Check it out!

The layout I posted yesterday is up on the company Cosmo Cricket Blog.



See it Here!

Hold on Tight

The journaling reads, " Hold on tight...to what you know is right...to true friends and family...to who you are."

I adore this photo that Ryan took of Zoe. 

Although I'm standing in the background and have my hands ready to catch her, 

she is holding on all by herself.

I have a tons of photos from this weekend that I'm dying to scrapbook, so you may see a large influx of scrapbook pages here on the blog. 

I used the paper pack that I had bought to make small scrapbooks for the service auction, however, my package got incorrectly routed to Stockton, so I didn't get it in time and had to use other products.

I'm secretly a little happy, because I'm adoring this paper pack :)

School starts soon, and our summer is winding down, thank goodness.

We've had such a great summer, but we're ready for more down time and cold weather.

I can't wait to take some fall photos of Zoe. I got the cutest little ruffled striped sweater for her to wear.

Maybe this year we'll actually send Christmas cards......mmm, I wouldn't bet on it, but I'll try.

XOXO,

Holly & Co

Srappy Share + Other Stuff

I apologize for the blog absence, I got a package of scrap stuff in the mail 

and couldn't resist playing with my new stuff.

We've all been feeling a little under the weather, so we laid low this weekend. 

I finally got around to scrapping these pictures of Zoe's first carousel ride. I think they were from like April. I'm so far behind. I'm hoping to catch up once the summer is over.



My parents and maybe my, brother are coming into town this week and we're so excited!



We're having our Relief Society service auction this Friday and I'm working on a mini album with this awesome scrapbook collection:

I'm so excited.I hope it turns out as good as I'm hoping.

 I'm totally loving my new camera and being able to catch these little moments.

Zoe and Daddy watching a movie on the floor.

Hope you're all having a great week.





XOXO,

Holly & Co.

:)

Yeah! I'm back to scrapbooking! I took these pictures of Zoe swinging yesterday and they put me back in the scrapping spirit!

We were planning on going to Santa Cruz this weekend, but me being sick, kinda disrupted the plan. Luckily, I'm feeling much better now, so our plan to go with Ryan's family to the Monterey Bay Aquarium tomorrow is still on :)

I'm so excited. My family went just before we got married, but I wasn't able to go. So I'm excited to go and to watch Zoe and her cousins looking at all the exhibits!





Today, after Zoe's nap we started playing dress-ups. I put her in an old bridesmaid's dress of mine and it was adorable. Although, she kept tripping on it, so I think I'm going to alter it to a more fitting size for a dress up. Has anyone done this before? Tips, tricks? I was thinking of using a running stitch the whole time, so I could always undo it if I needed to.



She also locked herself in her room, so we had to unscrew the lock and switch it around so it's on the outside instead of the inside. I didn't even realize she had a lock on her door, until she was locked in her room. yikes!



Well I'm off to scrap a little more and watch a movie.

Night!

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

coming out of the fog...

I'm finally starting to feel a little better.



My dear friend Annalee and her adorable daughter Lilly came over to play on Wed.

Lilly made me laugh so hard, every time I tried to take her picture, this was the face I got. 

I won a spot in this class:

I've been slow at scrapping lately and I have tons of pictures so I'm hoping this class will help a little bit.

Look at my 2 favorite people, aren't they adorable.

I'll be back later with a more interesting update.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Makin' Waffles

Nothing better than breakfast for dinner. Zoe asked to help make the waffles and she looked mighty cute doing it. She mixed everything and dumped in all the ingredients. If you look close you can see her tan lines on her little biceps, lots of time in the sun this summer.

I'm so excited I got to take these pictures. I couple weeks ago, I won a new scrapbooking line, from Lily Bee, called Domestic Bliss. These pictures will be perfect for that. You can see the collection here.



Finally, here's my crafty share.

It's that time of year when all the craft companies come out with their new products. In preparation for that, I'm trying to use up my stuff from last season and scraps. I made this little mini book to house some of my favorite pictures of Zoe from this summer. It's 4"x4" and it's bound with staples in the middle and Japanese washi (paper) tape.

