Blessings, Birthdays and Baptisms (part 1)

I had one mega week last week and I think I am finally settling down and rested enough to write about it. Last Sunday Sallie and Micah blessed their beautiful baby boy Ali'i Toa Ka'ena and it was an amazing day! Micah did a fantastic job and Sallie is truly blessed to have such a wonderful example and priesthood holder as a husband. Toa was great for the whole blessing and the whole meeting for that matter. He is such a good little baby and has such an easy disposition. They are truly lucky parents!! Sallie asked me to take pictures to help document the day and I was happy to oblige. 

Toa patiently waiting to get his blessing outfit on:

Sallie and her little bundle all dressed and ready to go:

Sallie pulled out all the stops and really made everything look beautiful right down to the water bottles. She found a cute little shop on Etsy called Mason Jar Holdings. It's a cute little shop and she does some really amazing stuff.

Here's the table all prepared for the guests:

And of course I had include a close up of the water bottles and muffin toppers:

All the men who surrounded Toa and participated in the blessing:

The cute little Andresen family on Toa's big day:

Mama and Papa J with the happy parents:

And of course I had to get a picture with my little sis'. I love this girl and am so very proud of her!!!

A better ending...

Have you ever had a day start out like this?

But thankfully ended up like this?

That was my day yesterday!!! Little ones left alone for just minutes means big trouble in my house. I was answering some email when my Nephew came to tell me about what happened. He's almost three so it was a sparse conversation, but he got his point across. Needless to say toys were thrown away and there was  a lot of scrubbing involved, but it's clean now.

Part of the reason I had my Nephew's with me was so that their beautiful Mommy could welcome this new little one into the world. My little Sis is one of the most amazing women in this world. Pregnancy, nor birth for that matter, even faze her. As soon as I was able I rushed to the hospital to meet the little guy and to try on a few new products I have coming. I haven't had this much access to a Newborn in awhile so it was fun to play dress up ;) So this is little Toa (meaning chief and subject to change) only a few hours old. Isn't he just precious!!! The best part is he will become my new little model here pretty soon. I can't wait!!

HOT!!

So way back in September Boo, Bug, and I hitched a ride with Mama and Papa J to visit my sister and her family in Arizona. They had recently moved there so that her husband could attend dental school. It was a fun little get away and at the time I thought where I lived was super hot! Holy cow Arizona was HOT!!! It was fun to hang out and visit a place I had never been. We drove all over so that I could get a lay of the land and I couldn't believe all the cool stores! And yes I did visit a couple yarn stores ;) I had just purchased my camera and so most of the weekend was spent taking pictures and fiddling with settings. I was in heaven!!

These cute little girls are the "thumb" sucking queens! Of course Isabel prefers two fingers instead of one, but you get the idea! As soon as I looked over and saw them, I coudn't help but snap the picture. Two peas in a pod!! Cole (my nephew) was my little shadow the whole visit. It was fun to spend some time with him, without my big kids there or it probably would have never happened! He is super smart and so helpful...all I have to say is my big Sis has her work cut out for her with that one ;)

Pretty much the entire weekend was spent jumping on the tramp. From the minute the kids were up till bedtime they were out there! It was perfect for me, since I was practicing with my camera. All I had to do was hang out in a lawn chair and snap away!

Sunday we were able to drive down and visit the Temple. It was so beautiful and a perfect way to spend the sabbath!!!

I couldn't believe all of the flowers and especially the fruit trees surrounding it. It was truly an amazing place!! All in all it was a great weekend full of fun and laughter! I can't wait til we can take the whole family for a visit!!

Hot in Arizona

My lovely older sister moved to Arizona a bit ago and last weekend I took a few of the kiddos and went for a visit. Of course, for me, it was not all play seeing as I was going to be surrounded by the best models ever (besides mine of course). And with having a few new cameras to try out I just couldn't pass up the chance.

I was in dire need of some product shots of my Henry Beanie and with 3 boys to chose from it was fantastic! Of course asking them to dress warm under the HOT Arizona sun was a bit much, but we all survived! Thanks "J" for letting me take the time to snap the shots!

And I just had to include little "I" in the shoot. I just love her and with three brothers to contend with it was fun to bring out the girly side!

(This is a new flower clip that will be up for sale soon)