home grown UTAH fun

we hit up the state fair this afternoon with our favorite family

and great times were had by all. 

i was a bit skeptical at first seeing as the last time i attended ( i was required as being a member of the FFA. don't ask... ) i puked after walking through the livestock housing. 

however, it seems now seven years and two children later i can stomach much more.

go figure.

 :)

AND..

 let's get talking about the crowd this shindig 

brings in (best people watching you'll ever find) and then let's truly get discussing the FOOD.

 holy moly, i nearly died and went to heaven. 

i will love any joint that serves hot, gooey delicious funnel cake, with a side of thick n' heavy cheesy loaded potato skins.

mmmmmm. mmmm. mmmmmmmm!

are you drooling? 

i most certainly am.

 all over again.

in the words of Rachel Ray

YUMMO.

 

some highlights of the afternoon were;

  the food (obviously), 

great company, 

minie's joyous outburst of " baby steak!!" upon entering the Beef Cow portion of the fair (how she made the connection i don't know, but obviously The Case For Animal Rights holds no meaning to her), 

trevan's drunk and most likely homeless new friend that wouldn't leave him alone,

burlap riding down the most incredibly fun slide ever. 

 baby animals, 

and a glorious trip on the ferris wheel.

ohh...

and i whipped out my ever so trusty point and shoot and realized how much i've missed it!

when else can you take something such as this? 

and it was such a breeze to just snatch out, snap the shot, and move on. 

and she also takes a mighty decent picture if i do say so myself.

powershot SD800, 

you have been missed.

she can't really help being adorable.

nor she.

:)

trevan and his buddy.

told you so...

what i'm afraid my lady humps might just look like these days.

*sigh*.

ilovemykids.ilovemykids.ilovemykids.

it's soo cute kennan and i have matching strollers.

it sort of brings a tear to a glass eye.

hitler youth

as we affectionately call them these days.

minie + jude

=

 great destruction and all things abominable.

 minie loved herself a little snap and shoot time as well.

she's got quite the eye if you ask me.

so there you have it.

i blogged two whole days in a row. blogging rut, what??

you know you love me

xoxo, gossip girl

-brooke

MIA and such.

it's seems i have lost my blogging bug for the time being. 

i don't know... the shenanigans going on in our day-to-day lives just don't seem exactly fun and witty...

nothing in my life is much busier, but it all feels A LOT crazier. i hate it when dustin is in school.

my week drags and drags. i hate it when the girls don't see him for nearly 72 hours in a row, and i hate how that it turn forces them to prefer me over him. he tries to help when he can, but both girls scream and cry for mama and usually by the time we seemed to have worked it out so we both feel nice and loved by all, the whole cycle starts over again. the thing is, i don't really mind it. but i want to mind it.  it also postpones my time to actually do any work photography related, throwing me even more behind than i normally function. i've set a new goal in my life to be in bed by mid-night. this is a huge step for me. i have suffered insomnia since i was a little girl. i go in and out of sleeping funks and it just seems that for the past almost 2 years i have hardly been able to sleep at all. yes, yes... the waking babies do play a major part, but even when i reeeaally, really try to get some decent rest i just can't. period. 

for a good while there it worked out quite nicely with the budding photography business and all. i was mom by day, and photographer by night... all night. 3-4 AM were considered normal bed times, and i could book 4-5 shoots/week with a turn around of proofed and polished photos in about a week. purdy darn good if you ask me..

 but those lost zzz' s and hours of proofing into the wee hours did not come without a price. 1+ years of that night after night seem to have finally caught up with me, and i just feel exhausted. not particularly tired, but just generally weary. my joints ache, i get ornery much quicker and from the hours of 8AM-12PM i am a zombie. i have finally decided to put the cabosh to such non-sense. midnight bed-time feels like a dream, and with BOTH babies finally sleeping through the night.. well, i am slowly becoming a human again. but i fear it may be at the price of a booming photography business. i am convinced any decent photographer must have figured out burning the candle at both ends, and i am convinced i am entirely jealous of such knowledge and skill. 