I haven't finished the project simply because of lack of time + lack of a color ink cartridge (it ran out).

I know I keep saying that but truly life is just crowded right now.



I will do my best to keep the blog up for the rest of summer, but no promises ok? :)



Before I go, I wanted to share an amazing new recipe.

Yesterday while we were out and about, we stopped at a local fruit stand to get some fresh strawberries, we got some strawberries, but the blackberries looked divine, so we grabbed some of those too.

I had never cooked with blackberries before but after digging through recipes online, we decided to make our traditional apple crisp but with blackberries. It was delicious!



So here's my adjusted recipe. (Original apple crisp recipe by Betty Crocker)

Blackberry-Apple Crisp

Base:

2 medium apples (peeled and sliced)

3-4 cups fresh blackberries



Topping:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cooking oats

1/3 cup butter (softened)

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. nutmeg



Vanilla ice cream, on the side.



1. layer apples and blackberries in a greased 9X13 pan

2. mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. cut in softened butter, until mix is crumbly.

3. Spread topping over the fruit.

4. cook at 350 for 30 minutes.

5. enjoy!



Have a great week!



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

I wanna go to the beach

simply so I have a reason to buy this scrapbooking paper...

and these cards...

I hear waves in our future.

As a kid, my parents used to take us on what we called, "Adventures." We would drive to small moutain towns and go exploring. Sometimes we would go on hikes, or visit the gift shops, or get ice cream.

We'd sing folk songs on the drive, and play the alphabet game. These are some of my most cherished memories

After our jaunt to Tahoe a few weeks ago, I think Ryan and I both agreed we had tons of fun and will be adding more mini vacations into our schedule.

Next on our list is Redding/Mt. Shasta and then, Santa Cruz.

Any suggestions for either of these places? I've never been to either and Ryan has never been to Santa Cruz, so we could use some recommendations.

I am now in the market for a giant floppy sun hat. :)

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Day off

Monday, I had the day off because of the holiday. 

It was nice to finally be able to check things off my to do list.

Packed maternity clothes for my sister...check.

Cut vinyl for mom....check.

Edit pictures....check.

We took our normally Saturday day trip to Roseville, stopped at Noodles & Co. and Costco.

Came home for a nap, then off to cousin Asher's birthday party. 

 Zoe waiting for the cupcakes.

And the smiling birthday boy.

That night, I got an exciting e-mail. Pamela from ScrapStreet.com Magazine, requested to publish one of my scrapbook layouts! I'm not sure which issue it will be in, I'll let you all know. I'm over the moon excited.

I've got some baking/cooking to do tonight for a shower tomorrow, so I should probably get started on that.

Night.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Scrappy News

Just a simple page I did. I love the teeny tiny buttons I found in my button drawer. 

In some scrappy news, that I've been waiting to share...

I have a layout featured on the Aussie Scrap Source blog!

I was ecstatic when I was asked to share the page about Ryan.

I hope you all are having a great week.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Welcome to Summer

The sign at San Juan High School said it was 109° on the way home.

That is way too hot for my snow loving blood.

We headed straight to the pool armed with some cold lemonade.

I grabbed a couple of pictures of Zoe swimming. She's such a water baby.

***********************

I've been scrapping lately. I have lots of pages to share, but I'll do it a little at a time.

***Giveaway is still open until 12 pm tonight***

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Scrappy Shares

Well, thank goodness the sickness was short-lived. Zoe is back to her normal self.

Thank goodness!

In anticipation of Zoe's birthday and having lots of pictures to scrapbook...I've been trying to take care of some of the pages that I've wanted to do for awhile but haven't done yet. 

This is one of them...

Still using the new Studio Calico Documentary line.

All about my jet setting and traveling, in my 24 years.

Jamie got a new camera and let me play with it a few nights ago.

Such a cheese ball!

I still can't believe tomorrow we'll be celebrating this little girl's 2nd birthday.

