I have been lucky all three years with Santa. I have never had the experience of the screaming child on Santa's lap. I love the second picture of Aiden, that is a typical face he makes daily. He is plotting something as he is listening to Santa. After we left I asked Aiden if he liked Santa and he said 'Yes, but Santa not get my anything ever ever ever.' I told him if he was a good boy Santa would bring him something special and he responded back with 'All I got was this' pointing to the candy cane and hat the elf handed him as we left." Eric and I laughed so hard, we thought it was so cute that he was under the impression Santa would be giving him what he asked for while he sat on his lap. Maybe thats why he gives me a big smile while sitting on Santa's lap without bribary.

Family Pictures

I love the month of December for so many reasons. One being that it is the month for family pictures. So over the weekend we went over to Trail Dust Town for some cute family photos. We took our camera and my girl friend used it to take our family shots. I hurried home and threw the pictures in lightroom to see how they turned out. I love to edit in lightroom, it is exciting and efficient.

I took just a few shots of Aiden as he did not want to cooperate by the end. He is super cute and is growing up so fast. He will be THREE in just three short months. The time has flown by thats for sure. I love the shot of him by the door.

www.natalieatkinson.com

Check out the little cutie on my photography site. Some of you might recognize her! She was so much fun this morning. So serious yet content. Such a darling little girl!

Football

Denny's Fan Club (All of us!)

A lot of you know that my little brother Denny was diagnosed with a tumor on his brain on September 9, 2009. And you wonder why he no longer likes the number 9... Anyway, since that day all of our lives have been a little bit different. When we first found out we are all devestated and lost, just looking for any kind of answer. We are happy to know that it is most likely not cancerous. Most likely means 92% sure. As of now Denny is not having symptoms of this tumor, although his life has drastically changed. He is no longer able to do a lot of the things he loves. He is very active and athletic and those acitivites can no longer be a part of his life. Denny is a really awesome football player, he has been forced to give this passion up. When his teammates found out about his condition they did a really sweet thing. I cried when I found out and so did my brother.  Every team member put Denny's number (40) on their helmets next to their own personal number. This was such a nice tribute and made Denny very appreciative and humbled. Recently we went to his last home game at Mountain View Highschool. This was an emotional game for not only Denny but all of the Seniors. Despite all the sadness and hurt he has kept a really great attitude and attented every game and practice to support his teammates. He was able to play in two games this year before he was diagnosed, so I will be posting some pictures of him on the field doing what he loved. I also took some pictures at his last home game, you will see him in his jersey and jeans. He is number 40! And of course we couldn't leave the field without one last family picture.

I am so proud of you Denny, you are strong and have kept a positive attitude through all of this despite how hard it has been. I know that you will accomplish everything in life you have set out and planned to do. Next on the list... learning to play golf and serving a mission!

Enjoy the pictures!

Denny and his good friend Miles #24

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Denny and his good friend Mark #34

These are two of his coaches that came by after the game to tell him they were proud of him.

New York

So I wasn't going to blog about New York because well I really am not a blogger. But today I got ambitious I guess. So my aunt Diane and I went out to New Jersey for a wedding. The wedding was so much fun, it was really like 'storybook' and we loved it. PS. I shot the wedding, I will post a couple pics for ya'll. Actually the groom is in the airforce and he works for internet security at his base and so he is really concerned with his security and privacy so I will just be posting one of the bride and one of the two love birds really far away so that you cannot make out his face. This is also why there are no posts on my photography site of this couple. Anyway back to the vacation...New Jersey is absolutely gorgeous and I want to move there. It is so close to everything. We were 30 minutes from Philadelphia, 20 minutes from Deleware, and 2 hours from New York. Diane and I went to see a movie one of the days, after the movie it was pouring rain so we ran into the Target to buy an umbrella, the cashier gave us our total and we realized there was not tax, we were confused and he laughed and explained there was no sales tax in Deleware. We were sort of schocked becuase we didn't even know we were in Deleware. So I can officially say I have been to Deleware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania after this trip.  After the wedding Diane and I drove up to New York, not a bad drive at all. On the way up we stopped to get gas, Diane was driving and so like normal she got out to pump the gas, all of a sudden this guy starts very quickly walking to our car, and he says 'you must get back in the car.' Diane and I are like half laughing and half wondering what is going on, then we notice there are signs all over.... It is against the law in New Jersey to pump your own gas. Ha! So we patiently waited until a gas pumper man was available to pump our gas. It was really weird not being able to get out of the car. Anyway once we got into New York it took forever to find a place to park. After an hour or what felt like an hour we found this scary parking garage and drove in. It was a little creepy but we decided what the heck, we were losing time and needed to see NY so we left our car with a strange man and went on our way. After walking forever and not wanting to pay a cab to get anywhere I finally asked a hot dog vender man what the best way to get around was. He pointed us in the direction of the subway. I had heard from some people not to ride the subway but we were desperate. We were 50 blocks from Time Square and had not seen anything in our hour walk. We went down under ground and bought our $8.25 all day pass for the subway which was totally worth it. It was not scary at all. We loved it, it was convenient and a good experience all in all. Not only was it not scary but we moved the 50 blocks to Time Square in like 6 minutes with stops along the way. It was so fast to get around. The subways are exactly like Madagascar by the way, when the animals escape to New York... It may be Madagascar 2. Anyway the movie is really accurate. So we took a ferry to Stanton Island, saw the Statue of Liberty, ate a famous hot dog from the stands which I didn't really enjoy, went to Ground Zero and saw where the twin tours used to stand, went to Central Park, walked Time Square and ate a slice of pizza. It was so much fun, I wish I had more pictures and more time there. It got dark quick and we didn't get to see everything we wanted to. Half the day was spent figuring out how to get around the City. So, next time I go I will be a pro at all this busy city stuff. Enough talk, here are some pictures. Oh and the really cool barn, that is just off the road in New Jersey. There are sweet barns like this all over the state, oh and also random little cemeteries.

