What Happened This Week...

1) Two days after Christmas it no longer looked like Christmas over here. Maybe it is because I have a small house but I was ready to have it down. I put it up right after Thanksgiving. I love having it down and cleaning and having the extra space again. I need to paint a shelf I got for the corner in our front room. They are to display my new vintage cameras I got from my mother in law. So so excited.
2) I caught a chest cold that I am now battling today. Ugg not fun I feel like I have a man voice and hope to get better soon. It could be worse though. Lyla has a bit of a  cough too. She stayed home from church with me today.
3) I was fed up with ABC families sex scene commercials so I decided to email them my thoughts. I don't know if it helped much but it made me feel better to express my feelings. We had a Disney movie recorded and when it went to commercial it was all about committing adultery in your marriage and stuff. We can't watch recorded movies on that channel again. I wish I could punch someone in the face....
4) My mom and I had some great fun going to Mesquite to see Les Miserables together. Oh it was so fun. Getting popcorn, and lemonade and loving every minute of it. What a great movie. I would edit out some stuff if I could but that is usually how it goes.
5) Life is grander since Trent installed my backup camera for my Denali....oh man. The five hours of installment was worth it. I had to help Trent feed the new wire through. I am excited to put it in reverse now. It has great night vision as well. Now I will know the girls aren't behind me while I back up. I always worried about that, I think it is a parents worst nightmare to imagine it.
6) Trent got the Firebird running and has been driving it everywhere. It is pretty neat seeing it being driven again. Cruiser.....after Trent makes sure it won't break down. Him and his brother will sell it.
7) We hosted a Mob get together over at our house. Chase & Nicole Woods were passing through after visiting family for Christmas. It was really fun seeing Danny & Heather, Chase & Nicole, Scott, and Jay. I got to play with two adorable baby girls. A 1 month old and a 8 month old. Adorable:) Good get-together.
8) Evelyn has been a little less busy her preschool is on the same school schedule as the school district. It has been fun having her but I know she misses it. I am so grateful for her teacher and that she can go there. She is learning soooo much and will be so ready for kindergarden.

Christmas and such....

1) The day after Christmas we had a wonderful day. Christmas Eve we went and saw Trent's Grandma & Grandpa Leavitt. And to my moms and also to Grandma & Grandpa Adams that night. Good food and lots of fun. Christmas morning the girls ran into our room waking us up screaming. It was so fun this year. Santa brought both of them bikes...Evelyn one without training wheels. She has had a balance bike for a year and 1/2. He also brought them more dress-ups Tangled for Evelyn and Snow White for Lyla.....they are very blinged out princesses now. I love it, girls are sooo fun. Trent is complaining about the amount of glitter he now sits on and such at our house. lol. We got the girls a Littly People princess palace...the cutest toy I have ever seen.
  Trent gave me a backup camera for the Denali....wahoo we have had a broken one ever since we bought it last Feb. and have wanted one every time I put that thing into reverse when the screen goes black and I know it wants to work for me but can't. Yes...Trent is installing it as we speak. Love that man. He also got me some editing tools and the first and second season of the middle on DVD. He did good:)
  I gave Trent a Craftsman 5 drawer tool chest, he has always wanted one. Also a Ford Racing Bar Stool with a back for his new work table he welded in the garage. so talented:) He also got the movie Avengers we are excited to watch it together.
  I also made a yummy breakfast that morning. Cinnamon rolls, bacon, and eggs. Yes, me Tara made me some bacon:) Trent was proud of his wife for doing that. I am not a bacon fan, never have been. Call me crazy if you would like too.
 We headed to Trent's parents, opened gifts, headed to the Messer's to talk to Austrie Messer who is on a mission in Canada. And then to my parents to hang out, eat and talk to my younger brother Ty, who is currently in Australia serving a mission. We got to skype with him and oh how we love him and miss him. I think we all cried including Ty. What a great example he is too us. Love you Tybud!!
2)Today my mom and I drove to Mesquite to see Les Miserable oh my gosh, what an awesome fantastic, epic movie. I loved it...and the singing was really great. A few parts were a little too graphic for me but I loved it!! Bravo Bravo:) Plus I love spending time with my amazing mother who is my best girlfriend:)
3)Evelyn tried out her new bike today and took off......She completely can ride a big kid bike and pedal on. No training wheels ever for her. It was a wonderful glorious sight to see Trent and her on the road. Once she got the pedaling motion down she was off. Proud mommy moment right there. And I am so grateful to Trent that he is such a wonderful daddy that takes time for the girls. And shows them so much love. I found the such a good man to spend eternity with:)
4)Last Sunday our primary did a nativity program and I was stressing over it. I was running the show but lacking a little bit. Evelyn was an angel and she was soo cute.
5)I have had a break in shoots for a few weeks and it was nice before the holiday. However I have some lined up for next week. That are making me excited to take. Brave the cold I will:)

