mandin family photos

last weekend, i finally got the chance to take photos of my friend kelly and her adorable family. her lovely husband organised for me to do it as a surprise gift for their sixth wedding anniversary. seriously... best gift, what better way to remember an ocassion than to have a billion photos of it. 

they have the most adorable kids too and we had the best time. i could barely stop laughing long enough to take the photos. 

cooper lane

savannah belle

samuel keith

i love this one of kelly and sam. so adorable ♥

♥♥♥

baby sam and daddy

some leaf throwing fun

kelly and baby sam

all in!

family who play together, stay together...

and six years old, they are still loved up. brilliant!

this is without a doubt my favourite, i can't remember what ridiculousness i was yelling at them, but it clearly worked,,, hahah

best photo day. thank you mandins. love you! xxx

keep the commandments

our relief society lesson today was about keeping the commandments. it was a great lesson and i must admit i did get a few laughs out of it. one was when someone pointed out that god only gave us 10 rules, surely that isn't too hard. another sister then pointed out the fact that they are the ten commandments, not the ten suggestions which a lot of people in todays world seem to believe. all i could think about was this comic i saw on pinterest a few months ago

what an accurate depiction. i have heard so many people in recent years talking about how the commandments are outdated, obsolete and no longer relevant. none of the above statements are true. our loving father in heaven provided us with these guides to ensure our safety... and by adhering to them we are promised something far greater than we could ever imagine.

keep the commandments keep the commandments

in this there is safety, in this there is peace

he will send blessings, he will send blessings

words of a prophet, keep the commandments

in this there is safety and peace 

(lds hymns no. 303)

a day of remembrance

today we had an amazingly beautiful ward activity/ service project at the karrakatta cemetery, a day of remembrance, honouring those who have gone before us. organised by one of the councillors in the relief society in our ward. it was such a beautiful morning, we met at the cemetery in the latter-day saints section and had a brief service with a speaker and two short musical items, followed by us giving service. we cleaned and weeded the graves, placed small floral tributes on them and the youth from our ward photographed each headstone to upload them to the billion graves website, assisting with the family history of future generations.

it was such a lovely, touching morning and i was so glad to be a part of it... here's hoping it becomes an annual event. ♥

vegan pumpkin pie

a recipe as promised, for grace's birthday dinner a few weeks ago, i made vegan pumpkin pie. my oldest niece is a vegan (and has been for the last few years... very impressive!) and when she kindly brought me back some canned pumpkin from the u.s., i decided it was only fair to ensure she had the change to enjoy pie with me!

the first issue i ran into was the fact that pumpkin pie requires condensed milk... which is, of course, milk. so i did some googling and discovered that there is a way to make condensed milk, without dairy. enter coconut condensed milk! i found the recipe here and made the honey version... perfect!

then a slightly modified version of my favourite pumpkin pie recipe from chowhound, replacing the butter with nuttelex and the egg with an egg substitute. the only issue was, that i had to cook it for a whole lot longer, i think it ended up being another half an hour from memory!

so. the verdict. it was not terrible. it was perfectly edible and my niece thought it was amazing and ate a huggggge piece. i also liked it fine, but i must admit, the crust wasn't as good as it is with butter and i missed the creaminess that comes from the milk in the filling. but it was good! and i would definitely make it again if she asked. so. if you're a vegan but not so into raw options, give it a go!

kendall family photos

a few months ago i asked my friend jesse to take some photos for us, i really wanted some 10 year anniversary ones, but then it was hot and hot and more hot (i guess that's what happens when you try and organise photos in february/march) and they ended up not happening until two weeks ago...

but we had the best time, laughed and played and just generally loved. just the way that family photos should be. 

maddie was thrilled to bits to pose for the camera

and mess about with joseph

who was also full of smiles

i mean seriously look at these kids... who could possibly not love them?

it was so fun to have a turn in front of the camera instead of always being behind it and i am thrilled to bits with the photos that jesse got for us!

family photos always make me happy and this one takes the cake, maddie is such a crackup!

a little show pony, with the world at her feet ♥

♥

she even managed to get a few pics of doug and i looking like we have this parenting thing down pat and even have time to act all loved up haha

♥

i am so so lucky to have my family. a husband who loves me, despite all my quirks... and these crazy, beautiful kids who are all mine, forever! ♥

breen family: version 2.0

a few years ago, i took family photos for my friend cindy at suttons farm in mandurah... (i am so grateful for her introducing me to it, that's where i did wade and deborah's wedding photos and they looked amazing!) and on the weekend i shot breen family photos version 2.0

it's impossible to get a bad photo of them, their kids are just adorable and thankfully very well behaved! haha

cindys parents even joined us for the afternoon and i snapped some of them with their grandkids.

cutest parents ever! oh to be that cute when i have been married that long...

the kids were all ready with smiles galore for me...

especially callum... how could anyone resist that face?!

i think charlotte was honestly more excited about crawling around in the grass than looking at me...

but i was certainly excited about taking photos of her! look at those eyes. she is just like a little doll. i completely love her! 

what an afternoon... the breens are the cutest! ♥

baby oliver

after being in mandurah saturday evening, we kept driving and got to bunbury late that night... so we could visit with our friends and most importantly, meet baby oliver! it was so wortht he drive, he is small and snuggly and just all kinds of perfect!

his lovely parents cody and dannii even happily let me snap some shots of him, so i was thrilled! there's nothing like a fresh baby ♥

dannii was just made to be a mum and i am so happy to see her with baby ollie. she is an sbsolute natural.

♥♥

we love you already baby oliver!

general conference + the temple

i love general conference so much... i love to hear the words of our church leaders and to learn, because to me general conference above all else is for learning. more about the gospel, more about the scriptures... and more about myself, because i always feel like there's something just for me!

i especially loved the talk from the sunday morning session by elder quentin l. cook  "see yourself in the temple" ... (go and read it, it's amazing!) as i've said numerous times, i made a commitment at the beginning of the year to attend the temple every month this year and i have learned something new every single time. 

take friday night for example, while attending my friends sealing, i listened to the words of the sealer as he spoke of the building of the perth temple, he was saying that our marriages should be built to last an eternity in every way necessary and that many times during the building of the perth temple, builders commented on some of the finishes/processes being unnecessary. the building supervisor simply informed them that our temples are build to last a thousand years. i honestly had never heard that before and i was amazed... but it makes perfect sense though, why so much precision, perfection and love go into their walls. why so many have sacrificed so much to build them and why we as members need to use them and attend as often as we can!

may we keep the temple first and foremost in our lives and always remember, that as long as we can see the temple, we are never lost.

aeronny and natia tie the knot

tonight i had the privilege of being a guest as my friend aeronny and her love natia were sealed for time and all eternity, as husband and wife, in the perth australia temple. aeronny have been friends for more than fifteen years and it made me so happy to see her so blissfully happy.

♥

there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the temple in the background of a wedding photo and i know there is no greater feeling in the world than knowing that the person you love above all else, will be yours for time and all eternity. 

congratulations to the bride and groom, may your joy continue as you embark on your happily ever after 

♥