*sigh*...

only in dreams...

so...

 if you are still waiting on pictures from yours truly, please know i am working as quickly as i possibly can right now, and i do apologize so.

and so enough of that. 

i all of the sudden do feel like i have more to write and blog about... you know, crazy dealings and mishaps with the little ladies of the house.

  but alas the previous problem at hand presents itself, 

so a photo-proofing i must go. let me tell you.. 

it's one hot friday night over here. :)

perhaps more tomorrow then?

i know you can't hardly wait.

until then..

-brooke

saturday fun

here is why we love the zoo:

because this could very well be my third child. and i love them.

come on... 

you know minie (and dustin for the matter) looks just like her.

and i say that with the most love and affection possible.

 giraffe carousel rides with grandpa..

seeing minie measure up to her not so distant relative.

the lion drinking fountain.

really,

 who doesn't think on this with anything but fond memories?

being with my daughters

this very frightening gigantic elephant.

kissing cousins on the train.

smooshy, smooshy babies.

having just as much fun as the kids...

and the guaranteed wonderful afternoon nap to follow.

i mean really...

who doesn't enjoy the zoo??

much thanks to dustin's parents,

our saturday was a splendid one .

:)

hope yours found you as wonderful as ours...

and here's to one more day of it all!

you know it's a tad concerning when...

              ....   'Donalds (as we call it at our joint) is consumed two meals in a row.

today such a travesty took place.

"really?" you might ask. 

and indeed.

it is the truth.

obviously, i am a very healthy mom,

 and yes 

most days the 2 year old rules the roost.

what can you do?

dust started back to school today (boo) so just me and the little ladies it was. 

feeling rather lonely

 i decided to not stay home,

 and thought a picnic in the park sounded loverly. 

upon entering the kitchen to concoct said picnic i soon realized our grocery situation, 

and after a simple suggestion from Mins, off to 'Donalds it was... again.

when i was little i loved myself a happy meal or two.

 i remember one time pulling through the drive when the cashier looked at my mom with a friendly smile, and while handing over some McNuggs informed her that "She loved her new haircut, and how were things going?"... 

today as my all too familiar cashier and i exchanged friendly smiles and nods i couldn't help ignore that de ja vu moment.

*sigh*......

i just embrace it.

the girls couldn't have been more thrilled to be out,

 and i thoroughly enjoyed swinging them "high-ya" in between squeals.

having two is so very hard sometimes.

but sometimes, 

it's so very perfect.

meet minie's new boyfriend...

Diego.

she loves this boy.

i mean loves him.

dora holds no flame...

today nannie bought her her very own "diego-go", 

and she is smitten.

so far he has;

napped right along side her.. of course with his own blankie, and B,

rode right along side in the car-seat,

had his diaper changed,

coat changed,

has been hand fed french-fries,

swung in the baby swing,

 made an evening stroll through target,

and quite nearly took a soak in the tub.

and this is all since 2 pm this afternoon.

 i'm telling you... it's love

she holds conversations with him, 

and doesn't ever seem to mind that his response is always

"Hola, I'm Diego! What does the baby bear say?"

yes.

Diego.

go figure...

i love you mins.

i hate when our daddy is gone. we miss him like the moon,

but truly.. i couldn't ask for better company.

my baby girls,

i love you.

Memory Walk

Hello All,

First time Blogger, long time viewer. I volunteered to be a team captain for the Utah Memory Walk on Sept. 19th. The Memory Walk is a Fund Raising event sponsored by the Utah Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. The walk will be at 8:30am on Sept.19th at Murray High School. I would love to have any of you join my team and/or donate to the cause. You don't have to necessary walk, however the event will have a Kids Zone, Giveaways and Vendor Booths. Everyone on my team will receive a T-shirt and depending on how much we raise, a hat and a sweat shirt.I will have Booth at the event under my company's name JM Research. The DR I work with and I have a Alzheimer's Research study that we are currently looking for patients to get involved. JM Research consists of Dr. Johnston and myself, so I could really use the support.

