Catch up.. Ketchup... What?

Just thought I would catch you up on what we have been up to. :)
I'll make it short and sweet though
Like I said in the last post.. I have been getting busy.. which Eden does not like

But she LOVED Christmas

especially the tasty ornaments... wait.. those are definitely not for eating.. oops

and loved all her fun new presents
like her alphabet books

and her ball pit!

and of course... her panda pillow!



My mom's friend Kim came to visit last weekend and introduced Eden to art


this will be a little rudolph picture for christmas next year when Kim is all done with it :)


this is Eden asking for more paint on her hand


this is Eden after we told her we were all done


Kim made us Tikka Masala... yummm





like I said Kim introduced Eden to painting.. and then she gave us this great idea to mix milk and food coloring to paint our toast :) we tried it out today and needless to say Eden loved loved loved it!



that's all for now guys!



**keep in mind these pictures are all SOOC.. I haven't had the time to go through and edit them all... so go easy on me :)

Potato Dumpling Soup

It was my senior year of high school. I desperately needed a job. I started waitressing out at the golf course restaurant. That's where I met Kevin and fell in love.... with his soup.... seriously... you've seen Seinfeld right??? well the Soup Nazi... he doesn't have anything on Kevin... this guy takes soup to a whole new level. he's been making it since he was like 8 or something like that. I can't even describe the amazing deliciousness.. there was clam chowder every friday, french onion, cream of mushroom, PIZZA! he would just make stuff up too like beer cheese and they made some italian sausage with mushrooms and potatoes with a yummy creamy base. but my very favorite days were the days when Kevin made his potato dumpling soup... yup you heard me... it's like baked potato soup PLUS dumplings. well needless to say since I left Arrowhead I have been dreaming of and longing after this soup. Luckily I finally got the hookup. My friend Lexi went back to work at Arrowhead this summer and asked Kevin if he could write down the recipe for me. he basically just gave her a list of ingredients buuut it turned out better than expected. not exactly Kevin's but hey it was my first time!


start out by melting about 1 tablespoon of butter in a large pot and saute some chopped onions, carrots, and celery for a few minutes
add 8 cups of water and 4 tablespoons of chicken base
add 4 oven baked potatoes cut into bite size pieces
season with garlic salt, sea salt, celery salt, pepper, and lawrys
bring to a simmer and let cook while you make the dumplings

for the dumplings start out with 3 eggs, some chopped chives or green onions, salt, pepper, lawrys, and garlic salt, and about 2 tablespoons of milk
add in flour until it is a super thick batter but do not over stir or you will end up with super stiff, hard dumplings!
add the dumplings into soup by the spoonful and cook for about 20 more minutes
milk to soup until it's a creamy consistency (probably 1-2 cups)
melt in 4 slices of american cheese and some chopped bacon if you're into that sort of thing
and you are good to go!! serve with some yummy bread and you're in heaven



and here are some pictures of my little love buglet for a week or two ago that I have been slacking on putting up



I have some fun family shoots planned for this weekend so make sure to stop back and check them out!
Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Hannah and Rob's Wedding + Eden-Baby

My big sister is now a wife... how weird is that?!?! it was such a beautiful day! hannah was just gorgeous i wish i had taken more pictures but the day was just so very busy that i didn't get very many.
i am so happy for hannah and rob! i can not imagine a more perfect couple. you guys are amazing! congrats! wish you many many years of happiness! now hurry up and make eden a cousin :]

we drank lots and lots of coffee!!!


my sister in law Jess of Little Dandelion Studios made this beautiful flower pin for hannah's hair


Eli looked so cute in his little suit! he even wanted to do his own hair. what a little man!


like i said i wish i had gotten more pictures.. it really is a shame the whole thing was just beautiful! my mother did an amazing job. she seriously should be a wedding planner/decorator/coordinator! hannah's photographer is wonderful though and i'm sure she captured the day just wonderfully i will make sure to post a link once she puts pictures up on her blog.

today was an awesome overcast kind of day... my favorite for shooting! so i made eden put on a cute outfit and head outside with me she is such a ham!


knee high socks are the best!



this is typical eden- yelling in her crazy baby language that resembles japanese.. she's so silly


my little flower child :] love her



i have to end with these two... they are not "artistic" or "creative" or "technically great" but this is eden... running around, barely holding still for a picture, being completely adorable
i could not love her more! i am so lucky to be her mother!

The State Fair...

the food, the animals, the rides... what could be better? stephen, eden, and i hit up the fair this past weekend and it was super fun! i absolutely L.O.V.E. the fair!

we got to gorge ourselves on some deep fried mushrooms, cheese curds, and fries... not to mention the giant gyros we devoured... and no i don't have any pictures because i was way too busy inhaling my food like it was my first meal in weeks...
we also got to see (about a million) cows, pigs, llamas, goats, and sheep. eden really enjoyed looking at the animals but wasn't too sure about actually touching them... we did get her to pet a few of them..





i love this time year! and i love my little family! eden was being such a daddy's girl last weekend so that's why there is one picture of me and her and about a hundred of her and stephen. but i guess i can't blame her :)

Summer Skin..

summer is coming to an end.. the days are getting shorter.. and cooler (kind of)..
it went by waaay too fast!
hannah's wedding is in three weeks... yup.. only.three.weeks...... yikes.
so those next three weeks are going to be a huge blur.. i don't know if i'll be getting around to blogging until after the wedding so i thought i'd better get on and post a few pictures to tide you over until then. i've been keeping a fairly busy. working on that book list i posted a while back.. hanging out with eden-baby.. going to the zoo.. watching Lost :)... booking shoots.. spending time with my awesome family.... you know the usual..

this little goat was trying to eat my hair at the zoo

see?


me and eden went to visit steve in lacrosse this past week and we went out to eat at this uh-mazing italian place! stephen begged that i not take my "nerd bag" aka my giant camera bag into the restaurant this time... soo i didn't... which is a huge bummer because i wish i could show you pictures of the food so you could try to imagine just how delicious it was... instead you'll have to deal with pictures of my left overs (chicken carbonara.. spinach, sun dried tomatoes, bacon?? yes please) is it wrong to eat pasta at 9:30 in the morning? if so i don't want to be right!


the brothers were home this weekend. so eden got to hang with her super cool cousin elias. they played in the water and ate ice cream and had loads of fun. they are the two coolest kids i have ever met... hands down.