Bowling, Santa, & Fun At Home...

Evelyn's Prayer...

Dear Heavenly Father, Please bless that we can be nice to our friends and our family. Please bless that we can see Uncle Ty again, and Austrie again. Please bless that mommy doesn't get mad at me tomorrow, and that Lyla doesn't kick me. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen...
*My heart was so touched by this prayer. Children have such a way of wording things. I feel bad about the mommy getting mad part but she also called me a naughty mommy because I threatened to call Santa Clause.....who is really the naughty one?? lol

Weekly Ten-O

1)We went to the Mob Christmas party (the MOB is Trent's group of friends from highschool and their wives/girlfriends. We have done this party for a few years. Lots of fun. This year it was at Doug Burkeland's house in Vegas. We thought we would make the trip worth while and pick up our Christmas card and do some shopping at Costco. The girls had a blast at the party and we had great food and so much fun. We had the best white elephant gift game going. The girls scored a Spongebob icecream set and a homemade I-pad that was hilarious. Seriously I laughed so hard over so many gifts.
2)Trent has been working on the Firebird he replaced the headlights and is getting closer to selling all the time.
3) It rained a lot the last few days and my black car is dirty and sad.....lol. The mud in our driveway is horrible and I can't wait until it dries out again.
4)With all the rain we got I have been getting a big water leak in my car.....in the back after much searching and taking apart the whole floor....we found out it was from the satellite tv they had installed on the top of their car...Ya...satellite tv on a car...a little much right? lol. So Trent fixed that and hopefully no more weeks.
5)I spend almost all of Friday running errands in Mesquite for Christmas presents and everything. And was sooo tired from it. Had fun though.
6)My family usually pays me in props for photoshoots. My sister Kylee gave me some adorable toddler chairs. One is pink and the other green. I am starting to think props is a great trade off for me.
7)I was busy working out all week with Zumba and Pilates and I feel great. Sometimes I wonder if I am getting too toned..I don't mean that cocky or anything. but I tend to build muscle easily.  My class tones,tones, tones:) My sisters and I have always been able to get toned arms very easily in high school weight training classes. I feel my arms and thighs are well, maybe too toned. Well, the thing is I just never have been this toned before but I just can't stop working out...lol. I never want to look manly;/ I love my class so much and am so fortunate to be able to teach here in this community:)
8)The girls are having so much fun together and Lyla lives in her Snow White costume and Evelyn is such a good big sister to her.
9)Evelyn colored a picture for Trent and put it under his pillow for him to find before he went to bed. It was a Arial picture and she is coloring so good at staying in the lines now. She is so thoughtful of all of those around her.

10)Lyla is talking so much now, drawing people with her left hand...she's a lefty and throwing some award winning fits....almost as good as Evelyn's. Fits are tough we usually just laugh when Evelyn's carry on for more than 30 minutes.  So silly.

10 of our week....

