More Family Time!

Seriously, I have some great family here. Tonight we celebrated my Aunt's Birthday. As we walked into Olive Garden to greet the rest of the clan, Sofia made our prescence known to the entire restaurant with both hands in the air exclaimed, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!!! WERE HERE NANA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" And if you know our Sofia, you know that she does not have the quietest voice...The whole area just started to laugh.
Ahh Sofia. She was so excited about the birthday party since I told her. She could not wait. She even started us all off with Happy Birthday (we practiced a few times on the way over). She even helped Nana blow out the candles. Heres a few pics that once again I have cousin Josh to thank for!

Frosting...with just a bit of cookies.

It was a family day today! My Aunt (who the girls call "Nana") and one of my cousins, Jessica were nice enough to take the girls so I could get my haircut (which another cousin, Jenny did) and while the girls were there, one of the many fun things they did was make Easter Bunny cookies. The girls basically ate frosting with a bite or two of cookie. And with help of yet another cousin, Josh I got a few (ok...a lot) of great pics to show the "fruit of thier labors"

Cousins

We had a family get together for 6 birthdays!! It was fun to get some of my cousins and the second generation (our kids) all in the same house and watch them play together. My cousin Josh got some great pics!! I have so many posts of my kids on here, I thought cousins should be included as well...Ok. not sure why that line is there. Sorry.

I mentioned this was for 6 b-days right? That equals ALOT of cake!!

Cute one of Sam (Justin and Anna's son) and Ella. Justin and Anna are expecting again by the way. #2 due in October.
Sofia giving a cheezy grin.
Sofia and Ella- cutie sisters.
Another one of Sam Pederson
Ella reading the Ensign...or maybe just looking at the pictures.


Cutie pa tootie Mady (Paul and Liane's who are ALSO expecting #2 in June). Starting to see a pattern here?

Sam's close up.

Aunt Charity reading with the girls.

*Matt (another of my cousins0 and his wife Veronica are ALSO expecting #2 in October as well I think. And another cousin is also expecting. Ryan and Tonya just had #5 so including the newest addition Brooklyn, were set up to have 5 new second generation cousins this year!!! Our own mini Baby Boom. Sadly, I am not one of them. In case you were wondering.

In case you need convincing

http://stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

JUST in case;
you need convincing that there is a higher power.
you have ever made a mistake and wondered if you were the only one.
you need to be witness to a modern day healing.
you have not had a tear day in awhile. Grab the tissues, you'll need em.
you need to understand that sometimes bad things happen to good people...
and sometimes miracles do too.

I found this blog through another, blog hopping. What an amazing story. What an amazing family. What an amazing reminder.

I have posted the link to the first post. I let you decide how much you read into it. I check it every other day.

Free is a very good price.

Here is a great freebie going on! One of my friends is having a giveaway to boost the exposure of his photography business- check it out!

llya Plaksey Photography And I will remind you: I am doing my first drawing ever. Yes, you all are so excited, I can smell it! The prize is a free 12x18 print of one of my photos. "What photo?" you might be asking yourself. Well, that is up to you! Check out my website, blog, or flickr and see which one catches your fancy. The sky is the limit... (of course, the limit being ONE print =)! So, now that you all are salivating over the prize, follow the instructions below to enter...

1) Create a post on your blog (or, add a "gadget" ad on the side of your blog) with my website link (you can also qualify by posting my link on your facebook status):
http://plaksey.tk/
2)After you have done at least one of these, let me know you have done so by writing on my Illya Plaksey photography fan page wall (not a fan yet? join!):
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Portland-OR/Illya-Plaksey-Photography/10604728791?ref=tsl
Sunday, Feb 28th is the final day. Good luck!!
Psst! Want your chances to win doubled? Do all three steps in #1 (blog post, blog ad AND FB status) and your name will be entered 2 times...so get posting!

Memory Catcher

www.memorycatcherbooks.blogspot.com

This is what my first post looked like for the new side business I have started...and am SO proud of myself for FINALLY doing it!


The Beginning....There always has to be one- right? Well this is mine. To introduce something that has been in the works (at least in the confines of my mind) for a very long time.

This first post is dedicated to my mother, Linda. Who, without her love, support and way she lived her life, this little dream of mine would not have been possible.

Why Memory Catcher?
When my mom passed away in 2001, one of my (5) brothers asked for people to write down on a piece of paper a memory they had of our mother. Due to the circumstances of life in general, no one did. A few years later I had the very distinct feeling that this was something I needed to see to it's completion. Following a year of many hours of researching, writing and patience, I was able to present my family with the first "Memory Catcher Book" at Christmas 2005. It continues to be a gift to my family and something I cannot wait for my children to read to know and understand who their grandmother was and why she is so incredibly special.

What will my "Memory Catcher Book" look like?
The amount pages contained in the book will all depend on the willingness of people to provide information. I will do the research involved and the "leg-work" in order to make it as fulfilling and complete as possible. The beauty of the book is that it can be added to as new information comes forward and will contain blank pages at the back of the book to write on. In it's essence it could contain; stories, poems, quotes, song lyrics, pictures, etc. Anything that will help paint a picture for the reader about who the person was.

Can't I just do this myself?
Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT an easy task to undergo. The gathering of information, collecting of ideas, and organization of the memories is time consuming and requires an extreme amount of energy. By allowing me to help create this book it takes the time, effort, research and necessary writing out of your hands and allows you to use that time to be with your family, friends and loved ones.

How long will my Memory Catcher Book take to make?
This will vary as it may take longer for people to get the information back to me. I would expect a Memory Catcher Book to be completed within 4-6 weeks.

How much does this cost?
At this time there is not a set cost. It will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Please contact me with questions.

I hope this gives you an idea of what Memory Catcher is all about, what I am aiming to do and how it will give generations to come, a way to not only remember, but know a little bit more about our dearly departed.

Well? What do you think? Now I just need to make a few books and see if it will be as much of a gift as it was for me...for them.

Score if youre in UT

One of my friends has a blog- Bargain Divas and she has an amazing giveaway from a very talented photographer, Studio Lush Photography. You will definitely want to check her out- her photos are fabulous and she is also offering a special for you even if you don't win!

Heres the link to see the giveaway. www.bargaindivas.com