Hi there! It’s been pretty quiet around here without having any sessions – my next wedding isn’t until the 19th!!! I thought I’d break the silence that is my blog and show you a photo I took few weeks ago at Mount Rushmore!! Lance took me there for breakfast the Sunday before I left for those two weeks doing weddings and engagement sessions east river. What fun is living in the Black Hills if you can’t be a tourist every once in a while?! :-)

South Dakota was closed for Christmas this year.

We left early to beat the storm, but one of Lance’s sisters couldn’t and so the group family photos were postponed until the roads re-opened and she arrived safely Sunday night.

Fish faces!!

You might be tired of seeing photos of my nephew… but I’m not!! This past weekend we had an early Christmas at my parents’ house. This was my first trip home since I have moved to Rapid (over three months ago!) and it was great to sleep in my old room, see neighbors and relatives, and eat LOTS of good food. :-)

My favorite part of this weekend was putting Jonas down for naps. He loves to snuggle. And he is just so darn cute when he’s sleeping!!

I finally bought myself my very own Christmas tree!! Don’t hate me because it’s fake. It was only $25!!! Sadly the decorations cost way more than the tree itself. But I needed something bigger than my mini tree – it didn’t quite fill out my living room like a Christmas tree should. :-)

I saw this ornament at Target and instantly my thoughts changed from ‘it would be nice to have a bigger tree to decorate,’ to ‘I NEED A BIGGER CHRISTMAS TREE SO I CAN BUY THESE ORNAMENTS!!’ Funny how a $2 item can cause me to spend $50+!!

The tree in it’s entirety…yes, those are glitter-covered balls. I don’t know what I was thinking.

I. Hate. Glitter.

And how it attaches itself to everything and you’re finding it in the strangest places days after you’ve even touched the ornament itself.

The mini tree that now resides in my bedroom:

Apparently I enjoy visiting with my aunts, uncles and cousins way more than taking candid photos of them – I took ZERO photos on Thanksgiving!! It wasn’t until Saturday morning before we left that I realized I hadn’t taken the lens cap off of my camera! So now you get to see Jonas in his cute, little boy pajamas again!! :-)

Lance and I were both teaching Jonas the phrase “silly mongoose” (I think it means the person is even sillier than a goose). Lance would point at me and say “silly mongoose” and I would point at Lance and say “silly mongoose.” Jonas pointed at Lance several times when we asked who a silly mongoose was, he only pointed at me once. Therefore I win. Lance is the silly mongoose. Here’s Jonas right in the middle of saying ‘mongoose.’ (please disregard the bump/bandaid on his forehead… he bumped his head on a sharp edge, cried for maybe five minutes and then was fine with just a bandaid… he is a tough little guy)

p.s. Don’t you love the green marker on his chin? Thank goodness for washable markers… I have never seen a two-year-old draw with markers and NOT have it all over their face/hands/clothes. :-)