The Dixon Family.

I posted some pics from my session with the Dixon family on my Photo Blog!

Today.

Reading with my little Shaye-Shaye.   Its a favorite part of my afternoon.   I watch her face.   She is beautiful.   She is smart.   You can almost see her brain learning.  She is my baby.   And my heart loves her so much.  Its a wonderful winter afternoon when I get to curl up with her and read a few good books on my big king size bed and let the afternoon sun pour in on us and warm us a bit. 
(Shaye reading to me - "If you give a Cat a Cupcake" - one of our favorites.)

Now off to finish the rest of my day, which includes:
~ cleaning up the house
~ picking up the children from various places around town
~ making dinner
~ listening to some of my favorite Christmas songs, while I work around the house
~ helping little Gabi with her science experiment
~ pondering on my upcoming talk in Sacrament meeting
~ bathing little girls and kissing them and tucking them in tight
~ starting another load of laundry, and thinking about the mounds to be folded and put away
~ doing another load of dishes
~ admiring my lovely Christmas tree glowing in the evening hours
~ and hopefully ~ curling up with Chad to watch Survivor from last night

How do you spend your afternoons?  Are you as blessed as me?

The Wallberg Family

There are a few pics from my shoot with the cute Wallberg family over on my PHOTO BLOG.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tracy and Sallu *Engagement Pictures*

Tracy and Sallu's Engagement Pics are up on my Photo Blog!

My Sis.


A few weeks ago, my sister Cindee brought her darling little Corey out for a photo shoot.  I can't tell you how much these 2 people mean to me!  I honestly can't imagine life without them.  She is always up for an adventure with me!

She has always supported me 100% in everything I do, and in fact, she was one of many who encouraged me to become a professional photographer... AND, true story, she and her husband designed my first website and surprised me with it one day when business cards showed up in my mailbox, with my name and info, and a website address - ( jennifer lynne photography, at the time) - and you can imagine how surprised I was when I clicked on there and found a website devoted to my photography.  "Jenny, you are so talented with that camera, you should be doing this professionally!" she said.  Well, that was about 4 or 5 years ago now, and the rest is history. 

We have a lot of laughs together and I love her to death.  Her little mister is a mini version of my Dad, and he is just about the cutest baby boy you'll ever meet with a personality to match. 

I hope everyone is lucky enough to have a sister or friend like Cindee in their lives!  You can see more of her and Corey's shoot over on The Shoot Shoppe Blog!


Homecoming 2010.

I'm back from my little get-away to the Gulf Coast (pictures coming soon) and I am trying to get back to work!  I am so behind on editing and blogging my recent sessions!  (What's new, right?)  Here are some photographs of my cool cat Jordan, and his date Minden from the night they went to the Homecoming Dance a few weeks back.  They are both darling, amazing, talented, smart and so totally awesome in every way.  I was so glad when they asked if I would do their pictures.  I know I am a little biased, but how dang cute is my boy??  He is such an amazing teenager.  How on earth did I get so lucky??  He stands at 6'1" now.  So stinkin' cute!  OK - enough of the mommy bragging.  Here are a few of my favorite shots from our session.  We took these downtown and they brought their guitars for some of the shots.  SO FUN!  I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with the 4th picture down - (Minden with her guitar and Jordan in the background.)  Definitely one of my most favorite shots I have ever taken.  Man, I love this kid!

You can see a few more over on The Shoot Shoppe Blog!

A Mummy with Integrity.

 (Some of my Young Women at the Temple)

This past summer, I was called to be the Young Women President in my ward.  I have loved it so much!  I can't believe how busy it is...  and how much fun we have had...  and how much I have learned...  and how much I have grown... already in these short 3 months!  I feel so lucky to be around such amazing teenage girls, who are facing so much temptation and adversity in their lives.  They are such strong, beautiful girls!

Recently we had a "VALUE" Trick-or-treat activity.  We went around to all the leaders homes and had short lessons on all the different Young Women values.  At my house, I taught about Integrity.  Every value has a color associated with it, as well.  Integrity's color is purple.  So, for my treat, I wanted to include something HALLOWEEN and something PURPLE.  Here is what I did:  Purple Mummy's!

 

(I got the idea from one of my favorite blogs!)

