25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 13

I've lived in Alaska and enjoyed each wonderful snowy Christmas. I've lived in Central America and while there my mom and I went caroling in shorts and t-shirts on horseback. I lived in the Southern United States too. But nothing says Christmas to me like a White Christmas. I grew up watching that movie and my sister gave me the DVD right after my husband and I got married. I've watched it every year since. I LOVE the snow. I love wet heavy snowman making snow. For me, one of the best Christmas decorations is snow. Besides, it hides our lack of landscaping.

And so while my husband was shoveling away, the kids and I got started. Of course my husband helped roll the middle and put it in place. The eyes are made from my daughter's rock collection. And I dug the button and mouth rocks out of the garden path. The carrot is from my garden too. It was split down the side and so I had thrown it in a pile in the garage awaiting the mulch pile.

Our snowman will greet you as you make your way up our steep and icy driveway. Hopefully you can drive by near dusk when there is still enough light to see him and the Christmas lights are on. We hope to make a whole family of snow people but we'll see if our schedule and weather permit.

And I also realized that I forgot to tell you about the train below. It's my son's geotrax RC train. It has snow caked along the sides. And this is also the first time we've had a train around the tree. I enjoy it way more than I thought I would. We took some of the basic trax pieces and encircled our tree. If you don't have a train under the tree, let me recommend it. It's been very fun!

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 12

I have become painfully aware of something. And things have to change. Tonight I watched Julie & Julia. She was at a dead end. What could she lose? She became serious about something she loved and it brought her joy.

I'm not sure where I'm headed. It's not in the direction I've been taking so far - it's just not working anymore. But working on this - the 25 days of photos 'til Christmas has helped me photograph the things that are dear to me. Mostly I photograph the things or people that are dear to others. I dabble in a lot of things. Maybe it's time I got really serious. So while I am figuring things out and doing some serious soul searching, I will keep posting photos of the things I love and hold dear. My love of God, my Family, my Friends, and some holiday cheer! I know that Heavenly Father will give me the direction I need. I just hope I realize what it is He is telling me. Right now, as I think about Christmas I know that He is telling me he loves me, all of us really. And that is the best gift any of us can receive.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 11

Kind of a cool ornament. Guess what I found tonight? My daughter wants to learn to cross stitch. Some of the ornaments on my tree I cross stitched years ago. In my digging I found four green foam ellipses just about the size of this ornament here. And I found my mini hot glue gun - it's easier to work with when things need to be precise. Now I just wish I had not thrown that bag of pine cones away. Maybe I'll find some or maybe I'll have to put this on my to-do list for next year. Or maybe I'll try a different coating. I've seen black beans, dried roses, etc. We'll just have to see what inspires me. Every make these on your own before? Any tips?

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 10

When I saw this Nativity Set, I knew I had to have it. Willow Tree. I loved the feeling of humility that it portrayed. It was a very humble scene - young parents with very little money. Joseph was a carpenter, a laborer. No glowing heads, no fancy clothes. The baby Jesus is cradled in his mother's arms. Joseph has his hand over his heart as if in awe and gratitude over what has occurred. The only thing I wish it had was a manger because she eventually had to put that baby down and get some sleep, and so even if he is not in the manger in this scene there still needs to be one there. I added the angel that was given to me when I finished chemo and radiation 3 years ago this week. Her name is Courage and she has her arms up in the air and she is shouting for joy - which fits perfectly with the song 'Joy to the World'.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 9

In our home, we have 2 nativity scenes. This one is for my two children to play with and I keep it down at their level. Up until this year it's usually been scattered all over the living room. Thankfully now they've managed to keep it on the fireplace hearth most of the time or close by. I let them set it up however they wish.

Having a set for them to play with keeps my set safe. I'll post a photo of my set tomorrow. Do you have a nativity set, two, or more? When I served in the Washington DC North Mission for 18 months I got to help at the Visitor Center each winter. There they have a Creche display of dozens of different nativities from all over the world. And the Christmas lights were gorgeous. It was magnificent.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 8

The garland on my tree. It even has strands of wire throughout. It was just what our tree needed. Now I need to go get some sleep. My son has croup and we haven't slept much over the past 3 days. I'm praying that the meds work wonders tonight!

