FHE

We carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening this week. The kids had a blast and we've been lighting candles inside them every night since. Hk drew the face on her little one and I went through all of the yuck and got the seeds out. We roasted them too. I found out recently that sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds can be used as a substitute for nuts (I have a bad walnut, almond, pecan, peanut, etc. allergy). We'll see how it goes. I prefer sunflower seeds. Hk is excited to take a few of the seeds to school to share. The large pumpkin is one we grew in our garden this year. I don't think we are going to grow Giants next year.

FALL Leaves

Each fall is a mad search for the perfect fall photo, or at least one that can be enjoyed for a few moments on a Thanksgiving card. Tyler loves outdoor photography, and he loves my card designs (how sweet). And each year Keystone Wealth Management - where he works as a financial advisor - sends out a Thanksgiving card instead of a Christmas Card because they are grateful for their clients' trust, referrals, etc. Here are a few of my favorite photos this fall.





uhm, this one I took while we played mini golf, but I still liked it. And the kiddos had a BLAST!


one thing to remember: Aunt A called and asked if little A had left her shoes at our house. I hadn't seen any so I asked HK. She yells from the other room. They are at such and such neighbor's house, in the backyard by their trampoline, underneath it and sitting on the wood beam. Mind you, it had been 2 days. Her memory is amazing to me.

And now I am going to get some rest. I was up late a lot this past week working on client orders, but this week I have a lot of early morning appointments so I better get some rest or I'll be half crazy by the time Halloween rolls around.

busy, busy, busy

I'll keep this short. We are busy. It's been non-stop family photo sessions for over 3 weeks now, plus there was a wedding to photograph and a 60 page album to design, oh and that bridal showcase I went to as a vendor all day yesterday and handed out plenty of brochures and told them all about the flush mount albums and their sturdiness as well as the ultra cool mini albums that are duplicates of the large 10x10 album that we have. There was also the micro fiber photo purses we had on display and the radio lady was talking to me about showcasing that at the Garden Show in March - "sell them for mother's day" she said. I told her to keep in touch and we exchanged cards. Today we are headed to church and will hopefully get to enjoy a little relaxation this afternoon - thanks for making dinner Colby! I have a lot of orders to get to clients and a lot of orders to upload. So hope you are doing well and I'll try to surface again sometime this week.

We made it!

Friday was the nature trail hike with the 1st graders. Oh boy! It was longer than I remember. And it was FREEZING! For being October, it was bitter - icy humid cold. CJ got to ride in my Kelty kids back pack for a while, then he walked, then one of the other moms (whose husband is also a hodgkins lymphoma stage 2 survivor like me) helped carry CJ when he was going to slow and didn't want to be in the pack. It was beautiful even though a lot of the red leaves had already fallen. The children were pretty well behaved. We were the last class out of 5. HK sat next to her cousin for lunch. Then we all loaded back on the buses and headed home. They dropped off those of us who drove back to our cars and I ran errands with the kids. We went to Anderson's Seed store to see if their Christmas displays were up. A few trees, but no C9 lights like we were looking for. I got the price. Then I went to Lowes. The price was about $1.50 less per 24 feet and it included all white lights. I wanted to do red and green and white. So at least I had every 3rd light included. I mixed it up with a few multi-color strands and only had to add a few - the individual bulbs were 5 cents cheaper at Lowes too. Sorry Andersons - I'll still buy my plants from you - better price, better condition, bigger and healthier for sure at Andersons. ANYWAY, I got all of my lights for the outside of my house for less than it would have cost me to buy a nice large wreath to put on the wood beams in our entry way. And I know a few of you are wondering why I am worried about Christmas lights already. We need to get them up while it is warm. Ok so it snowed a few inches here this past weekend (my parents came back from Switzerland this morning to find 8 inches on their driveway!) It'll warm up later this week and those lights will be going up! Besides, there is something about lights that help me stay in the holiday spirit when it is all dark and dreary out and we didn't have any last year. Our old lights were half out and had white strands. Our old house had white trim. This house has dark brown trim and since we needed new lights anyway, this was the perfect time to do so. So this year, the day after Thanksgiving, the lights will be on. I want to add a garland to the banister but that will just have to wait until next year. I pretty much have the kids presents purchased. And Tyler and I are fine with nothing but what our parents and siblings give us. I already have custom made presents for our moms, and I am working on the ones for our siblings. We got grass this year (hydro-seed) and that is so wonderful I can hardly contain myself. Besides, I really want to put mulch in the flower beds next year and we are saving up for that. I am going to relax and enjoy this holiday. I am going to have the time to give service, whatever that may be. I am going to spend more time studying the scriptures this holiday season. I do have one project I will be working on - a digital scrapbook design for cancer patients. Keep an eye out for that - part of the profits will go directly toward cancer research. Anyway, I better get to work! Hope you all are doing well! Take care

