is gorgeous!!! the best part was that they made an exception to let angel go down to labor and delivery to meet his new baby sister! Such an awesome blessing for such an incredible family!!! so besides checking on the family every 15 min from the family blog I've been also getting things in order to move, packing and all. all by myself of course because Andy is in Florida until the day we move pretty much so I have a full and stressful plate to say the least.

I also had some family from Utah come down so I went to the beach with another set of cousins for the day and we had a blast! It was the most perfect beach weather ever! I was also excited cause I know it's gonna be a while before I get to go to the beach again because Arizona has no beaches just rocks and cactus :(. Last week I did go to Oklahoma for my cousin's wedding. that was so nice to be able to see all of them and spend time with them since we never get to see that group of cousins! also my brother made the trip from Missouri where he is now stationed so I got to see him too!!! talk about icing on the cake! Moose spent the days I was gonna at camp bow wow, a doggy daycare by our house. funny I know but so necessary since we figured out he gets anxiety when we leave like that and since Andy was working we had no choice so we got him neutered and they interviewed him and off he went to camp bow wow! he he it was pretty cool though because they had web cams where you can check on them so of course I was on the computer checking on my baby a lot! while I was in Oklahoma I got to do some family pics for my brother so I was super stoked about that and quite happy with some of the shots I got considering Matthew is 5 and David is 3 and trying to get boys to listen is nearly impossible (they are very well behaved they just don't wanna stand still or anything like that!) so I just let them do their thing and this is what we got....

I also got a new supply of yummy scrappy stuff for my birthday but since I had to pack up the scrapbook room yesterday looks like I won't get to have any fun with it yet :( but soon because we only have 7 more days till the BIG move! we're so excited and yet I'm kinda sad at the same time because I am a Cali girl and have been forever and it's so hard to even think that this time next week I won't be a California resident anymore!!! wow that's just crazy but change can be good and I think this move as sad as it is to be far away from a lot of people we care about is going to be such a good thing for us and for that we are super excited!! So off to do more packing! Don't forget to check out sweet angel's blog and give if you are able! I promise it's going to the most deserving family out there!

xoxo
<3, Nicole & Co.

Fireworks, turning 24, and moving....wow that's a lot!

2008-07-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

Once again I have so been slacking! So much going on!! okay well 4th of July was awesome! We went to the river (big suprise!) we took moose and my cousin was there with her husband and 3 boys so that was super fun!
Moose was much more calm this time around but boy did he love that water! They are not water dogs but he has taken to the water as if he were a lab! It was awesome! He had such a blast swimming playing fetch at the sandbar and hanging out in the boat I am so thankful that we have a dog that loves to ride in the car, loves other dogs and people, likes the water, and just stands still when you give him a bath! Most dogs it's always one of those things that freaks them out but he has been amazing with all that stuff and it makes it so much easier. Ok on to other things.... so my birthday was saturday (july 12) and to be honest 23 was a crappy year for me for all kinds of different reasons so I was telling Andy friday I was excited because I hope 24 will be much better..... and as my luck would have when I woke up on my birthday around 7am (thanks to the puppy!) I felt really sick like I was going to vomit everywhere. and I did just that ALL DAY!! on my birthday!!!! I had food poisoning in the worst way and couldn't even hold down water! We had to cancel my dinner reservations and everything I was so bummed!!!! I had gotten the cutest new dress and shoes to wear and was gonna go get my make-up done and instead I couldn't even get off the couch! Andy was sweet though he went and got me some chicken noodle soup and a girly movie and watched it with me. So when Sunday came around and I decided this year to reschedule my birthday so sunday was the day! haha so I was still feeling yucky and hungry but didn't feel like I could eat anything and was super determined to do dinner that night so I moved slow all day and Andy took me to get my make up done and that made me feel better and off to dinner we went! We went to the melting pot. I love that place it's so yummy and different and super duper fun! I didn't eat as much as I wanted to and didn't get to drink at all but it was still lotsa fun! This is my Favorite ever!! I love this pic!