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 7

Ok, so today I shared 3 - one just wasn't enough for this huge decorative piece. And you know, I've never bothered to measure this thing. Maybe I should. Probably 16ft or so? Regardless it cost me about $2 in wire and then I added some left over ribbon and snow flakes. Gather the newest looking pine cones. If they are not on your property - please ask permission first - your neighbor may bless your name forever for being so kind as to clean up the pine cone mess.

Now you'll need to get rid of the bugs. Line your cookie sheets with aluminum foil and bake a single layer of pine cones for 45 to 60 minutes at 200 degrees in your oven. Let them cool while you are baking the next set. Then put them in a plastic bin and get out the wire. Make sure you leave nice big loops of wire at the ends for hanging.
I used 24 gauge wire or 20 gauge in green. I did this last year so I am not quite clear on everything. (chemo brain) I do remember this: wear gloves! Those nice leather yet feminine gardening gloves work wonders - unless you don't mind your hands being cut to ribbons. And I also kept a pair of needle nose pliers around for tricky spots.
I added the snowflakes this year. I think I need to get some gold glitter spray and go over them a few times. They are just too white against the pine cones. Do you make your own holiday decorations? I'd love to see them. Leave your link under the comments so I can make sure to take a peak.

3 year Cancerfreeversary

I hacked into Laura's account to wish her a Happy 3 year Cancer Free Day! She is a wonderful loving mother and wife whom I cherish and love dearly. So glad you made it through and still put up with me! :)

Tyler Vanderbeek

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 6

My mother-in-law introduced me to using picks (I have no idea if this is the way picks is spelled in this case - so forgive me) on my tree. So about 3 years ago when I decided I no longer wanted the candy cane tree we had in our rather more modern looking home but rather a more rustic tree that would fit better in our more rustic new home, I waited until Anderson's had their 50-75% off sale on New Year's Day. It was also a time in my life when I had just finished cancer treatment and I knew I was probably still going to be alive for the next Christmas. I had really put things on hold the previous two years. So I trucked my bald head into the store and purchased a gorgeous wooden garland and some of these snow covered picks. I found the red berry picks at Tai Pan when I went shopping with my mom and sister the day after Thanksgiving - the only time I've even done that. Even with the 75% off I wasn't able to buy as many as I would have liked, but they really add to my tree and bring the feeling of the outdoors into my living room. So I slide on the snowy juniper picks and then slide the berry picks on top of those. The berries show up better with the lighter color underneath. These are the last Christmas decorations I have paid for. Last year I made a gorgeous pine cone wreath and garland. I'll share photos of them soon.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 5

Day 5 photo - My front door. I had a client who wanted to send out a Christmas card with her family photo on one side and on the other side a door with a wreath on it. So, I photographed my front door and wreath and added the poem she wanted to include.

I designed the rusty red paper myself and found these two incredible fonts that work so beautifully together. Hope you enjoy the poem. Click on the image below to see it larger.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 4

So here it is. Now you can see what I meant. I bought the pearl garland at Michael's about 5 years ago. I didn't use it around the sleigh until last year. And it's one of those things that happened quite by accident. I tossed the garland on the table next to the sleigh. It's one of those pleasant coincidences like using the wrong keyboard shortcut in photoshop and a whole new incredible look is created. Well, it's great as long as you remember how you did it.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 3

This is another favorite decoration of mine. My mom bought it for me. I surrounded it with a pearl garland which makes the sleigh look like it's kicking up snow. I might have to post a different photo from another angle so you can see what I mean. The deer is frosted plastic and the antlers are really cool - they're magnetic - so no worries about them breaking off. The sleigh is the only part that is glass. I'v had this for about 8 years now. Take care of your decorations and they'll last a lifetime or longer.

