F A I T H.

If you want to read a simple yet very powerful talk on faith, click here. It was a talk given by Elder Kevin W. Pearson last conference...I don't know where I was (maybe entertaining a 5 month old Brie :0)) but I'm so glad I read it. Here are a few thoughts that particularly stood out to me:

"We can give our children education, lessons, athletics, the arts, and material possessions, but if we do not give them faith in Christ, we have given little."

"...faith as a principle of power comes from a consistent pattern of obedient behavior and attitudes."

Eye of faith = "the ability to focus and to be steadfast, continually holding fast to true principles, nothing wavering, even when the mist of darkness confronting us is exceedingly great."

"Our net usuable faith is what we have left to exercise after we subtract our sources of doubt and disbelief."

Aside from those thoughts Elder Pearson went on to talk about the "Six Destructive Ds." Wow. Such pertinent and powerful teaching! Definitely check it out.

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You know, it is just hitting me that General Conference is right around the corner (3 & 4 Oct). I'm looking forward to being inspired and uplifted! How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who continues to send counsel and wisdom our way, and that even during a time of such great upheaval and turmoil we need not fear.

Bompa & Mémé's Garden.

The Summer of 2007, partly in preparation for Bryan's and my wedding, my Dad & Mom and Rach (along with several other people) spent hours and hours and HOURS landscaping the backyard, putting in grow boxes, a garden swing, flowers, etc. It was BEAUTIFUL for the wedding but has also been SO fun and fruitful since :0)

One day I asked my Dad if he had any spare produce I could have.

He walked out to the garden and within a few minutes

had this beautiful spread to share. Wow! So delicious AND generous.

Mémé and Brie spending time in the garden.

And look at the canteloupe corner...

with all the magical, swirly-curly tendrils :0)

((Sister) Meghan (Alexander)...does that bring

back memories of Cinderella Pumpkin Swirls?! :0)

Aside from the actual garden, the peach trees have brought a plentiful harvest this year. Over the last few weeks MANY hours have been spent picking and blanching and skinning and pitting and cutting and freezing and drying and fruit leathering! (Oh and Peach Pit Jellying. First time ever today. We'll see how they set up and taste.)

The last time we got together to work on peaches I decided I'd take a few pictures:

Keeping Little Miss Brie happy = Many a sliced and diced peach to eat :0)

She definitely let us know when she had run out and was ready for more!...

The Peach Screeeeeech :0)

I usually love autumn, but this year I will definitely

miss all the fun we had in Bompa and Mémé's garden. Til next year.

Thanks Mom and Dad for so generously

sharing the harvest of all of your hardwork!

Pumpkin Season is here.

Good news: Some of you may have seen the promo I'm running on my photo blog for Halloween (if not, you can check it out here). If it interests you I'd be happy to do the photo shoot & cards for FREE. So just let me know, and we can set up a time. (The specific dates and times are on my blog, but if those don't work we can figure something else out.)

*Spread the word to your friends.

Friend Referral = 10% off first photo shoot!

and the...

Bad news: Last weekend someone pumpkin-ed our car and broke the rear window. No fun! We had no idea until, on a morning walk, a neighbor mentioned seeing broken glass all over. When we got back from our walk sure enough there was part of a pumpkin in our back seat with glass everywhere. Too bad, eh? It's all repaired now and no one got hurt...so that's good. But I don't think I'll be parking my car on the street for awhile.

9 months old on 09/09/09.

(there are a few more pictures from

her "9 month photo shoot" on my photo blog.)

WOW, I can NOT believe that nine months have already passed since Brie was born. As I mentioned on my 6 month post, every day offers new challenges to figure out and overcome --like Brie not sleeping through the night :0(-- but I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a mother and to have Brie as my daughter. She is SO full of life and energy and excitment to touch and feel and taste and explore! She is such a joy to have in our family.

We affectionately call Brie our ATB (All Terrain Baby) because she loves to crawl and climb over anything and everything. Her balance is a lot better and she's getting more courageous walking between and around pieces of furniture and occasionally will test out standing on her own. She loves to "talk" and has quite the repertoire of sounds that she makes. She LOVES to eat and is always wanting to try what mom is eating...she reminds me of a baby bird with her mouth wide open, waiting for food :0) She has one little "snaggle tooth" that is coming in. Her hair has grown in quite a bit and is finally laying down on her head. She is more and more giggly and smiley and fun to play with...

...And there's our nine month old Breebsie in a nut shell :0)

Happy 9 months Bugaboo :0)

Happy Birthday buddy! :0)

So Rebecca and I have been friends since FIRST GRADE...over 20 years later she is still one of my bestest and dearest friends...a kindred spirit :0) (for those of you who have seen Anne of Green Gables) In any case...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!!!

I am sure grateful to have had your friendship. Thank you for your listening ear, encouragement, advice, fun memories and for always being there for you.

I hope you have an AWESOME day!

Mind your P's and Q's.

What does that even mean?! :0)

(to mind your P's and Q's that is. I've always wondered.)

My parents have a highchair upstairs...so when I'm not feeling lazy I take Brie on a "field trip" up to Bompa and Mémé's for meals. However, I'm often feeling lazy so normally I just hold Brie on my lap while feeding her solids (and hope that we both won't be TOO covered with food by the end) or I sit her up in her bouncer and feed her that way. The disadvantage with that approach is that I put the bouncer on the table so I can easily reach the spoon to her mouth BUT then that doesn't leave much room for anything else on the table.


ANYWAY, yesterday I decided that it'd be nice to both be able to sit up to the table for lunch. I had my tuna casserole leftovers and Brie had frozen peas and corn to start things off. I decided to try tying her to one of our chairs, much like Grandma Graden inventively "tied" Brie into her high chair. Two towels later and we were in business! Brie did a great job sitting up and feeding herself. I was thoroughly impressed :0)