There are some really amazing things about it being 40 below… Hot tubbing at the cabin with icicles on your eyelashes yet feeling like it’s warm out is pretty amazing. Dropping a quarter in the parking lot and trying to retrieve it within 30 seconds only to break a nail because it’s already embedded in the ice is pretty amazing. Our ice fog sunrise and sunsets are pretty amazing. And lastly, the site of a spider web at 40 below, to me, is also pretty amazing. So for all of you who are wishing for warmer temps here are a few shots at 40 below to make you smile, cringe or at least appreciate for a minute these chilly days. Oh and a fun collage of a sunny backyard shoot I did of Lael while we were in Texas. Stay warm!

Hot tubbin at the cabin with my bro & my tough Alaskan girl over New Years

Sun rise, sun rise looks like morning in your eyes…

Chilly spider webs

A little sun for the soul…

Below are some fun photos from our week. 

Hee Hee, I’m Lola!

This is looking through the window of Lael’s new ‘doll house’

Silly Hat!

Chase me Kemper!

Someone save her from that tiny dinosaur!

Decorating the tree this year with Lael made us stop to really enjoy the moments and appreciate all the beautiful ornaments in a way we’ve never done before. She has so many questions so telling her about each one and where we got it and what it is made it extra special for us. Our tree gets more beautiful each year because we have incredible friends who add special ornaments to our collection each Christmas. Remember the little things and take the time to stop and appreciate each gift whether it’s material, a real blessing or just a simple moment this Christmas. 

I have been overwhelmed with the amazing response and the job ahead of me is tough one, but there is still time today to nominate a family in need for my custom photography give away. Click here for details. I want to reach as many as I can with this effort so please keep the nominations coming. The deadline is tonight at 8 p.m. and I will announce the winner tomorrow on my blog so stay tuned. 

Is what Lael kept telling us she wanted on her birthday cake. Oh and it had to be chocolate. Only worth mentioning because she’s never had chocolate cake before, had only seen a short bit of the Nemo movie and had only been to one little kid birthday party. So, I was bound and determined to make sure her cake had all of those components since it was talked about for a month prior to her birthday. We told her we were going to Texas to see Nana and Papa for her birthday so the minute we got to their house she said “where birthday go guys?”. It was a long 5 days for her to wait until her party. The cake was a ton of work, but I had a blast making it! We sang happy birthday no fewer than 10 times that day as she kept saying “birthday song please” and she soaked it up every time! We tried to keep her presents simple, but somehow even with a tiny party she ended up with a ton of gifts – including a $50 bill from her great grandma! Since we were in Texas my family has been trickling in with her gifts on a near daily basis so she thinks it’s her birthday everyday and will likely be confused when Christmas is over and the gifts stop coming.

And…for all the moms out there…blue frosting = a blue diaper the next day!

Maybe just a little taste won’t hurt…

Those hats do seem pretty fun…

You can’t make me smile no matter how silly you guys get…

On the count of 10…

Watch out Momma!

We just returned from 10 days in Texas with Mike’s family and this was one of our many fun stops while we were there. One of the local parks is full of ducks so we grabbed a few loaves of bread and headed out with Michael’s 89 year old Nan for some good old fashioned family fun. Watching Nan light up as the ducks flocked to us was one of those moments that will stick with us. There were moments filled with little screams and lots of laughs as the ducks were pecking at my side and nibbling my fingers and all the while I’m trying to convince Lael not to be scared. Or the brilliant idea to bring the dog over the rock wall to enjoy the ducks with us – the ducks went crazy and headed straight for the water! It was a fun and very special simple trip! There will be several Texas posts to follow so stay tuned.  Enjoy! 

How fast the time flies…that you could love someone so much…that someone so little could impact us in so many fabulous ways…how much she has grown…that she is two! To think that she was just 5 pounds 4.7 ounces two years ago yesterday and was no bigger than our Christmas angel just blows me away. She’s amazing! Stay tuned for birthday pics.

Here’s a fun shot to send you into the weekend…Enjoy!

Baa Baa Black Sheep is currently Lael’s favorite song to dance to so it seemed like the perfect costume to make for her! I’m new to this so it was no surprise that everywhere the little lamb went she dropped little balls of fur. We used spray glue all night! I was able to get a few shots in the studio before we headed out and she thought it was super funny to pull the fur and throw it at me.

We started the night at the museum – they had big, live, scary, bugs to see and plastic bugs for the kids to take home. There was no candy so after a quick tour we headed out. Lael quickly got the hang of the trick or treating and realized that saying “hap halweeeeen” or “deee dooo (thank you)” got LOTS of candy! Her bag from Nana and Papa was so full she had to drag it down the hall. She had a blast with her cousins and the grownups had some great laughs watching such a tiny girl get or take handfuls of candy at every stop!