Hey everyone! Finally it is the last day of November and tomorrow we can all snap pictures and post for the December Photo Project. This has been the busiest November in history—and December looks to be packed as well—but the beauty of the DPP is that it preserves memories for us. I can go back through my archives and remember the parties and celebrations of years past. I can remember what it felt like to pull out my camera in a grocery store (telling my soul to be brave!) and I remember feeling so loved while I ate Renae’s homemade peppermint ice cream.

You know what I think is the BIGGEST challenge of the DPP? Taking and posting an image every single day for 25 days in a row. I even find myself holding back from shooting these last few days of November because I keep thinking, I might need that shot for the DPP! So as we all get ready to go, harness some of your excitement and energy and project it on to the next 25 days. I laughed with my mom the other night about how there will be evenings where I wander around the house at 11:27pm in order to find *something* worth shooting. And then I work quickly to get it posted before a new day starts again.

If posting for 25 days straight isn’t enough of a challenge for you, you can take on a challenge-within-the-challenge. Last year I shot only portraits of people. It was super fun and it was also really really challenging! If you need help coming up with creative shots, you can also try shooting in theme. Each day of the week could have a theme and you could attempt to shoot something like “red” on Mondays, “nature” on Tuesdays, “faith” on Wednesdays, etc. Kudos to Clare for this idea—I think it’s a really good one!

Thanks for joining the 2012 December Photo Project, friends! I can’t wait to get rolling!

Guess what’s right around the corner? December!

It’s time to sign up for the December Photo Project!

Once again, we’re hosting the DPP, a photography project that lasts for the first 25 days of December. Read all about it, sign up to join, then get your cameras out and have a little fun.

On the evening of Thanksgiving I found three chefs buzzing about my kitchen, two dudes talking around the table, and—where was my child?—probably two little people watching Phineas & Ferb. A few minutes later my parents showed up and we ate some crazy good tacos for dinner. Our Lawton Thanksgiving meal was held on Friday instead and that evening started my hosting duties.

I love to host. I love having the party right there in my house. Sharing our home with friends and family, letting them make me dinner (not a required thing, but those yummy tacos were not made by me!), getting up in the morning knowing the fun continues; I really enjoy it all.

So now I have a question for you all: What do you appreciate when you are being hosted in someone’s home? What special touches make you feel comfortable? What kind of attitudes are helpful when you are a guest? What should a host do? And what should a host avoid? I welcome your thoughts!

We usually go to San Francisco sans Liv. ThoughtMatrix throws a holiday party each year, which gives us an excellent excuse to get out of town together minus the kiddo. Holiday party – babysitter = obvious decision to leave Livia behind. Does this make Livia particularly happy? No, and we’ve wanted to show her the city for years, so a quick trip west found her at our sides this year.

She’s been glued to me for five days straight now. All day, every day. Lots of family togetherness. (God bless my home with its individual bedrooms and doors that shut and the television that sits far away in the basement. My extroversion has its limits apparently.)

Enjoy the following images from our trip. The first few are snapped in Jeremy’s office and the rest are taken near the Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf. Are those gorillas doing yoga on the street? Why yes, of course. And why is Livia feeding pigeons in multiple shots? You know Liv, she’s a miniature Dr. Dolittle. I stopped her from actually touching the birds and I managed to put the kibosh on the loud seagull noises she was making, so really, that’s a win in my book. Please note that neither Alcatraz nor rain will distract her from feeding the “poor pigeons.”

Taking care of a child in an incredibly diverse city was an interesting experience. San Francisco became simultaneously more gentle and more graphic. More on that later perhaps.

Candlelight always feels a bit magical, but candlelight glowing orange from the inside of a pumpkin is something else entirely. Livia placed the tea lights, wisely allowed her mom to light them with short matchsticks, and got real close to watch the flames lick and dance in the carved faces.

I’ve been scrolling through my archives to find Clara’s infant portrait session and I can’t find them. Argh, did I forget to post them? And Joel’s pics, where are those? Oh dear. Apparently I got forgetful last winter and didn’t post some of my favorite baby images. I’ll make attempts to remedy that.

This baby girl, my friends, belongs to Renae and Jason Morehead. She took her first ever girls’ trip with her mommy, me, and our friend Lauren a few days ago. She truly traveled like a champ even though she was dealing with the tail end of a virus.

Clara, I will always love you. And I’ll always remember how cute you were upon waking up in the Kahler Grand Hotel. Don’t worry about the throw up or the coughing or the incessant gas. Your cuteness covers a multitude of sins.

After seriously examining me this morning while we were cuddling in bed she says,

“You’ve got a hair growing out of your ear.”

Thanks, kid. Thanks a lot.

I told Livia yesterday that Halloween wouldn’t be so exciting if we trick-or-treated every week. As it is, it’s once a year. And it takes so very long for it to get here when you are eight years old. Oh, the agony! But when it shows up, the excitement about bowls you over and then suddenly you’re surround by butterfly wings and wigs and mascara and glitter hair spray. This year even the weather cooperated and—dare I declare it?—Halloween 2012 was my favorite Halloween yet.

Dressing an eight year old was simple.
Feeding the eight year old was simple.
Taking the eight year old to grandparents’ houses, simple.
Going door to door for over an hour in the dark with an eight year old, simple.

And fun. Lots of fun.

Jeremy and I managed to recall all nine of Livia’s Halloween costumes, and yet, I couldn’t quit commenting on how adorable she looked with her monarch wings and homemade antennae. At each door she was really sweet and very polite. And this year had the bonus of trick-or-treating in a fabulous neighborhood we’re blessed to call home. We ran into friends in the dark and just had a really great time together as a family. Thank you, God, for sweet memories like these.

Bumblebee, giraffe, ballerina, Husker cheerleader, Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell, tooth fairy, pirate and butterfly. There, all nine recorded.