Party like it's 1999 and Baby Food

Ty had his 10 year high school reunion this past weekend. Crazy how fast time flies! Ty and I both really had a good time. We went to the homecoming football game on Friday night then to a little get together afterwards. (That was the latest I have stayed up in I don't even remeber how long!) Saturday there was a lunch at the park where everyone brought their kids, and then Saturday night there was a special dinner and a little program just for couples. Ty was really lucky to have gone to high school with so many awesome people. The reunion was fun for me, because I actually knew a lot of the people he graduated with and their spouses from EAC. I got to see Ryan Innes, Brad Smith, Britini and Derek Kartchner, and Heather and Jake Lee just to name a few. I wish Zach Halverson and Kevin and Brittany Gibbons could have been able to make it. I'm excited for my own reunion even more now. Ty will probably not have as much fun at mine as I did at his, because I think he only knows one person I graduated with. My reunion also probably won't have as much good clean fun. I wish I had more pictures to show all of you that we went to EAC with. I just didn't feel like whipping out my camera, because men really hate to have their pictures taken. The second one was taken with Ty's blackberry.

Ty and Brad with their little boys. These two guys were absolutely inseparable when I first met them at EAC.

Ty, Derek Kartchner, and Ryan Innes

Grady had his first taste of solid food Tuesday night. I think he enjoyed it, but he still has a lot to figure out still when it comes to eating off a spoon!


I just loved this expression!

As far as my photography goes, I know that I'm getting better and learning a lot, but I've still got a long ways to go before I get to where I want to be. These were my favorites from my last shoot with Erin.

I liked this one, but his front eye is slightly out of focus.

I liked this one too, but I just with you couldn't see the reflection of me holding a camera in his eyes.

Fohawk and a few pictures

Today was one of those days. I sat down at the computer to download the pictures from my camera that I had taken that morning, and the little box popped up that said I had 68 pictures ready to be downloaded. 68pictures!!! It wasn't even noon yet, but already I had taken 68 pictures of my kids!!! As I clicked the OK button to start downloading them I thought to myself "What in the world am I going to do with all the pictures!". It's not like I set out to do a photo shoot of my kids or anything. First I just wanted to get a picture of Luke after breakfast with oatmeal all over himself. Then I styled his hair in a fohawk and wanted some pictures of that. Then we went on a walk and I brought my camera along. I don't even know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that I love almost all of the pictures, because now I can't just go through and delete a bunch of them. Please tell me I'm not the only person who has ever done this!


Anyways, back to the fohawk. I've decided to let Luke's hair grow out this fall and maybe winter. I had always been a sucker for guys with long hair when I was a teen and young adult. (Not ugly, gross, scary long but just that nice long disheveled look) So of course, I marry into a family that has the philosophy of "the shorter a boys hair the better." Don't get me wrong, I do like Luke with short hair and I think it's great for summer, but I just really want to try something new. I don't know exactly what I'm going for, but today Luke and I both had fun experimenting with the fohawk. It makes me smile, but I think it might make him look a tad too feminine. What do you think?




A couple days ago I got to go out on another photo shoot with Erin. It was for a little boy who had just turned one. He was so adorable with that little hat! Every time I go with Erin I learn so much. Here are a couple of my favorites. They aren't nearly as good as Erin's, but I can see an improvement in my work after spending time with her. Check out her pictures here.

3 Things to Blog About

This past week has been suprisingly busy. Our days were full of lots of fun things to do. It was really nice for a change.

First, We celebrated Ty's birthday this past week. I won't tell you how old he is, but let me just say that we only have one more year to "live it up" before he is officially old! It was a nice evening, nothing too extravagant. My mother-in-law watched our kids while I cooked Ty dinner at home. It was amazing actually being able to carry on a conversation with Ty for a change instead of just listening to Luke's jabbering the whole time. After dinner we brought the boys back home and had Ty's favorite, brownies and ice cream.




Second, Britini, a friend of mine that I visit teach, just had a new adorable little baby girl. I asked her if she would let me take some newborn pictures of the baby as a gift for her and practice for me. She agreed, and I really enjoyed taking the pictures. The baby was only 6 days old and was just sooo sweet. I can hardly believe that Grady was that small just 3 1/2 months ago! It was a great learning experience for me. Here's a couple of my favorites. Thanks Britini!





