More Pink Nightmare

This weekend Mike decided that he was adding onto the sports logos in Eryn's room. She is now a BYU, Utah Jazz, and an Atlanta Braves fan! Yet again, I wasn't too excited about his plan and told him no. He did it anyway. It turned out really nice and I like it. In the end, I guess that he was right again!

-Val

This one is on the big wall and is twice the size of the other logos. It needs a little touching up, but it turned out alright. It's funny because Eryn coudn't care less about the logos...she is just happy that her room is pink. I just do these logos for fun and enjoy doing them.

-Mike

No Vegas for Val

So, Mike almost needed us to go the Vegas to pick up a vehicle for work. Yes, it is true. I was taunted with the chance of going to my favorite city and then that possibility was yanked away! I spent most of the week wishing that the moment would come that I got a call from my husband saying, "Pack the suitcase... We're going to Vegas!" Instead I was constantly asking him if we could go. I became that annoying kid in the car on the long road trip with the incessant, "Are we there yet?"

So, I will have to wait for another time. No "investments" to be made this weekend and no mass quantities of crab to be consumed. Instead... I get to paint a fence at the in-laws and eat cake. Which really is ok with me!

Better Today!

Eryn was much easier to work with today! If you liked this one... There are more on my photography blog, so feel free to check it out! Hopefully, I will be able to update that blog almost as often as I do this one. I just need more victims... I mean... Models, yeah models!

Testing Mommy

Sometimes I think that Eryn is just testing me to see what she can get way with. She loves to scream at the store and cry when I try to get her to do something. She is really good about discovering things on her own, but when guided... that's a whole different story.

Today, we went on a little adventure looking for some new places to take pictures at. When we found one that would be perfect... Eryn and I had some creative differences. She wanted to go chase the butterflies through the cow poop and Mommy wanted to take pictures of her not in cow poop. She threw quite the tantrum!

Teething, Sumo Wrestling, and Tickling

Today started out sort of rough, but got a lot better by the end! Eryn has been teething. You can see some of the molars in the pictures of her. The ones on the tops are matched by the same teeth on the bottom. They are coming in really fast and are very painful for her. She cried a lot today.

I felt so bad that we played Sumo Wrestling Kung Fu Panda for about an hour! It was pretty fun. Eryn would throw the panda up in the air and then look for it after it all ready hit the ground.

Mike came home and played with her too. She likes it when her Daddy chases her and then tickles her!

Meerkat Manor

After our trip to the zoo I realized that Eryn and I should be watching less ESPN and more Animal Planet. It is not surprising to me that Meerkat Manor is hands down her favorite show on there.

She squeals and screams when she sees the little guys running around. The show is narrated by Sean Astin and is pretty interesting. I am just glad that it makes her so happy. It is a lot easier for Mommy to watch than almost anything on Nickelodeon!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the Fathers in our lives! Thanks to the Dad we, not only can exist, but we have... love, a home, clothes, food, toys, ways to get around, and someone who will always be there to tell us to, "Go ask your Mother!"

Here's to you Dad! The guy who decides to fix the garbage disposal at 11 at night, the man who can't change a poopy diaper without gagging, and the man who loves to come home to, "Dadadadada!!!!!" and a big hug and kiss from little Pooh Bear!

What more can we say other than We Love You!

The Healing Wall

Yesterday I also went to Ogden to see The Healing Wall which is the Vietnam Wall Replica that travels around the country. It was a little smaller than what I had expected, but it was still very powerful. The names are small, but cover so much space. You can really put into perspective how many loves were lost in the war.

It was surprisingly hard for me to look at the names. Especially the ones from the times that my father was in the war. Part of me thought that some of those men probably knew him and might have even died protecting him. It was very emotional for me when an older many came and brought flower to place near the name of his fallen friend.

I guess that it is being from a military riddled family that made me feel the way that I did. Perhaps, maybe the fact that my little brother is about to go back to boot camp and then go on active duty. I am not sure, but I was very glad that I went to see that and to be able to take Eryn. Even though she is so small, one day I hope that she will want to go to things like that on her own.

The Final Chapter in the Wedding Drama

We made it through! All of the wedding stuff is now officially over. The Open House yesterday was the final chapter of the wedding story! Now, we can all relax a little until someone else decides to get married around here.

The cake was good, the water was cold, and the sun was shinning! The bad parts? The chairs were late (but better late than never), the neighbor's dog was barking at the guests, and then the neighbors sprinklers came on and sprayed into the back yard! BUT, there was lots of cake and pineapple so everyone stayed happy!

The kids had the most fun playing with toys and in the soon to be fountain. Everyone was happy, but sad because Tammy and Jeremy are moving to California today.

Kung Fu Panda

This last Saturday we took Eryn to a movie just for her. We all went to go see Kung Fu Panda. She was super excited to see the trailers and commercials for it that we thought we'd try it.

She loved it! She growled at all of the animals and wanted to play kung fu on the floor. She went crazy! The biggest problem was that when they started fighting or there was something exciting going on she would scream. She was happy, but it was still annoying to others.

Once I took her out into the hall way she would cry at the door and beg to be let back into the theater. Ok, so we'd go back and stand in the isle on the side and watch the movie. That was fine until she got super excited again and started screaming.

Long and the short of it... She loved the movie and will love watching it in the comfort of her own living room where she can scream and do her kung fu moves!

Eryn's Dance

Here is Eryn having fun at Tammy's wedding reception. It took us awhile to get this figured out so that we could share it with everyone!

Red Wings Win!

Finally! The Red Wings won their 4th Stanley Cup in 11 years! (Yes, 4 times. 97, 98, 02, and now 08!) I am so proud of them. Especially since my Pistons decided that they didn't really want to go to the Finals this year. Another proud day to say that I am a Detroit sports fan!

Guests who bring Gifts!

Last night Mike's Grandma and Father came over for dinner. Grandma brought flowers for "the cook" and a teddy bear for the little Pooh Bear. He might just become my bear! Haha... It was so thoughtful! I took some pictures of the flowers and the bear. Our dinner was nice, but our time together was cut short since Grandma had to be ready for a very early unexpected flight in the morning.

Eryn also really loves smelling people's feet now and waving her hand in front of her face like, "they are stinky!" It's so funny, but odd for me since I hate feet. Oh well.

PhotographyByVAL.com!

It's finally here! www.PhotographyByVAL.com is up and running for the wonderful world wide web! Feel free to go check it out and let your friends and families know about it too! I am officially open for business!

The website itself is a little rough still, but I am not a web designer. I am trying really hard to make it look as good as possible. My photography blog will still be updated (probably more often than the website) so you can always check if you'd like.

I really have mixed feelings today. I am very proud of myself for taking this big step, but at the same time I am scared to death that I am stepping off of a bigger drop than I am ready for. Pray for me!

Wedding Day Pictures!

No, not our wedding. Mike's sister Tammy was married on Saturday. Eryn had a great time dancing around for everyone. She even found someone to kiss by the end of the night! Uncle Dennis pole danced! Everyone had a good time and *with a big sigh* I am glad to say that it's all over!