He is just such an amzing man! and a handsome one too!

this weekend we are going to Arizona....not to visit my mom (well we will visit her but that's not whyt we're going!) we are going to find a house because our lease is up at the end of august and we have decided to move to arizona. Don't think that's where we are gonna put down any roots though because I can't stand not seeing any green but for now thats the plan. California is just getting ridiculous! It's so wierd though because I am such a California girl and swore I would never even think about leaving but right now I can't think of any reasons to stay so we're going. who knows we might come back though I seriously doubt it but California isn't going anywhere and I really want to see what else is out there so we're jumping in! so kinda scary though!!! At least my mom is there and so is one of my uncles so that will be nice! Oh and our friends robbie & nichole are moving out there too because she just got a kindergarten class!!! yay!! so excited for her I know she is going to be amazing!!!! so if any of you live in the phoenix area (all 2 people who might read this! haha) and your child is in Mrs. Nibecker's class you are super lucky!!!! I don't remember the schools name though..... So anyways I am also going to Oklahoma to attend my cousin's wedding the first week of august and I am super stoked about that!!! I might even get to do some wedding pics!!! Well toodles for now got some packing and cleaning to do and some bags to pack for our trip this weekend!

xoxo <3, Nicole & Co.

In need of prayers...

2008-07-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

I don't even know where to begin....my cousin Nick and his wife Sarah adopted a sweet boy in desperate need of love and a family over 5 years ago, his name is angel. a very brief background from something his wonderfull momma wrote..."He is missing most of his small intestine since birth and receives all of his nutrients through the IV in his chest. He also has a G-tube in his tummy for meds. 30-something surgeries, 400 plus days in the hospital, and 4 years with a new family produced this little boy with the most zest for life I have ever seen. He has never been in a bad mood. EVER. He is our little miracle!" this doesn't even begin to describe this amazing child!!! He has had his ups and downs of course but in the last 5 years they have had him this child has thrived! They said he wouldn't live until his 5th birthday and since he has even started school! he now has a lil brother ( hudson 3 1/2 ) and they have been blessed with a 3rd baby, a girl!, due in about 5 weeks. They have said that in the 5 years they have had Angel they have never been in fear for his life but twice now...this last december and now. But now he is so bad it's hard to even explain. He is in liver failure, so bad that the doctors said he needs to be listed on the transplat list last week and very high up! in medical terms... " The Total Bilirubin (Tbili) is what we track to follow the significance of Angel's liver failure. It can often be seen visually by how yellow or jaundiced he is. One's Tbili should be below 1. Prior to these last 9 months, the highest we'd ever seen Angel's Tbili was 13. In November before we switched out his central line we saw it get up to 23. "
as of yesterday his total is 38.3!!!! bad is considered 3, so it's bad very bad. The family has been in isolation for weeks now because of his immune system, a simple cold could be devastating so even hudson can't leave in fear he too could catch something and bring it home, all this with a new baby almost here. So I'm asking for any and all prayers for this sweet boy and his amazing family that I am also proud to call my family. Pray that he's strong enough to get a transplant and that one becomes available (that too is sad because that means tragedy for another family :( ) and pray for the family with the new baby and that they can all pull through this, thank you. Here's some pics of the fam....Angel is really that yellow because of the liver failure....and Sarah is an amazing photographer and took these pics!

pray also for all the many sick children in the world...

xoxo <3, Nicole & Co.

What I did when I was lonely..haha

2008-06-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

I did 3 pages!!!! without feeling guilty for not spending time with the boys cause andy wasn't even home.. so here they are....

(the heart is a template from this super creative lady (shanna) who's blog i like checking on)

That's it for now....off to work so I need to go fill up moose's pool so he can play and stay cool while I'm gone :)

xoxo <3, Nicole & Co.

So So crappy!

