Disney-Part 3

I never intended to turn our Disney trip into a 3-day series of blog posts, but now that we live so far away from all of our family and most of our friends, this is the easiest and best way for me to share with them. So here goes my final installment!

Having two boys at very similar ages (they are one year, one month and one day apart) means that for the most part their interests are very similar. The both love to read, love all things Lego, and both happen to love Star Wars. We didn't see a ton of shows while we were at Disney, but one that we had to make time for was the Jedi Training. I was worried that they wouldn't get picked to participate, or worse, that only one of them would, but luckily they were both chosen from the mass of screaming kids to go up onstage.

This is TJ getting his Jedi robe:


Garrett was focusing hard on his training:





TJ face to face with Darth Vader:




At the end of their training, they received diplomas. So cute!


The park was getting very crowded by Friday afternoon, we had pretty much done everything that we wanted to do and we were exhausted, so we spent the remaining few hours playing in the various activity areas, shopping and eating.









We all went to sleep happy that night:



I don't know when we'll have the opportunity to go again, but I do know that I'm making family vacations a bigger priority from now on. So if you come to my house and wonder why we don't have a big-screeen TV or high-end furniture, it's because I'm spending all the money on trips with my kids. And loving every minute of it.

More of Disneyland

I don't know why I have a blog, I have the most boring life anyone could possibly imagine. I guess that is why when something even slightly exciting happens I tend to completly blow it out of proportion. So yeah, our trip to Disneyland last week was the highlight of my year, maybe even of the last 5 years, and I'm just going to go ahead and keep sharing the entire trip even though the only people who really care are me and possibly my mom.

As I mentioned in my previous Disney post, the week ended on Morgan's 6th Birthday. I had decided that the best way to celebrate was with a trip to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for some major pampering and girl time. I knew she would love it, she is a total girly-girl just like I was at that age.

The week before the trip, I took Morgan shopping for a special party dress, but I told her that it was for her cousin, and that Aunt Andie needed her to choose it as a surprise for Addison. She surprised me by picking out the exact same dress I had my eye on. Great minds think alike! She never suspected that it was really for her, even when I had her try on shoes.

The morning of her birthday, I revealed the dress, shoes and finally told her about the boutique plans. She was so excited! We ended up putting her comfy tennis shoes on with her dress, though. I knew what a day of walking around Disney would do to her feet and decided that this time we would put comfort ahead of fashion.

Here she is, ready for her makeover:



She was a little nervous at first:



But her Fairy Godmother-in-training quickly put her at ease:





This cracks me up:


Some finishing touches:


A sprinkle of magic fairy dust:


Ta-da!


We skipped the Disney photo session because we were pressed for time, but I did manage to get a few snapshots outside in the garden of my beautiful little princess:




She received several phone calls from her grandparents who wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday:


Her up-do never moved!


This is my favorite image of the day:


I was so proud to be seen with such a beautiful girl. It really doesn't get any better than this:


I still have one more set of images from our trip, I can't leave out the Jedi Training the boys received. I'll be back tomorrow with those awesome images!

Our Magical Disney Vacation

Soon after moving here to Arizona, we began to notice that every time there is a school vacation or long weekend this place becomes a ghost town. Everyone seems to go somewhere fun and exciting, and the only place we ever went was back to San Antonio (four times in one year-it got old!). I finally had enough and decided that we were taking a real family vacation to a fun place for Fall Break-and the most fun place I could think of was Disneyland!

This was the first Disney trip ever for the Littles (in case you don't know, that's what I call my three little ones). Devon wanted to go back to Texas with her friend Paige, and so they headed in the opposite direction for some Big Kid fun.

I have been beyond excited for this trip. Morgan's 6th birthday happened to be on Friday while we were there, and it was the perfect time to capture her facination of all things girly with a trip to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. Garrett and TJ loved the rides and swimming at the resort's pool. Knowing how much fun there were having made it even more fun for me.

I used our little point-and-shoot camera for most of the images because I didn't want to carry around my heavy DSLR, and so the pictures are really pixilated! I did, however, manage to lug the big one around on Friday so that I could get some good ones of Morgan on her special day.

