the little white dress.

A couple of weeks before Chelsea's baptism my husband and I decided to go to the beach where we took a few pictures of her in a little white dress that has been around since Sierra was eight years old.

Sierra & Lexie touching the door knobs of the Salt Lake Temple, circa-2003

My mother in law originally made this little white dress for Sierra when we got sealed as a family in the temple back in 2003, and because it was so simple and sentimental I had Alexandra wear it to her baptism five years later in 2008. 

Baptism picture of Alexandra in Wilmington Beach, NC-2008

This dress has such significance in my life, and because it was made by the hands of a loving grandmother I just couldn't keep it tucked away in a garment bag in the back of a closet. 

So another five years go by, and this little white dress is worn again by my youngest daughter Chelsea who was just baptized a member into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

Taking pictures of Chelsea in the little white dress that grandma made for her older sister brings back so many memories. Memories of that special day when all of our girls got baptized. How nice it is to wear a white dress that symbolizes purity knowing that you'll be clean once you enter the waters of baptism. 

Such a beautiful time to photograph every detail of what was worn on this day for I want to remember times like these forever.

Picture inspiration via

It was bittersweet taking these pictures knowing that this will possibly be the last time this little white dress will be worn.

Chelsea was so happy that this little white dress has been around for many years, and worn on special days by her sisters who are all bound for eternity. 

What a blessing that is.

Flashback Christmas Photos

I didn't grow up taking pictures with my immediate family for Christmas card photos until I had my own family. I didn't start distributing Christmas cards with a photo until I got married. I didn't start enclosing updated letters in the card with a photo until the year 2003. I never felt the need to let others know about our life because it seemed less important...until I had children.

As my children grew up I have enjoyed writing, and keeping my friends and family updated on our life and all the things that are going on with them. Especially now that we have been living on the east coast for almost five years now. It deems important to me to keep others updated. Now that I have a blog it seems easier to let everyone know (including the entire universe) what goes on in our daily lives. Sometimes I don't blog about every single thing in detail every single day, or anything too personal (that's what a journal is for), but I try to blog about the most significant moments that have occurred thus far in our life.

Our Christmas card photos have always been the smiling, making sure the kids hair is combed properly, and that we don't look like we are cross-eyed, half asleep, or mad. I want us all to be happy and looking like we came out of a magazine.

For the past 17 years I have been pretty pleased with how our past Christmas card photos have turned out. There were even times when we were our own photographer! 

Just take a look...

When it was just the two of us... taken in Provo, Utah 1994

and then it was the three of us...Salt Lake City, Utah 1997

ALONE-Salt Lake City, Utah 1998

with Sierra for five whole years- San Antonio, TX 1999

and then we had Lexie- Mapleton, Utah 2000

We had these two to ourselves for another five years...SLC, UT 2003

and then Chelsea came along-SLC, Utah 2005

Which made us THE FAB FIVE for four years living in North Carolina- 2006

still in North Carolina -2007

and then we moved to New Jersey- 2008

and with Noah we became a family of six- New Jersey, 2009

One of my favorite Christmas photos in New York City, NY-2010

This year we did a collage of individual photos for our card, and will post it on Christmas Day.

We love sharing our family photos as well as what life has brought us each passing year. I appreciate all the cards that y'all have sent via snail mail (my favorite means of communication), Facebook, & emails. We wish y'all a Merry Christmas and a Blessed 2012. 

Let's see what the new year brings, and to come up with an idea for our Christmas 2012 photo without having to imitate anyone's ideas!

My Husband's Talent

I was looking through my box of old negatives and photo cd's that I have had for years. Since we bought our Mac I have been converting the negatives into cd's, and uploading them into our computer. I'm doing a little at a time since it can get costly.

As you can see, I was a very organized person (still am) when it came to putting said negatives into envelopes and writing down the dates when they transpired, and throughout the years I have taken care of my precious memories.

It has been a fun, but time-consuming project. I just happened to stumble upon the CD of when we used to live in North Carolina. My husband has an innate talent of taking beautiful pictures of anything with nature...especially flowers.

One of my favorite flowers that I don't see a lot of here in New Jersey are white magnolias. While living in North Carolina, we found this beautiful Magnolia tree at a nearby park.

This picture of a full bloomed magnolia is my favorite.

A magnolia in the midst of blooming... 

On the drive down to visit my sister in Florida one year...we went to the Atlanta temple and noticed these outside.

Dogwood

Notice the bee sitting on the flower.

These are the flowers my hubby got me this past Valentine's Day (which are now dead.) Once they were in full bloom, he captured a photo of them.

JUST BEAUTIFUL!!

I love these pictures and I'm so glad I stumbled upon them...just in time for Spring.