1) Trent and I spent about 3 hours bagging our leaves yesterday, and only have of 1/2 of the leaves that have come off the trees. At least Trent can pick them up and pile them with the lawn mower.....saves hours of time from last year. We love our yard and those pretty trees.
2) I did two photo shoots this week. One was with my good friend Shelby Turner. We just did a mini shoot with her kiddos. The other shoot was with my good ol'cheerleading pal Becca Marsh Applegate. The last time I saw her was when I was prego with Evelyn at my baby shower. Really fun shoots with both of them. Onto editing once again.
3) A good chunk of my week went towards editing this so fun shoot with Britney Chapel Lundquist and drooling over the finished product. Girly-girl shoots are so fun. Now I get to deliver them and see how much they love them. One of my favorite parts.
4) I needed to deliver my friend Cara Kynaston her photo CD so we went over to her beautiful home. The girls had a blast playing with their girls. We both talked about being lazy with cadio so I dragged her with my Tues. night. It was really fun and I can see us becoming great friends.
5) Thursday night I the double-whammy workout. Taught my class then stayed for Zumba holy smokes. It was tough, because you usually walk away from pilates a little tight, but at the same time it wasn't as hard as I thought either. When you put your mind to it and tell yourself you can do it....then you can:) That goes with anything in life.
6) Sat after my shoot I went to my moms house and made her come with me to a yard sale we got some great stuff. I found a chest which I have always wanted for a photo prop, and only payed $10 for it. Ahhhh victory, also grabbed a really neat vintage fan too. Wahoo:)
7) Trent fixed up and drove the Firebird car that was dead from his sister Taryn's wreck and it is now safely in our garage. Him and his brother are going to fix it up a little more and then sell it. Not a bad idea:)
8) My wonderful Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Ron from AZ mailed us a lovely gingerbread man plate. They always send us a neat gift in the mail every year for Christmas. I love and miss them, wish our kids knew them better.
9) I have been scoring on our local facebook yardsale page. I scored a free dresser and we got some Santa gifts as well. I love it I love it.
10)I have been eating a little too much crap this past week, onto a healthier week I hope. With more will power:)

Lately...

1) We had a fabulous thanksgiving...Elliah, Josh, Kylee and their cute families came to celebrate with us. We ate at my moms house and had such a yummy feast. Trent took the guys shooting and they all had a blast.
2) I took some fun photos for the Kynaston family. Editing them and they are turning out fablulous. Also did a mini shoot of Kylee's family. Cute cute.
3) Put up my Christmas decorations and am loving the feeling here.
4)Have been way too lazy with working out and eating way too much. ehhhh
5)I do laundry, dishes, edit pics, get the girls snacks nonstop. Not to complain at all, just always something.
6)Trent and I majorly organized the garage, I now have a cozy little corner for all my photo props and I love it. Trent and I organize the garage and storage in spurts. It always feels so good after sweeping and organizing.
7)The girls are so busy outside, playing dress up, hugging, or fighting. Lyla is worse than Evelyn and thinks it's funny to pull her hair when she doesn't like what Evelyn is doing....rough.
8) I got an amazing corner shelf. I tell you I LOVE the yardsale website. It is so awesome. I am excited to paint it and store it in our family room. it will display my vintage cameras and other nic naks. eeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkk
9) My mom and Camille had a Christmas Craft Boutique at the Askeroth household. It was so much fun and we got to see lots of people. I bought lots stuff from my sister Kendra's Adornmegirl shop. Such. Cute. Stuff!!! Camille gave me a wreath that I was drooling over and didn't sell. It looks fabulous by my Christmas tree. Fabulous.
10) On Friday night Kendra, Danielle Terril, Brooke William, Katie Roberson and I had a girls night out at Inside Scoop and it was FUN!! We laughed and almost wet our pants. Oh I love getting together with my friends and talking for hours. I need to do it more often for sure.

A Magical Quote. . .

I HAVE HAD THIS QUOTE FOR MANY YEARS AND DUG IT OUT TO READ IT AGAIN RECENTLY:

People are often unreasonable, illogical, 

and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you 

of selfish ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway. 

