Christmas with the Kettles

'twas the night before christmas...

and the kettle cousins were having a GRAND old time. We got to spend the evening with everyone except Mandy's family (they came Christmas morning!) and when all these kids are together, it is the most fun CRAZY party around. I guess that's what you get with 9 (and one on the way) grandkids 6 and under. ha!

Max's first present- a sleeping bag from Grandma and Grandpa K. 

playing in boxes with cousin Tyson

I guess its true what they say about kids liking the packaging more than the presents at this age. haha!

Christmas Morning!

max and the vaffo- my favorite picture from the day!

it started out like EVERY OTHER DAY. with a "vaffo!" In max-ese, this means waffle. and by waffle, he means anything that comes out of the toaster or resembles bread of any kind or whole wheat eggos (obsessed). he woke up (as usual) and immediately let us know that he need a vaffo ASAP!

this present was the BIG HIT of his Chrsitmas. His own little guitar! It's the real deal too (and by real deal of course I mean $25 at target)- no little musical buttons or pretend strings, it's just like a mini guitar! Thanks SID (or dis, as max calls him) for tuning it today. Our ears thank you. 

MOO was his Santa present!

Max also got a little assortment of wooden toys from mom and dad and santa. Like a wooden tool set, building blocks, things like that. Oh and a ball that bounces SOOO high! He loved it! We tried to keep it pretty simple, a few toys and some things he needed, socks and under shirts (ha! his Daddy asks for socks and undies every year too!) and some snow gear and shoes. He's not even TWO after all, and I hate having tons of toys that just lay around. My toy philosophy is wood not plastic, less but higher quality, and if it makes noise, he's making it himself. i.e. his harmonica guitar, not a fire truck with sirens.  But don't worry, his grandparents and auntie Tiff spoiled the little guy with  a new coat, the cutest little stuffed tiger, and lots of other fun things!

Lovin' on Daddy!

After the Santa was done, we headed upstairs for adult breakfast while Max watched [i mean actually sat still and WATCHED!!!!!] his new movie from grandma, TOY STORY. Out of all the cool characters on that show, who does max love? woody? no. buzz? no. 

that would be the dinosaur. aka "dido". . .    ? 

Then we got dressed in the Christmas outfit (and sporting the new Christmas Vans) and were ready to rock. 

Think he likes it?

In case you're wondering, I was actually at christmas. The whole time. Unfortunately, there's not ONE dang picture to prove it. yes. that would be one of my new years resolutions. 

though stay tuned. I will be making a guest performance in a movie made by the cousins. 

Danny and I scored too I have to say- Danny got a new set of crazy cool tires for his car. Yes, I think this is incredibly boring, but he was thrilled. 

and I.   MMEEEEE! was surprised with the new mac book pro!! what? really? I must have been extra good for Danny and my mom and dad to collaborate on such a rad gift. though really I wasn't, so they must really love me or something. =)

Also thanks to Mom and Dad Kettle and Grandma and Grandpa D for the christmas money. I looooove the after Christmas shopping! The BEST!

More to come on Rexburg adventures, followed by pretend Christmas and NEW YEARS at the lake house with the Rands. Yay!

what's that? a MOVIE?

now, i could have posted about christmas tonight (and should have)  but instead I chose to do nothing. this little vid is max and his best girl doin' their thing. Not too interesting other than Heather's ABC's and Max's adorable, infectious, saweeeeet as they come giggle. it's just SO him I had to share. 

this video was make possible by our sponsor Apple photobooth. 

nightly polies

played with the little guy (and his baby) who is obsessed with photo booth.

we BOTH went to bed early. for once!

btw. had dropped off some medium format film to be developed and scanned onto a cd. 

TWENTY BUCKS. 12 images. is that normal?

first there was hanukah

Maxter had so much fun at his first ever Hanukah party at our neighbor's house! Sid (Max's future father in law) was raised Jewish, so we had a little celebration for the first night. It was really fun learning a bit about the traditions and food...yeaaaaah Latke (or however you say/spell it?). Thanks for the fun night Sorias!

the kids loved the candle idea...

Max kept trying to blow them out and Heather kept yelling "Happy Bir-day!!!" 

You should have seen it. You would have been rolling too.

young love

Of course the kids had a little Hanukah gift exchange

 (ahem. don't mind the Christmas tree in the background. k?)

can you see the excitement? Know why? Because Max got his very own...

baby.

and he love love loves it. He walks around holding it over his shoulder saying

 "bebe! bebe!  sh. sh. sh. sh." 

and then he smells its butt.

and I don't even feel kinda bad about it. =)

it's wearing blue. ok?

incidentally, Max got Heather a wooden tool set. 

oh the shame.

Listen. I have been a bad BAD blogger and I'm sorry. I like it here. I like you guys.  so I'm trying to be better. I've missed you. Have you missed me?

 Here's to a new year filled with new posts. One of my goals this year is to not allow myself to get BEHIND so much. On work, on blogging, on gulp, LAUNDRY (who am I kidding. danny does the laundry). You know? I feel like I am always playing catch up which makes everything so much harder and it tends to just snowball for me. Tomorrow will be a day devoted to catching up so I can start fresh and catch up no more. Staying on top of things is such bliss when I can manage it. Good luck to me. 

we are home from Sand Point after a ridiculously long drive (note. never drive again, no matter how expensive airfare is!).  Hence the laundry, blogging, and work I am scrambling to get done. More to come tomorrow. THAT's A PROMISE!

"snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes..."

well, our chistmas in rexburg was DEFINITELY white, and this little guy is one of my 

FAVORITE THINGS

for sure. hopefully soon i'll have time to post all about christmas, but for now, enjoy a snowflake resting on max's eyelashes to tide you over. =)

family pictures- FOR ME!!!

Recently I did a little trade with amy furstenau for some family pictures. I love them and I had so much fun editing some pictures with ME in them. It's a rarity! Amy, thank you so much for taking these, we will treasure them always and you are one TALENTED photographer! See the ones I took of Amy's family here. 

#1

#2

#3

i must say, husband is looking pretty hot in this one. it's my favorite of him! And I tried a new editing technique that turned out pretty cool. Amy of course composed it PERFECTLY.

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

this one made us laugh SO hard. At the end of the shoot this kid would NOT 

relinquish the apple!

which one's YOUR favorite (like if you were going to blow one up on a HUGE canvas)?

let there be LIGHTS

We had so much fun freezing our patooties off last night with the Riggs at temple square. THe lights were gorgeous (though the boys seem to think they've scaled down a bit?) and it was nice to get out and do something relaxing and Christmas-ey with our friends. This Holiday season has been a touch too hectic for my taste, so this was a welcome change of pace. 

It was 19 degrees, so the only pic we got with Max was when we transitioned him from the car to the stroller. It was a MAJOR mistake to forget a hat. 

The lovely Hadley had a blast running around with her cousins. For the record, on the way there, she asked her mom if she was going to wear her wedding dress, and then later asked if she was going to see heaven and Jesus at the temple. How SWEET is that? Well Hadee, not LITERALLY, but yes. =)  Then when we were talking about the Nativity scene, she asked if she was going to be able to touch the baby Jesus. Mom and Dad said no, to which she replied 

"oh yea, because we don't have hand sanitizer."

HAAAAA! 

He got to soak in the lights thisaway. 

Really it was that freezing. he has another blanket, a coat and a scarf under there bytheway. 

I was obsessed with the floating candles

It was overall a beautiful night, and a little outing to Litza's Pizza afterwards didn't hurt either. 

mmmmmm....

Thanks for the invite RIGGS!

p.s. some of you remember the post where i mentioned busting out some cool temple shots to sell on etsy? I haven't forgotten. however, my camera bag was stolen with all my lenses but my 50mm f/1.8. A great lens, but rather limiting for this project given the scale of the temple. However, the first shot from this post WILL be added to the collection. It would perhaps be possible to make it available for Christmas. PERHAPS. e-mail me if interested. 

jesslkettle@yahoo.com

the rest of the project will resume after the first of the year and I am able to replace my equipment. thanks for your patience!

remember when we went to florida?

Oh ya, that trip I took over a month ago? maybe I should actually blog about it huh? Mostly, there was a lot of haning out at the beach, playing with friends and a little bit of Disney. Very fun. I am trying to get caught up on my blog, so I am going to try to keep it simple. 

my maxter loved the beach, but didn't like to get too close to the water. he's more of a sand type of guy. . .

Our friends the MOODYs were there too (we actually just tagged along for one of chris' golf tournaments) and we had so much fun with them! Noah and Max got along great and I had lots of fun taking pictures of him one afternoon- you couldn't ask for a cuter subject!

naked bum noah!

Max and Noah just chillaxin' on the balcony- they remind us of their dads!

On the way to DISNEY WORLD!

took this from the car window- actually kinda like it!

Max warmed up to Mickey and Minnie...

after an uncertain first impression. haha! We went to the wild animal kingdom and Disney World and we just didn't have enough time to make the most of it all. Guess we'll have to come back soon!

one of the ONLY pictures of the three of us during the trip! ha!

mr. kettle

oh how i love you, playing dress up to look just like daddy. i'll take YOU 

wrapped up in a bow under my tree. you can be my very special present and I will nibble your cheeks and pinch your bum all christmas long.

several people have asked what my camera settings were for the tree shot. here you go:

1/40 s f/1.8 ISO 640 and hold still. =) Also, I shot this in raw rather than jpg. the lights were off other than the ones on the tree. I did pretty much the typical editing, but I lifted the midtones quite a bit in curves.  

oooooh christmas tree

well, here's our whole tree! it's real and soooo yummy smelling! we've since added a few more presents, but still no tree skirt. I was going to make one... we'll see.

congratulations little genius

this is my little love lindsey, who i have been best friends with since 5th grade. 

i am so proud of her for graduating from USU in interior design this week!

way to go girl, YOU EARNED IT! 

now go use those brain cells and make your way in the big bad world. 

i feel like i should quote something from

"the places you'll go"

but i'll spare you. =)

modern granny

I have been really into doilies lately so

 when I saw this on the nesting blog, 

I had to check it out.

don't you think this chandelier

would be perfect in my kitchen?

or maybe my guest room. 

yeaaaaaa.

casa sugar has lots of modern doily ideas and

i want them. 

all of them.