Dear Grandma and Grandpa

I love my shark book.  It has big sharks.  They swim so far across the ocean.  There is a carpetshark in there too.  My favorite are the big ones.  I read it everyday.  It is special to me.

My tiger arms are cool.  They make me strong.  They have stripes.  I like to wear them when it's cold.

I miss you so so so so so much.  I want to visit you after my birthday.  I pray for you every night.

Grandma, you wear pretty earrings and I like them

Grandpa, you are silly.

Thanks for coming to visit me in Minnesota

Love Noah

I love Fancy Nancy so much.  I like to play with her every every every day.  I like dressing her and singing to her and talking to her.  I sleep with her in my bunk bed.

I love you.  I want to give you hugs.

I love Grandma so much

I love to kiss Grandpa.

Thank you for coming to see me.  

Love Alex  

Falcon Football

Landon decided he wanted to play football - he has endured the hot summer practices, hell week- where they work them so hard they try to weed out any kids that aren't tough, and is now enjoying some games.

Lots and lots of practices . . . . the other day at practice his elbow got stuck into someone else's face mask. The coach had to yank it loose - consequence: a bruised and sore elbow for Landon and a bloody nose for the other kid. His coach was screaming at the kids the other night "THIS IS FOOTBALL! THIS ISN'T PIANO LESSONS! BE TOUGH!!" It's pretty tough all right.

His second game yesterday was against Napa - the Falcons won 37-18. Landon plays offensive tackle and special teams and he's having fun with it.

Random humor . . . .

Baby Boston at 7 months

I just got back from spending a few days with Michele, John and Boston. Isn't he adorable?!!

He is the sweetest baby - these pictures really capture his personality.

This one is his Dad's favorite picture (see above)

This is Landon's favorite picture (see above)

This lucky kid has the best mom and dad - he is completely adored - of course.

This is what he looks like when his Dad is around (see above) he smiles as soon as he hears his Dad's voice - and starts laughing when he sees him coming his way - so cute.

Excuse me for being the gloating Grandma - I just couldn't resist showing off this cutie.

Alleanza Bridal has launched!

It's a launch! Alleanza Bridal is officially in business with the website up and running now - and we're off to Utah for the Bridal Show at the Expo Center in Sandy. We're excited - and are counting on all our friends to pass the news that we exist. Check out our website at: www.alleanzabridal.com
Our launch has been a long time in coming - but the recent weeks have been the busiest and the most fun. In mid August we went to Phoenix for our first Photo Shoot. I thought I'd give you all a behind the scenes look at how things went - We started out in the middle of the day getting our catalog type shots done . . .

I had Tiffany as my model, and Michelle there as my business partner and stylist and do everything girl. You would not believe how much there was to do and to haul from place to place.

The whole photo shoot thing was kind of surreal - it made our whole business project go from a sort of intangible state to "Wow, we're really doing this" stage. It was pretty exciting.

If you are looking closely - yes that is a helicopter to the right side of Tiffany and the nose of a small plane in the forefront. We shot all these in an aiport hanger in Phoenix in-between the planes. Our photographer Mark (who was absolutely wonderful to work with) could control the lighting that way. Unfortunately, he couldn't control the heat. It was 108 that day and we were all cooking - me in particular as I steamed and pressed all the bridal gowns. I can't remember the last time I was so hot!

After the shoot at the airport hanger we packed everything up and moved over to Stonebridge Manor Reception Center to prepare for the artsy/wedding style shots.

We recruited Randy to come be Tiffany's groom for the shoot. What a good sport to be out there in the heat in his dark suit.

We re-enacted a petal toss for the shoot. After a few go arounds Mark replaced me as a petal tosser - and his assistant stepped in. I never could throw a ball to save my life - now apparently I don't do any better with petals :)

I think it was at the beginning of the photo shoot at Stonebridge that I got that euphoric feeling that - "We did it!" The gowns were everything we had hoped they would be - and Tiffany was absolutely beautiful in them. Of course, I've been working with these gowns for months - but with everything all together - the finished gowns, Tiffany all decked out in her wedding day best - hair and makeup, and the beautiful background it was a big WOW! feeling of satisfaction that we accomplished what we set out to do - make beautiful, high-end gowns out of spectacular fabrics in styles that were designed to be modest from the beginning. A very happy moment.

I couldn't dwell on that too long - because there was so much to do - and we were all burning up!!! (I did mention that we did all this in the 108 degree Phoenix sun) Poor little Boston was a trooper all day long - but at the end of the day he was just plain hot and tired. His Mom let him have a little dip in the pool to try and cool off.

These are some of my favorite shots from the photo shoot -

Maybe the best moment of the day (besides my "We did it!" moment) was after the photo shoot was all over - and we packed up - were hot and tired - and we went out to grab a late dinner. Boston crashed in his carseat and Tiffany, Randy, Michelle and I all relaxed, visited, and enjoyed just being together as a family. So here's to hoping that our little business venture is sucessful enough to keep those moments happening - I'd love to have the excuse to have to do this all over again real soon.