She's being exposed early to the Morgan family birthday tradition of Pillsbury Orange Rolls, 

which have been in my fridge just waiting for tomorrow morning!

I'm sure I'm much more excited that she is!

Off to wrap presents! 

Have a great night!

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Happy Memorial Day!

We've been enjoying our long weekend, spending time together.

June is a really busy month for us, (1 anniversary, 2 birthdays, + Father's Day) 

so it's been nice to have an extra long weekend before our busy month.

We've been shopping, cooking, visiting with family and scrapbooking. 

Well, just I have been scrapping, but Zoe occasionally helps:)

I got some of those new supplies I was gushing over last week. 

Those scooters just warm my heart.

:::Sigh::: I love pretty paper.

I started doodling on these pictures with my white pen and had a hard time stopping, 

I almost did the hearts on all 3 pictures, but I decided that was overkill.

..................................

My sister and  her family were featured on their local news channel

for a story about the Missoula Carousel turning 15.

I showed it to Zoe and she was all excited to see cousin Noah. 

................................

Last but certainly not least, I just wanted to give my thanks

to all those that serve to protect our country and my rights. 

God Bless You.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

a Blur.

I totally love this picture. 

I imagined this layout and it came out just the way I wanted.

I love that.

Just a layout share 

and we're back to Monday again.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Peek-a-boo!

Peek-a-boo

More fun at the park yesterday with the Stauffers.

..................................................................................................................................................................

Tonight we got a Dora the explorer potty seat and some big girl pants to start the potty training soon.

Zoe was so excited she wanted to wear them over her diaper. 

She kept saying, " So Cute!" 

We're not starting just yet, but laying down the framework :)

.............................................................................................................................................................

I just love this picture that Aly took. It's so Zoe.

I've lost my scrapbook mojo. This was the last page I was able to make.

I think I need a scrapbooking break for now.

I'm really wanting to crochet a baby blanket, with soft grey and white stripes. Only, I forgot how to crochet. So I need to find someone who can remind me how to do it.

 .....................................................................................................................................................

Ryan finished his finals today! Hooray!

Hopefully we can celebrate this weekend with some R&R .

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a lovely day with a yummy breakfast and dinner by Ryan and a sweet card.

 I even got a little scrapbooking done too!

 

inside the envelope is a note to Zoe with all of her favorite things right now.

 I scraplifted Jennifer Johner for this layout. 

She has such a funky style I love, but can't replicate, so this is my attempt.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Bless Ms. Liz

Bless Miss Liz....

 

This is her house. That is Flour.

(ignore the date stamp, it's not the right date)

I finally got some pictures from Zoe at daycare. I guess in California, flour is as good as snow.

 

She is a saint and always has the best activities planned for the kids. They normally spend a lot of time outside, but this Winter was especially cold and rainy, so after spending several weeks inside the kids were going a little nuts, so she gave them a big bowl of flour and they went to town.

I'm so glad she took pictures. 

We love Miss Liz. 

After I took those pictures at the park last week, I came home and scrapped these 2 pages. This one of Ethan is one of my favorite ever.

I didn't have any letters that matched and my Cricut was in Zoe's room, so I used some Studio Calico letters as masks with my Distress inks. I love the way it turned out.

The journaling reads, " You can't grow up...not just yet. I need you to be my baby just a little while longer. Every day you are doing more on your own and you me less and less. I love to watch you trust yourself more and learn and grow. But you can't grow up just yet, I need you to need me a little longer."

The journaling was all my feelings after watching Zoe climbing all over the playground without my help. She wasn't scared to climb up the jungle gym and go down the big slide all by herself. She is growing up that's for sure.

  

Our Ward had our RS Birthday Dinner last week and I made rainbow cupcakes for dessert. It took about 3 hours and it was a lot of work but SO worth it. They were happy cupcakes. Everyone can use a happy cupcake! I forgot to take pictures and I'm so sad, because they were beautiful. Maybe I'll just have to make them again to get the pictures.

