Better late than never, huh?

Sorry I'm so late today! Jared forgot a meeting he had this morning, so I had to drive him... and then stick around to bring him back home. Which wasn't so bad, except that I am so late blogging today.

Remember when I wrote this yesterday? "One of these days I need to stay home and get some projects done. (sigh) At least it is warm & sunny outside & I have great excuses to get me out in it! :)"

So I got out in it... and got stung. And I'm allergic to bee stings. So really, I spent yesterday in the ER. Bah.

But today, I'm fine. And the day was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! and I was out in it... running errands, but that counts, right?

Last night was my first photography class. I really was so sleepy and out of it (because of the antihistamine from the ER), but I took lots of good notes and went back over them today and made sense of them.


The assignment for this week was to take pics that:
1 - freeze motion
2 - show motion
3 - panning

So, for freeze motion I had Jared jump:


Showing motion (do you see the blur in the middle of the photo? It was a little girl & Matt swinging):


I don't like that one very well; the exposure isn't just right, so I'll be trying that one again.

Then, for panning, I had the kids swing:




I'll be playing some more in the next few days and then I email the best ones to my instructor.

So how are you all? I didn't get to go visit blogs today, but I'm going to try to stop by a little bit tonight. I might have to catch up with them on Saturday though. :/

Have a great rest of your day!!

P-A-R-K day

On Sunday, we packed up the whole family and took them to the P-A-R-K.

Aiden was so interested in everything there.

The birds in the trees



The cedar chips down below



Everything.



Michael amazes me. He has an arm that doesn't always do what it is told and a leg that just had surgery, but does he let that stop him? Never!



And I think that he is on to me when I say to the family, "Do you want to go to the P-A-R-K?" because last time he said, "Let's go to the park!"



While Aiden and Michael were swingin', Jared and Matt were practicing their tennis skills.



I asked Steve to watch Aiden while I took some pics. When I came back, I found him holding Aiden in the swing. I asked him why he didn't just leave Aiden in the baby swing (much easier, I think!) and he said that "He looked sad" so he took him out. Such a good daddy and grandpa, he is. :)



This shot came from out of the blue. I had just been composing the pics I took of the family on the swings, not really paying too much attention to what was behind them. When I was editing, I noticed this gorgeous fairyland behind them. Look at the way the sunlight is playing back there! I wish I would have paid more attention and took some purposeful shots!



Emily was with us too. See the lime green shirt hiding behind the slide way up there on top? Yep, that's Emily. She didn't want her picture taken because she has been sick and didn't want everyone to see her that way.



I have such a great family. Could I be blessed any more than I already am?!

Have a wonderful, sunshiny day! :)

Graduation

Sorry I missed you yesterday. The day just kind of got away from me.

Amber graduated on Tuesday evening. YAY AMBER!! So, of course I had to take lots of pics :)

With the Graduate:

Steve, Amber, and me


Amber and her paternal Grandma (I airbrushed out the name of the high school for privacy reasons. I hope that you understand. :)


Amber and Tino


Waiting.....


The 2011 class preparing to become official Graduates


Amber opening her Willow Tree "Wisdom" figurine from Regina (to Regina: She loved it!! Thanks so much :)


Amber reading her card from her maternal Grandpa (my dad :)


Jared gave her a donut :)


And we celebrated with cake:


Just a note to my Graduate:

Congratulations my sweet Amber! You have always made your daddy & me proud and continue to every day. We love you!

If I don't stop tearing up every time I think about her growing up I'm going to get dehydrated!

I couldn't believe how emotional I got when the graduating class moved their tassles from the right to the left. It wasn't just tears that came, but sobs that I had to control. I should've realize that since I get teary at other people's children's graduations, with my own.... well, I was just so proud! (as a side note: I did get ahold of myself before all of the whooping and hollering was over, so no one except Tino and Karen noticed... I hope.)

