great grandini

my moms mom…aka the great grandini was the coolest! my favorite part of christmas itself was always grandma! she would come and spend the night at our house on christmas eve every year. we would go pick her up in the afternoon and come home to goof off, eat a yummy dinner of something totally untraditional like chili, or nachos, and almost always chili con queso. she would sleep on the couch in the sewing room and my sis and i would sit with her on that old yellow and gold floral couch watching the sound of music, the wizzard of oz or whatever else would be playing on regular tv. we only had one room in the house with cable and that tv was reserved for my dad and whatever ballgame was on that night. us girls were always banished to the sewing room with the tv with an antena and turn style knobs:)

my poor mom would retreat to her bedroom- i guess to wrap the rest of the presents, my dad would watch the game and we would stay up as late as we could! Christmas morning was always an event…we had a time limit of how early we were allowed to wake the folks…maybe 5 or 6 am?  prior to that time meggie and i would sit and talk about how excited we were and if santa brought us what we wanted. finally the time would come when it was time to wake up mom and dad. wait for dad to go start a fire, use the bathroom, brush his teeth and whatever else took him SOOO LONG… and  then turn on the tree. mom and grandini would join dad, camera in hand to see the expression of excitement and surprise as we turned the corner to see our gifts.

grandini was always what i remember seeing first. she always looked more excited than we were, just to be there with us! she did’nt need presents or special attention. she was happy to sleep on that old ratty (but very comfy) couch. and entertain us all night! it was hard for years after she was gone not to have her there.

and now it is my moms turn…to be grandini…nonni style. sleep in our spare room, eat chili con queso, play games, join in our silliness the way her mom always did. so as long as i am around and we are able…my mom will always be with us on christmas eve and christmas morning…because i just know it means as much to londy as it does to me:)

for memories sake

i copied these from my sweet sisters blog…because…well i feel the same way about these things, she is a better writer and i hope one day to publish this blog into a book of memories…so here is megs perfect explanations of what made christmas so great for us as kids

My first Christmas

"Ms. Hannigan...you know I'd go absolutely weak in the knees over a man like you!"
Calling all Annie fans!
Memory #7 links up to the memory where Bri and I would lie under the Christmas tree to marvel at the lights. Oftentimes, instead of Andy Williams, we put on our Annie record. I'd be Mr. Warbucks, and she would be Ms. Hannigan (or another character from the show), and we would spend hours dancing around the tree re-enacting scenes from the movie, "Annie." We always had scenes where we would be bad, and have to sneak away from the ophanage though the closet celiling, and then of course, we'd be caught! Our punishment was being forced to eat porridge (chocolate ice cream we stirred until it melted)and we would look at each other like it was a death wish while we slurped up our delicious punishment.
We played this particular game many Christmases in a row. My mom never cared, and probably thought it was funny her two girls were full of such imagination. The only year it was a big deal was the year our tree was put in the living room instead of the family room. My mom hated footprints on her newly vaccumed carpet, and the thought of us trapesing around her floor drove her to put the tree back where it "belonged" in the family room.
"You'll stay up, 'till this dump shines like the top of the Chrystler Building!"

that snoopy doll was MY FAVORITE!

and memory number two….

Andy Williams's Christmas album will forever be the hub of my childhood Christmases.
Bri and I used to beg and beg my dad to go and get the Christmas tree. Once it was home, my mom would put on the Andy Williams record (a REAL record...not a tape or CD), and Dad would retract to whereever it was Dad went when it was tree decorating time. Mom would spend hours upon hours meticulously wrapping each branch of the tree from tip to trunk in wonderfully bright, twinkiling white lights. Bri and I, as children, really felt like it was the Most Wonderful Time of the Year as Williams crooned, as we danced around the tree and Mom. We would always pretend to hang the "peppermint stick for old Saint Nick" on the Christmas tree, and never forgot to "hang up our sock...cause just exactly at 12 o'clock...he'd be coming down the chimney down!" I am quite sure that my mom was a little annoyed that the two of us danced and carried on, while she labored on the tree...but truly, those memories are some of the best from my childhood.
We had certain ornaments hand stitched by my mom, that had to be hung in a particular order. Each time we'd pull out something new from the Christmas trunk, we'd exclaim, "I LOVE this one" and fight who got to put the ornament on the tree. Decorating the tree took all afternoon, and about 12 rounds of the record playing our beloved Andy Williams. After the tree was finished, and mom was kaput, Bri and I would turn out all of the light except for the tree, and lie underneath the tree and dream of the holiday to come. With hands on our chins, and our hearts and hopes high...we would welcome the Christmas season into our home.
Every year, as tradition states in our new and growing homes, Bri and I play the Andy Williams CD (we Butler girls are moving on up now!), and still dance the same antics we once did as little girls. Even though we won't be spending Christmas together this year, I will play the songs and be transported right back to the place where things were perfect, special, and almost magical. Merry 12 Days of Christmas!

my regular shennanigans

 

Merry Christmas To all

 

 

Hope Santa Brings all

Your FavoriTe

ThinGs!