2008-06-30T01:16:00.000-07:00

So this weekend sucked! We were supposed to go to the river but as our luck has it andy's job in San Fransisco ran over so he wouldn't be home on friday...so friday turned to sat night would be his homecoming and then I got the dreaded phone call Sat night that since the job they are doing next week is in the same area that they wern't sending him home at all! AT ALL!!!! ugh!!!!!! poor guy was so upset! he had a rough week and is sooo tired! he worked over 90 hours this week! 90!! and so now it's still just me and the moose missing him here at home.....we've never been apart for this long and this really sucks! So of course I took the oppurtunity to scrap! what else am I gonna do? :) but I'll share later because I still have to upload the new stuff....oh and i so forgot to share the book I did for my cousins super amazing family so that's on the to do list as well!

Hope everyone's weekend was better than ours!

xoxo <3, Nicole & Co.

The cutest lil Red Head ever!

2008-06-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

My cousin has three little red head boys all under 5 and we watched them friday night so I took the oppurtunity and did some pics of the baby (he's 1) Hyatt... he was the best such a happy smiling boy!! It was so hard to pick only a few because they all came out so good but heres my favs....

I also have some scrappy stuff to share from this weekend but I'll have to do that after work!

xoxo <3, Nicole &Co.

our lil TRIPOD

2008-06-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

So Andy was so amazing today that after he took me out to breakfast he agreed to let me set-up the tripod and take some pics!!! It was the first time I used the tripod and the self timer and was pretty pleased with the results. Moose was too funny he of course followed us into the lil studio room I have set up in one of our spare bedrooms and had to be right in the middle of everything!!! but I wasn't complaining because I got a great picture of our lil tripod which will be sure to end up on a wall in our house! We bbq'd tonight and in the morning will be at my cousin's birthday pool party and somewhere in between I plan on doing a couple scrappy pages and posting them since it's been a while and I did finaly clean my scrap room!! but for now here's the results of todays lil adventures with the tripod and self timer!

Wishing all the world's daddy's a happy daddy day!!

xoxo <3, Nicole & Co.

WOW...it really is easy to get behind!

2008-06-10T10:47:00.001-07:00

So maybe because it's a new thing (this blogging world) but I keep putting off new posts and now I don't know where to start.....hmmm let's see, I haven't been scrapping much because after my last project my scrap room is in shambles and I just have yet to get around to cleaning it up..tisk tisk! Between cousins graduating, big river trips, crazy crazy weather (huge hail storm that covered the ground like snow in may in SoCal?!), my first couple photo shoots (yay!!!!!), lots of playdates for moose with our neighbor's 2 dogs who just moved back, and trying to squeeze every last minute out of the weekends when andy's home, oh and we went to Havasu this past weekend! I'll post some pics of all the recent activities.... I'm so excited because I have gotten some interest in people wanting me to do pictures for them!!! So very excited!! I'm still working on my skills in photoshop, I don't know why I have struggled so much with it!!! I like to think I am a fast learner and I can teach myself usually but goodness that darn program is being a real tool with me!! Any tips would greatly be appreciated!!!!! Oh and a little something scary...so this weekend I was talking to Andy about how I get scared being alone at night in our way to huge of a house for 2 people and a moose, probably because I watch too much without a trace, csi, and law & order...but still, we live in a gated community that has security 24/7 and we live in a really good area but some nights I still feel wierd being alone, so anyways Andy left yesterday and is in Colorado this week (lucky! we were talking about moving there but niether of us has been haha) and last night security dropped off a note at our door that said..."WARNING there have been 4 burglaries in this community in the last couple weeks, the last one being this afternoon....." I couldn't believe that! So I was extra carefull when I was locking up the house last night before me and my moose went night night. So I'll post a couple of the pics I did of my cousin and this other family...I made the tutu and the hair bow!!!!

I love the lashes and the little lip in the last one of my cousin!!! Hope the world is fabulous!

xoxo <3, Nicole & Co.

I am cocaNUTS!!!

