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?! 

 

 

a love letter to north carolina

back in april, spencer's dad turned 60, and his birthday wish was to complete a century bike ride with his son. -zero hesitation from spencer on agreeing to that.

and so the planning began. 

the kids and i weaseled our way into the plans (i'm not a very good sport about missing out on the fun), so in september we all spent a week in north carolina together. 

spencer and i lived in charlotte when we were first married and his parents live in the raleigh area. it had been two years since we'd been back, and that canopy of trees as we pulled into the airport was a breath a fresh air from the smoked filled fire ridden home we'd left behind in the west.

i haven't traveled a whole lot, (though i'd like to), but in my opinion north carolina is one of the most beautiful places on earth. the trees, the architecture, the weather, the woods, the beach, THE BBQ, i wish i could package it all up and bring it closer to home.

nana and papa marshall put so much time and energy into preparing for us to come that it was debatable whether or not it was more magical for us or the kids. a million thank yous, gosh you guys are nice.

"nana camp" included a picture clue scavenger hunt with treasure, going to the beach fun bags, gobs of sand toys, a driving to the zoo soundtrack, homemade gak, papa's hideout, a 60th birthday party (with talenti gelato), and olive even made and served us dinner one night.

we spent two days at the beach (my favorite place to be) and harrison was a first timer. he chased the waves and laughed when they'd reach his feet over and over again. i love that both of my idaho kids have seen the beach for the first time on the atlantic coast. its now a tradition that we plan to uphold (this is not an announcement), just saying.

spencer and his dad went on their beautiful, long bike ride and diane and i got a girls shopping afternoon as well. 
fyi: furbish in raleigh-go.

the food was good, the fun was excellent and the company was the tops. reality since has been a hard pill to swallow.

on the sunny side of the street.

today is my dad's last day at work. he worked for hewlett packard for 33 years, his one and only job after college. 
he walked to and from work every day, AND made the trek home at noon most days to have lunch with my mom. 

when i was younger, and interviewing for job positions, i was often asked the question "what sets you apart from others?" and my response was always the same, "if there is anything my dad taught me, it's how to work hard", and i meant it. (i usually got the job, ha!) 

my dad is such a rock in my life and such a great example of hard work and dedication, both in tangible and spiritual applications. 

i wanted to put something together for him (retirement is a BIG stinkin' deal after all) and had seen this idea done before here and here. 

i convinced all of my siblings to play along with 24 hours notice and here's what i came up with. we're showing him at dinner tonight!

congratulations dad, happy retirement! 
Dad's Retirement video web - Broadband from Andi Marshall on Vimeo.

*NERD alert.

and then she packed up my heart and headed back to arizona

my sister was here for the month of july. she drove all the way from tucson, az with four kids, one of them nursing...yeah.

with the exception of the week they stayed with us, the kids and i all but moved into my mom's house. we spent as much time as we could with them. i only have one sister and we're 17 months apart. she is my favorite and i couldn't get enough of her and those sweet kids. aren't sisters the best?!

they were here for: 
the fourth of july and papa's annual water fight
lots of swimming and runs to the snow cone shack
pedicures
popsicles
picnics at the park
slip-n-slide
stinkin' hot sunday walks by the river
the wastewater treatment plant. uh. it's actually cool, and only mildly smelly.
a backyard movie night and my 30th birthday
lots of tinker toy and lego-ing
sooo much pretend school. that ella is a dream with the younger kids.
hand made ice cream in a bag
feathers and hairdos
the zoo and carousel
a couple trips to the mcdonalds play land. 6 and sometimes 8 kids most of which were 3 and under...duh. mama needs a break sometimes.
family pictures
and a sweet baby blessing

they were here just long enough for me to forget what my days were like before them...
and i cried when the van drove away.

i hate it. it's the worst. it can shove it.
but at least we have july 2012, we'll always have july 2012.

waiting for the peterson van

alisa, ella, owen and liam

the newest grand baby-lila jane

pizza at the park

this family and their eyelashes...i die.

water fighting

serious about popsicles around here.

lots of late nights and short naps taking their toll.

slippin- n-slidin

andrew came the last week and we took some pretty cute family pictures

my brother nate and his family moved here the last week the petersons were here. with popsicles as bribery we got a photo of all the grandkids in one place at the same time. if you only knew the victory that is this picture.