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 2

These are the first ornaments we purchased for our tree and the only ornaments we purchased our first Christmas together. Tyler and I were walking through Dillards and saw these. His eyes lit up and I loved them too. Just our style. They are all cracked now and we have to hot glue the tops back on several each year but I can't get rid of them and there is no way to replace them. Do you have a sentimental attachment to any of your Christmas ornaments? What is your fondest memory?

25 photos 'til Christmas - Day 1

This is the first Christmas decoration Tyler bought for me. It is a very simple glass nativity set with Mary, Joseph, & the Christ child along with the three wise men. It's been 10 years now and I still love bringing this out and displaying it. I love sentimental stuff! Of course I also have a Willow Tree nativity which I love.

I still haven't purchased anything for my children for Christmas. Need to get on the ball with that. I did finally finish the scrapbook pages for my in-laws and I have several done for my parents and siblings.

Some of my friends do the whole 4 gifts thing: something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.

Some of them buy only three gifts for their children because the Savior received 3 gifts from the wise men.

Some of them go all out.

One of them makes sure that her children get 2 gifts from Santa and if they have more money they can get more gifts but if they are struggling then they only get gifts from Santa.

I haven't decided what I am going to do other than I want to keep it simple. A few years ago I bought a large nativity set and display it in the living room. That made all of the difference in the world for me.

How do you handle the whole gift exchange idea? I'd love your input.

LOVE

Just a couple of days ago I was feeling the stress of a sudden venue change for Thanksgiving day. My sister's kids were sick and so everyone would be heading to my house sans sick kids. I sat down in my living room chair and looked over at my cabinets to see this. A bunch of my larger paper clips bent all out of shape. I took a deep breath and moved on. Ignoring the paper clip mess.

The very next day I walked over by my cabinets in the living room and from a different angle saw this:

It was no longer a mess but a message. She wanted me to see that she loved me. Yesterday we went on a walk between movies. We were enjoying a lazy Friday and movie marathon. We've never done that before but I liked it. On our walk she expressed her concerns about her last three weeks at school. She'd fallen on the black top on her way to the playground, been kicked in the head by a mean boy, and punched in the face by another mean boy (he was on a punching spree and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time - I guess that is what going postal is in elementary school). She had been struggling to enjoy school - who can blame her - recess is an very important part of the day. By then end of our long walk up the gravel road near our home she began to smile again. She remembered why she liked school and how to concentrate on that instead of all the crap. Hmmm, a lesson I learn and relearn all of the time. Then she reached down and picked up a rock. "Look Mom, it's a heart!" And then she quickly knelt down and picked up another one. "Look Mom, another one." I began to look around. They were everywhere. How many times have I walked up that gravel road? How many times had I failed to see the heart rocks? Sometimes it takes the cheerfulness of a child to point us in the right direction and help us recognize the hand of God.

To quote a scripture from the Book of Mormon:

1 Nephi 1:1 "But behold, I will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

Yesterday my daughter and I were delivered from our own misery and I still feel happy for it.

Check ups and stuff

I go to my oncologist this Thursday for my now every-6-months-post-cancer-check-up. I'm hoping for a clean bill of health for sure. Of course, after that kind o f treatment, there is always something up even if it's not cancer. So I hope they can figure it out and get things under control again. Your prayers are much appreciated. Thanks!

little miracles

Yesterday I was having one of 'those days'. As I climbed into the car to go pick up the sitter so I could go to a photo session in town, I turned on the radio. This was certainly one of the Lord's tender mercies because the first thing I heard was "tomorrow will be better than today..." That's exactly where Martina McBride's "Anyway" song was when I turned it on. I sat there with my mouth open for a minute and as soon as I pulled myself back together I started driving. I wondered all night if tomorrow really would be better. Well, today was significantly better. I forgot about the significant stresses in my life and my upcoming post-cancer check-up. I talked with a sister at church who is going through more difficulties than myself. I really enjoyed the sacrament talks. Primary was quite enjoyable. Received some much needed counsel. And now I am ready to face a busy week.

