last day of summer

Today marks the last official day of summer.

An early evening trip to the park seemed fitting.

My, oh my, how these two have changed in just a few summer months...

Hoping the warm weather isn't ready to leave for good but looking forward to the change of seasons.

Welcome, Fall.

prayers and pure joy

****important disclaimer - if avocados mashed on a baby's face gross you out, don't continue****

Sweet little Tanner is a big ol' copy cat these days.

He does everything his big brother does.

So, naturally, shortly after Hunter prayed for our dinner the other night and we began to eat, I wasn't shocked when I turned around to see Tanner praying.  He has prayed with us a hundred times before but usually his eyes are wide open and he is giggling and smiling.  But this time I was surprised to see how genuine and tender it was.  He bowed his head, folded his hands, closed his eyes, and started to pray.  I couldn't really understand his words but it was so precious.  He spoke softly and sweetly for a good 2 minutes. He was SO proud when he opened up his eyes and said "MEN!" (amen).

Such a precious moment I don't want to forget.

While he had everyone's attention he decided it would be a good time to make us laugh.  He would hold the spoon in his mouth, give us his goofiest grin, then laugh hysterically.  He thought he was sooooo funny.

He could NOT stop laughing.  And neither could his big brother.

Little goober. 

He brings so much joy to our home.

denver aquarium {with cousins!}

On Wednesday we had an astounding 4" of rain in just one day.

And our basement flooded. 

Well, not our whole basement, but one room.  

And so we worked well into the wee small hours...

pulling up carpet, fixing drains, praying the rain would STOP.

On Thursday, I was sick of water and I wanted to get out of the house...

so my sister and I took the munchkins to Denver to meet up with our cousins. 

We decided to go to...

The Denver Aquarium.  

Ha ha ha.  Does anyone else think that is funny?  

Anyway, we took these four hooligans (and baby Scarlett too) to run off some energy and look at some fish, sharks, and other exciting sea creatures.  

This generation of boys is quite a change from our generation of four girls!

They were all so cute playing together and running to the next thing.

I finally let Tanner out of the stroller and he was wide-eyed with wonder.

  

He loved all the "ishie!" (fishies) and just kept staring at the different aquariums.  He looked like such a little boy today.  Keeping up with the big kids and taking it all in.

We saw so many crazy huge fish, star fish, sea turtles, jellie fish, sting rays, sharks, and even tigers!!

We also got to see a few birds. This one performed for the boys by saying "hello," waving, and showing off his wings.  Hunter was in shock.  I kept asking him, "what do you think?" and he would just shrug his shoulders and throw out his hands.  So funny.

By far, the boys favorite thing to see were the Sharks.  They were quite impressive and those teeth sure do look scary up close!  Hunter said a few times, "they can't break that glass and come eat us....can they?"

Hunter and Sawyer also loved the sting rays and were able to pet them.  Hunter has been a sting ray all day today...saying, "mom, pet my wings!"

The kids had fun and we enjoyed spending some time with our cousins, Jacque and Jenna.  

Jacque won a gold star for the day...at 9 months pregnant she certainly was a trooper.  

She is a total rock star...

And that is the end.

a huge thank you {and a sneak peek}

A BIG thank you to all who participated in the fundraiser for the Johnson family.  

It was a great day! 

We were able to raise $665 for the Johnson's adoption!! 

I loved seeing familiar faces and meeting new families.

It was a beautiful day.

I am sorting through just under 3,000 photos from the day...phew!

It may be 3 or 4 weeks before I am able to get images to everyone so I thought I would do a quick sneak peak for all the families that participated. 

(I'm not sure why all the pictures look so pixeled -- is that a word?-- the images won't print this way but are showing up in blogger like this.  I don't know why.  Just to give me a headache, I suppose.  Does anyone know why? It's making me crabby and a little crazy!)

These pictures barely scratch the surface!!

Can't wait for you all to get your images and be reminded of the blessing you were in the life of an orphan and a very precious family.

Thank you.

From the bottom of my heart.

Now...I better get to work!

fundraiser details

The photo shoot is just a few days away!

A few instructions:

1.  Please arrive 5-10min prior to your scheduled shoot.  I am booked back to back and there is not much wiggle room.  If you are late, it will eat into your 30min shoot and we want every minute to count!!

2.  When you enter the Mining Museum, please follow the road all the way down to the parking lot.  Park there and walk back towards the red barn, close to the where the donkeys are roaming (it is to the left of the road you enter on).  The grounds are not large so you should be able to spot me when driving in.  Please do not go into the museum and ask for me...they will have no idea where I am :)  

3.  Bring cash or your check book.  I will not be set up to take any credit card payments.  

A few suggestions:

1.  Red is a predominant color on the grounds...lots of red barns and buildings.  Keep this in mind while planning your outfits.  Colors such as orange, pink, purple, green, etc may not be complimentary.  There is plenty of diversity on the grounds if you have those colors on but we will more than likely be shooting in the grassy fields rather than the barns if that is the case.  If you would like the more rustic look of the barns I would recommend using whites, grays, blacks, blues, tans, or yellows in your attire. 

2.  Layers are a good thing :) Layers give us more to work with and more variety in our shoots.  Cardigans, scarves, and sweaters (over polo shirts) give us more options.  Bring them if they are convenient :)

3.  Plan to have fun.  I promise I will make this as painless as possible.  Don't worry about grumpy teenagers or children.  I will do my best to capture their personalities and roll with the punches.  You should too.  No stressing allowed.

And last but certainly not least...

PLEASE MAKE SURE I HAVE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION.  

If I do not have a cell phone number for you yet please make sure you e-mail it to me (mlmoffat@msn.com).  This will be invaluable if we have any changes or delays due to weather or other circumstances.  Feel free to contact me with any other questions you may have.  

Can't wait to see you all this Saturday!!

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.

*****************************************

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!