 

twilight

I finally did it! Brandon took me to see twilight and I have to say I was a little nervous! I had heard such mixed reviews. some had said there was no chemistry, bad cinematography, and what not. plus the books are ALWAYS better than the movies. but with this…..

I was pleasantly surprised! I thought they had great chemistry, I thought it followed most of the book and I still want to be a vampire, have an Edward of my very own and never grow old!

plus….now I am going to be like every other stupid junky fan who is dying to see the next movie:)

I told b he had better read the books because he is going with me to see the rest and I am not giving him any hints of what will happen next!

oh….and….Emmett…….HOT HOT HOT

hottie

 

ok so i know i work out all the time and i know it really is for good health and for good lungs (breathing is good for bri:)

but seriously? while i am at it…..what would i give to have a figure like this girl!!!! she always looks great….sigh…

i mean i know people don’t pay me millions to look like that and that it is part of her job…but in my next life…i want to be her:)

party 101

I love a good party! especially when it is with really fun people.

I am lucky enough to work with some really neat girls and one fun boy…who, lets face it… working with all these women is truly one of the girls himself! (sorry Tommy but  it is true) but you tell me one guy who would hate to work with 20some hot girls all day?…I digress….

so this weekend was the dreaded work party or so most would think…standing around not knowing many of the coworkers and their loved ones….but that is not the kind of parties We

have!!!

lets just say it was a lot of fun and I found myself sad to leave because I was having a GREAT TIME! My boss kimi has a beautiful home, so warm and cozy, a yard like better homes and gardens and the food was catered by “AMOUSE BOUSCHE” (sp?) here in surprise (side note…if you have not eaten there before you are missing out!) hair dressers have a wild reputation and last night was no exception. the laughter was contagious. and I think Brandon had almost as much fun as I did!

Look at the height difference

Trying out a different look:)

so thanks kimi for everything, thanks Brandon for being my date. to mom for driving home late from where we live to the other end of the planet:) and to Slater for my darling Christmas goodies. How do people just know what to get you even when you have never voiced wanting that item before?

These girls are scrappy

fun pics including the strong girls trying to arm wrestle, tequila shots (no I was not doing those rich don't have a hard attack) and more fun!

 

open open open

anyone remember the old Mervyns commercial? open open open

that is how I feel everyday when I come home and check the mailbox. excited, dying to see what's inside, hoping there is some sort of “fun mail” inside. it’s the season people for cards and cards mean pictures of cute friends you never get to see! but most everyday….its just bills bills bills and junk:(

so what I am saying is………

any day

now people!

quirks

ok so I took this from my cute cousin Angelle’s blog….

These are six quirks about me!

I'm very particular about my sandwiches. the meat must be sliced really thin, from the deli. I can not stand the presliced  stuff you get from the Oscar Meyer brand and what not. Traveling and trying to make sandwiches with Brandon's family makes them crazy because of this. I will spend a fortune on my almost shaved honey or mesquite turkey breast.

I talk really fast and like Angelle do not annunciate. When I was a kid my sister called me “six” from the show Blossom.

I am a terrible speller and use very poor grammar, capitalization ect. I guess I do ok when I really work on it, but for the blog?NO chance. and that is also why I have a sister who is an English teacher and a mom-in-law who is a librarian…problem solved!

my memory is frightening about most things. I can remember the way you smell, the clothes you had on the first time we met or the last time I saw you. I can remember where my mom-in-law keeps an old book, kitchen gadget, and where she had her cell phone last. I come in handy when you loose something but again the family thinks I'm a know it all:)

I worry about everything all the time and have a hard time turning off my brain. Did I hurt her feelings? Should I really go there on vacation? Do I look fat, too blonde, too thin? Should I really worry about that photo shoot I took 6weeks ago? seriously? I know…issues right?

I hate to update the family/friends on my medical

status. I guess I just want to be normal. but at the same time I HATE it when people blow off what I have like it is a cold. seriously? seriously? a just got a card in the mail about a 29 yr old Girl (my age) who just died of lam and had only been diagnosed 18months:(

but yeah I don't like it when people baby me either:) seriously you all can not win on this and for that I am sorry! guess it just depends on the day and the person:)

so there you have it! I'm way more quirky but we will stay with  6.

and I tag….Meg, Krissy, Lisa, Amy and April. and whoever else will make me deliriously happy by spilling their guts on their neurosis:)

 

quirky me even then…check out the headband a the stellar 70s quilt!

