A post of photos.

Y'all know I love me some hipstamatic.

It's this amazing i phone app that lets you take

super cool pictures.

The best part is...

the beauty is in the mistakes!

Ginger playing in Grandma and Grandpa's yard.

Why we need a grass lawn. Exhibit A.

On your mark. Get set. Go!

Go Casey!

Go Tessa!

Go Ginger!

Keep Going Casey!

And pull up your pants boy!

Whew, that was exhausting.

Time to be lazy in the sunshine.

Isnt this picture wonderful?

Such a gorgeous moment.

This is one of my most favorite pictures.

Im basking in my motherhood glory

with my daughter and two nieces.

Completely at peace.

Wait! Ginger Come back!

Youre ruining my illusion of peace!

Now lets play in the cemetery.

Nothing strange about that.

PS Did you see her moccasins?

The perfect gift from her Nana and Popa.

They even smell like a camp fire.

When Auntie Keke was holding her she said,

Why does this baby smell like bacon?

hahahaha

And now... Tessa's pictures.

A 3 year old eyes + A hipstamtic app = perfection.

Doesn't he have the most adorable smile?

Even the fake cheese is sweet.

Fabulous.

I think Ill start doing a monthly post...

Our life in hipstamatic.

Grandma Randall

Audrey Randall

Isn't she lovely?

Grandma Randall recently passed away.

It seemed too soon.

But this is definitely a time that I am holding on tight

to my testimony.

Its priceless at times like these.

It's amazing to have that level of comfort during a difficult time.

I just stood back and watched Casey's family handle this

with so much grace.

Everyone of them; sad, but fully understanding where she was

and testifying in every action and word of the peace this gives.

When I first met Grandma Randall

I couldnt help but feel a little intimidated by her strength.

But soon I felt the love that she was showing through that strength.

She was a rock.

She gave off this reassuring feeling of safety and peace.

Like as long as you were tucked under her wing you'd be fine.

She is such a great example to me.

And I know that through knowing her, Ill be a better mother and wife.

And I thank her for that gift.

When in Idaho, we asked Grandpa Randall how they met...

he said he was in high school

and she nailed him with a snowball.

and instead of hitting her back,

he chased her down and gave her a kiss.

What a perfect beginning.

I so love this.

Home Sweet Home

Just going to do a quick post

as I am off to the pool as soon as G awakes...

before you get jealous

please know the temperature is triple digits.

Hello June in Vegas.

I have so many things to post.

I'd like to share some wonderful things about

Casey's sweet grandmother Audrey,

who has recently passed away.

I'd also like to show you pictures from our visit to Idaho

wherein Casey gets chased by a cow and steps in cow poo.

And finally I have a super hipstamatic post.

You should see some of the pictures Tessa took.

Life through a 3 year old is awesome.

But quickly, we added a couple things to our home.

New chandelier shades from Anthropologie.

A sweet indulgence from my husband.

and our new coffee table.

A Pottery barn beauty.

So we replaced my homemade ones.

Come on... I have nothing on Anthro.

Isn't that a great update.

And the color... its so fabulous.

Excuse the messed up drawers

Ginger is obviously in love with this.

The end.

See you soon.

I wont say I promise because I think those work against me.

Disneyland

I have to say Disneyland with a 1 year old

wasnt as bad of an idea as I thought it'd be.

It turned out we could go on a lot more rides

than I expected.

Ginger was a happy girl all day.

Especially when I let her have a bite of my churro.

The best part of the day though

was early morning when I pulled out my

gigantic camera that I rationed would be worth

carrying around to get those fantastic shots...

only to find out, I left the battery in the charger.

Well of course I did.

Good thing Casey had his point and shoot in the car

and made the ridiculous trek back to retrieve it.

Im so happy we went with the Treese clan.

There was a good rotation system

and they are Disneyland pros,

they knew exactly where to go and when and how and why

and Casey and I were happy to follow their lead

because we were clueless.

And a special shout out to Clay who walked Ginger and Lacey

around in the stroller for E ver... to get them to take a nap.

It was a wonderful weekend.

Hello California

I am trying to recover from a very busy and very fun

weekend.