2008-05-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

So yesterday afternoon I got all inspired to do the cocanut mini book of our Hawaii pics. So I started it and kept doing it until I finished because I was so excitied about it I didn't want to stop soooo I didn't crawl up the stairs and snuggle with moose in bed until 4AM!!! wth?!?!! I even skipped dinner! then of course like she does every morning I got a phone call from my mom only a few hours after I passed out...oh I just love her cause once moose is awake everyone is awake!!!! so here's the book...it was so hard picking pics for it because I like so many, almost all the stuff is making memories...the flower page that'ssupposed to be a hibiscus and the pineapples supposed to be shaped like a heart were both hand drawn and i'm no artist my sister got all that stuff so don't laugh too hard ;) i painted the insides of the cocanuts white. I saw the idea in an older issue of scrapbook trends and knew it would be perfect for our trip so while we were in hawaii Andy got me a real cocanut bra!! with the strings and all...so I just took off all the strings and used the existing holes to hold it together so no drillg or anything!!!

We are off to the river tomarrow yeesssssss! It's gonna be a blast (as it always is!) Hope everone has a fun and safe holiday and remember the reason you have that extra day off!!! toodles!

xoxo
<3, Nicole &Co.

I am a RANDOM scrapper, yes I am!

2008-05-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

yes I do scrap christmas pics when it's over 100 degrees outside!!! haha but no really it's been super hot this week here!! andy came home early on wed but we forgot about all the obligations we had when we were planning on going camping (helping my grandma, his sister's college graduation..) oh well maybe next time! but it sure has been nice having him home for 4 whole days in a row!!!! I did though get lots of scrappin done for some reason!!! A whole 7 pages!!! so here they are....

sorry about all the funkiness i didn't feel like fixing it cause I only have a few more hours with my honey until he's gone again!!
hope everyone is staying cool!

xoxo <3, Nicole & Co.

our GIRLY WEEKEND at the river

2008-05-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

So the plan WAS supposed to go like this.... andy's flight wasn't getting in until after 9pm friday night so me and moose would ride with my sister out to the river to spend the weekend with my mom and andy would be there as soon as he could from the airport because my dad wasn't going so andy had to help my mom launch the boat and do all the manly stuff...good plan right?!
well andy called me friday before my sis was about to pick us up and told me it was for sure that they had to stay longer because the job they were doing this week was taking longer than expected...we were thinking sat but no I couldn't be so lucky! He wouldn't be home till SUNDAY at 5PM!! I has instant tears because for some reason this week was the worst of all...I thought it would get easier with him being gone but it's been worse! And the best part is that he was home for less than 12 hours before he was gone again, he worked over 90 hours last week and was so tired! poor guy! so we went to the river and it turned into a girl's weekend! we launched the boat and all without any help from boys! Moose found a new friend, our friends out there got a new puppy (rex) and him and moose became instant BFFs! they were so cute! they slept together, played, drank, they were the cutest. moose was even putting his arm around rex when they were snuggling! Moose also swam for the first time!! he loves the boat and was so good, he met 2 little kids at the cove that kept feeding him sticks!! haha they were too funny! so we came home sunday afternoon and andy was home a few hours later and we just BBQ'd and hung out and andy wanted moose to sleep in our bed last night because he didn't get to spend enough time with him, those 2 together melt my heart! but after all that GOOD NEWS! the job he's doing this week should be short and he might get to come home early!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed cause we decided to go camping at the beach this weekend if all goes as planned.....we'll see!

xoxo
<3, Nicole & Co.

YAY for my lil brother!!

