highlights of my christmas week

wow i've really been slacking on blogging lately.

that's lame, i'm sorry.

welp i've got a lot to catch you up on...

i had five photo shoots in less than two weeks and so by the time christmas rolled around,
i needed a break from being behind the camera, and enjoy the holidays.
so you must excuse my lack of quality and lack of pictures...
(most of these are taken on my iphone or others took them)

saturday i helped my mom set up for a beautiful winter wonderland wedding
lets just say my mom is amazing at planning weddings.
(more pictures to come soon!)


monday and tuesday were spent shopping. all. day. long.
monday night i did get to go up to sundance, which by the way i'm obsessed. i had never been. its beautiful! anywho, i went sledding, in all ways shapes and forms. some included piling 6 people on an old school mattress with skies on the bottom and wiping out several times. good times.
tuesday me and my mom went to gateway and i loved this tree they had all lit up.

how fun is that?

wednesday {christmas eve eve} i wrapped presents all morning,

had a photo shoot in the afternoon,
and then went to grandma winnie's for dinner.
it's tradition.

navi had fun trying to do "summersaults"

thursday {christmas eve} was spent cleaning and getting ready for the party.
we had the davies over for dinner:
a pasta bar, with yummy home made macaroni grill bread!


and then we played games.

tanner bought our family the game LCR because we loved so much the first time he introduced it to us! amy won the first round. nate won the second. and i got second place both times. and really did win ;) jk nate! but nate was a dear and gave the money he won to me instead, so i split it with jake who got third place.

i won't try and explain the game, because i might confuse you. but its a blast, search it on google and buy one for your and your fam!

me and my favorite baby


we then watched some home movies of our families,

had a mini dance party in austin's festive room,

and sang christmas songs as we marched down the stairs.

wish you could have been there. it was a blast.

after... we opened our christmas jammies!
{my favorite part of christmas eve}

(stole this from my bro. my dad took pictures, but we all looked nasty so this will do)

then me and the twins built a fort over my bed, and we three squished in my bed. we voted austin to sleep in the middle. worst 8 hours of sleep i've ever had.

christmas was a lot of fun, my grandma came and made sour dough pancakes and bacon for us in the morning. i had fun giving presents

i got navi this book for her birthday so i got her this one for christmas








my parents gave me this:


i told them not to get me anything at all. but it will be so nice to carry around with me so i don't have to always haul around my huge & heavy camera.

saturday we went bowling. brought along my new little cam & had a heck of a time.
poor little thing came broken, so this is all i could get before she broke down on me.

we bowl from Courtney Brooke on Vimeo.

so thankful for:
a little brother who gets so excited about christmas
spending an entire day with my mom
the little snow storm we got
the bestest friends i could ever ask for
hanging out with my bro tanner, now he's headed back to kauai. boo.
spending 30+ hours straight in my pjs
the family who did the 12 days of christmas for us
my new gym membership. i can't wait to be in good shape!
my amazing job, and such cute clients
all the generous gifts that were left on our doorstep
and my fabulous parents for giving us a good christmas

what a perfect christmas it was.

blue christmas?

i'm sorry, but since when was blue nominated a christmas color?

oh dear.

word of advice

drive up the canyon and look at how BEAUTIFUL it is!

go. now. do it. you won't regret it.
{pictures taken up little cottonwood canyon}

PS... does anyone have a cute vintage suitcase i could borrow for a photoshoot on thursday?
leave a comment if you or anyone you know has one, thanks!!
{image via google}

vote for me!

hey everyone, i entered a video contest and i need your help!!
i am currently in second place so i need all the votes i can get.
here is the link:

http://bestvideowins.twideocontest.com/video/2

votes are counted by the number of times its been viewed and the amount of times shared on facebook or twitter! so if you have an account with either or both of those click on the links in the vote now box!
if you don't have either at least watch the video.
it would help me out lots, and it only takes 2 seconds... i would love you forever!
thanks everyone!

ps feel free to share this with friends and family
(and by feel free i mean please do it!)
(and by friends and family i mean anyone you know, or pass by in the grocery store!)
xo

thanksgiving

finally, here are some pictures of my amazing thanksgiving
i was bummed because tanner wasn't coming home, and b+r+n {brandon, robyn, navi}
were going to robyn's brothers for dinner. so it was just going to be me, the parents, and the twins, but then more and more of our family joined and it turned
out to be one big party!
sorry for the picture overload!

the tables:








apparently thanksgiving is for reading...




and tickle/snowball fights


i gave my mom a little thanksgiving present.
how cute is this candle? its on sale at anthro, go get one!!


i think austin liked it even more than my mom...


me and lil sis had fun playing with cute little hallie


aw sisterly love.


we traced hallie with dominos


brooke + phil + kimball came to visit. hallie and kimball were so cute playing together!


johnny is the caving master.


my cousin heather made this cute turkey




my two favorite people


trisha-claus came to our house!


she gave navi and hallie such cute presents


trisha made these cute melting snowmen


mmm desserts


all the girl cousins


we played lots of fun games, and after all the cousins left my fam made hot cocoa, homemade popcorn and watched elf.
what a perfect thanksgiving!!

friday night fort

thanksgiving weekend is always so much fun because you spend so much time with family.
me and the twins were bored one night so we built a fort in our family room,
and slept in it.




we might even make this a weekly occurrence!
{note to self for next time: don't wash your face before you take pictures...}

delightful

nothing beats coming home from a photo shoot and sipping a cup of hot cocoa.

isn't it always more fun when its in a cute cup?
{photo by me}

full of thanks

first of all...

{photo by me}
i am so thankful for...

my life
my faith
friends {the tv show, haha yes i am serious}
amazing family + friends
family traditions
my sweet little niece
my awesome job
+ my fabulous clients
and everyone who reads my blog!

what are you thankful for?

free photoshoot to a someone in need

i posted this on my website, please spread the word i really want to help someone out!



It’s that time of year to be giving. So I have decided to share my talents by giving away a free photo shoot to a family in need. This could be a family who would love to do family portraits for Christmas cards, but doesn’t have the money, a couple who is in need of engagements or bridals, but can’t afford a photographer, or any other option you can thing of! If you are someone in need this year, or know of someone who could use some photos, please leave a comment below or click HERE to contact me now. Spread the love!

in-n-out goodness

today in-n-out opened in draper.


and boy was it crazy.
just take a look...


thankfully robyn's bro got there early








{i'm not a hamburger person... weird i know}




apparently its not "cool" to take pictures at in-n-out


but why would that stop me?
{that sign says capacity 75 guests}


everything was super delicious




later my mom, dad, aunt lisa, and my grandparents joined us


today is my grandpa's 88th birthday, and he wanted to come here.
what a little cutie!






we knew that the owner had been there all day, and my grandpa wanted to meet her. she had left when we asked if she was still there, but her assistant gave my grandparents these...


oh the twins...


what a fun afternoon it was.