31 October 2011

. . . halloween {briefly} . . .

. . . it's a necessary evil . . .
. . . every year . . .
. . . hi ~ i'm stephanie . . .
. . . and i'm the halloween grinch . . .
{let's dress up like weirdos and beg for candy from strangers ~
wrong on so many levels!}
. . . these little cuties
make it worth it, though . . .

{l-r elliott/almost 3; halleigh/8; tagg/3; colby/2 months;
addison/9; tate/5; cameron/6-ish months}

. . . pretty addi with authentic firestar hair . . .
{minus the really big bangs.
she wore sponge curlers to school
and didn't get kicked out of class.
yes, dr. audrey guydon ~
i'm still bitter about amanda
being sent home in seventh grade!}


. . . beautiful halleigh
rocking the superstar unitard . . .

. . . they make 15-year-old
stars costumes look fabulous . . .


. . . tough guy tater tot
as a studly baseball player . . .
. . . he is dangerous with a bat . . .
. . . no ~ really ~ he is dangerous with a bat . . .
. . . stand clear! . . .


. . . tagg as a one-winged buzz lightyear . . .
. . . to infinity and beyond! . . .


. . . elliott loving life as woody . . .
. . . with candy! . . .


. . . together they're a hoot . . .


. . . cameron finally woke up . . .
. . . thrilled to be wearing his buzz onesie . . .


. . . and baby colby {aka toby/ferris}
was the most darling skeleton . . .

. . . but the BCOTN award . . .
{best costume of the night award}
. . . hands down . . .
. . . goes to our brand new
one-day-old bishop . . .

. . . uncle sam sherwood . . .

{we've heard rumors of a movement to celebrate halloween
always on the fourth saturday of october.
please vote for that if/when it comes up on a ballot.
wouldn't it be nice to not have it on a school night? thanks!}


30 October 2011

. . . are bell peppers on sale? . . .

. . . that's bill's question
nearly every week
when i ask
if he has any requests
from the grocery store . . .
. . . here's why . . .

. . . he loves them stuffed . . .
. . . the fact that
he never actually eats
the pepper itself? . . .
. . . details . . .
. . . the important thing here
is flavor . . .
. . . flavor in the form of
ground beef browned with onion,
and the diced pepper tops,
rice cooked in chicken broth,
diced tomatoes,
corn {cooked, cut off the cob, and frozen last summer},
worcestershire sauce,
salt, pepper
and a little sharp cheddar on top . . .
. . . sorry ~ specific amounts not available . . .
. . . plus ~ you never know
exactly how big the peppers are
or how much filling they'll hold . . .
. . . i always end up with extra . . .
. . . just keep it in a casserole dish
and reheat . . .
. . . last time drew was in town,
he single handedly
ate about five pounds
{his estimation}
of it in one weekend . . .


17 October 2011

. . . we'll miss him . . .

. . . our awesome bishop . . .
. . . phil chiles . . .
. . . passed away unexpectedly
this morning . . .

{photo taken at young women in excellence 28 september 2011}

. . . he was our dear friend and neighbor . . .
. . . compassionate . . .
. . . loving . . .
. . . selfless . . .
. . . one of a kind . . .

. . . we pray for his sweet family . . .
. . . and we will miss him . . .


15 October 2011

. . . she belongs . . .

. . . to the
. . . what a happy day
for the hansen family . . .



. . . daughter number two . . .
. . . halleigh anne . . .
. . . was baptized . . .
. . . and even though
she loved wearing
her beautiful white dress . . .
. . . she just couldn't help
but sneak in
little touches
of her very favorite color . . .
. . . from head . . .
{doesn't she have just about the cutest freckles ever?}

. . . to toe . . .


. . . that's how i knew
she'd love the quilt
i made specially for her . . .
{please notice tagg giving us the "eye"}

. . . turquoise ~ because she loves it . . .
. . . with just a teensy pinch
of cheetah thrown in . . .
. . . because she's a wild child . . .


14 October 2011

. . . a good teacher . . .

. . . can teach just about anywhere . . .
. . . even at camp geronimo . . .

. . . competing with high adventure activities . . .
. . . like a zip line, or rappelling, or the rifle range . . .
. . . and the kids really listened . . .

{i was in charge of treats ~ now that i can handle!}


09 October 2011

. . . colby's big day . . .

. . . today was a great day
for colby tyler johnson . . .
{age ~ nearly 7 weeks}
. . . his daddy gave him a name
& a blessing at church . . .

{the sun was a little too bright!}

. . . {almost} our whole family was there . . .
. . . we missed drew & jessalyn . . .
{please hurry & graduate!}

. . . afterward, all the grownups
ate delicious breakfast treats
like bagels, muffins
& homemade cinnamon rolls . . .
. . . while the grandchildren
{in honor of steve jobs}
entertained themselves
with iPhone games . . .
. . . budding geniuses . . .


04 October 2011

. . . it's been a long time coming . . .

. . . but ~ conference weekend
seemed to be as good a time as any
to finally finish hand stitching the binding . . .
. . . and, as always, i obsessed
and used every last scrap
to make the back . . .



. . . sometimes a "name" doesn't come easily . . .
. . . this was the best i could come up with . . .
. . . giving credit where credit is due . . .

. . . and the big reveal . . .
. . . cloudy days in arizona
usually mean windy days . . .
. . . hence the "ruffly" edged photos . . .