2008-05-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

So my lil brother has been stationed in georgia doing nursing school for the army and he just took his last test and PASSED! hoah! I know I couldn't believe it I mean my brother a nurse?! I am proud of him and all but I still wouldn't let him come near me with a needle! I dont care how many soldiers he patched up in iraq!! No but really I love him and miss him and hopefully I'll make it out there in june for his graduation! It was strange how I was doing this layout when my mom called and told me about him......
so with memorial day coming soon I hope everybody takes the time to remember all of our troops past and present for what they do to make this country the best place to live and just because you don't support war doesn't mean you can't support our troops!! remember they never ask to go to war!!!! but all of them have somebody that cares about them so remember that while you spend the weekend with your family that there are so many out there that aren't with theirs so you can sleep safe at night. We're packing up to head to the river right now to see my mommy so I wanna wish all the mommas a happy mother's day, it really is the best job in the world so have a great weekend and
I have to go take my baby so my mom can see her grand-dog <- that's what she calls him! crazy I know..she spoils him so much I can only imagine when we have human kids!!! haha here's a pic of them at our house on christmas (moose was only 6 weeks and the cutest baby ever!)
xoxo
<3, Nicole & Co.

I LOVE WEEKENDS!

2008-05-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

I really do! weekends use to not matter because when you have a job that requires you to work on weekends fridays never had the same meanings as they do to the general population...but now with andy traveling for work mon-fri leaving me and moose here alone we look forward to friday nights when he comes home! I used to cook dinner every night but now it just seems pointless because i don't know how to cook for 1 and I hate leftovers so i eat crap or not at all...no i don't have an eating disorder i LOVE food as you can see from pictures!
So this weekend we mostly just hung out around the house... I moved my scrappy room around and love it soooo much better! i've been spending so much time in here (and so has moose cause he has to be in whatever room in the house i am!) and i needed a change so i made the tables tall again...they are ones from ikea that are adjustable... mostly because moose keeps getting his nose in all my projects and i can't keep him out because theres no lock on the door and he's a smart boy and can open all the doors in the house ( i know!! scary!)
then on sunday we went to the park and had a picnic then walked around the lake...it was such a nice day! i'm sure andy would have preferred to be on a boat at the river but that'll be this weekend!!
i havn't taken pics of the new and improved room but i'll post those later, but here's some pics from our day at the park! oh and one more funny one of the baby! as i was saying he follows me around and has to be in the same room well his new love is the balcony off of our master bedroom...he loves it because he can see all the neighbors dogs and everything else, so i was getting dressed and it was really quiet which is never a good thing! i peaked out the door and he was sprawled out like he was tanning on the lounge chair! such a stinkin cutin! i took a good picture on my cell phone and had to sneak down stairs to get the camera to capture the moment!! haha i just love that baby!!!! hope everyone is doing well!

xoxo
<3, Nicole & co.

we're back from hawaii!

2008-04-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

so we finaly made it back from our extended vacation in hawaii (our airline was one of the ones that went bankrupt leaving us and many others stranded). We had an amazing time, it was my first and Andy's 3rd... we went to oahu so we got to see an old friend i grew up with that lives out there now, we also got to get up close and personal with some turtles!!! By far the highlight of my trip! Before we left Andy got me my camera I'd been wanting so I can start doing photography (cannon rebel xti) it was awesome i took over 800 pictures which is so normal for me but the camera captured some amazing shots! By the the end we were so ready to come home and see our baby moose though, we missed him like crazy and I'm sure he was going nuts without us! My mom stayed with him for the first week we were gone thank goodness.
So since we've been back Andy started his new job but that also means he's traveling a lot (sad for me and moose) but he likes it and he'll be making good money so that will be very nice :) but we miss him being home at night with us! However it does allow for lots of guilt free scrapbooking! I did like 8 pages or something crazy like that when he was gone this past week! We'll see if I can keep those numbers like that as the weeks go by!! Here's a few of my favorites...

Well that's all that's going on over here for now, we're counting down days until mother's day weekend because we're going to go to the river and see my mommy! I hate that she's in another state now...even if it is only 6 hours away! I guess that makes me a momma's girl...oh well that's fine with me! :) oh before i go spend time with my other half before he leaves monday I'll share a couple more of my favorite pics from Hawaii... it's so hard to pick just a couple though ;)...

Hope everyone's doing fabulous!!

xoxo <3, Nicole & Co.