Earlier, I had gotten off of the stands to take her picture with her Principal in front of a school emblem that they had set up; she walked by and smiled at me and the whole time I'm thinking, "I'm not gonna cry. I'm not gonna cry." and I patted her on the back and walked on. Karen jumped up and ran over and gave her a hug. I was so glad that someone else filled in my gap! Later Amber told me how weird it was when I just patted her on the back like a football player (except it really *was* a pat on the back, not the behind! :) I laughed and told her that I knew if I hugged her I'd cry in front of all of those people and would have embarrassed her & me. What a baby I am!!

After the ceremony and visiting with friends at the school, we went to a park and had cake and opened her gifts. Her paternal Grandma gave her a card earlier, so I missed a shot of that, and her maternal Grandma is saving her card for her at her nursing home. My sister has a card for her. I suspect that there are probably many more cards, too. :)

Amber didn't want to "walk" at graduation, but graduation is such a Rite of Passage that I pretty much begged her to. She told me several times that she was only doing it for me. That was okay with me! Hopefully at some point she will realize that it was for her too. :)

As another side note, I don't think High School Graduation is only a Rite of Passage for the graduate; after going through it and experiencing all of those feelings, I am sure that it is also a Rite of Passage for the parent, too. Thanks for giving that to me, Am!

Today, we are going to celebrate Tino's birthday. He was born in the same month and year that *I* graduated from high school ... he is 23 today. (Wow! It sure doesn't seem that I graduated 23 years ago!!)

And a note to Tino:

Happy, Happy Birthday to my almost-Son-in-Law! You have already found a place in all of our hearts & we love you very much! Have a super terrific wonderful day today! :)

I hope that all of you are enjoying the end of the school year hustle and bustle celebrations and fun! Have your kids' school ended yet? Are any of them graduating from preschool, elementary, jr. high, or high school? I'd love to hear about it!

Pics from the Pond

I have a thing for ponds. I think it is because I lived next to a big one when I was a little girl. I still love the noises that are found around wetlands: frogs, ducks, birds, crickets. Peaceful. And I love that everything is just a little bit greener around there, too.

In Utah, there aren't lots of ponds around like there is in the South. Instead, there are big ones that an entire town circles around. In the little town that I grew up in as a little girl, the pond is still a big part of life.

Anyway, another pond that I love to visit is Burraston Pond. The pond is actually divided into many little ponds, which is nice when you have some people who want to fish, little kids that want to throw rocks in the water, and another group who wants to play/swim in the water.

Steve & I drove down to Burraston Pond on Sunday to see if the flooding was affecting it. It was a bit higher than usual, but mostly it was just beautiful! So of course, I had to take some pictures. :)

I played with the shutter speed and ISO to make the pictures nice, but I think they are still a little too dark. One of these days I'll nail the exposure, but there will probably be lots of practice between now and then. :)

So peaceful:


A beautiful, natural archway:


A swing blowing in the wind:


Beautiful green!:


This one was a shocker. It looks kind of haunting, which is cool, but this wasn't what it originally looked like. Sometimes different is cool! :


My best friend. My companion. Boy I love this guy! He is always encouraging me to do things that I love to do and is super supportive. (Thanks for everything, Sweetie :)

A Hodgepodge - May 17

Warning: This post has lots of random ideas & jumps from idea to idea.... :)

On Saturday afternoon, while Steve was in the grocery store picking up a few things, Amber, Aiden, & I hung out in the car. Amber tried getting Aiden to make fishy lips & here is his attempt:



You know, a funny thing happens when your child makes their own child: you see aspects of your own child peeking out from the quiet little corners of their personality and looks. Right here is Josh's smile:




How cute is this?! Just gettin' comfy, I guess:




Last week we finally got some dry, sunny, warm days, so I ventured out to take some pics:




This one reminds me of a fairy world:




"Don't take candy from strangers!" That is the message in Brandon Mull's The Candy Shop War.



This book did take me a little longer to get into than his Fablehaven series, but it was a really good book!

Here is the description from over at Amazon.com:

"Welcome to the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream & Candy Shoppe, where the confections are a bit on the . . . unusual side. Rock candy that makes you weightless. Jawbreakers that make you unbreakable. Chocolate balls that make you a master of disguise. Four young friends--Nate, Summer, Trevor, and Pigeon--meet the grandmotherly Mrs. White, owner of the Sweet Tooth, and soon learn about the magical side effects of her candies.
In addition, the ice cream truck driver, Mr. Stott, has arrived with a few enchanted sweets of his own. But what about the mysterious man in the dark overcoat and fedora hat? Why are all these "magicians" trying to recruit Nate and his friends? Who should they trust?

The mystery deepens and the danger unfolds as the four youngsters discover that the magical strangers have all come to town in search of a legendary, hidden treasure--one that could be used for great evil if it fell into the wrong hands. The kids, now in over their heads, must try to retrieve the treasure first. And so, the war begins . . ."

Brandon Mull is an excellent storyteller & I highly recommend his books for all ages!

What are you and/or your children reading these days?

Have a super terrific day today!

I'm baaack

Yay! I can finally post on blogger today! And all of my posts are back! I'm so relieved! I have learned my lesson, and I will regularly back up my blog. I was soooo worried!

{sigh}

Now I can show you Aiden's picture after I played with it.

I played around a lot with this pic. I turned it into a black and white, and then I cropped it really tight. Really tight. Because I can't get enough of his eyes, and this pic has such an ethereal look to it.



Okay, does he or does he not look like an angel?

A milk mustached angel, but an angel none the less.

I also blurred it a little, just for effect.



And that is the pic it originally came from.

When I take pics of Aiden I just get him playing in a well lit place, usually by a window, sometimes outside.

Then I give him a toy to play with and snap! snap! snap! those pics. He doesn't like to sit still. At all.

When he has lost interest and toddles off, I call the photo shoot finis and go and look at the pics.

Usually there are lots with lots of movement, but I always get at least one good one.

I really did miss you all today! I hope that you had a great day today and that you have a terrific weekend!!

More Baby Pics! :)

I had sooo much fun with Baby Aiden these past few days! But, I have to tell you that even though he is a really great baby, I am so glad it isn't me having babies anymore! But being a Grandma is going to be awesome!

My hat goes off to Karen for all of those nighttime feedings and making sure that he has clean diapers, clothing, and blankets and for all of her time giving of herself (literally!) to make sure her little one has warm mommy's milk to drink. I thought of her last night as my head hit the pillow and I knew that she'd be up in the middle of the night while I was snoring away. Thank goodness for good Mommies!

Josh has been putting in extra time at work to make up for Karen's lost wages while she is on maternity leave; and they are trying to make a money plan for her to stay home with the baby. When he is home he snuggles the baby and tries to help. Thank goodness for good Daddies!

Raising a baby is so much easier when there are two people working together to make a home.

And these are some of the cute pics I took while Aiden was here. All so adorable:









Aiden has won all of our hearts! Thank goodness for babies. <3

An Wonderfully Eventful Day

Yesterday Josh, Karen, and Aiden came down to my house to spend some time. Before coming home, though, we stopped by my mom's nursing home so that Aiden could meet his Great Grandma.

Our 4 Generation Picture



The cute little family with Great Grandma



Great Grandma fell in love with Aiden, just like we all have.



She held him the whole time we were there.



She told Josh and Karen that she'd be happy to keep him with her. :)



This was a moment that I have wanted to happen since we thought we were going to lose my mom last July. I'm so glad that her body healed and that she could meet this sweet little bundle of joy. What a blessing!

Josh, Karen, and Aiden will be staying here a day or two. I'm sure I'll have lots more baby pics for you in the next few days! ;)

(P.S. the pics were really yellow from the lighting in the nursing home, so I tried to make them look as close to normal color as possible. I hope they look okay on your moniter.)