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.

Rachelle and her Heart.

A few more from her shoot, right HERE!

The Frasier Girls! *Utah Family Photographer*

More of these darling girls over on my PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG!

Good Times, Bad Times.

Its that time again.  The summer is drawing to an end.
My kids all celebrated birthdays this spring and summer.  
Each one is a year older.
Time is ticking on, and some days it doesn't just tick...  
it whizzes by as fast as a roller coaster, and your standing there thinking,
"what just happened"?
Good times - Bad times.

School starts in a few days, and so starts a new routine.
No more late nights and lazy mornings.
Up at 6:30 to work-out, make breakfast and lunches, and have family prayer.
Then off my children go, into the world.
Good times - Bad times.

I finally made some time to get some new photos of them.
My kids hear the words "photo shoot" and turn into difficult little subjects!
You would think I am putting them in a torture chamber, 
instead of pointing a camera at them.
Good times - Bad times.

Good thing they are so dang cute, and that I am good at my job...
Good times - Bad times - 
I will take it all because that's just life 
and I love mine!

The Belnap Family *Utah Family Photographer*

A few from The Belnap Family session are up on The Shoot Shoppe Blog!

A week at the Lake.

Remember when I used to have time to blog?
Ya, me too.
I guess I have just been too busy soaking up and enjoying the last of my summer!

Here are a few pics from our week at Washington Lake with Chad's awesome family.  
Gotta love the great outdoors!

(classic self-photo of me and Superman)

We spent our time fishing, canoeing, kayaking, reading, resting,
eating, hanging by the fire, hiking, cliff diving, rock climbing, swimming,
and enjoying the time together away from all the distractions of life!

(Shaye with her first catch of the day!)

(Caden giving his mother a heart-attack)

(Jordan, Cade and Kail getting ready to cliff jump)

The boys had a lot of fun cliff diving up at Wall lake 
and they even talked Gabi into jumping from the lower rocks!

  (a brave little girl!)

(our home away from home)

Our friends let us use their trailer for our trip - yes, we have amazing friends - 
and it was so nice to have somewhere comfortable to hang out!  

The Uintas are my absolute favorite place to camp in the state of Utah.  
It is so amazingly beautiful!  

(the Tanner kiddos, enjoying the great outdoors and making some memories)

I just love making memories like these, don't you?
Happy Summer.


ARISE and SHINE FORTH!

A few weeks ago, Jordan was one of the 3,000 youth that participated in the Youth Spectacular
ARISE and SHINE FORTH!
(Jordan in the pre-existence waiting for his turn on earth!)

It was truly SPECTACULAR.
They performed for 2 nights at Weber State and completely filled the stadium both nights, (Chad and I were lucky enough to go to both - yes we are proud parents!) and in fact on Saturday night the stadium was overflowing with people and we actually broke the record for number of people in the stadium. 
It was rumored that the Prophet was there in attendance, but more than that - 
the spirit that filled the stadium was incredible!

(Our whole family came to enjoy the show!)

The Spectacular performed life from the pre-existence - to our life on earth - to life after death - and having faith in our Savior Jesus Christ 
and the power that is in each one of us and learning who we truly are
The messages in the songs were amazing, and I feel so grateful for Jordan to have been a part of it, 
to help him learn who he truly is, where he came from 
and have those messages and spirit touch his heart!


The Power in Purity!
power in the heavens...
power in the plan!
power in discovery...
learning who I am!
there's power in obedience...
the truth that sets us free!
To find a sense of confidence,
the power in purity!

 (Jordan on the earth - "Arise and Shine Forth that thy light may be a standard for the nations")

I never stand alone, when I stand with God.
And I stand with his prophets.
 Wherever I may go...
when I stand with God, I never stand alone!
I stand with Nephi and Moroni
with Abinadi who testified in faith, 
the saints through the ages,
the stalwart and faithful - leading me, telling me -
I never stand alone, when I stand with God!

(Jordan standing with God and the prophets)

Its hard to describe just how special it really was...
It was a beautiful way to spend a few summer nights.
To learn more about our faith and what we believe CLICK HERE.