If your are successful, you will win some false

friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people

may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, 

someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

The good you do today, people will 

forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,

and it will never be enough;

Give the world the best you have anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between 

you and God;

It never was between you and them anyway. 

*Many thanks to this unknown author I love you:) It has got me through some tough times in life.  All we can do is try our best with  people and trust in God. Becoming the best person we can be and being the better person. 

Weekly Ten Belated...

I just can't seem to get myself to blog every Sunday like I used to. Just so busy busy with my editing and life. But, alas I still need to journal for the future. So I will recap the last week the best that I can.
1) We went to Cedar City, Utah Sat. night to stay in a hotel for my sister Kylee's baby Lincoln's blessing. We would have had to get up really early to make it on time. So we made a family trip out of it. A getaway sort of if you may. Everyone slept great but me. I had horrible leg-aches as me and my sisters call them. Growing up we would always get really achy legs that would hurt us all night long. We all still get them to this day, and I had mine after a really intense pilates class and then long photoshoot the same day. I take so many baths and put heat on them. And they keep me up. . . unless I take medicine. Which I try to avoid when I can. I didn't have any that night. It was miserable...moving on. The blessing was so nice and everyone made it there but Jacob in Michigan and Ty in Australia. So I had so much fun with my siblings and really never get to see them. I would love to get one to move here but, I know that is most likely never gonna happen. I tell Trent he's so lucky to have so much family close. To see his siblings and spend time with them. Get together often.....so jealous. At least my wonderful parents are here.
2) We also froze our booties off in Cedar City....holy smokes. We don't miss the cold Utah winter at all. I will still take a hot summer over it.
3) I did a photo shoot of the lovely Byland family who is now in our ward. They are adorable and have 5 boys...five. the youngest are twins too. They were all really good and we got some great shots. Onto editing now. . .
4) My new vacuum died so now I am trying to find a new one after I took that one straight back. It was too heavy anyways. Wish me luck on my endeavor.
5) I finally took down my Halloween and put up Thanksgiving. YEAH!!
6) Trent made our very own ladder for our tramp. We needed one and my hubby did it instead. Yep, he is officially amazing:) Plus he just made his own work table  for the garage. He is getting to be a pro welder:)
7) Today my mom and I went to Mesquite I love running errands with her. It's a win/win situation for both of us. We went to the Dollar Tree and Walmart. Fun fun.
8) I turned 28 this past week on Friday to be exact. It was one of the best birthdays ever. I got some great gifts. My mother & father in law gave me these really neat vintage cameras. One is from 1916, the other two from the 1947 year. So neat, I was delighted with joy. It's one of the things I have always loved but never would have bought for myself. Then Trent surprised me with a petal car for a prop and some shopping money. Wahoo, I will shop anytime I can and am able. :) A got a few other things as well.  At night we went to Mesquite with the girls and ate at Los Lupas and went bowling. It was so much fun. We had such a blast, the girls loved bowling. And would slowing roll their ball down the lane. I couldn't capture it enough on my phone to remember how much I loved watching Trent teach them how to bowl. It was so priceless. I also ordered a dozen red velvet cupcakes for myself with cream cheese frosting. Thanks to Audrey Lytle's mad baking skills. The best baker I have ever been associated with. I don't know how she does it. An amazing birthday for sure!! Thanks to everyone who made it great. Also to Ashley Bowler and the amazing nail polish, so thoughtful:)
9) Trent worked in the garage and made it much more spacious tearing down these wood shelves. We are trying to change the whole garage outlay and make a nice cozy corner for my props, which are always growing.
10) I got invited by my dear friend Amanda Monk to go see the new Twilight a bunch of our friends. Oh man, it's like she knew I needed that so bad. We went to Sugars first and ate, I came late and wasn't hungry because I ate earlier, then we hopped into our mom rides and drove the 2 second drive to the theater. Our ghetto theater is still the same from when I was a kid. ha ha The movie was so good, because it wasn't. It was so cheesy and bad. But, isn't that how the Twilight movies are supposed to be? lol. Way too much SEX really, ok we know you do that Bella & Edward your married you made a kid. No need to go into it for 3 minutes on screen. eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww and not needed in any movie ever. I am so grateful for amazing friends. It's so fun to get out of the house as mommy's and just have fun.
*Sidenote Evelyn's eye looks so good. I am pleased to inform you after we decided not to run her to the Mesquite ER for stitches.