So, here we are at Disney! I only took one picture the entire week with all of us in it:



We began on Wednesday at the main park, and somehow managed to arrive at the gates before they opened for the day. We paused for a quick pic at the entrance:



Our very first ride of the day was on Buzz Lightyear and we couldn't have picked a better one for the boys:



Next up, Dumbo! Morgan LOVED this ride:




Morgan was facinated by all of the characters, and we made it a priority to get an autograph and and a picture each time we saw one:









One of my favorite shows was "Bugs Life" 3D, here we are with our bug eyes. It totally looks like the boys are creepy little bugs stuck to the wall:



It took Garrett an entire day to work up the nerve to ride the BIG roller coaster, and this is his worried little face just minutes before we boarded for the first time:



By the end of the day, he rode it 3 times:


Yes, that's the one, the California Scream:



I think I'll have to finish this up tomorrow-this is already a long post and I haven't even gotten to the good part yet!

Stay tuned!

$150 Christmas Card Mini-Sessions!

Horray! It is time to start thinking about Christmas Cards, and I would love to help you with it. I am doing Family Portrait Mini-Sessions on Sunday, November 7th. Each session will last approximately 20 minutes, and as always include a disc of images that you can use to get prints or cards at the lab of your choice, as well as the opportunity to order custom designed cards.

We'll have plenty of time to get a group shot of the whole clan plus individuals of each kiddo, giving you several selections for a great card.

For those of you that would prefer a full-length session, I'll be doing those during October and November. A full session is $300 and includes a much longer private session at the location of your choice, a CD of images, a print credit of $100 to order professionally retouched prints and gifts. I recommend this session for those who have larger families or want a custom

These sessions always go quickly, so contact me soon to book your slot.

Email: Leah@EverAfterbyLeah.com
phone: 210-602-1490

Three down, three to go...

We are smack in the middle of birthday season here at the Godfredson house-every month from July-December we have one per month. It starts with the boys-Chip, then Garrett, then TJ-and ends with the girls-Morgan, then me, then Dev.

TJ turns 8 this month, and we celebrated at our house with a backyard BBQ, swimming, fishing and friends. It was awesome.

Unfortunately, I can't take decent pictures and do mommy duties at the same time, so my pictures are all very snap-shotty, but that's OK. I'm definitely not a multi-tasker and prefer to concentrate on one thing at a time, so yes I put the camera on AUTO and used my on-camera flash for these shots. Shoot me.







I am very lucky that I managed to take these few shots, but I wish I had a few of the kids at Jump Street, some of them fishing, and a picture of me with Trevor on his birthday. Maybe next year I can hire someone else to help me out, I just can't decide if I'd rather have them be the photographer or the mom!

Shari & Patton : Scottsdale Wedding Reception

Good things come to those who pray.

As Shari sat at her weekly women's prayer group with her head bowed, she prayed to the Lord for a husband. She wanted someone strong, someone that made her laugh, and most importantly, someone with whom she could share her faith.

She looked up to see Patton walk into the room, and quickly added to her prayer. "Someone like that, please, would be just fine. Amen."

What Shari didn't know was that she had caught Patton's eye as well, and that Patton had been praying for someone just like her.

As Shari puts it, "Conversation led to laughter, laughter led to charm, charm led to joy, joy lead to the Lord and the Lord led us to love."

Patton and Shari were married this summer in Colorado, in a sunlit field surrounded by family and friends and graced with the presence of God. Shari's stunning daughter Tatum was the maid of honor. Patton's daughters Annalise and Maci Lynn were the adorable flower girls. Coleen Takemoto, Shari's friend, did the food and flowers and her husband Arnold walked Shari down the aisle. The wedding was just as it should have been-intimate, touching, joyous and full of worship for the Lord.

It was everything that Shari had prayed for, and Patton was more than she had hoped for.

Coleen and Arnold had one more gift for the newlyweds-a candlelit reception at their beautuful Scottsdale home so that those who couldn't make it to the ceremony in Colorado could still share in the joy.

Shari and Patton once again dressed in their wedding attire and spent the evening laughing, eating fabulous food, and thanking their closest friends for holding them up in prayer until the day came that the Lord brought them together.

The evening wasn't just about Shari and Patton, that much was clear. It was about the faith, friendship and love of everyone present. And as each guest left, they took home with them the knowledge that they had touched the lives of Shari and Patton in a powerful way.









To view a slideshow of the evening, click the play button: