saturday night prep

What's better than spending you Saturday evening working on your lesson for church the next morning? Well lots of things are more fun, but who can complain when you are reading wise counsel from Boyd K Packer like this:

"We should not expect revelation to replace the spiritual or temporal intelligence which we have already recieved- only to extend it. We must go about our life in an ordinary, workday way, following the routines and rules and regulations that govern life.

Rules and regulations and commandments are valuable protection. Should we stand in need of revealed instruction to alter our course, it will be waiting along the way as we arrive at the point of need"

Our daily routines say alot about ourselves!

noses :)

I LOVE being a Mom!! Why you ask.... well there is the standard answer.. it's fulfilling, I love kids.....well, I love being a Mom because my kids are out of control.

So, there we were a normal day of going to the grocery in the afternoon. I load the kids up and we pull into the Albertson's parking lot and Eden says to me
"Where's my bean?"
So, I'm thinking "where's my bean? What do you mean? Where's my bean" I turn around and say
"What?!"
and she responds..."Where's my bean?I put it in my nose..!"

As a Mother I'm like of course you did. It's 111 degrees outside can I please just go to the store and get this done?!
"You put it in your nose?"
"Uh... Yeah!" and she's frantic now.

So then I reminesed(sp?) about all the times at Grandma Jones' during my childhood that one of the cousins put something up their nose. I LOVE IT!!! popcorn, a smartie, a tic-tac.... why do we feel compelled to put things up our noses and HOW?! did Eden find a pinto bean in the car and then think... "I'll put this up my nose."

Story short.... she sneezed and it came out and we were spared the hundreds in medical bills.
And now Eden will tell you to NEVER, NEVER put anything in your nose.

regrets.....

so... I was feelin kind of bad because I haven't posted in a few too many days, but... then I blog stalked and saw quite a few people who don't post like every day and there is alot of pressure I put upon myself to always put amazing photos with every post, which has caused me to not post for a whole 5 days... in conclusion, i am posting without a picture :) don't worry I will make up for it later, but with mutual & 2 scrapbook classses this week & my dad's b-day & swim lessons & cleaning the house(oh wait, don't lie, I didn't do that this week) & wedding meetings & editing... you get the point i have been kind of out of control. therefore, I amanda porter promise to blog more consistantly & include worthwhile pictures :)


ahhhhhh.... that made me feel soooo much better, but it is going to be soooo hard to get up for 8am church tomorrow!

happy father's day

Wow! what a day! Our DARLING daughter Eden loves to tell her nursery teachers EVERYTHING!! I went to pick up Eden from her class at the end of church & her teacher(bishop's wife) asked who big Anthony was?! Oh No! Big Anthony I asked? Why?

Well, Eden said you had a baby brother in your tummy and his name is big Anthony :) Oh my... I laughed... well Eden has been reading a book w/ Emily called Strega Nona & there is a boy named big Anthony in the book. She has then taken it upon herself to assume that he is in mommy's tummy and tell THE WORLD!!! I think the teacher kind of didn't believe me since she continuously looked at my stomach throughout the rest of the conversation:( Boo.. what a great way to end 3 hours of church.

Happy Father's Day!

Our Dad Rocks! Day 4

Our Dad Rocks! Day 4

Our Dad Rocks because he loves girls!
(well not all girls, just his own!)

Our Dad rocks because he wll do anything for his girlies! He loves to play with Eden & delia. Jumping on the tramp with them is like his favorite thing to do. They know when its time to go on a bikeride that Dad is their man! Could this possibly be the reason that delia loves her Dad more than her Mom? Jury is still out on that one.(at least to spare my feelings!)

Dad also really loves his best girlie(me!) The reason I haven't blogged for the last two days is because I have been up to here(place hand to appropriate height) with working on weddings. I don't think I mentioned I work for Darby Elizabeth Photography, and Lee knows its like my #2 passion. So these last two days, as I have been at the computer for hours editing a wedding and then shooting one yesterday, Lee takes on the position of Mr. Mom and totally lets me get things done. Not only does he watch the girls but he dosen't just chuck them in front of the tv. He plays with them, reads to them, feeds them.... quite a task for some Dads! So, since I know the girls are in good hands I can get work like this done:

birthday party like no other!

I just wanted to share the CUTEST little girly birthday party I have ever seen! The theme was Alice in Wonderland and the pictures came from Jessica Claire. She is a wedding photographer from So Cal. & is one of the most amazing photographers I have seen! Her work and coloring is out of control. You can check her out at www.jcsphoto.com

Our DadRocks Day 3

Our Dad Rocks Day 3

Our Dad rocks because he loves to jam to the beat!

