For the second year in a row, my family has rented a condo up in Eden, UT for Memorial Day Weekend.

It is breathtaking up there.

Maybe it’s because we go in the Spring that I love it so much. There are wild dandelions and flowers galore, blanketing the fields and front lawns with bright yellow. Life moves slower up there & it’s nice to have those moments where we can enjoy each other, enjoy the beauty of this earth, and just breathe.

These dandelions were fun to shoot with my macro lens: especially when the little spider decided to join in.

Although their attention spans are small, it was fun to ‘explore’ and go on an ‘adventure’ with my nephews.

Ok, I know I’m a week late on this one….

James (the younger nephew) has been feeling sick lately. He wouldn’t sleep through the night. One minute he’d be fine, and the next one he was doubled over on the floor crying. James hardly ate, even if candy or sweets were offered. He was only fine when he was held and cuddled, especially when his grandma (my mom) rubbed his tummy.

When he came to my Studio Opening this weekend he still wasn’t back to his usual self, but he was doing better. In fact, he was excited to eat one of the cookies I had out for my guests. I had some special M&Ms I bought down at the M&M Store in Vegas that were in my colors. I got James’ attention, pointed to the M&Ms and he immediately jumped out of his daddy’s lap. I thought he’d race to the bowl straight away. But first, he ran over to where the cookies were, reached up, and carefully placed his cookie back (don’t worry, we took it off the plate) and then he ran over to the candy bowl. It was so cute!

Will (the older nephew) is simply darling and is the sweetest boy I know. He has been such a good brother when James would cry non-stop last week. I truly admire his love and patience. He was so excited when he came to my studio on Saturday because he had his own pack of bubble gum. I shared in his enthusiasm and then forgot about it. At one point, he left with his dad to go check out some of the other art and when he came back, he had in his hand a piece of Bubblicious gum he grabbed from the car. He began unwrapping it for me. It melted my heart!

Turns out that James crying at some point during egg decorating is becoming a tradition.

This is James trying out the easter egg dye, which was made with vinegar. He thought it was funny how we were laughing at him, so even though it tasted gross, he loved it!

Last Friday, I had my nephews come over to build a snowman with me. James was so excited — after he had his snow clothes on, he tried running around, but kept tripping and running into things (picture the younger brother on A Christmas Story, but not as bad).

Will and James were so stinkin’ cute! They kept throwing snowballs at me while I was rolling our snowman together. And they were eating snow like it was candy. We made snow angels and caught snowflakes on our tongues. Playing in the snow is the best!

Ok. I know it has been FOREVER since I have posted…so thanks for checking back because I’ve got lots of great stuff to post!

I’ll start by posting some pics from Christmas. I had a wonderful Christmas this year. Spending time with the fam (especially my nephews) is always fun. We got together on Christmas Eve to eat dinner and watch those cheesy Christmas movies that really get you into the spirit. As we were hanging out, Will wanted to take some pictures. He’s quite the photographer! I think he took quite a few pictures with everyone’s camera. Will and James even put some food outside for the reindeer, which of course got eaten ;)

On Christmas morning, we slept in and then had a yummy waffle breakfast before opening presents. I was amazed at all the presents we had for one another and it has really made me feel blessed. It was nice to enjoy the day before a busy busy week started the next day.

Will took this one of me with my camera. Nice, huh?

My dad got the exact same shirt in long sleeves that he was wearing on Christmas. We thought it was funny.

e