Third, Friday was Fair Day. Can you believe that the kids in this area actually get a day off of school for the County Fair?! I think that's pretty cool! In the morning I took Luke and Grady to the parade with all of Ty's family. I really enjoyed watching Luke get so excited about seeing the horses, tractors, floats, and fire engines going down the street. Needless to say, he also went crazy over all the candy that was thrown in the streets. Friday evening we went to the fair. On the way there, Ty and I were trying to get Luke excited about all the livestock animals he was going to see. When we pulled up he excitedly yelled "I'm going to see a flamingo!" We'll we didn't see any flamingos, but we did see plenty of cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, etc. to keep Luke happy. I know I need to count my blessings that at this stage in his life Luke is satisfied with just seeing all the animals and is not begging to ride all the over-priced rides. I'm sure next year we'll be going on a lot of those rides.


Luke waiting for the parade to start with a few of his cousins.


This is how Grady watched the parade in my mother-in-law's arms.

Luke admiring a pig with dad.

Grady and ducks

Luke getting up close and personal with a cow.

A Day with LeMae and Ecksen

On Saturday while our husbands went to the ASU football game together, I got to spend the day with my sister-in-law LeMae and her adorable 11 month old son Ecksen. I'm so glad my little boys have so many cousins so close in age on Ty's side of the family. We went to the Railroad park in Scottsdale. Luke has recently added a love of trains to his obsession with "things that go". In addition to being a really nice park, they also had a little train that we all rode together and a carousel too. Luke loved it! I remember when he was a baby really wanting him to grow up so we could go out and do fun things together. Now that he's 2 1/2 I really love taking him out and doing new things with him. I'm looking forward to getting to do more things with him as he gets older. My Aunt Mari said it best when we were comparing her preteens to a 15-month-old Luke: "When they are little they are so cute, but they can't do much. Then they get to be old and funny-looking, but they can do all sorts of things!" I love my Aunt Mari! I really am making an effort to enjoy the stage my kids are at now. Anyways, thanks LeMae for the great day. I couldn't help snapping a few photos with my new lens while we were out. Enjoy!

I love these pictures!!!

I feel like I'm tooting my own horn, but I just really love how these pictures turned out. I think everyone, especially moms, need something that makes them feel good about themselves, and these pictures are it for me. Doing the dishes, laundry, picking-up, etc. doesn't really give me much fulfillment, but taking pictures does. I owe a big thanks to Erin who's taught me a lot about photography these last couple of weeks! (Check out her site at erinhouseholderphotography.blogspot.com.) I took these pictures in honor of Grady being 3 months old now. I couldn't help snapping a few shots of Luke too!

Temple Progress

This morning Ty called me and told me to drop everything and head straight over to the temple. We got there just in time to watch them lower the Angel Moroni on top of the temple. Only 6 more months til our Gila Valley Temple is expected to be completed! I can't wait to have a temple just a 5 minutes in a car from my house!

It will be neat to be able to show our boys someday that they were there on this momentous occasion.

Luke looking through the binoculars at the Angel Moroni. He felt pretty important being on dad's shoulders and getting to use his binoculars. Too bad he was looking through the wrong end!

Little Faces

These are the faces that make me smile, that brighten every day. They often are the source of my stress and frustrations (the two-year-old especially likes to try my patience), but they also bring me the most joy. Maybe these little faces could put a smile on your face too!

Big Day Today in the Allen Home!!!

Grady rolled over!!!!!!

What we've been up to lately

For Labor Day weekend we went to my parent's house. It was really nice. It's amazing that I could forget how beautiful my hometown of Pinetop-Lakeside really is, especially this time of year. I was just in awe driving around at how beautiful everything was. Luke loved being spoiled by Grandma, and Grandma loved spoiling Luke. There are definite perks to being the 1st grandchild! We went to the swimming pool where my sister Emily works as a lifeguard. It was Grady's first time swimming. I can't say that he enjoyed it. He did stay calm if I held him close, but after about 15 minutes he was done. Luke really enjoyed it though.

I convinced my mom and little sister to file Grady's nails for me. There aren't many things I hate more than filing nails. It's like fingernails on a chalk board to me. Thanks mom and Em!

I enjoyed doing a couple laps around Woodland Lake with my mom and Grady in the stroller while Luke played with his dad and Emily at the park. The weekend went by way too fast. We'll have to go up again soon.!

On a different note, I got to take pictures of my friend's little girl. A couple weeks ago she was telling me how she was going to take her little girl to get her pictures taken for her 2nd birthday. I said it was a good idea to take her little girl where she was planning for pictures, but then I basically begged her to let me try for free to take a few pictures of her little girl! She agreed, so last week we went and took these pictures. This was my first time ever taking pictures of someone else's kid, and I learned a lot. It was so much fun, and as you can see she is an exceptionally cute little girl! Here's a few of my favorites.