New Vanderbeek Images Website - It's LIVE!

To see my beautiful new website go to VanderbeekImages.com

Thanks to my amazing web designer for his patience and perfection in working on this site.

Please let me know what you think. We'd LOVE your feedback.

We've tested this in Safari and Firefox.

Make sure when the image galleries show up, that you not only scroll over them, but that you click on one to see them larger. Then you can just use the arrow keys next to each image to scroll through the gallery.

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We have been having so much fun around here during the past week. We started out with a a little trip to a local farm and saw all of their cool decor. Then we had the Primary party at church held by the Young Women and Young Men. We even had some snow this week. Hope your Halloween is safe and delightful!

Simple Folk

We went back to the Heritage Center this past weekend. This time we took my husband's parents and also some new friends from church. She brought her daughter who is just a little younger than my son and her niece who is my daughter's age.

First, we had to ride the train!

And the giant slide was a blast. The burlap sacks help with speed. I couldn't believe he went by himself.

There isn't anything more fun than launching dead pumpkins down the hill. Guess what we'll be doing with all those pumpkins we grew this year? Some will go after Halloween. The rest after Thanksgiving. The pump-ke-mons are the perfect size for this. There was no shortage of pumpkins in our garden. Like I said, we're simple...and we believe in recycling.

It's a good thing my daughter didn't kick her friend in her excitement to show how high she could jump.

My son started jumping timidly at first but soon joined the big kids.

I just love this shot. My favorite. Pony rides. The highlight of their day!

We found Lizzy hiding away in a barn near the area where we made corn husk dolls. My daughter was thrilled! And this week is pumpkin week. Can you see all of the pumpkins hiding out behind her?

Here is Grandma and my daughter busy making corn husk dolls. I was enjoying it so much that I almost forgot to take a photo. My daughter and I are proudly displaying ours next to our pumpkins on our hearth.

It was a blast and we got to know our friends a little better. We talked my husband's parents into buying a membership - ok, so that was easy. My father in law wanted to stay longer but we needed to leave for a photo shoot and the littlest ones were exhausted.

We'll go back for sure.

busy, busy

last week was insane, but it really got out of control on Thursday. I felt like I should make a big meal. I spent most of the day cooking. At 5:30 my parents showed up. We ate and talked. My Dad's poor foot! He had surgery to attach the tendons back into the instep of his foot. He has wrist problems, so crutches are the worst! It's hard to see a parent suffering.

Then we heard the door bell again and it was our friend Stephen Abu (from Ghana) and his friend (from Nigeria). Stephen was here from Ghana to translate for Saturday General Conference. We enjoyed a movie together after we got my Dad downstairs and his foot elevated. My parents drove home after the movie and Stephen and his friend each took one of our guest rooms.

Early the next morning I got Haeley ready for school and served everyone breakfast. I ran the kids to the bus stop. Then we helped Stephen pick out a camera for his wife for Christmas via the internet. He and his friend then drove up to Smithfield to do some fund raising. Then Tyler met them in town to help Stephen purchase the camera, memory cards, and filters.

That afternoon Tyler came home early from work and we headed to Centerville to drop off photos to a client who was unable to come up and pick up her large order and who was having a baptism in the family the next day. Then we went to see my parents again. I've been really worried about my Dad. It was great to see all the young men come over and help him and chat with him. He is Young Men's President in his ward - over the 12-18 year old boys. In fact, he hurt his foot/ankle on a scout hiking trip with some of his young men. He didn't want them to have to carry him out, so he said a prayer and walked 6 more miles that way. We got back late Friday night.

Saturday morning was practice for the Primary Program. Then we cleaned house and made dinner and dessert. Afterward we took some time together as just our family - that's when we went on the train rides. Then it was off to bed. Actually Coleton was asleep before we got home.

