Page 59 - Chef Daddy

My husband has become quite the cook which I love for more reasons than one. He uses no recipes and comes up with the most amazing stuff I've ever had.

Sundays have become "Monte Cristo" day when he makes the most amazing sandwiches. The bread is french toast and then there is turkey, ham and swiss cheese. Trust me, it's the most amazing sandwich EVER!! It started as just a Christmas morning tradition but it's so good I have to have it once a week so now it's Sunday dinner tradition too!

We made him the apron for Christmas. It says "Chef" daddy and has the kids' hand prints on it.

Page 58 - Date With Mom

My son asked me out on a date last night. I think he figured it was a good way for me to take him to his favorite place, Jamba Juice.

This was the reflection in the window.

Page 57 - Physical Therapy

My hubby loves to run. When he was in Ireland a few weeks ago he went on a 20 mile run in the freezing cold in shorts and a t-shirt. Needless to say, he injured his knee. He has to have physical therapy for a little while. I think he's learned his lesson :)

Page 56 -1st Prom Dress

I am very close to my niece. The day she was born I was so excited to finally be "Auntie Sue". We are friends and I love being in her life.

She just turned 16 and on the same day was asked out on her first date. That was hard for me.

Then last night she was asked by a different boy to go to prom. What???? Prom? Already?

I'm just not ready for this. I want her to stay little with long blond pigtails forever.

Then again, I am so proud of the woman she is becoming and the person she already is. I love her like my own daughter.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to go shopping for her dress today. I had a blast and will never forget this. One day we'll all be going shopping for her wedding dress. It better not be for at least 9 years though!!!

I chose this picture not only because it shows how beautiful my niece is, but I love the look on my sister-in-law's face and she looks at her. The perfect moment captured forever. Photography rocks :)

Page 55 - Procrastination

Procrastinate -
To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.

They might as well put a picture of me for an example.

Yes, this is some of the Cmas decorations I took down and put in my dining room a a month and a half ago and there they still sit.

I have mastered Procrastination. Just think what I could accomplish if I were still an apprentice?

Page 54 - "My Train!"

I grew up right by some railroad tracks so at night I would hear the sounds of one passing once in a while. I love the sound of the wheels going along the tracks. It's so relaxing to me.

My family also had a huge toy train set up with mountains and tunnels and people. My brothers and I loved to play with the trains and watch them go along the track. We even played a game where whenever someone heard or saw a train they would yell, "My train!!"

Seeing this today at the library brought back so many great memories. Trains make me happy:)

Page 53 - God's Stitches

A year and a half ago there was a huge fire on this mountain right by my house. This summer these lines in the mountain all of a sudden appeared. It looks like God came down and cut open the mountain to perform surgery and then stitched it back up.

Page 52 - Eating Healthy

Been on my diet for a couple weeks now and even though it's hard, fruit makes it not so bad. When you aren't eating junk food or sugar, fruit takes heavenly.

I took this at night so my lighting wasn't the best. I almost just skipped today so something is better than nothing.

Page 51 - Circle Of Friends

Had an amazing day shooting with my friend Scott Jarvie. He is teaching a group of interns photography and asked me to tag along today. It was a much needed break from the norm so thank you. It was freezing and at the end of the day we all got in a circle to keep warm.


If you want to see the rest of the pics I took today you'll have to wait until I post them on my Lookie Loo Photography blog. Here is a sneak peak though:

Page 50 - It's Cold Outside

It just started snowing outside and it's pretty cold. My Lu walked up to the window and used her breath to make the window foggy and then drew in it. I'm so glad I happened to have my micro lens on my camera so I could get this super close shot. I love it.

Page 49 - Room With a View

This is the view I have from my kitchen, family room and master bedroom upstairs. Tonight, it was especially gorgeous.

Page 48 - WOW Mommy!!!...

...It's so clean in here!!! (Abby)

I am not the best at cleaning my room and bathroom. Every other room in the house gets done before mine so by the time I get to my room I just collapse on my bed instead of cleaning since I am so tired.

Today, I'd had enough of the piles of laundry with walking trails around them on the floor of my room, the kids clothes scattered around the bathroom, the lipstick drawn all over the cabinets and the clutter everywhere. I decided to clean my room FIRST.

It took all day, but it's finally done. I even hung a few pictures on the walls after 2 years of living here and am going to make some curtains now. I deserve to have a little getaway that is always clean and is just mine.

Sorry to post such a dumb and completely uncreative picture for today but this is about my life. I took this picture at 11:55pm (just realized my clock on the wall stopped working!) and was exhausted. I am locking the door so the kids can't get in anymore and thrash my room. (I may have to find a way to lock out my hubby too!)

The title and first line of this post is what Abby said when she walked into my room today. Sad, huh?

Page 47 - 100 Day

Today is Abby's 100th day of school so they are having a party and had to make a poster with Loo things on it. We used some heart candy she got for Valentines.

Page 46 - Gloomy Presiden'ts Day

Page 45 - True Love

44 years
5 children
12 grandchildren
Still going strong...
That, is TRUE LOVE

Happy Valentines Day, I love you mom and dad.