Our Week Times Two

1) I will start off with what the event engraved into my brain. Evelyn was sitting on a bar stool and felt the chair was tipping over and bailed landing on the floor. Then the chair fell on her. Hitting her right on her brow bone. There was blood right away. I panicked and yelled for Trent. We thought for sure stitches it was a gash. But, we weren't sure. I called my sister Elliah, she has had lots of experiences with stitches I sent her a picture and she said she would take her. The urgent place was closed here and well the closest hospital is a 1/2 hour drive to Mesquite. We had our good neighbor Garrett Schouten come over to look at it. He didn't think she needed stitches and was so kind and good with Evelyn while he was touching her face and all. What an amazing guy, we love their family so much and are so fortunate to have them as neighbors. We also called Taylor (Trent's brother) to see if him and his girlfriend Meagan (who we adore, and Evelyn is smitten by) who is attending nursing school to come take a look. Right away she said the same thing. She cleaned and bandaged her wound. And we saved some mula and kept her home. She seems to be doing great now. So grateful for the good people we know. And for Trent and Taylor giving her a blessing. We are so lucky to have the gospel in our life.
2) Still very busy editing more and more shoots. That explains my lack of blogging frequently. But, I love it, and being busy by photography. I feel needed and loved by all who hire me:)
3) Sick over who became president.  Mitt deserved it, what a great person and amazing leader. While willowing in sadness I have decided to try and get over it as fast as possible. I voted and did my part. I can't change what happened so I will just continue to be happy and carry on in life. Becoming who I want to become and teach my children to love and trust in their Heavenly Father always. No matter what happens. So happy to know what I know and have the church.
4) The girls have been playing with their neighbor Violet a lot. What a sweetie, she is 3 so right in between the girls. Lyla kind of does her own thing on play dates and Evelyn latches onto the kids real good. ha ha.
5) Lyla's latest: she was in the 18th percentile for her weight and 13th for her height when we went to the doctor. So she is a little shrimp...lol. The doc didn't seem to worry about her. Her latest vocabulary words:
top=stop, mere=come here, yike=like, dats fun=thats fun, Eban=Evelyn, see you morning=see you in the morning(she tells me as she goes to bed).
6) Trent checked up on his mustang this week and they still haven't touched it. He told them very nicely to stop being lazy and get going. It's nice to have room in the garage with it gone. ha ha
7) I was bummed to miss out on my niece Lucy's baptism this past Sat. I had a previous shoot booked with my amazing friend Amanda Monk. We planned it back in September, and it just ended up falling on the same day. Trent took the girls and Evelyn thought it was really neat. After we had dinner over at Lucy's house what a turnout lots and lots of fun. I remember so well my baptism and getting dunked twice in the freezing cold water.
8) We moved our no longer working freezer we got for free in our old storage barn. Didn't want to pay the mula to have it hauled off right now. Good to know the barn helps with some things. It's not much to look at on the outside. lol

Recent Happenings....aka Weekly Ten...