This week we have a Ward ice cream social so more dessert all around! (Sat, 3pm for all you ladies in the FO3rd ward or surrounding wards :)

I'll be around more this week, hopefully.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.

embarassing moment #296

This is a story I knew I had to write on the blog just as soon as it happened.

 {Holly in Oklahoma, 2006}

This weekend, my in-laws graciously offered to watch Zoe, as it had been a few weeks since Ryan & I had been out together. We "enjoyed" a nice dinner at Mas, I saw that in quotes because our entire dinner we were right next to the live mariachi band. Yeah, we ate and promptly left. We walked to the car, and once we got to the car, Ryan and I started kissing, leaning up against the car. :::Fast forward a couple minutes::: Ryan goes to open my door and tries the key. The smile on his face disappears and he says," This isn't our car."



Yeah, talk about embarrassing. Lucky for us it was dark and the rightful owner didn't walk to their car in those couple moments. I realize it could have been a lot worse but I haven't been that embarrassed in awhile.



Moving on...



Ryan went with the youth in our ward up to Tahoe to spend the day in the snow on Saturday. Meaning, Zoe and I didn't get dressed until 3 pm, just in time to greet Ryan. ( I did clean and catch up on my shows via Hulu.com though)



Right now I have cookies in the oven because I had an unsatisfied craving for sweets. I love the way they make the house smell.

This is why we make Zoe drink out of a sippy cup.

This is her with a blueberry-strawberry smoothie. 

Yeah, the tray was way cleaner than the wall.

 Been scrapbooking lately...You'll see lots of these pictures of Zoe in the green jacket because I love every single one Aly took. I can't just scrapbook one I love all of them.

Gotta grab the cookies out of the oven...



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

Proof is in the pudding

This is a digital page I whipped up in about 20 minutes, using Scrapblog.com.

I was getting that itchy crafting feeling, but was way too tired to get out my paper and glue.



Jamie took this picture on Sunday night. The original picture has our friend Amanda in it. (Sorry, Amanda) but I cropped it because it's rare to get a decent picture of Zoe & I. I usually end up deleting the photos because I don't like the way I look in them. But this one I actually liked, so I decided to use it. I will most likely make a paper version on this to put in the scrapbook too though. Zoe loves looking through our "picture books."



I'm still suffering from an undiagnosed sinus infection/head cold. It's not bad enough to keep me down, but just bad enough to keep me from feeling great. Although going to the gym has helped.



I've been thinking about putting Zoe in gymnastics class once a week. Ryan could use some quiet alone/study time in the evenings and I think Zoe would love it. I'm planning on taking her next week sometime to feel it out and see if it's something she'll like. But it's a parent participation class because of her age, so we'll see if I can get a picture...maybe.



XOXO,

Holly & Co.

when Mom is away....

Ryan & Zoe with play with her camera.

I found these silly pictures while I was uploading this morning.

They must be from the past week or so.

I love the the bed head and the "flash" smile.

I love my little family.

 

This layout took me 2 weeks to complete. 

I got stuck a lot.

I've had this picture awhile.

It's my late Grandmother in her robe, opening presents I think.

I made a quilt bow-tie pattern with patterned papers. She was a quilter, so I thought it was fitting. 

I ended up journaling on the back of the layout, because I wanted the front to stay simple. 

It reads:

"I still...

-have your phone number in my cell phone

-have the last book you gave me

-keep and read the birthday cards you wrote me

-feel you near

I still miss you..."

I just put Zoe down for a nap so I'm going to go brave the rain to run some errands.

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,

Holly & CO.

not much to report

I made this awhile ago for a submission, but it didn't get picked up so I thought I'd share it on the blog. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Zoe, ever. I love how tiny she is and how even though she was only 4 weeks old, you can see how she looks similar to how she looks now.

Not much else going on, preparing to attend some baby showers in the upcoming weeks.Working on some crafts. The weather has been dreary, making getting motivated, tough. Hopefully, I'll get back to being a better blogger soon.

XOXO,

Holly & Co.