{ grandpa's girls }

In August, just me and my two girls went and stayed in Blackfoot.  On our way out, we stopped to see grandpa, Chevee's never visited his grave site.  It's not the ideal place to have to go have a little chat with your grandpa or dad, but visiting is a must, and I actually enjoy it and surprisingly enough, it brings me peace.

These first pictures are Aaliyah showing Chevee the engraved picture of grandma and grandpa.

Chevee also likes to look with her hands!

Kinda seems weird that I'm having my girls pose in front of a headstone, but it doesn't bother me, and under the circumstances, I don't think it's all that weird. Plus! My mom spent some good money on that headstone - may as well show it off!

Aaliyah decided they should lay with grandpa - seems as if it's more like laying ON grandpa!

The last time I saw my dad, which was 3 days before he passed away, I knew it would be my last time seeing him and that it was goodbye, and so I asked him to randomly leave me dimes to help me know he's still with me. He looked at me very strangely, gave me a little smirk and said ok. And to this day, I don't find pennies, I find dimes - I'm not kidding either!  When we visited in March, I left him one of the dimes he'd left me - it's still there.

Well... today it's been three years since I started my hobby of finding dimes, meaning it's been three years since he passed away.  I wasn't there to hold his hand as he took off to his new adventure (as Carter puts it) of engineering the hell outta heaven! That would have to come first before he took on any other assignments, or he would just be a complete wreck! They say in Heaven you're suppose to be at peace with so much happiness, but I truly don't believe he would be if there was even one little white picket fence that had a little tilt to it - I'm sure St. Peter handed him his tool belt right as he walked through those pearly gates!

Well pops - we love ya and we just miss you more and more with every passing day but we know that you're not too far away and that you're keeping tabs on us - though I'd prefer having you here instead.

{ happy birthday } to our BRAYLIN

Today is my nephew's birthday! His name is Braylin and he is 4 YEARS OLD! He's my most favorite little boy in the whole wide world and he just tugs on my heart strings just thinking about him, let alone when I look at his big blue eyes! Take a look!!

To those of you out there that have never truly thought about just how special adoption is, maybe after reading this, you'll know.  My brother, Carter, and his wife, Angela, were finally ready to start their family and tried for many years to do so.  After several failed attempts they turned to adoption. Not far away, was a young, scared pregnant mother, though she came from a very wonderful and supportive family, she knew that giving her baby up for adoption was the right thing to do - she chose Carter and Ang to take her sweet baby boy into their lives and give him what she couldn't at that point & time in her life. And, of course, Carter & Ang did just that, with fully open arms giving more love than one knew what to do with!  Braylin was born in Logan, UT but he and Ang had to wait a few days before they could go back to Idaho, so lucky us - we got to spend time with them and watch Ang give all that love to him - I've never seen anyone glow as much as she. You could see the amazement in her eyes as she looked deep into his and it was an experience that I'll never forget. Adoption is so very special and I really don't think that every one of those birth mothers out there know just how happy they make families and how special they are and how grateful those families are for their selflessness.

Here's more pictures of Braylin from over the summer - he's so full of life, I could hardly keep up to get some shots of him!

And then shortly after Braylin, another miracle came to be...  Ang got pregnant!! And just days before that next Christmas, we were blessed with Adilee, which is a mini-me of Ang!

I know that these 2 little cutie-patooties are most definitely keeping Carter and Ang young, but boy! Are they oh so worth it! And even though Braylin and Adilee will have their little spiffs, they're still the  best of friends!

Happy Birthday, little man! We love you so very much! And of course, we love you too Adilee - and as mommy always tells you - we love you bigger than heaven!

MEETING GRANDMA HAZEL

When we visited Idaho in July, Chevee got to meet my Grandma Hazel for the first time. Grandma Hazel is my dad's mom and she lives in an assisted living home in Blackfoot and has been there for a few years.  Her memory isn't too healthy and for the most part can only remember things from long ago. She can tell all kinds of stories from when she was a little girl - it's truly amazing as well as entertaining to listen to her.

I went to visit her when I was pregnant (very pregnant & showing) and she was very surprised & excited to see that I was, but I knew that she wouldn't remember. Showing up with Chevee was a complete surprise to her and oh so exciting.  She was perma-grinned and just couldn't quit staring at her - it was truly a heart-touching moment!