And that's the thing about vacations...

you need a vacation to properly recuperate from a vacation.

So I was all, Listen Ginger... Im super exhausted

so if you could just make your own bottles and scramble

your own eggs today, that'd be awesome.

To which she replied with a blank stare.

Saturday we met up with my brother and sister in law

Nikki and Cody and their adorable kids.

Clive

Tessa

Don't they make beautiful children?

Meeting up with them proved to be an awesome decision.

1. We had a blast.

2. They're moving to Texas so it was great

to spend time with them before they go.

And 3. Because if you ever go to the beach... you should go

with them.

Need some shade... they got a tent.

Thirsty? Here's an ice cold diet coke.

Bored? Here's a football and a shovel.

To bury a football?

Basically... they're prepared beach goers.

Ginger loved the sand. and surprisingly didnt

shove handfuls in her mouth like I thought she would.

Tessa is my most wonderful photography subject

to practice on...

You can see why.

I've got 42 more examples.

The last picture is of her "throwing a snowball at me".

A few reasons why I LOVE kids at the beach:

1. They call balls of sand- snowballs.

2. They aren't uptight like adults. Sand in their armpits

and mouths... Who cares?

3. Sand can provide hours and hours and hours of entertainment.

And whats a trip to the beach without

someone getting buried in the sand?

Tessa was a very willing participant.

Man I love that picture.

Ginger got in on the action too.

Ta dah!

Hello Sunshine.

Hey man walking his dog in the background...

Get out of my shot! You're ruining my moment!

Keep going sir.

Forget it. Ginger move up a little... Now to the right,

there we go.

Wasn't that fun?

I'll show you our Disneyland action tomorrow!

I promise.

A day in the life...

Here's a typical uneventful Monday at the Treese house.

Wake up: 10:00 a.m. snack: apple jacks. show: sesame street

Elmo keeps her entertained while I hunker down and get to my monday bunnness.

laundry.

Woe is me.

Time to get serious.

Let's see who can balance a diaper on their head the longest.

I won.

All 27 times.

In Ginger's defense

she was being tickled by her super competitive mother

who couldn't bear the thought of being taken down by a 14 month old.

Some people will stoop so low to win.

11 ish am. brunch. strawberries and an E.G.G with ham and cheese.

That's what lazy people call breakfast.

Were lazy people.

While she eats I carry on with my Monday cleaning bunness.

I hate Mondays.

Because we are super off duty during the weekend.

So my house looks like this...

How. Embarrassing.

After brunch comes a bath.

Especially because Ginger has decided to rub her food in her hair.

Ah, Much better with Moses.

Then time to moisturize this situation.

Meanwhile Moses tries to catch up on some R&R while Ginger goes down for her noon nap.

He needs it because when G get's up she'll be all rested for some dog chasin.

I tried to warn you...

Normally we go on an afternoon walk or bike ride

but Las Vegas has been cursed with wind.

cursed!

So we go hang out on my bed and finish watching Monsters inc on my laptop.

But then she gets restless.

She

IS

BoRED

So down for her second nap.

Then we head over to my lovely In-laws for Family Home Evening.

Where we learn two things:

1. Sometimes uncles don't notice when they're sitting on their nieces.

2. Little sisters want to be just like their big sisters.

That's all.

Try not to fall over from excitement.

Happy Mother's Day

Sam I Am

When Ginger was a few months old

Casey spent a Saturday afternoon working in the garage

on this;

At the time this piece of wood was our coffee table.

Casey noticed Ginger spent a lot of time lying on her back

looking up.

So he wanted to give her something to look at.

He took the pages from the Dr. Suess book Sam I Am

and modge podged them to the bottom of the table.

He mixed up the pages

and turned them into an analogy for the gospel.

And for a personal touch, you can find

three names on there;

Casey, Ali and Ginger Estelle Treese.

I know.

Totally sweet.

When he showed me I just looked at him awe struck.

it was so special and such a testament of the kind of father he is.

Ginger is so fortunate to have him for a dad.

After Ginger started being more active we decided to

take the coffee table out of the living room.

Now that Sam I am piece of wood is sitting on two sawhorses.

And is used as a desk.

And Ginger is still captivated by it.