Thank Goodness for Photographers!

So I just melted when I saw the photos from our family shoot in Texas over the Christmas holiday. Thanks, Anje, for your awesome talent!

The red wagon was a hit!

Nieces Melanie and Melissa were the designated "Seth Wranglers" during the shoot:

The whole gang!

So many of my friends are super impressive photographers...some who are professional and some who aren't but probably should be. I consider myself a picture taker, not a photographer, since I've yet to understand the language of taking successful snapshots and I haven't figured out how to take a good indoor shot that isn't blurry!

My other uber talented photographer friend Carrie, has a free photo shoot giveaway that you have to check out. She recently up and left us for sunnier days in Florida, but she'll be coming to Seattle this summer, and she lists a few other places around the country that she's going to be visiting. So, take a look, even though I really really want to win!

Back to "Real Life"

I've enjoyed so much reading everyone's blogs from their Christmas adventures. I'll just share a bit about ours. We were lucky to get out of Seattle on a snowy day. We stopped in Denver on the way to Texas, and if we had to change planes there, we would have been camping out at the airport (hmmm...7 months pregnant with a toddler in an airport? sounds fun to me. Thank goodness Matt was Seth's wrangler because I couldn't keep up). Turns out we just stopped in Denver and stayed on the same plane to Austin. Whew!

There were 20 people (10 adults and 10 kids...with 5 kids under the age of 3!) in one house.

Emma, Arianna and Seth...look at that posture and form!

Good thing the weather was so nice that we could play outside. It was crazy fun! Matt's mom had a breakfast birthday party for him on the 24th, and Santa made a house call that day just to make sure all the kids were being good.

Christmas day was a little overwhelming with wrapping paper flying in all directions, but that's the fun of it! This Caterpillar tractor was one of Seth's favorite toys, and, of course, it wasn't his. Do all construction workers listen to rock n' roll music?

Nieces Melanie and Melissa planned a Christmas nativity, and this is how it turned out.

Seth was a shepherd wearing a scarf for a tunic and carrying a wrapping paper tube as his staff (although here he looks more like a jedi knight):Holly (almost 8 months pregnant) and Eric were pre-birth Mary and Joseph, and then were switched out by the post-birth couple Angie and Kevin with their 4-month old baby...creative! Chaos ensued and there were lots of laughs, but in the end, I think everyone got the message, and this is something we'll all remember.

The whole week seemed to fly by, and we spent most of the time playing with new toys, relaxing and playing outside. Matt's mom and my sisters-in-law planned a surprise baby shower for me. So nice!! Photographer Extraordinaire Anje took some cute photos there and later some family photos, which I'll post later. The last couple of days we were there we were riding bikes, eating popsicles and sitting on lawn chairs!

Don't you think that would hurt sitting like that? Maybe, if it weren't for the diaper.

One of his favorite things to do...show off those abs!

My family was here for the holidays, so we were able to spend time with them for the New Year. My awesome, talented master craftsman brother made us a new fireplace mantel for our Christmas gift, so I'll post photos later when I have it painted. Now it's time to get back to the routine, and I think I've officially started nesting, since I've begun gathering up piles of stuff destined for the Goodwill. Time to de-clutter and make room for Baby!!