Today we had the Primary program. I got to church around 8:30 am and got the seats reserved up front, got the rolls in the classrooms, put up the classroom signs. I've been working on family history and Christmas presents all afternoon. This next week isn't going to slow down either. I have Primary Meetings, Stake Primary Meetings, PTA meetings, photo sessions, etc.

Hope you enjoy the upcoming week

We've decided to start a few new family traditions of our own. We really enjoyed our time together as a family, just our little family. And we loved the mini train the best. We had to go back a second time.

And I've never stepped foot into a corn maze until last night.

We even tried the No Left Turn maze too.

When I got home, I just felt good inside.

And my children were happy.

I think we'll have to go again. Soon!

Fall Festivities

So a few weeks ago for our Family Home Evening, we proceeded to our backyard to pick the last of the pump-ke-mon pumpkins and picked the first of our jack-o-lantern pumpkins and jack-be-littles. Daddy helped us carry the bigger pumpkins to the front of the house. The kids arranged a pumpkin display. We have way more pumpkins out front than we ever would have had if I were to purchase them. And our children were happy that they helped plant and water them. It's extra fun because my daughter has been reviewing how pumpkins seeds sprout and grow.

I love how festive our entry is now. We have a stack near each one of our wood beams. And the orange goes well with our stone entry and wood door.

Haunted Gingerbread Houses - from scratch

Ok, so I didn't make the candy myself, but I did make the gingerbread dough, cut everything out for two houses, and baked all the pieces taking a grand 9 hours - good thing I started on Monday. (Let's just say that the houses were much bigger than I thought they'd be - so we had to buy more icing and candy) On the first Saturday in October the women of the family get together and decorate these crazy things while the men head off to the Priesthood Session of General Conference. The little kids all get graham cracker houses that Grandma puts together. We don't use icing to hold the houses together thanks to our first terrible experience. Now we just use a non-stick pan and melt brown sugar but it's definitely not something the little ones can do on their own. Anyway, back to decorating. This year I got the icing ready and handed it off to my little ones. They both went right to work and both did an incredible job all on their own. I was so impressed and relieved.

My little girl wore one of Daddy's old shirts so that she could keep her own clean.

My little boy LOVES the green icing. He spent half the time decorating and half the time eating candy. I'm glad he finished first so that he could play and burn off some of that sugar!

Here is my roof. I envisioned this the second I saw the mini gumdrops.

My daughter's house. We made the spiderwebs the day before on wax paper.
All 3 of our creations:
She was so excited to have 2 ghost peeps
Her pumpkin patch, tombstones, and cool house. She loved the bone sprinkles her Aunt let her have.

My son's house ~ I just love that he did all of this on his own~

I made the windows separate and added crushed red jolly ranchers and tossed them in the oven. Then we use the melted brown sugar to stick it all together.

This is the side with the broken and glued windows. ughhh But I guess it just adds to the haunted broken down feel.

I figured I'd line the path with sideways candy corns - like a fence that fell over. Then I added the m&m's (thanks for those Grandma) and purple sprinkles.

I filled up my yard with a pumpkin patch and brown and green shredded coconut.

He was drooling over my house when I put on the carpet for photos.

I did agree that it would be okay to eat one of them. My daughter volunteered hers.

Here are my cool broken windows. I don't recommend it. It goes much quicker if they are one piece and you can easily add in the hard candy to melt.

It was so enjoyable and I am grateful for this tradition. It's the one I really get into. I'm not much into wearing costumes and such although I try to get the kids something fun each year. I'll be posting some fall photos again soon. We've really had a lot of fun scouting for places this. I finally took my own photos. Usually it's kind of a Tyler thing, and although I LOVE his photos I felt like there was something missing. The details of course. I'll post more soon!

Ferns and Fall

I have this thing for ferns. Have since I was a kid. There are not many ferns growing here in the icebox of our state. Anyway, I loved the combination of the snow, depth of field, the fallen leaves in their brilliant contrasting colors, etc. I didn't move any of the leaves. I just focused on the beauty already around me. I feel happy when I do that.