Days 272 through 278

Day 272: Inundated

This is the pile of mail that greeted us when we got home last night.  It's about half as big as the pile of paperwork on my desk when I returned to work.  I am thoroughly overwhelmed.  I have no idea where to even begin with everything I have to do now that I'm home.

Help!

Day 273: Glory in Imperfections

I got this penguin at the flea market in Cabo.  I picked him out amid a bunch of other, better looking, trinkets because I liked his little gimpy fin.  Being unique is something of which we all have the capability.  But here's the secret: you can't be unique when you're trying to be.  You can only pull it off when you are truly yourself - when you are no longer concerned with how you compare to others.

That is the challenge.

Day 274: The End of Something

Month 9 is complete!  That's right, I only have 3 months left!  The end is near...finally.

Today as I took pictures of the sunset, I was sad to know they would be the last pictures I took with this awesome lens I rented from Borrow Lenses.  I rented this same lens last summer for my family reunions, and I can't express how much I wish I didn't have to give it back.  It's too expensive for me to justify the purchase, but if I rent it any more times I will completely nullify that excuse.  The rentals aren't cheap, and soon I'll have paid the same amount in rental costs as I would have if I'd purchased the dang thing.

One day...

Day 275: The "Little" Things

I'm so glad RoseAnne came over tonight for our regularly scheduled girls night!  She was all dressed up for an appointment she had before she came over, and she looked so cute!  Jack was his usual adorable self, chasing the cats around the house in his speedy crawl, making faces at us, and being generally captivating for the camera.

I really love my family!

Day 276: Red Trees

I'm used to seeing trees turn red during the fall, but I'm not familiar with red trees with no leaves.  I saw these today in a parking lot and had to stop and capture them.  In the slanting winter sunlight, the bark on these trees shone a vivid red - almost fuchsia.  I wish I still had that lens I rented because it would have been able to capture these better.

Ah, well.  No use thinking about it.

Day 277: Note to Self

Note to self: put makeup on before taking an extreme close-up of your face.

If I had taken any other pictures today, I would have posted one of them instead.  This picture required an obscene amount of touch-up to make it even slightly acceptable, when all I needed to do was dab on a bit of cover-up and eyeliner before I hit the shutter button.  I guess I'm still shell-shocked from my return to work this week.  I can't believe how busy I was, and yet how little I got done!  So frustrating!  I guess all I can hope for is to do better next week.

Day 278: The Old Standby

Whenever you see a picture of my cats on here, you can almost be certain it's because I forgot to take a picture until right before I went to bed.  The cats seem to be my last resort subjects.  If I'm too tired to think of something original, I just run upstairs and snap a few of the cats and call it good.

I need a new standby I think.

Day 261: Cuddle Bug

Jack and RoseAnne

It's so fun to hang out with family.  It's so fun to live near so many family members!  Especially since I used to feel so isolated from family here in Utah (weird, I know).  Now, so many family members live close that I never seem to catch up with all of them.

I love it when RoseAnne comes over to hang out.  We always have so much fun just watching TV or laughing and reminiscing.  I also love it that I love hanging out with family because I used to really struggle with it.  You know, social anxiety and all that.  Life just seems so much better now that I can enjoy people and want to be around them!

I'm not saying that I don't have my down days, because I obviously do.  But I'm definitely better than I was.

Day 254: Play Pens

Baby Jack

This little boy is so cute!  All night tonight he kept making this face at us while we were playing with him.  Also, while we were all watching our show, he decided it was boring in the living room and crawled off to the kitchen where the cat food is kept.  After I found him near the cat food I brought him back to the living room and put up a fake wall to close him off.  It was just a TV tray covered by a blanket, but Jack was so upset when he saw it the first time he tried to crawl away.  He stopped dead in front of it and pouted, then sat back on his little diaper booty and cried in frustration.

It was so cute!  And so sad at the same time.  We were able to keep him distracted most of the time, but every once in a while he would try to get out again and get upset.  Poor boy!

Day 173: Great Grandma is My Friend

Mom and Baby Davis.

Robert and Lindsey came over to visit tonight, and mom got a hold of little Davis and wouldn't let go.  He was perfectly content to stay on Mom's lap all night as we made faces at him and visited with one another.  I was lucky to get this shot, when he suddenly  leaned in to Mom and grinned right at me!  What a happy boy!  He loves his great-grandma.