I've been editing these pictures from the last 3 days on my little lap top so I hope they look okay! I may get home and see them on my big screen and make some changes :)

Page 44 - New Beginnings

Every day is filled with new beginnings, some are just harder to find.

Today I found out my sweet sister in law was pregnant, then immediately was told that she was showing signs of miscarrying.

My heart hurt, I have not felt so helpless in so long. There was nothing I could do but pray that she and the baby would be alright.

She lost the baby.

My Abby found a tree pod with seeds in it. She proceeded to take the tiny seeds and plant them in the ground and I just watched. As she carefully dug tiny holes and placed each seed inside, it was symbolic to me of this day and how life is full of new beginnings and gave me hope for a new life. I love you Annie, you are stronger than I could ever be and will be an amazing mother someday, I believe that with all my heart.

Page 43 - Road Trip

We were supposed to leave at 3 - of course that didn't happen. It's 6 pm and we are on the road only to find a nail in our tire.

Go get tire fixed.

Now it's 7pm, finally on the road once again. Off to St. George!

Page 42 - Love Pox

Picked up Abby from school today and she said she'd caught Love Pox at school. Wish that was all she ever caught there.

Page 41 - Feels Good To Be Missed

I had a LONG day yesterday.

• Nephew's 2 month shoot
• Oliver's newborn shoot
• 2 hour drive to Manti, Utah with my sister in law and our 5 kids
• Photo shoot at Manti temple
  
• dinner with 19 people
• 2 hour drive home with 2 crying babies
• hubby home from Seattle

Needless to say, I was so tired and exhausted, I couldn't bring myself to sit down at the computer to edit and post a picture. At least I took tons! I had 2 friends leave comments on my Facebook today wondering if I was okay since I didn't post. It felt so good to be missed! To make it up to you all, here are 3 pictures for the day.

Abby said, "I can't believe my mom is letting me do this!!!!"

This is my little brother and his wife. She went through the temple for the first time today.

I love my family.

Page 40 - Letting Go

Abby went to a friend's house down the street to play and wanted to go by herself.

She looked back at me after a while and waved and I couldn't do it so I ran after her in my bare feet freezing and walked her the rest of the way.

I'm just not ready to let go yet.

Page 39 - A Picture (or two) A Day

I've been thinking so much about this 365 challenge and how it has changed my life.

Really. It's changed my life.

No longer is life ordinary, dull, and the same ol' thing. I wake up each day with eyes that look for the extraordinary that happens more often than I realized before. A look, a touch, a sweet little game. Each moment is something to take and remember forever. I think this is why I struggle so much picking just one picture a day.

This morning my Lu was playing with her baby doll and took off his jammies. She then proceeded to try and put the pants on herself. I walked by and she said, "Look mommy, I a baby."


"Louisa, are those your toes?"

"No, they bubblegum." :)

This 365 challenge is the best thing for me and my life right now. It's a way of counting my blessings one at a time. What a difference a picture a day makes.

Page 38 - In Daddy's Hands

My husband is an amazing pianist. I think our little Lu is going to follow in daddy's handprints.

Page 37 - Let's Go To The Movies

Rich Legg, a stock photographer, had a movie theater shoot this morning and I took the family to model for it. He has done a lot to help me so this is the least I could do to pay him back!


I had to post this one for Zig, the guy sticking his tongue out at me!

If you want to see one of the pictures he took go here, you can only see the lower half of my jaw since we sat in the very back row!

Page 36 - Guess What I'm Sewing Now?

I love sewing. It's my escape and I love the feeling of accomplishment I get from it. No, I'm not making clothes this time. You'll just have to wait and see!!!

Page 35 - Not Again!

I woke up sick AGAIN today so I curled up under a blanket on the couch and did nothing but watch tv. It was a boring day so I figured I'd make my picture boring too. I don't have the brain power to do anything else today, sorry.

Page 34 - Lipstick In Her Hands

My Lu decided to draw all over my cabinets with my lipstick again. Instead of getting angry, I used it for inspiration for today's pictures, yes, pictures plural. I love both for different reasons and couldn't pick one. Maybe you can.


See? They are so sweet.

Page 33 - Unhappy Groundhog Day

"Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2. It is held in the United States and Cananda. According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks." from Wikipedia.

I guess he saw his shadow today. Six more glorious weeks of winter (sarcasm in my voice). Too bad the groundhog doesn't live in Utah - it's overcast today so he wouldn't have seen his shadow and would be out frolicking through the grass right now instead of trying to go back to sleep for six more weeks in a hole.

I've been waiting for the sun to come out all day so I could get my picture of the day and it finally just came out for about 10 minutes so I could get our shadows!

Page 32 - On The Wings Of Love

February is the month of love. It's a time you think of the ones you love most and how you can show them just how much you care. Today is the first day of February so my picture is in honor of what it symbolizes and for my Girl's Night Out tonight. The title of this post should give away what we are doing!!