I know you don't usually see mummy's that are purple...  And they kind of turned out looking like Arabian bandits instead of mummy's...  Ha Ha!  But, I thought they turned out kinda freaky, and kinda cute!  The girls LOVED them and so did my own kids.  My daughters were thrilled to have a scary drink in their lunch boxes the next day!  (There is a purple Gatorade under the mummy wrappings).  And thank goodness for my superman Chad who helped me wrap all of these! 


I also gave the girls a little scroll, tied up with a purple spider.  It went along with my message about integrity.  Having integrity - (being honest and having strong moral principles) is probably the greatest character trait we can have, don't you think?

Inside my scroll:
TELL THE TRUTH!  
And avoid getting caught in a web of lies.

I am striving to be a mummy with integrity!  And I am striving to raise children who have integrity and honor, who are honest, trustworthy, fair, and who have strong moral values.  Hope you are having a Happy Halloween week! 

Feeling Creative.

I have been in such a creative mood lately!  My mind and body just want to create, create, create.  I have channeled some of that energy into redesigning and refreshing my blog!  I am loving my new look!  What do you think?  I am hoping to change up my flash header with new pics of my kids at every season.  Wouldn't that be lovely?

I also spent some of my weekend planting 300 spring bulbs into my front gardens.  Oh boy, I can't wait for spring!  My yard will be blooming with crocuses, tulips, daffodils and irises.

I am in such a nesting mood as well.  It must have something to do with the temperature dropping and the looming winter ahead.  The yard is almost winterized.  We have pulled out all the garden plants and put down our winter fertilizer.  The last few days, it has rained and rained.  This new cold weather has led me to:  turn on my heater, curl up in a blanket and watch some epic movies, make fall treats (so far we have devoured: chocolate chip pumpkin cookies, caramel apples and caramel popcorn - yum.), pull out my favorite sweaters and boots, and decorate my house for the holidays.

Yesterday was Sunday and it was FULL of inspiration.  I just love Sundays, don't you?

And here is a good example of why you should (or shouldn't) leave your camera out for your 13 year old son to find.  You never know what you will see when you download your pics...

 
Happy Monday!

Girls + Bikes.

I posted a few from my Girls + Bikes photo shoot!
Click HERE to see!

Are you ready for some football?

Don't you LOVE fall?
Caden does!
Wanna know why?  Yep.  Football.
Its his life, his love, his heart and soul.
Something I can't quite understand...
but nevertheless, we support him and his dreams 
to one day play for the University of Florida and then onto the NFL
so here we are again -  
another season of football!

I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with it.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE how much he LOVES it!
I love that he puts in hours and hours and hours practicing.
I love that he trains his body so hard that every night he comes home sore and bruised.
(He gets ripped too, you should see his six pack!  Me=jealous.)
I love seeing him in his uniform (so dang cute!) and I love watching him play!
I am one proud mama.

The hate part - worrying he might get hurt.
Yes - Me=protective mama! 

Here he is - #2.
And yes ~ he is as tall as his coach!
CRAZY.

He has had some really hard hits and amazing blocks!

He plays wide receiver.  He has had some great catches!

And some great runs!

Wide receiver!

Caden Tanner 
#2
Weber Warriors
Wide Receiver

My (not so) little Man!

Are you ready for some football?

The Dog Days of Summer.

Oh Summer. 
Glorious Summer.
I love you so.
Why do you come and go so fast?

We had SO MUCH FUN this summer.

My top ten twelve summer 2010 memories are:

1.  Birthday parties! Some of which included:  a cool party at Chick-fil-a, a sweet kickball game at the park and a jam session in the backyard.  The Tanner kids are all a year older.

2.  A major house remodel.  WE ARE LOVING OUR NEW LOOK!

3.  Camping - Amazing Flaming Gorge, Gorgeous Idaho and the Beautiful Uintahs.

4.  Fireworks with Friends.  ITS THE BEST.

5.  Spending ALL DAY at Boondocks - just me, Chad and the kids.  And laughing.  A LOT.

6.  Picking raspberries.  And eating them.  YUM.

7.  SWIMMING!  And lots of it.

8.  A weekend get-away to Las Vegas for our 18th wedding anniversary!  WHAT? 

9.  More swimming.

10.  A new adventure... Young Women's President!  WHAT? 

11.  Watching Jordan live his dream of front row Jack Johnson on his 17th birthday.

12.  Boating and playing at the Lake.


And here some pics of my sweet summer memories:

(Jordan wake boarding at Flaming Gorge)

(Shaye was finally talked into driving her own car on the race track at Boondocks!)