1) Took my sister Elliah's family pics. We had fun, but her little Kinley was not happy and had no nap, she was tough. However we still got some great pics. I like to have all my siblings pay me with photo props. If they can't afford pics. It's a pretty cool deal. Lot more work on my end, but it's cool for me. I got some stools and a chair from Elliah and just a chair from Kylee.
2) Trent went hunting this past week again, and he got one. A nice buck as he says. An old one and good size. I am just glad that he is home and satisfied with his hunt.
3) I washed my car yesterday and was freezing. This week has finally started to feel like fall here. I love it but get cold so easily. So, now I miss the warm sun a little.
4) I had to get after some neighbor kids who walked right into my house, went into Evelyn's room and played with her toys, with nobody in the house. OH I WAS
M-A-D and these are not nice sweet kids. They are the same ones I have to kick out of my yard on a regular basis. They are older kids that should know better. Because they don't believe in rules or asking for anything. And if you told the parents it would make no difference at all. They roam around the neighborhood from house to house getting sent home until about 8 + every night. I actually feel bad for them that their parents haven't taught them how to be polite and behave around other human beings.
5) My mom and I headed to St. George with the girls Wed. First we took our car to Newby they had to program some new buttons for our A/C. They didn't have a waiting room available so we walked to Cracker Barrel and had us some breakfast and looked at the stuff in the store. Then my car was done so we hopped in and did some shopping. Then we went to Lyla's 2 year appointment. Dr. Walker is her Doc and this was our first time meeting her. I was very impressed. She was wonderful with Lyla and very nice. Lyla was not scared of her at all and had a blast. She was laughing when she was checking her heart. Opened her mouth when asked. This is a huge difference from how she acted with her previous male doc. I am a space case and forgot her immunization card. We were going specifically for shots. So, the nurse was very helpful trying to get Lyla's record on the phone so we could get it done that day. She had no luck, I called Trent he called Taryn, she ran to my house and faxed over the card to the office. While I was still there. Thank you Taryn for saving my hide. Lyla had no reaction to her shot just looked down at her leg while they poked her and sucked on her sucker. She was amazing that day and for that trip. Y-E-S!! We had a fun, very busy day together. I love having my mom with me we get to hang out and get errands done together.
6) I feel really blessed lately with the amount of photo shoots I have done. I get down in the dumps when I can't seem to find jobs. Since I spend so much money/time for photography. My website I have to pay for monthly, all my props, equipment, software. All that adds up. So, I have been pleading with my heavenly father a little bit. Asking him to send some peeps my way so I can share my talent with him. I don't mean that is a boastful way. But, I do feel like photography is a talent I have. I have a hoot doing my Halloween shoot these last few days, so much fun. Then I have had so many calls about family pics. And my whole month of November is booked with a family shoot for 3 weekends in a row. I am loving it, lots more work on the computer but it's so fun. I had a blast with the Halloween shoot. I think I may try to do that every year. I had five shoots all together. What a blast. I got some amazing shots as well. And am having a blast editing them. All who came was: Esther Jones, Jennifer Schouten, Brooke Williams, Carly Noa, Jessica Solomon, & Myrna Foster. Plus their good looking kids. Thanks everyone, hope to do it next year. *The girls were my lighting testers before my other shoots started I love these pics I got of them. So Cute, I have some real beauties on my hands.
7)We went to a great yard sale and has some good finds. I found some knitted beanies for a newborn, and some flowers. And some more crappy toys for the girls I wish I didn't buy. Also I felt so badly for this lady who parked where I was going to but then thought to park away from other cars. This guy backed right up into her. I honestly don't know how he hit her car. I hate the feeling you get after an accident. or get pulled over...ehh. Poor lady.

I'm So Lucky...

I have a wonderful life. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I found the love of my life almost ten years ago. After hanging in their for two years we were even more in love than before and got married in the St. George LDS temple. I joined a beautiful, wonderful Leavitt family. Thank you for raising such a loving kind person. He is such a great husband and daddy. Trent and I feel we got so lucky to join each others family. We now have two beautiful, healthy children. We are so fortunate our Heavenly Father has loaned them to us for this Earth experience. My life would be so different and empty without them. Feeling Very Grateful And Blessed . . .

These are photos from Trent's sister Taryn's wedding. They were worth the work, I love how they turned out. Taryn got married on my parents anniversary. Which is a week after our anniversary. This year we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. While at Taryn's I felt so blessed to be Trent's forever and be part of his awesome family too.