It was so fun to hang out with the family tonight and talk about nothing, really.  Sometimes the best evenings are spend doing the most normal things.

Tonight, I am grateful for quiet evenings at home with the family.

Day 150: Daisies and Blackouts

Mom and baby June.

I'm sorry for the lack of posts this weekend, and even more sorry for the next part.  I'm way past my bedtime on a school night, so I'm just putting the next few posts up without an explanation on them.  I'll update them tomorrow because I have some fun stories to go along with them.

UPDATE 2 Nov:
So on Friday we had a family Halloween party, and most of us dressed up.  It was fun to see everyone's costumes and to visit.  And with what seemed like very little effort on RoseAnne's part, she was able to - once again - pull off the perfect party, complete with an unscheduled blackout in the middle of dinner.  The only thing we were missing was a thunderstorm and maybe a hunchback of some sorts.  Unfortunately I was having one of those panic-in-a-big-crowd nights and we had to skedaddle a little earlier than expected, but it was still a great night.

And I got some fun pictures out of it too! :)

Day 143: Family Fun

Baby June

Tonight we had a little get-together at Sherry's house.  Almost all the family in Utah came, and it was so fun to be able to hang out with everyone!  My favorite part of the evening was taking pictures of all the babies.

I had a really hard time choosing a picture from the great shots I got, but I finally decided on baby June because of how all the women at the house seemed to melt when they saw her.  Baby June has the most captivating eyes you've ever seen!  No matter how many times I see this little girl, I'm still amazed at how bright her eyes are and how expressive they can be!  She has the cutest, gummy smile too!  I tried to get a good picture of her smile, but they all turned out blurry.

Day 141: Bunnies

Emily's Halloween costume.

Celia came over tonight to show us Emily's costume for Halloween this year.  She was ADORABLE!!
She just stood in the middle of the room with her arms away from her sides, stiff as a board.  No matter how much coaxing we tried on her, we couldn't get her to move at all.  She looked at all of us with interest, and even cracked a smile, but wouldn't walk anywhere or move her arms!  She reminded me of the little brother in A Christmas Story with his snow outfit so stuffed that he couldn't move his arms.  So cute!

Mom finally got Emily to sit on her lap, and that's when she relaxed a bit.  And that's when I got the money shot.  I showed her the pictures on my camera, and she stiffly extricated herself from Mom's lap and walked over to me to get a better view.  She tried to point at herself as every young child does when she sees herself in a picture, but her little bunny mittens prevented her from actually pointing or touching the screen at all.  This proved to be rather funny as she mutely tried over and over again to touch the screen and move to the next image.  She never got upset, just kept trying with perfect determination.  :)

Day 140: Awe

Cassie.

One of my co-workers came back to the office this evening to pick something up and he brought his daughter with him.  I just happened to be at work still, trying to make up for yesterday's lost time, so I got to hang out with cute little Cassie for a minute.

She was at my desk playing with something I had given her when another co-worker rounded the corner just as she came running by.  Luckily a collision was avoided, but the look on Cassie's face when she saw the very tall Lon looming above her was priceless!  I captured this shot just moments after she (almost) ran into him, and she's still got the remnants of awe on her face.  Classic moment!

Day 124: Bright Eyes

Jack and Christine.

Well, thanks to all for the supportive comments.  :)  I was being more than a little dramatic last night when I wrote my post, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't still frustrated. heh...

Anyway, I was planning on skipping the whole "bling" idea tonight, but when I looked through the pictures from today and saw this one of Jack I realized I wouldn't have to.  I love taking pictures of children!  I wish I had more opportunity and less inhibitions because they are my favorite subjects. My nephew commented tonight that I could probably make money taking pictures of babies and children, and I responded that it might be possible if I weren't so shy around children who aren't related to me.  Nowadays you have to be so careful with other people's children because of all of the sickos out there who abuse and mistreat children, so I'm always so afraid to approach someone else's child if they aren't family.  Even though I have the best of intentions.

But then again, it seems I live my life by fear, so that's not really news.

Still, I never take as many baby pictures each month that I'd like to because I only have 3 or so nieces and nephews in town that I can photograph.  And I have unspoken rules in my head about how many times a month I can take a picture of someone before it becomes excessive.

I'm so neurotic sometimes.  Ha!