Let me know if any of you would like to donate and/or come out and walk with me. You can donate via Website or check or cash. The AZ Assoc. provides each team with a website to raise money. Mine can be found HERE 

 (Go to the TEAM RANK box on the Right Hand Site of the page.

Clink the "more -->>" link
Scroll down and find my Team "JM RESEARCH" Clink on my Team

This will lead you to my TEAM Page and you can register to walk and donate using the Join 

Team link.)

Thanks Everyone- 

Dustin

*{edited note from me... brooke}

 this is dustin's second version of this. he typed a first, and upon finding out about such sneaky behavior of blog hacking, i over-reacted and got really mean and scary at him. he then proceeded to the computer and deleted his initial post. 

30 minutes later i felt really guilty.. this is his blog too after all.

so, yeah.. i have come on here to try and patch up my wrong. he posted this on a family blog about a week ago, so i suppose it's a sloppy second.

what can i say? we are married, and sometimes we fight like cats and dogs.

regardless...

i'm sorry i got so mad babe.

i love you.

and truly... this is a great cause, and my hubster has been working VERY hard to pull this all together. any support would be greatly appreciated.

that's all

:)

how big is poppy???

SOOO big!

miss louise is 9 months old and is every bit amazing as she looks.

she is truly all things wonderful wrapped up into one delicious pop-tart..

and i couldn't love her more.

she woke up with one crazy head of hair yesterday and was happy as one gets.

how could i resist?

plus...

... she's started doing a little bit of this.

i am so proud of her.

it has been a rough few days as the transition from being stationary to moving has taken place

but she's taken the tumbles like a pro.

she loves me most, and i love that most.

she sleeps on her belly and drools like a bear.

she plays pat-a-cake, how big, and peek-a-boo

she talks like chewbacca,

and thinks no one is sillier than her big sister.

she's hates napping,

she smiles for pictures,

kisses her daddy

and

is so, so, so loved.

poppy louise..

thank you for coming to us.

you are just what we need.

xoxo,

mama

cruisin' for a bruisin'

don't mind her and her bad self.

 princess protection has never looked so good.

minie,

xxooxxoo

i 

love

you.

why we LOVE giveaways

aren't these two cute???

i think so...

i feel lucky to have such darling people spying on my blog.

bottom line....

i will be doing more giveaways.

thanks jake & bryton for being my first winners.

fun was had!

:) :)

new do

scraggles here was in dire need of a new do.

much to popular belief this little one does not naturally rock the shirley temple ringlets i like to lead you all to believe.

no, no..

quite the opposite in fact.

she was sadly burdened with my genes in the hair department,

and her hair is oh so very straight.. and oh so very thin.

poor little lass...

i have spent countless hours curling those strawberry locks,

and as of recent i just couldn't muster the energy to keep it up any longer.

so off with the length it was.

kennan cut her this most amazing bob,

and turns out, 

mins was born to wear it.

who knew??

it some how makes me love her even more..

crazy little gremlin that she is.

and how can this one be forgotten??

she on the other hand has gorgeous, thick hair

that lays nice, 

looks nice,

 and shines nice.

how can these two be sisters,

AND

both mine??

who knows...

but i love them to the moon.

even if she is growing out of having her picture taken.

:)

no rhyme...

or reason.

Bear Lake 09' 

i'm just tired of seeing my last post pop up every time i open the computer.

is anyone else caught in this summer-time rut??

i do actually have things to post about (like a smashing new hair cut of a certain 2 year old. trust me.. it's perfection), 

but have had almost zero desire to 

even stay indoors long enough to get on the computer.

i've even been too lazy to take pictures...

strange??? 

yes.

but,

sometimes i just need to be mom.

and that's it.

no photographer,

no house maid.

just minie and poppy's.

mama posted this poem on her wonderful blog,

and besides it being perfect alone,

it also fit perfect for my post tonight.

i had to steal it and share..

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

-- Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

*sigh*

indian summer... 

don't leave too fast.

xoxo