Thanksgiving at a glance

 

the week has certainly been a whirl wind! this year the whole family on both sides was here (ok only the siblings and spouses but with our group that is a lot of people to squeeze in) we had so much fun! my memory chip on my camera that I carry everywhere with me died this morning while I was trying to import the pics ….so sad, and so you will have to use your imagination …but we were a cute group:) I even cooked the whole dinner myself and it was delicious minus the frozen Rhodes rolls which have not been turning out for me lately! I should have made the potatoes kind from scratch, but 10 hrs of baking rolls for 6 people seemed a little much for me this  year.

we went out to dinner, played games, ate tons, cooked, watched movies, saw the temple lights, ran into old friends, worked out, played football, shopped our guts out, ate some more, shopped some more and put up the Christmas decorations minus the tree….. you see Brandon and I have this debate EVERY YEAR about the stinking tree! I want I fake one with sturdy branches that I can pile on the heavy ornaments and he wants it real, smelling like pine, not holding up squat for the ornaments, and dropping pine needles everywhere. so the last couple years he tells me I can buy a fake one at the end of Christmas, but by then I am so tired of shopping and we are way out of money…hehe!

londy did get to visit with the “mall Santa” and get her picture taken

sooo cute

also when we went to the temple and were taking millions of pictures londy kept looking happily at the camera and saying “cheezeits” or so I thought….

then I realized she was saying JESUSSSSS…absolutely hilarious, at least she was understanding what the temple/Christmas thing was all about.

granddad was in the hospital for a few days and we went to visit him too. this made londy very nervous, (so sad all she has is scary memories of mommy in the hospital) anyways she read him a Halloween  story with all the different voices and when she got done she started singing “I love to see the temple”…heart wrenching in that sweet high pitched voice granddad even looked teary. amazing how innocent children are and how they feel things so easy. and here her mother is forever struggling. sad when the 4 yr old is so sure and the mom at 29 is so unsure…sigh!

she sure loves her uncle Joey !

yey for  family taking pics and sending them my way! thanks dad!

testing testing 123

 

missing….this….right now

(trying out new big pics)

deliriously happy

Things that make me oh so happy…

food, especially at this time of year!

getting my hair done, this always brings me such happiness it is ridiculous.

a pedicure- hey I am vain no denying it:)

family and friends

shopping alone- not sure why I like this so much by myself but it is very relaxing that way.

a good book or a trashy magazine and a hot hot bath!

exercising, dancing, being outside with my music…LOVE LOVE LOVE

the beach- Hawaii- my new magic wonderland.

death

this time of year is for family, love, renewing, forgiving, for being grateful and for making memories. Hopefully there will be little blood shed, our voices will not carry too many mean words, and there should always be lots and lots of laughter and homes filled to the brim with family, friends and lots of food:)!

last night Brandon and i watched the movie "the family stone". wow.... last night it got to me. if you have not seen it i am going to ruin it for you. so there is this family who loves each other terribly but who are meaner than dirt to the new girlfriend. I'm sure all of us have been the receiver of that sort of moment of awkwardness where you just know they don't like you. hopefully that is not a feeling you feel continually over the years with your family or in-laws and hopefully you will never be the person to make others feel like that when you open your home to them...but i digress...sigh
so as this girl Meredith (the new girlfriend) tries to make them like her, she starts to wonder why they don't and why, because she is different from them it makes her wrong or not likeable. I can relate to that oh too well for i am very different from Brandon's family.
in the end...the mother has breast cancer and is dying. she is just trying to make memories for her grown children and to make sure that they are all happy and OK once she is gone.and she does not feel like this meredith girl is who will make her son happy!

warning Im getting teary so do not continue...if you dont want to hear me loose it
death......i can relate to that too! this time of year i panic! what if no one remembers me, what if i was'nt a good person, will london always remember my smile, my laugh, the way my hair smells, how i will kiss her a million times and then once more just because? will the family think i wasnt so bad or will they be ready for a new daughter? will brandon have more children, and be ok without me. will christmas, thanksgiving, birthdays still be done with the same silliness and traditions? ....im not sure i would ever treat someone badly or make them feel unwelcome, not consider their feelings or whatnot but check back with me in a couple of years if i am on my death bed...i might be a lot worse than i think:)

mommyyyyyyy

my conversation with londy just about every night...

