this poor neglected blog is about to get inundated with photos.

we just got home from a much needed family vacation.

i took too many photos to post but as i work through the editing process, i wanted to post some of my favorites.

enjoy!

we’ve only had our family portraits professionally done twice in our 16 years of marriage.

that’s pretty pathetic.

i’m always waiting until i lose that last 10 pounds, or until we’re done having kids, or until the weather gets nicer, or until we have a free weekend.

well, i haven’t lost that last 10 pounds yet.  the weather certainly wasn’t nicer. but we most definitely are done having kids and we just happened to have a free weekend over Christmas break while visiting my family in Utah.

so, we got our family portraits taken.

in fact we had an extended family portrait taken as well.

by a fabulous photographer, Ginnie Johnson.

she was able to hide the fact that it was only about 20 degrees out. and that baby Hudson was crying during most of the shoot.

but most importantly she took a picture of me that I actually like, despite the remaining 10+ poounds.  and that, my friend, is a feat in and of itself.

thank you, Ginnie!

challenging.  that’s how i’d describe trying to keep up with 3 different blogs.  crazy.  that’s what i was when i decided to keep 3 different blogs.  especially when 1 of them has to be updated daily.

this is the blog getting the most neglect.  but that’s just the way it has to be for now.  my photography stuff goes on my business blog.  my photo of the day goes on my 365 blog.  so i guess everything else will end up on this blog.  the odds and ends.  fortunately there are plenty of those.  here’s the odds and end for today.

my very favorite cooking mags are everyday food and sunset magazine. sunset has some amazing houses in it too.  love that magazine.

maddy is planning meals for the next two weeks as an assignment for her church class.  she went through all of my favorite mags and came up with a yummy list.  i shopped and she is helping cook.

a few nights ago we had soupy black beans with shrimp.

she washed, chopped, sauteed, simmered and served the entire meal.

it was delicious.

on the menu tonight:  meatloaf and mashed potatoes!

My dad loved westerns, black licorice, honesty, hard work, extra starch on his shirts, growing giant pumpkins and beautiful roses, Diet Coke, golfing, Hawaii, and black fleece sweat pants. With pockets.

Every Christmas his wish list would include the same fleece sweat pants. Black. With pockets. You see, my dad was the CEO and President of a major pharmaceutical company as well as a board member and Chair of several other companies. His career involved hard work, stress, travel, lecturing, writing, managing, developing, researching, and more hard work. When he left for the office every morning, after eating his daily banana and glass of skim milk, he walked out the door wearing a suit, a stiffly starched dress shirt, and a pair of Johnston and Murphy loafers.

He loved spending his weekends relaxing at home in the yard, moving rocks around the stream bed, cleaning the pool, walking around town with my mom and entertaining family. In his sweats. Black. Fleece. With pockets.

When he passed away in 2005, he had accumulated an impressive collection of business attire. Suits, ties, shoes, and stiffly starched shirts. There were even a few pairs of worn cowboy boots and hats. But what reigned supreme in his closet was sweats. Black. Fleece. With pockets. My wise mother tucked all this fleece away with a project in mind.

She spent this past year, planning, cutting, pinning, trimming, and quilting each of us daughters our very own quilt made from my dad’s black fleece sweats. With pockets. Inside each pocket was tucked a few momentos belonging to my dad. Business cards with his signature, a name badge from a convention, and one of his personalized golf tees.

It’s my favorite Christmas gift ever. I miss my dad and look forward to our reunion one day. Until then, I will always feel the love of my dad as I wrap his quilt around me. The one made of his fleece. Black. With pockets.

We survived Christmas and New Years and we are now back home, getting ready for the everyday routine.

It feels good.

Here’s a glimpse of the last two weeks:

The new year always brings with it the required

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

Ack!  New Year’s resolutions and I start out friendly enough but by mid-March we tend to part ways amicably with no hard feelings.

So this year, the only resolution I am making is my

Project 365

I will post one picture everyday for the entire year.

By the end of 2010 I should have a pretty good picture of what our year was like.

I’ve decided to park this project on a new blog.

You can find it HERE.

Happy 2010!!!

I think we have 9 days left, but I can’t be sure.

i’m swamped with last minute minutia.

by this weekend i should be ready to sit back and enjoy the Christmas season.  all 5 days that we’ll have left of it.

we really are trying to do advent every day.  but honestly, it’s spotty.

we did have a great time and made a monster of a mess last night when we made gift tags.

here’s a glimpse at the fun.  (don’t be fooled by the lack of smiles.  my kids are protesting the camera again.)

my good intentions were just that.  good intentions.

i’m way behind on my advent countdown.

there are too many things to do.

this whole count down business is making me nervous.

day 15 was spent online shopping.

day 14 didn’t happen because my kids staged a picket against having their picture taken for any more of my blog posts.

so that leaves us at day 13, i think.  i don’t even have a picture of bag #13.  oh well.

advent activity:  go out to eat together (my kids were back on board for this, although i did have to sneak some photos by shooting the reflection in the window)

our town leaves much to be desired.  true.  but this is the place the kids always want to go to if the opportunity arises.  best place for a burger, fries, cheeses sticks and a chocolate shake.

only 13 days until Christmas  (i think) !!!

advent activity:

take pictures of a favorite tradition

we unpacked the german Christmas candle carousel and lit it to make sure everything still worked.  the boys were fascinated by the spinning angels.  or maybe it was just the open flame.

only 16 days left before Christmas!

wow!  it is really creeping up on me this year.  i better get shopping!

advent activity:

go for a bike ride (where did these activity ideas come from?!!)

temperature outside:

ummm, we’re taking a pass on day 17.

only 17 more days until Christmas!!!

Advent Activity:

Drink hot cider

only eighteen days left before Christmas!

YIKES!

time’s tickin away.  i’m off to start my Christmas shopping.  i sure hope there’s something left at amazon!