Local COLOR ...

For some great custard with an old town feel, the girls recommend Double Dip Frozen Custard in Frisco ...






Today was a long one...it started out with me taking Kate to her ENT appointment up at Medical City. I walked away from there with an appointment for ANOTHER surgery for Kate- removal of her ear tubes, including cutting away at the the excess fat in her ear to patch up the hole left by the tubes (Sorry if thats TMI). Simple enough, compared to what we've seen, so I can't complain. It was hard for me to see her so nervous today though. She must have asked me a million times (as we waited for an hour and a half to be seen!), "Mommy, do you promise that I won't get a shot today?". She cried off and on once the doctor entered the room, still refusing to believe that a shot was not on the docket for today's appointment.

When Brian got home from work, we decided to take the girls out to lighten the mood. :) We ate a yummy dinner and then got some even yummier custard at a new place (as mentioned above). A fun night!

Is it just me....

or is Kate getting so tall all of the sudden? When did she turn into a big girl? Every single day, Kate will wake up and say, "Mom, look how much bigger I am today".

Our lives have been so busy lately- I got a new calling in our new ward- YW secretary and its kept me busier than I thought possible- a good busy. I've never worked in Young Women before and its been alot of fun so far. Brian has been busy at work as well as with his new photography business on the weekends. Its so fun to see how much he really LOVES photography.

My little brother, Jake, came into town last weekend and it was so much fun to have him around. Kate would not let him out of her sight and he was asked to do everything from play "house" with her, to catching her on the slide at the pool (at least 30 times), to sitting by her at dinner. We miss you Jake!

Taylor is entering a new [wonderful] stage of life- potty training! Mom could not be more excited to be done with diapers. I hope she keeps up her good work.

We spend most of our days at the pool lately- thanks to the 100 degree plus weather we've been having. You really cannot step outside unless you are in the pool. We've also been going to lots of birthday parties and lunches with the girls. We're so grateful to have so many good friends here. Life is good right now!

Reed Family Preview

2 kids, 2 dogs, and two hundred degrees ... kinda sums it up. Thanks to the Reeds for a fun morning--great family & adorable kids (twins).
Meet JR ... this guy is a natural in front of the camera

The Sweetest of Girls ...

Cryer Preview

Another great shoot ... thanks to the Cryer family for a fun morning.

The boys seemed much more interested in playing w sticks and bugs than posing for the camera--can you blame them?? I think we got some great pics ...

Joyner Preview

Here we go ... some highlights of my first session! A big thanks to the Joyners (thanks sis for being brave--hopefully it was worth the time & effort!!) Jacob, Sam, Luke, and Ben--you guys were the best ... very good sports.

I'll probably look back on this and smile ... for a couple reasons (1) I got everyone lost on the way to the park in Highland Park (kinda not my fault b/c there was tons of construction) ... I think we were lost for ~25 minutes, (2) Half my shots were blurry--probably b/c my mind wasn't on the shot I was shooting ... it was on the shot I was trying to come up with, and (3) it had to be the hottest day of the year--every time I would look down at the LCD, it was covered with sweat.

Also, thanks to my lovely assistant, Rachel ... hopefully this is the first of many sessions to come--it was a lot of fun!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA!

4th of July ... has to be one of my favorite holidays. This year we stayed in town and kept it pretty simple. We were able to get in all the 4th's activities; a parade, hot dogs, playing in water, and of course, fireworks.

For the parade, we went to my parents' neighborhood. The town of Fairview Police & Fire department put on a great show--at the end of the parade, the fire truck extended out it's ladder and made it "rain"... and the kids loved it--it reminded me of New York where the firemen in Harlem would turn on all the fire hydrants to let the kids play & cool down. It was hot when we started the parade at 10:00, it had already reached 90. While the kids played in the water, we sat in the shade & enjoyed food & stuff.



Taylor opted to just watch the kids and keep dry ... although impossible in this humidity :)

Rachel & Taylor represented on the scooter ...



Kate and I watched the local fireworks from our house ... I set up my camera and tripod to try and get some good shots--I learned how to shoot fireworks at my latest photography class. I set it up, but Kate took all the pictures ... she had a ton of fun--she took dozens of shots, and after each one she would say, "oh dad, this is beautiful ..." Here are a couple that turned out pretty good.



Oh, question to the Jewkes family ... does this count as my "journal writing" for the week??

BC