(Non-stop laughing at Boondocks - oh ya - and Cade had a mullet for about a week.  It was sweet.)

(Miss Gabrielle perfecting her high dive jump.)

(Me and Superman on our 18th Wedding Anniversary in Las Vegas)

(Our awesome house remodel - credit goes to Superman - isn't he amazing?)

(Jordan a.k.a. Jacks #1 fan, and Minden, FRONT ROW at the Jack Johnson concert on Jordan's 17th Birthday.  And yes, Jack wished him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY from the stage.  Needless to say, it was a very happy birthday and according to him - the best one yet.)

(Me and my cutie sis Cindee - enjoying Jack Johnson a little farther back.  Love my sisters.  LOVE.)

(One proud mama, with her A.MAZING Boy at the Jack Johnson show.  Man I love this kid.)

(Swimming.  Swimming.  And more Swimming.)

(Shaye and Luke - cousins - enjoying a soda and swimming at the Lake.)

(Caden skiing at the Lake.  LOVE this kid too.  What a smile!)

(Savana and Gabi - cousins and BEST FRIENDS - holding on for dear life.)

(Hot summer nights, jam sessions and songs around the fire, and don't forget the perfect s'more.)

Farewell Dog Days of Summer.
I will miss you.

Heather and Dave *Married*

FINALLY updated my Photography Blog!
More sessions on their way!
To see more of Heather and Dave's Wedding Day... Click on the link above!

Chad Rocks.

Yes. He. Does.
In all senses of the word.
He is cool, and does amazing things - (he is Superman, after all,)
but this summer - He rocked!  
Our house, that is.  
And he did an amazingly beautiful job.


This is our cute house BEFORE.

(the Tanner house BEFORE)
(The very beginning of construction)
(In the back - the start of construction and tar paper and wire)

Our house had siding before... we wanted to update it - give it a NEW look!
So off we went.  Are we crazy?
YES!
You haven't figured that out yet?

The first step was to repair all the siding, take off the wood borders 
and then cover the entire house with black tar backing paper and wire.  
We hired this part out - the guys who did our prep and Stucco did AMAZING WORK.
Seriously.  Amazing.

(Our black house - Caden wanted to keep it black!)

(Under Construction!  Let the mess and Chaos begin...)

Chad had the fun job of painting all our doors - 
as well as painting all of the soffit & fascia, all the trim and rain gutters.

(Me taking pictures and hoping I like what paint color I chose.  Chad is hoping, too!)

(Our Cement house!  One step closer!)

The next step was our stucco cement coat.  
It was funny to hear people ask if this is the color the house would be.  
Um, No.  
This is only the first coat!  
Again, the Stucco guys - AMAZING WORK.

Next comes the color coat!
And let me just tell you - it was HARD to pick a stucco color.
The color of your entire home!
Once you decide there is no going back.
I had a vision in my head - and I really wanted it to turn out perfect.
AND IT DID!
(See, I told you, Chad rocks!)

Now that the stucco is finished, its Chads turn.
Time to ROCK!
 

He spent many, many, many, many, many (you get the idea) hours rocking!


He also had A LOT of people (strangers and people we know)
stop their cars and rave over how good it was looking - 
tons of people asked for his business card!
(Um, I'm just the homeowner, he would say...)

We moved our lives outside, so we could spend time with him, while he rocked.

(The back of the house - FINISHED!)

And so, after 2 months (it seemed like 2 years), tons and tons of long hot days and late nights,
a million trips to The Home Depot, spending hours debating over colors, 
bugging and bugging friends and family for honest opinions, 
lots of sleepless nights, sore backs, broken tools, chaos, messes, blood, sweat and tears,
and pizza for dinner way too much...
Here it is:
 
OUR NEW HOUSE.
(the Tanner house - AFTER)

(Chad's rock work. - Amazing huh?)

Chad Rocks.
YES. HE. DOES.