Day 117: Peeking

Lauren after dinner tonight.

She was playing some game with her napkin, and singing tunelessly as she rubbed her face with it.  It was so cute!  I was undecided between this picture and one I took of the dessert Christine made for dinner tonight, but I finally settled on this one because - well, frankly - I like it better.  And since this is MY blog, I decided I can do whatever I like.

So even though there's hardly any red in this shot, and even though I posted a picture of Lauren just 3 days ago, I don't care.  :)

I was going to list the things I loved about today, but I have a monster headache that just keeps getting worse, so I'm logging off before it turns me blind.

Day 114: Play With Your Food

Lauren hamming it up for the camera.

Birthday party for Dad at the Pizza Pie Cafe:
Lots of family, laughter and noise.
Hyrum kept us entertained with stories of invisible frogs leaping around the room.
Esther held court at the head of the table, and wouldn't move.
Baby June captivated all the women with her wide eyes and attentiveness.
Most everyone played musical chairs as they traveled from one conversation to another.
Dad soaked up the family fun and had a grand time opening his presents, surrounded by great-grandchildren.
Lauren kept Ashlie busy with her cute high-pitched voice, and her fascination with food.

And every time I put my camera up to my face:
  Lauren would grin from ear to ear
  RoseMarie would look away
  Hyrum would accidentally cover his face
  Mom would accidentally frown
  Baby June would stop smiling
  Christine would look mentally challenged
  And Dad would have his mouth open and his eyes closed


I got a lot of pictures of Lauren and parts of Hyrum's face. :)

Day 78: Lauren

Lauren playing with her mommy (Ashlie).

My niece is a constant source of joy for all of us in the family, but especially for her mom (and dad).  No matter how much time I spend around this little girl, I can't get over how cute she is!  She's got the brightest eyes and the happiest smile.

And she LOVES the camera!  Almost every time I whip mine out in front of her, she starts making faces and putting her fists under her chin in little poses.  It's just so dang adorable!  I only got to see her for a few minutes this evening, but it was by far the highlight of my day.

I only wish we lived closer to each other.

Day 71: Happy Place

Cute baby Jack, looking at his mommy.

Wednesday nights are a flurry of noise and people, boisterous laughter, exultant shouts, declarations of surprise, loud commentary, food spills, babies giggling, clapping, funny stories, and lots of smiles.

Wednesday night is girls night.

A few of my adult nieces come over and we all watch So You Think You Can Dance.  We have so much fun together, watching the show, talking over it, rewinding our favorite parts, passing the new babies around, telling stories during the commercials, eating home made cheese burgers and macaroni salad, laughing a lot, and generally enjoying a night with the girls.

Some weeks I get overwhelmed and have to duck out early.  Some weeks I'm louder and more obnoxious than everyone else.  And some weeks I'm content to hold one of the new babies and just sit back and observe everyone.  It's such a blessing to have so much family around.  It's something I take for granted all the time, but every once in a while I'm reminded of how awesome it is.

Like tonight. :)

Day 62: Month Two Complete!

My cousin's daughter running up a hill.

So today was the last day that I was able to attend my other family reunion.  I have work in the morning, so I had to skip out early.  It was so fun watching all the family just visiting with each other today.  I walked around taking a lot of pictures of small groups of people just chatting and laughing.  As I said before, we really love to laugh in my family.

Towards the end of my day at the lodge, I got to observe a water balloon volley ball game.  It was very short-lived because almost every shot was missed, and they didn't have enough water balloons, but it was still fun to see.  I was far away from the game, so I was able to observe the cutest group of little kids and toddlers sitting on the hill next to the volley ball net, cheering everyone on.  They were so attentive for such a young group!  I caught this shot of my cousin's daughter (whom I will not name since I didn't get permission to post this on the internet) running up the hill after the game to tell her aunt all about it.  So cute!


...oh, and this is officially the first day of month THREE for me!  I can't believe I've made it this far without forgetting a day.  And in case you were wondering, the days that I've missed posting a picture, I've only missed because I had no internet connection.  I still took a picture every day.  ...just so we're clear.

Day 59: Tired

Esther had a long couple of days.

Tantrums are no fun for parents, but they provide endless amusement for photographers such as myself.  Luckily for everyone involved, Esther's little tantrum this morning didn't last long, but it lasted long enough for me to get this priceless shot of her.

