All You Need Is...

This is how I feel these days....meaning I think we need more love and I feel very big!

The Watsons

I took these clear back in December for my brother and his wife's family. With the best of intentions, I meant to post them sooner. This is still sooner than later!


We took them at the Benson Grist Mill out by Tooele. Lots of fun backgrounds and places to explore. They were a brave bunch to say "cheese" in that cold December weather with no coats on! I was more than satisfied to be behind the camera so I could keep my coat on.

Fun at the SL Library

Dear Jenny and Kelli,
My friends. My mentors.
I like you!
Love, Holly

The Whittles

Adam and I were in the same district in the MTC. In fact, we were briefly "companions" during some practicing time. No really, we were literally without our companions teaching a practice investigator, just us and that guy. Don't worry it was allowed and appropriate.

We are fortunate enough to live close to each other now and I was lucky enough to get to take some family pictures. Admittedly, it is a little hard to call him "Adam" and not "Whittle."

Way cute family. Each child has such a unique fun personality! I mean, look at those adorable faces! You can just see their individuality shining forth! And they were true champs as it as pretty cold out this Saturday.

(And I'm now in love with this bridge and love the way they fit into it!)

And one last, individual picture, because you HAVE to love his eyes!

Growing Kitty

As Fui gets older and bigger, I thought I'd share some more about our life with him (though he's no longer "officially" a boy since he recently visited the doctor).

Fui still sleeps with us. He'll start off the night by nuzzling up in my neck. Eventually he'll move around, but if we stir at all during the night, he'll come right back. Before good ol' Daylight Savings time, it was so funny how Fui knew when it was time to wake up. His internal clock knew that 6:30 is the time (Jeremy gets up then), and he was usually awake and ready to go by then. He'd move around some, but the second an alarm went off, he'd meow constantly and persistently until someone got up with him. If we waited past 7:00 on the weekends and no alarm went off, that was WAY too late! He'd let us know. Sometimes by biting my face.  All that changed with the time change. Fui still thinks that the 6:30 time IN HIS MIND is correct. Unfortunately that means 5:30 our time. His favorite thing to do when we won't get up with him yet is to bat at the blinds in the room. We have unsuccessfully tried to train him proper behavior in the morning for us to sleep longer.

Fui not only catches the flies in the house, but he kills them and eats them too. I love the easy, no clean-up! Fui is also a mouser! He's caught and killed THREE! I'm so happy knowing we've got mouse insurance. And as fun as the real cat toys are, Fui loves a good tin foil ball best. We clip his front claws about once a month. This just seems to make Fui more aware of the power of his teeth. They are pretty strong. (Apparently cats lose some of their teeth like humans. We noticed some fall out and better, sharper ones grow back in.)

He always wants to go outside. It's his favorite spot during the day. He'll usually play out there after dark too.  Children don't seem to be Fui's favorite, but he's fairly tolerant of them. He'll put up with the playing, tugging, and carrying around for a bit, and then he will go find a quiet place to hide.   Jeremy thinks maybe we should have thought differently about naming our white kitty after a Polynesian football player.

Down By the Railroad Tracks Part 2

I'm lucky enough to have a "regular client". She's pretty young so I'm sure I'll be taking her pictures for years to come.

At least until she starts complaining that she sees more of the camera than her Aunt Holly.

But for now, she doesn't mind.

Her mom requested the railroad tracks and so even though I had just been there, we went back again. This time I had the morning light to work with. It was lovely! We didn't spend long as Abigail was hungry and tired (proven when I picked a wild sunflower for her to hold, but she wanted nothing to do with it). But she loves taking walks, hearing her parents sing songs to her, and she loves Fui.  But then who doesn't?

Without further ado, Baby Abigail!

Down by the Railroad Tracks

I've taken pictures of these boys before, but this time I got to do the whole family! These guys kept ME smiling the whole time. I thought it was my job to get them to smile. They're just so much fun and I hope that one day I have such cute and well behaved boys! (Jeremy says he wants some girls too, though.)

Let me share some things about these three adorable boys.

Carson is a very good brother. When asked to smile, sometimes it can be a little fake, but then he blows you away with the real thing! He tells THE BEST jokes (Why do flowers have forks? --No pause-- Because they have spoons.) I asked him if all the girls loved him at school. He easily answered yes.

Ian is a good kid. He gets excited about the simple things. That's when his smile comes out that will just kill ya!  He thought "hiding" in the tall weeds was the best game ever! I love all the silly expressions he makes. And he's a great jumper!

 Last of all there's Braxton. Such an adorable little boy. He has the cutest run! His parents trick him into going places by telling him he'll find a puppy when he gets there. (I wonder how they can sleep at night!)  All he was interested in during our time together were non-existent puppies, not looking at the camera, and rocks.

And because this isn't a long enough post yet, here was our culminating activity. We were just trying to tie Kevin up on the tracks, but the boys got themselves into a knot.