Sometimes he sings primary songs(In the leafy treetops), sometimes he sings Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer(Jack Johnson style), sometimes he sings some old school punk! But, the girlies always love to dance when Dad plays:) I wish I had a picture of Lee dancing because he has some mad skills, but I don't. Any skill that our kids have that has anything to do with moving to the rhythm they acquired from their padre! I on the other hand am no good at wiggling to the beat. So I sing my loudest and encourage our goofy girls to keep it up!

Our Dad rocks because he is our own
Porter rockstar!

Our Dad Rocks Day 2

Day #2 on why our Dad rocks:

Our Dad LOVES to jump on the bed.

Really most people have the rule of no jumping on the bed, but why? Is the bed really going to break from a little harmless jumping? Are you going to jump so high that your head will go through the ceiling? NO! So, one of the Porter House's 1st rules was that its ok to jump on the bed. Actually, its quite a fun family activity and I would sugggest it to all. There is nothing better than a good rambunctious jump on a Saturday morning in your jammies to work up an appatite for wonderful waffles. Rule #2 ALWAYS enjoy waffles on Saturday morning. Is there really anything more enjoyable than eating homemade waffles with your family on a Saturday morning?

Our Dad rocks because he LOVES to jump on the bed!

Our Dad Rocks! Day 1

Here is our Dad.
He rocks.
We want our Dad to know how much he rocks, so... we decided to let him know.

reason #1 why our Dad rocks: He LOVES the lake.

Any chance he gets (which isn't very often right now) he takes us to the lake. He is sooo much fun on the boat and in the water! He can't wait for the day that the kiddos are big enough to go ALL THE TIME :) This is reason #1 why our Dad rocks!

my sissy

Why oh why do I love my sister Julia? Well it could be because she is hilarious with her crazy curly hair, or maybe because she has about a zillion nick names... bub-sie, yaya, juda-pest, peepee, sissy..the list goes on. or maybe its because she so kindly watches my girlies free of charge anytime I ask. But, no. The biggest reason I love my sissy is because she is so positive, so strong and so fun to be around! Props to her for being such a good example to me of how to always choose the right! And, isn't she attractive? Honestly I show her pictures of me when I was her age all the time and tell her how unfair it is that she has the looks. Or maybe its just because she doesn't get her jeans from mervyns like my mom used to do for me :(

Days on Mill

Well in case you were wondering.... the thing that helps me de-stress and relax (sort of) is working on my photography. :) So... while my husband is watching The Hunt for Red October I am zoned into my work happily making people look more attractive. Although Corri & Chad didn't need any work, I just love to play around and see what I can come up with. The Days are my bestest friends and always will be! I owed them some HOT shots for a while and since they are expecting, we had to get a move on it! Congrats Corri and Chad on the little Ernesto I hope its a boy! We should do this again some time taking pictures of friends is the best time ever!!

hard times... come again no more

If I can ever come close to becoming as amazing a person as my mother, it will be enough for me. What an beautiful but hard experience it was to help my mom go to the next phase of life this last week. Just like Daniel's, it snuck up on me. I knew my mom was getting worse, but I never imagined my mom not being strong enough to do everything. Saturday evening I sat by her side and cared for her as she got closer to the other side. What a privilege to give back some of the love she gave me my whole life! Being a mom I realized how scary it was to let Daniel go before her. Not know exactly where he was or what he was doing must have torn at her heart everyday no matter how strong her testimony. Today Lee and I worked on her program and spent the whole day going through pictures of her. What talent, what unique personality and character she possesed. This picture speaks of her beauty. She made Emily and I's dresses for Easter. Whenever I wore something my mom made me, I always felt so special. I guess it's because I felt the love she put into the dress as she took the time to make it.
I have felt so much peace and happiness as I have gone through this experience, and although hard, it has been such a wonderful experience. I will always love my mom the most! I want to be that kind of mom to my children. I know we will be ok without her here bossing us because she taught us to be strong just like her. I will always hear her voice saying... It's ok! We can do hard things! :)

Fletch Lives!

This last weekend I took my sister Laura and her handsome hubby Devin to take some family photos. It was their anniversary the week before and we had planned to go down to Mill Ave in Tempe. But, dinner was too yummy and we got a late start, so we just went down Broadway in Mesa and stopped anywhere that tickled my fancy. I just LOVE taking pictures next to dumpsters and behind wherehouses! I just wanted to show off a few of my favorites. :) Good luck to you sista! hope you have many more happy anniversaries!! Love ya!