The Pumpkin Patch

This was our first year ever to go to a real pumpkin patch. Aiden loved the big tractor that took us out to the fields where the pumpkins were. Aiden absolutely loved walking through the pumpkin filled fields... and he was so cute too. The sky was this beautiful blue color and that in the background made some of these pictures so beautiful. It was so windy and the coldest day of the year yet, but we all managed to pick a pumpkin for some fun carving later.

Halloween

Aiden was a great big scary dinosaur this year. Well he thought he was big and scary, but in reality he was so sweet and cuddly. I thought he was sooo cute. He loved it so much. I totally love the fact that he loves to dress up. Last year I had a hard time keeping the costume on and this year he never wanted it off. He loved trick or treating and wants to put his costume on and go get candy every night!

We Moved!

Our new home is in Oro Valley for now. We really love it up here. However, there are pros and cons moving into an apartment. Obviously there is less space, but we have AC! I am no longer depressed when I think about standing in the kitchen cooking in front of a hot stove while the house is 85 degrees. Giving up the space in exchange for AC is totally worth it I think.
We live in a cozy two bedroom off Magee. We are in the Coronado Ward but haven't been yet. We find ourselves going back to our old ward where my family is. But starting October 1st we will be on our own in a new ward. It is going to be something new to me. I have been in my parents ward since birth. I have just never moved far enough away. We are excited though and look forward to getting new callings and sending Aiden to a new nursery with new friends.
I am just about done packing and organizing. I still have a few more things to hang on the walls to really make it home-ey (sp). I will post pictures soon!

Catch Up...

I am so horrible at this blogging stuff. I love reading everyone else's blogs and getting a little peek into your lives. It just seems like our life doesn't have very many exciting things going on. However, we have had a very busy summer. Since our last post, Easter came and went. Gotta give you a peek of his cute little outfit.

In May our family went to Apache Lake for two seperate weekends. We love the lake so much, the best part is the boat. Aiden loves tubing with his aunts and uncle. He is like a big kid out on the water. Denny brought his best friend Johnny who we all love. This was his last official lake trip because he left on his mission to Chile just a month after we got home. I would have to say that the highlight of the trip may have been this gigantic dump truck we saw on the side of the road in Globe. We got out and Aiden was sooo excited. We took a picture of him standing in front of it and he looks at it all the time. He is so tiny next to this monsterous thing.

In June we went to Sea World with our best friends' the Summerhays. My BFF Amanda was 33 weeks pregnant when we went. We took advantage of the prettiness of the Ocean and took her maternity portraits at La Jolla Cove. It is So Beautiful there. Sea World was a blast. Aiden and his friend Brendan loved the fish and the dolphins. They loved watching the shows. I love the picture of Aiden looking into the glass. Look close... There is a polar bear in the midst. Oh so precious.

Just two weeks after we got home from California we left for Eric's family reunion in Salt Lake. We went to a temple open house while we were up there. It was so beautiful, especially the chandeliers throughout the whole Temple. The temple is the Mt. Okar. Not sure if I spelled that right, but in any case it is jaw dropping gorgeous. There were also fabulous views, the Temple was built on this great hill in the middle of a fancy neighborhood that I wouldn't mind living in. There is a stake center right across from it. It is so nice for those homeowners in the area, because instead of a park for the neighborhood to share they have a TEMPLE. From the front of the temple you can also look out and see two more Temples. The Draper and River Jordan Temple are not far.

On our way home from Utah we drove through Vegas. We had never been there before so we stopped and stayed a night. It was so much fun to walk the strip and visit all the cool site. Aiden really loved the water show at the Bellagio Hotel. And I love the picture of the Eiffel tower Eric shot.

Whew! I am glad this is all over and updated. I will try to keep more current from now on. Hope you enjoyed!