Grandma Hazel is very special to us.  When my dad passed away almost 3 years ago, because of her struggling memory, we were so worried that she would forget that she had lost her only son and that it would be similar to "50 First Dates" and that she would have to continuously relive the news each day; but to our surprise, that was one recent memory that she held onto for longer than just a few minutes.  I would go visit her, and in her tiny apartment, she would be rocking in her rocking chair and next to her would be a little table with a lamp and a picture of my dad, the picture being turned and facing her, and she would be rocking and staring at the picture - it never failed, I would instantly tear up and then embrace her in my arms as she would start to cry too and tell me thank you, thank you for coming.  Unfortunately, in the last year, her memory hasn't been able to hold on to the passing of my dad and when my mom visits, she asks about Ed.

I get so much joy from visiting her and taking my kids to see her so that she can remember, at least just for a moment, that she has a family that loves her.  When she met Chevee it was all OOHS and AHHHS and then the question, "what does Ed think about her? She's just so beautiful, I bet she's got him wrapped around his finger," and I just smiled as a tear rolled down my cheek.

She just couldn't get over Chevee's hands - she was so amazed at how tiny they were, she hadn't held a baby for so many years.

Notice her cute & colorful polka-dotted nails.  When I visited a different time, they were all done up too - "tween style" and I complimented them, because it really is so cute! She said that girls come to the facility and paint all the lady's nails for them... that only made sense. My grandma was always so proud of her nails; I remember as a little girl she would always show me how long they had gotten and how strong they were because of a certain strengthening clear nail polish she would use on them.

We're amazed that Grandma Hazel is still with us and I just pray that she feels no pain every day and that she doesn't get her feelings hurt because Ed doesn't come to visit.  We love you Grandma Hazel!

GIFT CERTIFICATES ARE HERE!!

Guess what I finally have??? Just in time for (I really hate saying this word in September) the Holidays (ouch!), iCandy  now has gift certificates for sale to be applied towards photo shoots, prints, or a design; and they can be any amount you want!

I sometimes tend to go a little overboard, and with these I think I may have, but just a little :). I love colors, all colors and I couldn't choose just one color for the certificates, so I chose lots of colors so that you can have a choice too - though I doubt anyone will truly care - but just in case... I got your back!

So you know that there's always that hard to buy for person (or family or couple) or you just need a last minute wedding gift or you know of someone who hasn't had family pictures taken in a very long time and just needs a little nudge... think about it - I know you know SOMEONE that could benefit!!  Well when you're ready, so are these gift certificates!  If needed, you can just pay through PayPal and I can mail them to you unless you're up for a beautiful scenic drive to Alpine!!

IN LOVE {photo contest}

Yep! That's right! It's time for another photo contest so I can make someone happy!  The theme for this contest is "IN LOVE."  I know, I know, it's not Valentine's Day but September is when my husband & I started dating 16 years ago and on September 20 in 2003 is when we finally tied the knot! So in honor of all the LOVE, I decided it would be fun for the contest to be all about it.

Pictures I'm looking for will based all around love, showing expressions of love.  So it doesn't just have to be you and your husband/boyfriend, it could anything that is showing love. Children, pets, nature, family, etc.  You get the idea, right??

The prize this time?  The winner will receive 50% OFF any photo session PLUS a FREE portrait package (one image from your shoot professionally printed) which is (1) 8x10, (2)5 x7, (4) 4x6 and 8 minis.

One thing I have to remind all of my friends & fans of is that I am based out of Utah County and conduct business there and in Salt Lake County. But for those of you outside of these areas, please feel free to enter but please remember that if you win, I'm not able to travel to your area specifically for your photo shoot; but if I happen to be in the area, I will, of course, make time for your shoot - other than that, the shoot would need to be held local to me.  Sorry!

So get your picture in, you have until Monday, Sept. 19. All entries will  be posted on Sept. 20 and the voting can begin, but it will be up to you to get as many votes as you can by consistently posting to your wall words of encouragement to your friends to first "LIKE" iCandy, and then second, "LIKE" your picture to count as one vote.  This time, I'm not going to allow comments to count as votes - ONLY LIKES... it just gets way too confusing.  Your friends are more than welcome to comment on your picture, but please make sure and let them know that their comment will NOT be counted as a vote. I'm an easy & simple person so I needed to simplify the voting.

Okay, friends... let's get this started. It's that time of year for Family pictures for Christmas cards and I know 50% off a session would be Christmas early for a lot of you!!!

You can either text pictures to (801) 651-6990 or email to micah@icandymadeyousmile.com

Ready, set, GO!!