Today was the last day of my family reunion, and we had a blast!  However, I am so worn out now that I feel like my legs might fall off during the night.  I can't believe how easily I wear out sometimes!

Day 54: The Children Are Our Future

Beautiful Lauren.

Sometimes when I see my nieces and nephews, I get such painful stabs of homesickness for the family that I don't have yet.  I look into the innocent eyes of the babies of my siblings and nieces and nephews, and I see what my children will look like one day.  And I hurt a little.

And sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get to see my kids, or if that part of life will pass me by.  I wonder if I'll ever have a family of my own, and get to experience the joy that I see in the eyes of my siblings.

And then I realize how much joy I already feel when I am surrounded by the family I already have.  It's not like there aren't plenty of us to go around.  I still get to be around all of the children, even if they aren't my own.  I still get to make them smile and giggle.  I get to play with them and see their little personalities, and it partially fills that void.  When I'm around those babies and children, it makes the pain of single life almost completely disappear.

It gives me hope for the future.

Day 40: Some Bad Advice

June and her Great-grandma.

I've been feeling poetic all day, and now that I'm finally in front of my computer, ready to write...

Nothing.

My mind is a complete blank.  That's what I get for procrastinating.  I should have sat in front of my computer the moment I got home from church, when my mind was buzzing with ideas of what to write today.  Or, in the very least, I should have written some of those ideas down.

Now, I sit here in a sleepy stupor, wondering why I'm still sitting up.  So I'll leave you with just a few random thoughts for the evening, and I'll try harder tomorrow night.

I love to color
Even though it's exhausting, I love to act crazy in front of the primary children during singing time
I love babies and the peaceful feeling I get when I hold them
Laughter is the best medicine...except for headaches
Nobody likes a whiner
If a hymn gets stuck in your head, let it stay a while
Don't agree to do something you really don't want to do...because you'll end up backing out at the last minute
Procrastination is the lack of foresight, and the height of selfishness

Day 38: Baby June

The newest edition to the family.

This is baby June.  Isn't she adorable!?  She's the newest great-grandchild in our family.  She is not even a month old, and she's already holding her head up and making the cutest facial expressions!  She also has the most alert eyes!  Here she is staring at her momma with an interested, maybe even amused, look on her face. SO CUTE!

I just love having family so close so I can see all the cute babies and have a chance to watch them grow up a bit!

Day 21: Giggles

Celia and Emily.

I came home for lunch today, and our friend and neighbor Celia was visiting with her youngest, Emily.  Emily was in such a good mood, and was crawling around and smiling at us, and basically acting adorable!  I couldn't pass up the photo op that was staring me in the face, so I quickly grabbed my camera to take a few shots of happy little Emily.

To everyone's astonishment (and amusement) Emily did NOT like my camera.  She would grin and giggle over a scrap of paper on the ground, or the faces we made at her, but the second I snapped the first photo (the flash was on) she jumped and frowned at me.  From that moment on, I was not her friend.  Every time I would try to make her laugh, she would nervously rub her feet against the carpet with a worried face and look for her mom.

Luckily, Celia was there as a comforting influence.  And with a few tickles to her tummy, we were able to get her laughing again!  Such an adorable baby!  She's teething, but you'd never be able to tell with how happy she is all the time.

Thanks Celia, for letting me capitalize on your daughter's cuteness!

Day 18: Pinwheels

My niece playing with the pinwheel grandma gave her tonight.

I've had a long day.  After camping with my office for two days and two nights, I came home sore and aching and sleep-deprived.  I had to help unload the car and put everything away, clean up, shower, and re-pack the car to head back up the canyon for a barbecue with my family.  Luckily I got a nap in before we headed back up the canyon because I was gonna lose it by the time the afternoon hit.

Boy am I glad I went to the barbecue tonight after seeing this cute girl!  Lauren is the apple of her parents' eyes, and we have such a fun time hanging out with her (and let me tell you, she knows just how adorable she is).  Grandma gave her this pinwheel tonight, and she loved watching it blow in the breeze, but she still loved her watermelon enough to hold on tight and later attempt an adorable juggling act as she tried to shove the watermelon into her mouth an hold the pinwheel with just one hand.

What a delight little children are!  They make every stress fly away some times, whilst creating the stress at other times. :)