please mom,

no more pictures....today. I know you got your new lens and everything, but I'm tired!

this is what avery would have said today if she could talk.

the weekend

the weekend was a blast....a much needed cabin getaway without the kiddos. After the hardest semester of our lives, we were able to call both grandma's and arrange to get away for a nice drive, and listen to music, instead of a kids movie. This was our third year that we have been on a cabin getaway. It's a nice birthday present every year, but it's also nice to gather my thoughts and goals and really START OVER the new year. Mark and I have so much fun together. we both bring something we can't live without for two days. a camera, and a guitar.

mark acting goofy, while I am.....doing the same. It was THE PERFECT day for pictures. I didn't do any editing on any of these!


On the way to a restaurant...crossing the street. I almost got ran over. I didn't look behind me and before I knew it, a loud honk ran me off to the sidewalk!


our cute cabin. The place we rent from has like 5 different cabins. We try a new one out every year. They all have hot tubs on a covered porch in the back. the scenery is so beautiful. we slept in until 11.


Something I love to do while on these getaways is to try new things with my camera. This was taken while a train was going by. I tried to capture the lights of the train on the front...and the motion of it going by so fast.


On the way to see "the curious case of benjamin button," we saw this oil rig. It was so dark, and I tried to catch all of the ambient light I could. It really looked amazing.


what does a photographer do on a vacation with no kids to capture? she makes her husband do it.


we were greeted by this beautiful dog every morning outside our cabin. It's the owners dog. We named him Marley. I haven't even seen that movie yet by the way.


a portrait thanks to my tripod.


I got a new TOY... a lens. I've only taken a couple pictures with it and here's how it came out. straight out of the camera. (SOOC) I am STOCKED to say the least. I just used a little lamp, no flash, and it came out pretty darn sharp for having a low shutter speed.....of like 5! (photo lingo) I'm so excited. maybe I'll sell my other sweet lens....

the reMARKable foundation

About a year and a half ago, a very dear family friend, Mark Evans was injured in a motorcycle accident. He is now a quadriplegic; paralyzed from the chest down. He is an amazing father of four, and a wonderful husband to his wife Maria. My mom and dad and a few of their friends decided to start a fun run to raise money for mark's expenses. this was the second annual "Run, Walk, and Roll." It was so great to see so much support that everyone has for mark and his family. Here are a few pics of the event!


dylan~ his love for ballons still stands true AND his love for candy that is hanging out of his pockets. avery and my dad snuggling


LOVE this picture of my brother and his son trey. Trey is very photogenic....for some reason my kids didn't get that, but anyway, he'll just smile and put his arm around you. So sweet.


The boys....guarding (and eating) the candy


Mark and his wife Maria

me, the boys, mark (the runner) and trey. I totally rolled out of bed and didn't even have makeup on or my hair done, but I thought this was a cute "typical" photo with kids....looking all directions or with their eyes closed!

I caught avery smiling at my brother...and I thought it was so adorable!


the mind behind all of this...my wonderful mother. She always puts so much hard work and effort into making the best events!!! and, marnie and her girls! Thanks for all those who supported and ran this year!

quote for life

Take off the lens cap, stupid.

                 - Anonymous


I was going through some of my favorite anonymous quotes, and I came across this one that I absolutely LOVE......only because it's the story of my life.

something I can't live without

my girls....
We get together atleast once a month and chat all night long while eating delicious brownies and milk. We talk about anything from politics to our kids and everything in between. Kids seems to always be the topic of choice, since, let's face it...they are our lives! We talk about how much we love them and the cute things they say, but also how much we would love to leave them and go on a vacation just to get our head back on straight again. We love to chat....we love to laugh. we all have to sit on the same couch if that couch allows, and a blanket is a must. I don't know what I would do without my girls. They are all so amazing. amazing mothers, amazing wives, amazing friends. This picture was from a couple weeks ago when we got together for a breakfast with our kids. This was the first get together with our kids, and it wasn't too bad since there was lots of yummy food, toys and a mini bouce house to keep them entertained. We then got together last night for a birthday dinner (no kids) and chatted the night away. It was great. I love my girls!


here are our kiddos... minus 2 who were in school and avery who was asleep.

what a blessing

These pictures are a surprise for my mom. I've been waiting and waiting until avery could fit into this...my blessing dress when I was blessed at 6 months old. My mom hand made this dress for me when I was a baby and to have avery wear this was something very special to me. It makes me think of what a wonderful family I have. The most amazing parents, and amazing brothers. Being a parent now myself, I can't help but think of what patient and humble people my parents were when they were raising us crazy kids. Such great examples. They taught me everything I know. They taught me to always choose the right and to think for myself. They taught me to love and serve. How thankful I am to have such a wonderful mom, now that I see what it's like to have a daughter of my own. It's an incredible feeling. I am always wondering how in the world she raised 5 kids. This is for you mom and dad. avery wearing my blessing dress that you made me years ago just makes me think of how lucky I am to have parents like you. thank you for all that you've have done to make me a better person, mother, wife, daughter and friend. love you.



