Bates Family

This family is definitely going to have many more adorable grandchildren someday because everyone is just beautiful. I had a lovely time photographing them. Enjoy!

Gracie in lace

I watch my sister's girls quite often, and Gracie is always ready to model. She's got thick long beautiful hair and loves having it done. She is the sweetest little thing, and I just love her. Enjoy.

Valentine's Special!

I love my clients and appreciate their business so today I'm offering 50% off any portrait, engagement, or bridal session. Happy Valentine's Day my darlings! xoxo

Friends

Here are a couple of images I took of our rad friends Trent and Sheena. Cutest.

Preview of the Bates Family!

Dan & Lezlie engagements

This couple was so sweet and their giddiness was absolutely contagious. We had an awesome time shooting at the Salt Lake City Library. Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday-Stuffed Red Pepper Pasta

Today's dish uses minimal ingredients and takes hardly anytime to prepare. It has an Italian flavor and makes excellent leftovers. This is a variation of a recipe I recently found in the Nov 2011 edition of Women's Day Magazine. The original recipe is called, Sausage, Potato and Onion-Stuffed Peppers, and is found on page 105. My variation combines this recipe with pasta. Here it is:

Stuffed Red Pepper Pasta

1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
S+P
4 red bell peppers
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp dried parsley, plus a shake or two more for pasta
1 lb sausage, preferably Italian. (I use Jimmy Dean's low-fat)
1 13.5 oz package angel hair pasta
EVOO
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Combine crushed tomatoes, oregano, and 1/4 tsp S+P in a slow cooker.
Cut off the top of the red peppers and remove seeds. Keep the top as it will be a lid for the stuffed peppers while cooking. Combine onion, parsley, and sausage. Stuff peppers with sausage mixture and top with pepper lid. Place peppers side by side in slow cooker on top of crushed tomato mixture. Cook 5 to 6 hours on low or 3 to 4 hours on high.

Prepare angel hair pasta according to box directions. Drain, rinse, and return to pot. Drizzle cooked pasta with EVOO and add a couple shakes of parsley.

Remove peppers from slow cooker dumping excess liquid back into slow cooker. Discard pepper lid. Chop peppers and sausage into bite size pieces. Plate the pasta and spoon pepper and sausage mixture over top. Generously spoon tomato and juice mixture over pasta. Top with grated parmesan if desired.
Enjoy!

Chris & Bree Preview!

Can I just tell you how much I loved this shoot?! The whole session is going to knock your socks off!

p.s. This smart couple was the first to take advantage of my Valentine's day $100 off special!

Baby mania!

Over the holidays I was able to photograph my husband's whole family and their kids (to see the earlier post with the family shots click here.) The babies got to have mini shoots of their own. Here are some of my favorite shots of them. 

Family Finds Friday-Cheap Date Night

Another first for this blog will be my weekly post about bargains for the family. I am a serious bargain hunter, and am always on the prowl for a deal or a way to make items myself. So this week's post is on Cheap Date Night. A couple of years ago we were always stressed about spending and never went out. But one day my husband said enough was enough, and thus began Cheap Date Night. Now, we try to go out once a week and love to find deals. It is so good for our relationship, and Elle loves hanging out with her grandma. A win win. 

One thing we do to save money is ask for gift cards for our birthdays and Christmas. We currently have gift cards to 3 restaurants and 4 free movie tickets, and that's just from our Christmas haul. So the next time someone asks you what you want for your birthday, Valentine's Day, Christmas, or just for any reason tell them a gift card.

Another thing we do to save money is share a meal. We are major snackers at home and don't eat huge meals. So when we eat out we can almost always share a meal. If we're still hungry we get an appetizer or dessert to share, which is still cheaper than two meals.

Two cheap but really great date spots we love to hit locally are Nickel City in Orem:

The entry fee is $2.25 per person, but we find BOGO free deals for it all the time. Then after that, games are anywhere from 5 cents to 25 cents each. We usually get 2 $2 bags of nickels, and that lasts the whole evening. It is seriously a blast. 

-and-

Water Gardens Theatre in Pleasant Grove:

This is essentially a dollar theater that plays movies that have been out for a couple of months. Tickets are $3.50 each and seating is assigned so you don't have to fight or go ridiculously early. You pick your own seats when you purchase your tickets. Our favorite part about this theater though is the snacks! A small popcorn, drink, or candy is only $1. Yep, $1. So for $10 you can both go to a movie and get popcorn, a drink, and candy to share. Pretty rad. 

We also love to take Elle to this theater on family dates(watch for a follow up post on family dates later!) It's free for her, and she loves snuggling and eating popcorn like a big girl.

Leave a comment below if you've found other great spots for cheap dates.

xoxo