Hard at Work

I have been hard at work

on Banks' Baby Book again.

I decided i would do the first year of his life

 about half way through the year.

So now that he is just over a year I am back at the beginning.

It was so fun to look at all the pictures again

but sad too!

I have cried quite a few times because of 

HOW TIME FLIES!

I had some discussions with friends and family 

over the past few weeks about how 

I hope when it is all said and done

that I can have every single memory back.

Our brains are amazing and i know it is all stored up there somewhere.

I am sure that heavenly father is very mindful of mothers

 (especially the ones who feel like their brains turn more into mush with each baby)

he will let me have all of these cherished

moments back.

This is a long post....so happy scrolling

My Nayvee Bean

We are definitely creatures of habit and Nayvee is no exception.

She loves her cocoa and can't go a day with out it.

For one of my photography assignments I had to do

 "a day in the life of..." 

so I thought I would choose Nayvee

I am really loving this stage of Nayvee and Banks.

Don't get me wrong, there are always a few crazy moments everyday but over all they are 

FAB-U-LOUS!

They play so good together and it just keeps getting better 

the bigger Banks gets.

Nayvee is the mother hen of the house and Banks is content 

to just tag along for the ride.

Let the Sun Shine!!!

John finished his quarter yesterday 

and I can't believe how fast

this year has Gone!

Thankfully the rain has stopped and the beautiful

weather has arrived. 

Yesterday was so fun, we headed to the beach for the afternoon

and then had a BBQ afterwards. 

It's so nice when John can relax and not worry that 

something needs to be done tomorrow.

Usually once or twice a month we go on a

 family date

to IN-N-OUT. This is one place we will

miss when we don't live in California.

Park day...it's a lifesaver

We went to the Chinese New Year Parade in

Union Square. We had an awesome spot 

right in the front. It was the longest parade I have ever been to. 

We had to leave early because our kids couldn't take it any

longer. Who would have thought.

Notice in the picture by the float,

 there is the remnants of a fire works display. 

It was so loud I thought someone put my head

 inside a bombshell. 

I am pretty sure it was about 1000 black cat firecrackers 

going off at one time...I am not even exaggerating. 

I plugged banks' ears for him, but who was going to plug my ears?

I guess if i go deaf at least he can hear.

photography class

I have been taking a photography class

taught here in San Francisco 

by Nicole Hill Gerulat

I absolutely love it and it got me really excited 

about photography.

I know she teaches online classes and crash courses all over the place 

so click here for more info. The class is 

all about using your SLR camera in Manual Mode.

Fabulous!

so here are some of my favorites from our assignments.

I used Nayvee the most because she is

so NOT camera shy.

Banks is at a really hard age because he is obssesed with my camera

and keeps walking to me.

The pics below were about motion.

These were about lighting in open shade

and using reflectors, along with head positioning

This was using window lighting

Pretty much, I learned a ton!

Some Firsts

She has loved school

so much 

and hangs all of her 

little art projects 

on the back of her door.

and I would highly recommend

"Joy School"

to anyone who isn't sure

about the preschools in their area.

you can find more info about here

We had a sweet

little

party for Banks and went to

In-n-Out

for dinner of course he slept through

that part.

Nayvee is now on the count down 

until her birthday.

She asks at least once a day 

if it can be her birthday 

tomorrow.

It will get here eventually!

The Last of our Canada Trip

Sorry, this is a huge post!  

you may have to look in shifts! 

Dont skip reading the last one it's

CRAZY!

We just had such a great time

and there was so much to tell about.

 so 

here it is!

Skiing Whitefish Montana