p.s., yes, I did make a print for you mom. I'll see you in a couple days:)

a daily reminder

I need to try and tell myself to do this everyday...atleast once! another goal to add to the new year. baby girl is almost 8 months! with no sign of any teeth! I don't mind really, they look so different when they get teeth! but then you get used to it and they're still so stinkin cute!!!

christmas: spitzer family

After the live nativity with marks family, we then go to my parents house to continue the tradition of the ginger bread house making competition. The last two years my dad has gone creative (and sneaky) on us and pulled other "props" to win. My oldest brother Quentin usually comes in second with his creativity as well. As for me, this year I accidently glued the sides of the house in the wrong order. So I made it look like a modern style house with half a roof and then made a little banana tree. maybe next year.... after the competition, we go open our pajamas and the boys LOVED theirs!!! the fact that they had frogs all over them brightened their entire year. Right before we go to bed, my mom tells a story (with some help from my brother derek!) about santa and his many colored bags of toys. The kids loved it. And off to bed they went. Christmas morning came and the kids lit up with excitment. tractors, creative craft table, games, slinky's, frogs and more. Thanks mom and dad( i mean, santa) for another amazing year!

christmas eve:porter family

Christmas eve....is so much fun because mark and I have both are families here in the area. So,  christmas eve we had dinner at mark's parents with a fun white elephant gift exchange. We always love the see the bright green "nighty" return every year! We then host a nativity for all to see on university street in denton, texas. All of the grandkids dress up (thanks to the wonderful costumes made by ann!) and we head out to pose for the nativity scene.....with REAL ANIMALS!!! Everyone comed out to see and we chat, have hot chocoate and cookies,stand by the warm fire,  and pet the animals. Lamas, goats, shetlon ponies, sheep. Did I get it all? It's so much fun. Dylan and luke were the sheperds this year. They wouldn't have done a good job if they really WERE shepards since they were running all over the place and not keeping their animals protected! all in all, it's always fun to do this every chritmas eve. 

goals for 2009

As I look at other people's blogs and see their resolutions for this year, I think that maybe I should do the same. and since they're posted on my blog for many to see, I can really try hard to KEEP these goals!
1. always #1 on my list....... get into shape!!! which to me means...I'm thankful that I have a house with stairs. Because that's the most exercise I get all day.
2. stop buying Dove chocolates in BAGS! And just get a stick of them instead. ( I can already see it now....that won't happen.)
3. Never forget to show my husband how amazing he is and tell him how thankful I am that he is such a HANDY man!
4. Try to get down on the floor more often and wrestle with my boys. (seriously, that's all they want to do.)
5. Have more energy to get through life! but that can't happen unless I get #1 and #2 in line!
6. take more pictures? No, PRINT and ORGANIZE my thousands of pictures. 

7.get to church ON TIME. I can do this. Church starts at 8:30 for us this year. WHOA! That will be hard, but surely I can do it. It makes it a little easier since church is only 2 hours for the next 2 months because of the building being remodeled.
8. turn on my office light ON when I'm working. This will lead to carpel tunnel syndrome if I don't. (I seriously forget all the time! thanks to terin and brock for reminding me every time to do so.)
9. don't be afraid to go outside and get the mail when it's FREEZING insead of the usual.....wait until I get in the car to go to the store and THEN I'll drive up and grab it. I know I don't live in antartica, but I'm a TEXAN!

10. get dylan to eat more FOOD and less CANDY. teach him that candy is not something that we survive on. although, now that I think of it, he gets it from me. 

I think I'll stick to those for now. Here's to 2009!

family gathering

Every year all of the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, grandkids, moms, dads, etc... (or whoever can make it!) all meet together in waco. Well, this year EVERYONE was there except for three people who had legit excuses! Maybe I'll photoshop them in later! It was SO much fun! We meet at the church which is such a fabulous idea.....I mean really....the kids just run around and play in the gym! We eat tons of fabulous food and catch up on eachothers hectic lives. This year may be the last time for a LONG time that we were all there together. all of us are married with children and it's just gotten harder to have everyone! So, here's to the good ol days in waco!

all about the hats

This weekend I went to the mall and found these hats on clearance and I had to get them...only because there's not one little boy that doesn't look good in a hat!!! Luke wasn't having much fun, but dylan was showing me all of his "many faces" he can do!! we also noticed that dylan has quite the bite! He's going to need some serious dental work done in the years to come! These boys are so crazy together! atleast it was 80 degrees here in texas, so I threw them outside and mark and I preceded to work on staining our kitchen cabinets. It's a job that nobody should ever have to go through! But I know it will be worth the hard work!