When:  Saturday, May 22nd.  Sessions will be scheduled for late morning, afternoon and evening time slots.

Where:  Star Mill  (147 East 600 North, American Fork, UT 84003)  This location is worth the drive.  I promise!  Think eclectic, vintage, natural…awesome!

Mini-sessions can be used for child, high school senior, or family portraits  (no extended families please).

This is the BEST promotion I have ever offered!  Don’t hesitate!  Contact me today to schedule your session.  Then, let your family and friends know too.  Thanks!

-Mindy

(801) 707-1048

mindy@bellissimaportraits.com

When:  Saturday, May 22nd.  Sessions will be scheduled for late morning, afternoon and evening time slots.

Where:  Star Mill  (147 East 600 North, American Fork, UT 84003)  This location is worth the drive.  I promise!  Think eclectic, vintage, natural…awesome!

Mini-sessions can be used for child, high school senior, or family portraits  (no extended families please).

This is the BEST promotion I have ever offered!  Don’t hesitate!  Contact me today to schedule your session.  Then, let your family and friends know too.  Thanks!

-Mindy

(801) 707-1048

mindy@bellissimaportraits.com

My CUTE little niece is almost one year old!  In anticipation of her birthday, we did a birthday photo-session.  I have SO MANY pictures that I love!  So, for today I will start with the first outfit.  To come:  lollipops and polka-dots, “peasantly” adorable, pink pettiskirt, and cake crumbles!  I love photographing babies!!!

On another note:  I finished reading “Wuthering Heights” last week.  I did not like it!  I kept hoping the book would get better but it never did.  You cannot connect with any of the characters because they are all awful!  Things just keep getting worse until it finally ends in I guess what could be considered the best way possible, under the circumstances.  But, still.  Not good.  I started reading “Great Expectations” last night and am hoping that it will be more enjoyable

Our family has been listening to books on CD.  We finished “Ella Enchanted.”  It is so cute.  Much better than the movie.  Currently, we are listening to “”The Tale of Despereaux.”  We were lucky enough to find the audio book as well as multiple copies of the actual book on the shelves at the library.  Mae Mae is hooked!  She has been sitting on the couch following along for the past hour.  Missy and I have been reading “Anne of Green Gables” aloud to each other.  That is fun too.  I love sharing my favorite things with them.  I feel like we finally have time to do those things together.  I don’t quite feel like we are doing enough “school-work” yet, but we are slowly getting organized and settling into our routine.  Well, we were anyways.  Then, daylight savings time had to come along and mess us all up.  We cannot seem to get started before 10:00 now (previously 9:00).  You would think that by now we would have adjusted to the new time.  But, we’re having a hard time.  Maybe if we would just go to bed earlier.  There is just so much to do!

Today, the girls and I “met” Pierre-Auguste Renior, Impressionist artist.  In contrast to stereotypical romantic artist, Renior was known as a lighthearted, joyful person.  His art reflects a delight in the existence of the world and its beauty, expressed in colors drenched with light and sunshine.  Regarding his artwork, He is reported to have said, “…an eternity of the everyday, captured on the nearest street corner; the maid stops cleaning her pots for a moment and suddenly becomes Juno on Mount Olympus.”

Of course, I was selective about which of his paintings we studied. 

Another notable change made in our home:  The girls each have one night each week that they are in charge of cooking dinner.  They have been so excited about picking their own meals and learning how to make them.  So far, Missy made shrimp/peppers & cheese, and Mae Mae made sweet pork burritos.  Tomorrow night features the Foof making chicken & rice casserole.  It is refreshing for me to not hear whining about dinner anymore.  I got sick of the complaining when I made meals they weren’t excited about.  Now, they just understand that we all have different tastes and that while this may not be a dinner they like, that they will have a chance for their favorite meal later in the week.

Now for the zombie part:  The other night, Mae Mae was in bed “going to sleep.”  She has a very hard time going to sleep.  I have heard that people who are really intelligent actually need less sleep.  So, I’m going with it.  She is a smary-pants.  Every night, she lays awaks hours after all the other kids are asleep.  Well, the night after Halloween, I went in to check on her and she was still awake.  Our coversation went something like this:

Mae Mae:  Mom, I’m feeling nervous about zombies.

(I’m thinking how in the world does she even know about zombies?  I don’t even know what zombies are for sure…are they walking dead?)  Anyways, I patiently explain to her that she doesn’t need to be afraid of them because they are not real.  Just like the one-eyed green monster on Monters.inc.  He is not scary because he is not real.

She looks at me with a look.  You know that look that means “Don’t speak condescendingly to me!” and said, “Mom.  I know.  I’M not afraid of zombies.  My STOMACH is!”

Of course.

After our picnic, we hiked up to the Falls.  Here is a quick picture of my parents in front of the waterfall…

The kids had fun gathering leaves, climbing trees and running down the paths.  (Mae Mae in the tree)

Next, we piled back into our cars and drove up to Cascade Springs for more hiking and playing.  (The Foof  “reading” the signs along the trail)

Becca and Brandon snuggling on the bridge…

While out, I took a few pictures of Tressa’s kids:

HOORAY FOR A FUN FALL DAY!!!

Can I just say how much I love living 1 mile away from Tressa and her family?!?  Tressa and I haven’t lived near each other since we both lived at home 15 years ago.   And, hmm…well, we’ll just put it this way; we didn’t always get along when we were growing up.  But, we are making up for it now!  It is so nice just having someone there.  I think moving away from family and being alone, even though it was only for 6 months, helps me treasure and appreciate having family again.  When I lived in Idaho, when I would talk to people at church, sometimes I felt like I was sending out that needy vibe.  You know what I am talking about, right?  It was not my favorite feeling.  So, when we moved to Utah and found a house 2 minutes from Tressa’s house, it was an answer to prayers for me.  Through that experience, I came to understand something about myself.  I realized that I need people.  I am a person that craves social interaction.  I don’t need a million friends.  I don’t have to or even want to do something with people every day.  But, I do need to have one or two people.  People who I can count on, laugh with…just be myself with.  Once I have that, I don’t feel needy anymore.  Then, I can go out and befriend people, but not feel desperate for friendship and companionship, because I feel safe and secure.  I guess that is just an insecurity I have.  But, I am really thankful to live near Tressa and her family, to have the security of family and to have that “home” feeling again.  I never would have guessed that Utah would be “home,” but am really happy that it is!

Before Baby W went in for his first haircut, his cute Mom scheduled a session for him. Don’t you just love that little curl in the back?

As a side note: I cannot imagine being able to wait until the one year mark to give my child a haircut, but that is because my children have insane amounts of hair. When Miss Priss was a baby, everywhere I went people commented on how much hair she had. It was so common that it started to irritate me. I felt like saying, “Have you never seen a child with hair before?!?” But, of course I didn’t say that. I behaved myself and sweetly said, “I know, right? It is pretty fun to be able to braid and curl her hair, even though she is only 5 months old!” And then, the Bub. I think he got his first haircut when he was only six days old. I was getting ready to take his official newborn pictures, and the mullet just wasn’t working for me! Ha Ha!

Anyways, can I just say that one thing I LOVE about my job is that I get to freeze time. I can capture that nostalgia into an image. Whenever his Mom looks at this picture, she will remember baby W, pre “Big-Boy Haircut,” sweet baby innocence. Ahhh. I just love it!