me: goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the ...
londy: bugs bite
me:k see you in the morning, I LOVE YOU, kisses you know the drill:)

then about 1 minute later....mommmm????

londy: I'm thirsty, hungry, don't feel good, my tummy is rumbling, i think i need medicine, I'm cold, I'm hot, i need....a stuffed animal, a baby, a cracker, a.....
seriously we go back and forth like this for an hour.
then finally i have to break out the big guns...
LONDON IF YOU GET OUT OF BED ONE MORE TIME I AM GOING TO THROW AWAY...(WHATEVER TOY SHE IS OBSESSED WITH AT THE MOMENT) AND THERE WILL BE NO CHOCOLATE MILK IN THE MORNING!

londy: sorry mom, crying and....
Me: meanest mom in the universe, feel like crapola, but guess what?...most nights...there is quiet and a sleeping little girl.
ughhhh!
why can we not just say goodnight, be sweet with our kids and save a good hour?
anyone else do this EVERYNIGHT? cause right now its 9:17 and we have been at this since ...yep, about 8:15!!!!

its halloweeeeen time

two cowgirls and a handy man



The Line-up

the tired mommies

riding sampson- londys stick pony..hehe

halloween was a fun week! we started off at the pumpkin patch (i am too tired to load those pics so just use your imagination...there was pumpkins and dirt:)) followed by ice cream with our buddies the ashtons. the next night we carved em ( the pumpkins, not the ashtons). Thursday brandon took londy to her school party and then he and i made the BEST cookies-pumpkin chocolate chip with cream cheese frosting...too DIE FOR! Friday was yep, you guessed it...halloween. so we did the whole trick or treat thing and i was AMAZED at how many small children were out and how busy the neighborhood was! it kind of restored my faith in the whole neighborly thing! we had a great time! A ladybug,two cowgirls, cinderella, batman,a green monster and a handy man daddy...oh and a cutie ashton mom and pop! a fun week but now i am POOPED! time to eat some candy, put away the halloween stuff and start thinking about christmas...wow this time of year goes by soooooo fast!

beautiful family

this is my boss kimi and her beautiful family. everytime i see her littlest child i just want to eat her up! she is so yummy! and everyone should have a backyard like this...seriously it should be in better homes and gardens! thanks for letting me capture your cute family!

DIsnEyLAnd

Wooohoo i love disneyland and try to go once a year if i am lucky. yet again this year we left londy home with my mom and headed over to cali. my sis and her hubby were gonna be there the same time and we thought we would meet up for a few hours.
well we ended up together all night and all day and had a blast. it was joeys first time visit to disneyland and i think he really liked it! we met up and walked downtown diney our first night and ate at espn sports grill, the boys were thrilled!

the next morning it was off to disneyland where the lines were less than 30minutes and we even walked right on to a few! i love seeing disney at halloween time especially the haunted mansion. we laughed and ate and rode the rides. screwing around all day together made me really sad that meg and joey don't live closer and probably never will:( guess we will have to travel together more often! a perfect recharge before the holiday rush of work and maddness! yey for cali you did it for me again.

date night dorks

well when it has been a while it takes very little to make me excited! last night we went on a date...nothing extra exciting! dinner at cheesecake factory and a movie. but the weather was fall weather and i was without a whinny londy!! suddenly shopping in z gallerie and being silly was lots of fun:)
horny baby?

nice eyebrow...this is hilarious to me!

running

although i did not run like this:)....
i ran today! a whole mile and a half! my body didnt give out and my lungs are still up to talk about it! i guess there is something to be said about having enough iron in your blood and hemoglobin and all of that! im grinnin big...might not be able to do it tomorrow but for today...im elated!

tommy

having to be at work all day is alot more fun when you work with great people! tommy is one of those people:)
here is part of our photoshoot.....enjoy

how we play

so having a small family is good in a lot of ways...cheaper for starters,you can drive smaller cars, less kids to make you crazy when you are already frazzled...ect. ect. ect.
however, being the photographer that i am...you run out of subjects to torture at your every whim..LOL. but brandon and london are such good sports! always eager to go try out a new place to take photos or at a different time of day than the last time:) as london is getting older and sassier i think she is realizing that it is fun to dress up and get your picture taken. honestly i know brandon is so good for it because he knows what a passion it is of mine and frankly he is just one of those guys...patient with me and happy to just be together no matter what we are doing! i am a lucky girl! so this is how we spent an evening this last weekend.




so sweet!

look at this face! priceless...what was she thinking about?


not the cutest picture of my hiney but i loved these barn doors!



i love these colors