Happy Halloween!

Love,

Cinderella and Gus Gus

(Chloe and Beckham)

Photography Website

I am so excited to be launching my photography website tonight! Check it out at

www.jamiepoort.com

Fire!!!

Chloe's preschool class

Yesterday, we went to the fire station with Chloe's preschool class. I was really excited to go and waited until the morning of the "field trip" to tell Chloe. In the past, I have made the mistake of telling her days or even weeks before a really fun event and then I get asked about a thousand times a day, "Are we going to the party today? Is today the Easter egg hunt? Today is Christmas, right?" To save me the headache and her the disappointment, I waited until yesterday to tell her the fun news! She was SO excited. While I was getting Beckham ready, she ran into her room, got dressed and put her shoes on and ran into my room and said, "Mom! Let's go! We are gonna be late!" We rushed out the door and we were the first ones there. All of the firemen (women...people...whatever...) were out on calls and so we waited for a few minutes for one of the trucks to come back. We started our tour of the station in the garage. Our guide showed us all of the equipment that can be found on all of the trucks. The kids all jumped inside the truck and the fireman turned on all of the lights. He then took us to the lounge area and popped in a fire safety video. I think that most of the tour groups that come through are at least elementary school age and so the attention span of our 2/3 year old group was a little bit shorter than what they are used to. After less than 5 minutes of the video, all of the kids were rolling around on the floor...even Beckham joined in. We collected our fire hats, stickers and coloring books and stopped to take a few pictures with our guide. Chloe talked about her experience for the rest of the day...and actually, all day today as a matter of fact. I should probably count on the same conversation tomorrow. Sometimes I feel like I am living "Groundhog's Day." I don't mind.

Peace out...word to your mother...(?)

Chloe. Always listening.

Jesse and Chloe checking out the inside of the truck

I think Beckham was very upset that the tour was over...

Sweet Conference

While growing up, my mom always made Aebelskivers for breakfast for the Sunday morning session of General Conference. Chloe and I decided to do the same. You need an Aebelskiver pan to make these. They are so yummy and so worth it! You can find an Aebelskiver pan here or here. This is the recipe that my mom always uses:

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs (separated)

Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the buttermilk and egg yolks. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites. When they form soft peaks, fold them into the batter. Fill 1/2 of the Ebelskiver pan with batter. Use a toothpick to flip until the centers are cooked through. Top with Cinnamon/sugar, powdered sugar or whipped cream (or all 3!)

Happy Sunday!

Beckham is a fan!

Yesterday...

was a busy day! My sister-in-law, Tina, and I ran the St. George Marathon. Summary: wind, rain, cold. It was the worst race I have ever run. Before the race, all of the runners are shuttled up to the top of a mountain to the starting line. I ran this race 2 years ago and so it was a little bit familiar. We got off of the bus and huddled around one of the many fire pits they had available to keep warm. Then the rain came. Then the wind. We grabbed garbage sacks and made holes for our head and arms so that we could try to stay dry until the rain stopped. The rain did not stop. In fact, as the race went on, it got worse. Anyone who knows me, knows that I get cold very easily. That being said, even with running 26.2 miles (we can't forget the .2!) I could not get warm. The long-sleeve hoodie I was wearing was soon soaking wet and so I took it off to wrap around my waist. I'm sure the Snow Canyon Mountains on any other day are beautiful to look at and would make for a pleasant run. However, on this particular day, all I saw was the wet pavement. I looked down to keep the rain out of my eyes as well as to prevent my clumsy self from slipping. I learned something on this run: my running shoes are not waterproof...go figure. My socks were saturated by mile 10 and I could hear the slushing in between songs on my ipod. I had to go to the bathroom so many times and actually considered just peeing while I ran. It was raining...would anyone notice? Something else was running in the race...my nose. I tried to sniff everything up, but after an hour or so of that, I just let it run. (I hope the photographers that were along the run got a closeup!). It was not my finest hour. I considered flagging down a shuttle or ambulance because I was so miserable. Point of the story, I finished. Through all of the crummy circumstances, I finished. By the end, my lips were blue and my fingers were so cold that I couldn't peel a banana. It was hard and I finished. So, maybe it was my finest hour.

Me and Tina before the race...yes, it is still dark.

My cheerleaders
Whenever Chloe sees me run she says, "Mom, you run so fast!" I am glad she thinks so...

My dad and little sister, Naomi

After the race, we headed straight home. Last night was our 10 year high school class reunion. My high school years are full of a lot of good memories. Jon and I met our Sophomore year at Durango High School. He is one of the reasons I think I had such a good time and that I have so many fond memories from this time in my life. Looking at pictures from that time, I think we look so different but I don't feel like we have changed very much. Of course, I love him so much more now than I did back then, but to me, he is still the same person. I still look at him and get butterflies like I did in high school. I love that. I also love that I made so many lasting friendships in high school. I am still close with girlfriends from that time. There is something comforting about having a group of people who really knows you and you know them and you have been through life together and you are, in part, who you are because of them. It was kind of strange seeing people that I had not seen in 10 years. 10 years ago, these people were my life. I saw them everyday. I went to dances with them. I ate lunch with them. I hung out with them on the weekends. So many people looked exactly as I remembered them. We caught up on the past 10 years of our lives and ate and laughed. It was awkward at times, but I am glad that we went. Here are some pictures that I found in one of my high school boxes. (Not my favorite, but I think that my mom has most of my pictures).

Senior Prom 1998


Who is the guy in front with the GR crown and LOTS of hair??? Jon. Poor Jon. He misses his hair.

Almost Twins?

My friend, Melissa (my lagal deter) and her cute sister, Emily, had baby girls last month. They were born exactly 2 weeks apart...SO FUN! Emily came to town after Melissa had her baby and let me have some fun taking some pictures. The size of the girls was pretty much the only thing they had in common. They were total opposites. One liked being naked and the other didn't. One slept all of the time while the other one was awake. One liked to be on her back and the other screamed when we put her on her back. It was a busy photo shoot! I don't know how moms of twins do it! At least we had one mom to one baby. Good ratio. I love Melissa and Emily and they are the cutest moms! Their daughters are so blessed to have them as moms and lucky that they have a cousin so close. Thank you again for a fun afternoon!

Melissa and Emily's "Super" Mom (literally!!!). MaryKay made it to both births even though they took place in 2 different states. They were both so happy that she was able to be there!