Alisha and kids

Alisha was in Seattle a couple weeks ago to stay goodbye to her Grandma Lydia before she passed away this last Sunday. We were so glad Alisha stayed with us so we could play with Sydnee, Kip and Kayla. I wish I had pictures of the girls' dance performance we enjoyed the night before they left. Watch out Disney Channel! Natty and Sydnee couldn't get enough of each other and EVERYBODY just wanted to hold Kip. Who could blame them? He's such a sweetie! It was great to head out for few hours shopping just Alisha and me on Saturday. It has been a long time since we've done that!

School Pictures

This year I decided to forgo school pictures and put my new camera to work, taking my own pictures of the kids as they start a new school year. They were great guinea pigs! I have yet to enlarge and print them out for my frames. So, we'll see if they turnout ok. Thanks kiddos for being patient with your amatuer mommy photographer.

Family night outside the temple

We took advantage of the last, warm, sunny evenings of Fall by going to the temple last Monday. I brought my camera in case we wanted to take a few pictures...but that ended up being the theme of our trip...photos at the temple. Some are a little crazy, some are a little cheezy, but all show how much fun we had!
The Seattle Temple has some beautiful bronze statues. We decided to see how close we could replicate them in real life!"...I love to see the Temple...I'm going there some day..."I can't take credit for any of these pictures...Tim did a great job behind the lens!

Go Green Geckos

Sophia tried soccer for the first time this Fall and is loving it. The season is almost over as quickly as it came. But, we have been enjoying her Tuesday the Thursday games. Go Green Geckos!

"Once in a lifetime"

Last Saturday night was incredible! Tim bought 2 tickets for us to celebrate our anniversary early and go to the Keith Urban concert at the Tacoma Dome. Keith Urban is probably my favorate musician. Tim ended up coming down with a stomach bug and couldn't go. So, Becky took his ticket and we enjoyed a girls night out! He gave a great concert...very cool, down to earth guy with an incredible voice that sounds even better in person! He played all over the Tacoma Dome...on stage, in the middle of the floor, and even in the crowd. He walked all through the ground floor. We were close enough that Becky actually reached out and touched him! (she called it "Keith Sweat!")

The opening act was Little Big Town and they also gave a rockin' performance to get things warmed up. They came back out on stage to sing with Keith half way through the concert.

Last Summer Hurrah!

Our last camping trip of the summer was over to Spokane, WA. We enjoyed camping with nightly outdoor movie nights at the campground, back to school shopping and lake fun. Tim and and the kids made it a great birthday for me! Here a few highlights from the trip.Becky and Audrey tubing! Dad game them a good ride!

Grammy and Audrey during family dinner where we celebrated 3 birthdays (Aunt Dana, Lauren's friend,Colin and me)
Bella loved being near the lake, but not in the lake. We found out she can swim if she really had to!

Aunt Sandrine kayaking with Celeste. Here are some random car pictures...things get a little crazy after traveling too long!Becky trying to sleepNatty has no trouble sleeping!Sophia sleeping?...no way! Time to pose for the camera!Crossing the Gorge

distracted

I've been a way for a bit...getting comfortable with my birthday present...my new camera, which I have been LOVING! Thank you, Tim! It inspired me to bet back into my hobby, take some more artistic shots, and start another blog just with my photography that I think is somewhat worthy of having a blog of it's own. http://jolierodriguezphotography.blogspot.com/

I'm even going to forgo the school pictures this year and do it myself. We'll see how that turns out! But, Becky has been asking where the end of the summer lake pictures are...so I better get back to blogging so she can snag them and put them on her MySpace and Facebook. Here a couple first shots with my new camera...

Natty is a sport for letting me use her as my photo guinea pig

Bella's grown a bit, she is now 7 mos. old