excursions and such.

guess where we went last week?!

ARUBA!! it was so so so pretty, and warm, and relaxing... ahh.

guess why we went?!

our dear friend brenda married torrence. we love them, and i was BEYOND honored to shoot her wedding. it was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!! can't wait to share more pictures...

and guess who came with us??!

that would be this little jet setter, our lulu. did you know that she is 2 and a half months already??! and that she is a passport holder, and that this trip was her third round trip flight?

talk about nuts. i have lots i need to share about this little lady of ours, we like her a whole bunch. i have got to get caught up on here, but seriously, what else is new?

the other first day of school...

after a couple of weeks at max's preschool, we got a call from our original first choice preschool saying that they had an opening for max- and that school started the next day! i had a lot of reservations about switching schools, but because we weren't really thrilled with his teacher at the first school and there were just SOOOO many things we loved about his second school, we decided to make the change! we're SO glad we did.

walking with daddy- i hope he will keep holding his hand for a long, long time...

max was nervous at first, but it didn't take long for him to warm up!

max loves the play dough at preschool. i just love his teachers and how they interact with my little dude! i could go on and on...

the way home...

we are LOVING our smart little preschool boy! something about watching him learn all these new things just GETS me, every little thing he brings home is so cute, and i just wanted to cry when i volunteered in his class! i get all choked up watching him, i'm seriously just so proud of him. and he is pretty proud of himself too. =)

Max, so far this year you...

- get called "Mr. Max" by your teachers!

-love playing with your friend Bennett

- are a good listener and are somewhat quiet in class, which was a bit of a surprise!

-always choose to play with play dough at the beginning of class- rather than do puzzles or read books.

- got to take care of your preschool mascot, biscuit the bunny. you were all kinds of confused over weather he was a bunny, a biscuit, or a mascot. sometimes he was a biscuit named mascot, other times a mascot named biscuit... it was hilarious.

- brought your GRASSHOPPERS to show and tell! they were a big hit. =) those two particular grasshoppers were named George and Yellow Hat. as in, CURIOUS GEORGE and THE MAN WITH THE YELLOW HAT.

- do letter of the week. but the first week, everyone got to bring something to class that started with the first letter of their first name. for letter M, you brought your MUSTACHE pillow! you also noticed the M on your dresser and asked me "is this MY LETTER?!" you call M's your letter. =)

- can spell your name! last week you came home with a piece of paper that said Max on it, and underneath was your attempt at writing your name, beginning with a very looong M with lots of points. i asked if you learned to spell your name and you replied proudly " M! A! AXE!" it was so adorable and now i love to hear you spell your name. =)

in her cribby.

yes, since having children, we have become those annoying people who ad a "Y" at the end of everything. the best is when max says he has a "runny nosey." ha!

here's my lovely lulu at about 6 weeks, just looking darling.

i just love having this girl around. sigh.

baby kenz

can you believe my little sister is a senior?! she's GORGEOUS, that's for sure! see them all over HERE.

lucy, one month

i love this girl. i tried to do some curled up little newborn shots, even though she was a month old! thankfully she cooperated for a few. it seemed like these first few weeks FLEW by. i had so many ideas i wanted to do with pictures right at the beginning, but i just never seemed to have the time and energy. gee. wonder why? haha! even though lucy is such a good baby and she was sleeping a good 4 hours at a time or more at this age, we were still busy resting, recovering, and snuggling. =)

oh, and a big thank you to nicole from shabby rose for the darling headband. check out her etsy shop HERE! i just couldn't resist using it for a few newborn shots of my lulu.

sneaking into the frame.

HE

doesn't like to pose for a photo...

unless of course,

it's HER turn!

so typical. i died laughing over this series!

the sweetest.

or at least that's what you would think

until i told you that right after this last shot,

he stuck her very tiny finger

up her very tiny nostril.

lucy, welcome to having an older brother. =)

but still, their relationship really is so precious. these images are probably my favorites of the two of them together!

two sleeping.

oh, there is nothing nicer. =)

miss L, kickin' back!

his feet looked just like this (or worse!) all summer! i love having a boy. =)

my babies.

for whatever reason, i took a LOT of pictures this day (august 16th).

Lucy, 19 days. Max, 3 and a half.

someday, i will get a good picture of the two of them together...

right?

this first one is my very favorite.

for the record, i'm OBSESSED with this little dress she got from her auntie (and future mother in law) celeste! she wears it all the time, usually with this little felt flower i made.

lucy and the kettles

lucy, two weeks old partying with the kettles at uncle david and aunt kathy's 50th anniversary party! she had so much fun snuggling with her grandma and grandpa, aunts and cousins. =)

lucy with grandma and grandpa k

the guest family was in town from denver! yay!

of course, these three hooligans were living it up. what IS the face max is making?! you've got to be kidding me.

with aunt leslie! this little lady is going to have to be a tough chica so she can hang with her brother, cody and tyty up in lyman. these boys don't mess around when they're together! =)

oh man! here we are, a family of four. crazy, right?

greater love hath no boy than this...

that he share his grasshoppers with his sister.

no, seriously.

that's love.

it all started when two of our neighbors came over to play and they each brought pet hoppers, and oh, was he jealous! he kept asking to borrow them! you could tell he was just dying to have his own.

max, with grasshopper envy. i happen to think it's the most adorable thing ever.

early the next morning, max woke up and just had to have a grasshopper of his very own. so he and danny went for a little bike ride to a field near our house and caught TWO grasshoppers! oh, you should have seen the pride. he came running in my room, woke me up and put the jar of hoppers about six inches from my face. he could barely contain himself! he then promptly turned to lucy's moses basket and showed them to her. then set them in her moses basket with her so she could marvel at them appropriately. we about died!

later that afternoon, max took a trip up to idaho to spend the long weekend with grandma kettle while we were at the lake house for labor day. don't you worry, his pets came along. he held them the whole way there, and only shook them sometimes.

he came home with an empty jar. we were informed,

"my dasshoppers are at dwama's tabin. betuz dey are dead."

nice.

no worries, we have a new one, rescued from a life of boredom on the back porch. his name is GEORGE.

GEORGE JUMPY.

the end.

schooled.

can you even believe it? my boy is a PRESCHOOLER! we were BOTH so excited for his first big day, maybe i was a leeeetle more excited. =) i can't even explain how rediculously proud i was seeing him in his classroom, watching him interact with the other students and the teacher... oh, it melted me. he was just SO. CUTE.

the first day i picked him up, lucy and i went in to get him and max was super excited to show his baby sister to the teacher! he went up and got her attention and then just BEAMED while he smiled and pointed his little finger at his sister.

"can you tell your teacher your baby sister's name?"

turns out she had already been informed.

"lucy right? he has been drawing pictures of her and talking about her ALL DAY!"

baaaah! totally one of those well up with pride/love/adoration for your kids mommy moments.

here's our big boy, ready to hit the road on the first day. growing up, we always had pictures on the front porch on the first day of school. did you?

"lucy, max and mommy!" by jon maxwell kettle. looks just like us, no?