Article on Vanderbeek Images and Maternity Photography

Today there is an article in the Herald Journal on the Maternity photography we do in our studio. Thank you Carrie, Pam, and Angela for letting her interview you for the piece and for letting us share your maternity photos with the valley! Check it out online here. And Thank You Melissa for telling your sister about us. And thank you Mrs. Jones for a great interview - it was good to meet you.

While the men are away...

Do you have a family tradition that takes place while the men are attending the Priesthood Session of General Conference? Each October the Vanderbeek women get together and eat tons of candy and make Gingerbread Haunted Houses. Well, it started out as Graham Cracker houses, but the large ones always crumbled. The year I was going through cancer treatment I found these Wilton pre-made houses. I buy the one you have to assemble although they have pre-assembled houses too. I just use melted brown sugar to instantly stick the thing together. No waiting for icing to dry. It includes icing, by the way. And some decorations. And while I don't bother to cut windows out of the gingerbread version (I used to make 'stained glass windows' out of melted jolly ranchers, I still enjoy the creative time. This year I only bought one house and it was going to be Haeley's. She opted for the graham cracker house grandma made for each of the grandkids. Coleton even wanted to join in. He LOVED the brightly colored icing - Thanks Aunt K and Grandma S! My children really enjoy this tradition.

Fall Leaves

I enjoy handing HK the camera every once in a while. She took this today hanging out of the Jeep because she didn't want to get out and get wet while Daddy hopped out of the Jeep to photograph the river.


Later as we were driving along - we switched from the red and orange leaves of the brush oak to the quaking aspen trees. Tyler said, "Wow. Look at all the yellow!" CJ said "Yellow?" Then Tyler said, "Look at all the yellow aspen trees!" CJ said, "Aspyn? Trees?" He tilted his head sideways and while looking out the front windshield said, "Noooooo, Huuuuunter Trees!" Hunter and Aspyn are sister and brother and CJ's cousins. Tyler and I got a good silent laugh out of that. So cute!

10 Year Reunion of the Washington D.C. North Mission

Last night I drove down to Misty's house and then rode the rest of the way with Misty 'Sned' Pulsipher (sp?) and her husband to our mission reunion. It was an amazing experience. I saw more people I knew, than people I didn't. All of the Sisters were even more beautiful now than they were then after just 10 short years. It was the first time I received a hug from my mission President. And it was wonderful to get hugs from my mission mom again. I brought a ton of business cards to hand out so I wouldn't have to write my name and phone number over and over again. And they had everyone fill out info sheets and Elder Lee will be putting together a booklet so that all of us can keep in touch. I'm going to have to order more Christmas cards this year! One great thing- it reminded me of Alma 17. It was great to see them with their testimonies even stronger than they were 10 years ago. That we are still my Brothers and Sisters in the Lord. I didn't bring out my camera and take photos like I should have. I was too busy talking and listening. It's amazing to see the struggles and blessings that so many have gone through. I really enjoyed the reunion and it was hard to leave. I got home around 11:15 last night. Being a mom and all, it's been a while since I was on the road that late. I'll have to write more later as I was truly inspired by each person I talked with. Misty is an amazing mom. Codner is amazingly strong and her testimony of prayer and obedience to the Lord is astounding. And I could go on and on. Elder and Sister Naylor and Rich were so cute and kind and it was just like seeing my grandparents again. I saw Elder Bigler and told him he hadn't aged a day! Seriously! I talked with Pres. Graff second. We talked about our lives. He gets to baptize his Grandson today. What an exciting time for him. I told him about my children, husband, home, etc. When I told him about my cancer, he told me to make sure to tell Sis. Graff because they wanted to make sure to keep me in their prayers. How sweet and thoughful. When I talked with Sister Graff, I told her all the good things first and then I struggled not to burst into tears, but I did anyway, when I told her that I'd had cancer. She hugged me and cried with me. It was like the moment back when I called my own mother and told her the news. It's hard to tell someone you love and respect so much, bad news about yourself. There were adorable children everywhere and it was just a great night! Thanks Misty for the ride and for being such a good example of motherhood to me and for asking and listening about my cancer experience and how that changed me forever. You are so thoughtful!