labor day weekend (birthday edition)

September is full of birthdays for our family.

First my sister...then Michael...then my mom.

This year, we decided to celebrate my sister and Michael's birthday together since they are only 1 day apart.  

They decided they wanted to eat at Ted's Montana Grill.

Michael's mom and grandma came to help celebrate, making the following picture 4 generations!  I don't know why Hunter wasn't in this one...bummer.

Tanner is a daddy's boy these days.  He is always so excited to see Michael.

After dinner we came back to our house for cake and ice cream and a little hanging out.

Here is my cute little niece, Scarlett, with her mom and dad.  She is so stinking cute.

 Click HERE if you missed her introduction to the world.

Aunt Kendy was a good sport and played with the kiddos...

until, of course, they decided swinging was a lot more fun.

It was a big night for Hunter.  He decided he was big enough to push himself on the swing.  

Mr. Independent learned how to pump his legs so that he could go higher and higher all.by.himself.  

He was very proud.

And then the crisp fall air swooped us all inside and we sang happy birthday and ate yummy cake.

A perfectly simple celebration.

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And on a side note, in case you missed the update on the last post, the fundraiser for the Johnsons is FULL but I will be doing another one in November.  If you would like to be put on the wait list for this weekend's shoot please leave a comment here or on the post below! 

And for those of you that have appointments...check back on Thursday for more specifics! 

31

Happy Birthday to the love of my life...

and the hero to these munchkins...

Can't imagine life without you.

xoxo

the big exciting fundraiser...

Alright...so listen up.

The details.  finally.

The Johnsons, an amazing family, have decided to adopt.

Julie has been a dear friend of mine since our college days and we have walked a lot of life together.

She and Ian have two beautiful children, Ori and Calla.

God has called them...quite strongly I might add...to expand their hearts and make room for a sweet little one from China.  You can read more about their journey to adoption here, here, here, and here.

(Photo Credit: Ian Johnson)

Now for you and me.

I do photography.

I used to do it a lot...

weddings, seniors, families, children, babies.

Then life got busy and I slowed down quite a bit with photography...

but in the past few years I have started it back up again.

Slowly. No advertising. All word of mouth. One or two every month.

It has been perfect for me.

But when things like this adoption come up...all i can think about is helping.  somehow.  Contributing. somehow.  Making an impact. somehow...

and photography is the only way i know how.

So here is the deal...

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10th I will be doing an all day photo shoot at
The Mining Museum.

I am going to be doing 30 minute mini sessions for $55.

You will receive 10-12 edited photos on a CD with a copyright release for your printing pleasure.


Did you read that closely?

A mini shoot for $55!!!!  That is a STEAL!

I normally charge $200 for a session...we are talking $55!!!!

And it is going to a great cause...bringing home a CHILD to a forever family.

ALL of the money I raise will go straight to the Johnson's adoption.

You get photos.  The Johnson's get one step closer to bringing their little one home.

Everyone wins.

(All photos shown were taken at The Mining Museum by Laura Moffat Photography)

Love wins.

A few things to remember:
- These are mini shoots.  That means you need to decide what type of photo you would most like to capture in the time slot.  (example: If you are hoping to get a family picture then that is exactly what you will get! woowhoo!  But  I will not have time to do a family picture, kids individual pictures, siblings together, etc.  Make sense? If you want more than one grouping please purchase two mini sessions)
- Remember that this a fundraiser and we are blessing another family tremedously! I won't stop you if you would like to contribute anything additionally :)
- We are going to have fun! 

So...if you are interested, leave a comment below.  I will get in touch with you and go over available time slots.  

Again,
Saturday, September 10th, 2011 @ The Mining Museum
30 minute mini session for $55
10-12 edited photos on CD with copyright

Let the sign-ups begin!!

*******UPDATE********
We are FULL to the BRIM for the fundraiser!! With more requests than I can accommodate at this time it looks like I will be doing another day sometime in November!  Check back for more information as it gets a little closer! 

keep those eyes open

so the blogging thing hasn't quite gone as planned but at least I've been better, right?  

I meant to post on Monday about a super awesome fundraiser that I'm putting together for a super awesome family...

but in my not so super awesome fashion, I neglected to get my act together.

I have lots of excuses...

like grocery shopping that I had put off for far too long.  You know... the shopping trip that you dread when you are out of everything.  I couldn't put it off any more when I realized I was down to my last diaper for T-bone (this is the lovely nickname Michael has decided to use for his son...it's actually sticking.  oops.) When I went to put that last lucky diaper on him, it ripped.  lovely.

desperate times call for...painters tape.

it held.  barely.  

but at the end of the day (and it did feel like an entire day of shopping) we had a box of diapers and a few other essential items...like food.

And someone has also been a bit growly about the gazillion teeth that seem to all be coming in at the same time...I'm not naming names...but that certain someone has been a bit clingy.

cute...but clingy.

And then there was the flood that happened in my sister's basement.  big huge bummer.  stayed up late trying to move some water off of their floating carpet.  it didn't work.  they called professionals.  we decided we could help a little better by watching my cutie-pie nephew, Sawyer, instead.

All in all, I've neglected posting details about the fundraiser and keeping up all together because...well...we've been busy with life.

silly, stupid, awesome, funny, crazy, blessed life.

You will forgive me, right??? 

Cause I don't want you to miss the important fundraiser coming up that will impact another family's life...

you have to watch like crazy for it...

because, like I said,  you DON'T WANT TO MISS IT.

It involves raising money for this incredible family so they can adopt a sweet little one...

and you will get something awesome in return.

Get your sign-up fingers ready, cause it is going to fill up fast!

these two...

the source of most of my headaches...

and the source of most of my joy...

seriously love them.

pool days {the fun}

well, it's finally come to an end.   

2 rounds of swim lessons for Hunter and lots of summer sun at the pool.

swim lessons were in the morning and we would hang out, eat lunch, and let the kids run around until they reached total meltdown...

then home for afternoon naps.

it was awesome.

here is a little recap of our pool fun in pictures...

we are all going to miss it.

not quite ready for it to be over.

playing nice

sometimes we zip up the netting on the trampoline and force the kids to "play nice" while we work on the yard.

sometimes it works.

sometimes it doesn't.

tonight it worked.

chasing, giggles, and lots of fun.

cute little rascals.