looking back part 3: birthdays

spencer had a birthday in december, we kept it simple with a family party and a date night to see les miserables, we even sprung for popcorn (this is a big deal people).

harrison turned 2 in january. i can hardly believe my baby is 2. we had family over for pizza, cake, and ice cream. 
if you know harrison, you know he's a pretty big fan of the birthday song, if he sees a cake or cupcake, you can bet he'll break out singing. so when everyone started to sing it to him, his face was beyond adorable. he was absolutely grinning from ear to ear through the whole thing. he loooooved it.






olive turned 4 in february and we had her first friend party. we did a drive in movie party theme. we made up cardboard cars for each kid and spencer designed sticker decals that they each decorated their cars with. smallfryblog.com featured the party, so i'll let you click through to them if you're interested in the details. a friend also told me that c.jane of cjanekendrick.com highlighted the party during her keynote address at BYU a couple weeks ago, i was so beyond flattered, C.JANE! i mean...
and olive declared it the "best birthday ever" so i'm counting it as a win.
 

and now it's march! the first day of spring was yesterday, my daffodils are coming up and we're anxious! i've found myself daydreaming of warm weather, bbq's and afternoons by the pool.

looking back part 2: the holidays

thanksgiving was good, eh normal... you know, i'm not a big fan of turkey. but i'm grateful for the time to reflect on my blessings, and i kind of dig the rat race on black friday, so not all is lost.

we stayed home for Christmas this year as well and it was good. there aren't many things that beat kids on Christmas morning. i also hosted Christmas breakfast this year which was new and fun. my favorite part of Christmas however, is always the music, it's one of the few times each year that i pull out my guitar and really play. our record collection of 4 records is 75% Christmas music, so when we're not making our own we're listening to (in my opinion) some of the best music there is. music is powerful.

as i think back on the holidays, surprisingly new years eve stands out to me this year. weird right? it's such a blah holiday normally (for us non drinkers), but spencer and i decided to host a schmancy dinner this year. the marshalls have an amazing meal tradition every year on Christmas eve and since we weren't with them this year, we made it on new years eve. aubry was in town, which is always fun, and my parents and little brother came over too. 

we set a fancy table, played bingo for prizes, and spent more hours than i care to admit on a puzzle. the whole weekend was so fun. friends, family, laughing and silliness, it was pretty much my favorite.

family photos 2012

spencer traded some design work for photography with a utah based fashion photographer andrea hanks last year. so, when we were in utah in november we had her take some family pictures for us. we ended up taking them in the avenues in salt lake city. spencer's nana used to live in that area and we have so many memories of visiting her and walking through those incredible neighborhoods. the location was sentimental, the weather held out and our photographer was amazing. 

family pictures can be a drag, i speak from experience on both sides of the camera, but this shoot was actually fun, yes i said FUN. i'd highly, without hesitation, recommend andrea, she even brought "good job" treats for my kids. 

we received over 200 images, but i'll share just a few of our favorites. when i find the time, i'd love to make a video montage like the one we made 2009. we'll see.

looking back part 1: fall

november 2nd was the last time i posted. that's got to be some sort of record for silence over here. 1. i'm not pregnant 2. i blame instagram and my ever increasing difficulty in gathering my thoughts and organizing them into complete and coherent sentences, let alone actually writing them down...

it seems that Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines, and all three birthdays have come and gone since i was here last. so although it makes me itch a little, this will be the first of a few very predictable catch up posts. but, most of my family and a lot of my good friends aren't on instagram, so i'm hoping this isn't too repetitive, or maybe it's been long enough that you've forgotten. either way, here goes:

fall (i love it) and Halloween, hooray! it's one of my favorite holidays due in large part to my dad, and the enthusiasm he instilled in us as kids. his talking scarecrow was resurrected at my house in all it's gimmicky glory this year. my brother and his family spent the evening trick-or-treating our neighborhood with us, while papa and grandpa frederiksen manned the scarecrow. 2012 brought us a pink monster and a pirate- gosh my kids are cute, and spencer and i dressed up for the first time in...well ever.

*also, did you know you can follow instagram on your computer? click through if you'd like, the link is in the sidebar as well.

fig handmade

we're open! and offering free shipping through the weekend.
celebrate with us!

my brothers family.

i took some pictures of these guys this weekend. 

how cute are my nieces?!