Christmas Bells Are Ringing

I got this bright idea this year, to organize a neighborhood caroling hayride. It was really fun. We picked up neighborhood families, and a few more met us at our home then we went through the neighborhoods in the area singing and picking up families from our ward then rounded the loop and sang to a family I had never met but who had lost there mother earlier that year. I thought a 24ft trailer would be sufficient but it was pretty tight. I was pretty nervous we wouldn't have room for everyone, but it worked out just fine. I think we will continue this each year.

Christmas Bells...I love this tradition that we learned from the Hillman's. I found a site with directions on how to make these steel chimes and my awesome Dad was able to make them for me. We had so much fun.

Cuteness. What else is there to say.

It's always fun to torture the kids and make them re-enact the nativity. What I love even more is the actual reading in the scriptures and singing Christmas hymns together. Thank you again Hillmans for your awesome organization of this. We made sure to make a copy of the program this year, so we will be that much more prepared next year. I love our 24 days of Christmas book. It is one of our most treasured belongings. We look forward to it every year. What I don't have pictures of is our trek to Winterhaven, and Christmas Day. I love the entire Christmas season, but I really love spending Christmas Eve celebrating with family with fun and spirit filled traditions.

September....GO DUCKS!!

Now that I have committed to ending my blog, I'm scrambling to include everything I didn't keep up on, before I print it. So.... In September our good friends the Asper's came to town to see Neal's brother play in the Oregon Ducks and Wildcat's game. They were able to get seats for Noah and Jared, and we were able to spend some time with them on their whirlwind trip. I sure miss this family.

The boys of course had a great time. Noah was very impressed by Marks size. He also thought it was funny that while they were all hanging out after the game Mark randomly asked if they wanted some donuts-Noah thought he was joking-and was shocked that within minutes he reappeared with a box full of donuts. WOW!!!! He is amazing!!!! :) There was a neat write up about him in one of the programs. Not many college athletes put their athletics on hold to serve a mission, are married with children, and carry themselves with the level of honor and integrity that Mark does. He's a great example.

Favorite Images of The Past Few Months

In early October my cousin Emily was married. I had so much fun shooting her wedding. This is my favorite picture of she and her husband dancing their first dance.

So this has been my creative outlet since August. I've shot two weddings about 10 Seniors, 3 or 4 newborn babies and a dozen or so families. These images are a few out of the gazillion I have taken in the past few months.

I loved the maternity shoot. I had a vision and I was actually able to materialize it. It was fun taking my family the week before up to Mt. Lemmon before sunrise to the place I was hoping to shoot at to check the light. We found so many caterpillars that morning. It was really fun to drive up again the next week, meet my client and have a shoot at just the right place and just the right time. I love to share beautiful moments with my family and then get to share them with others too.

I love capturing love. I always hope to capture even just a little bit of what people are feeling for one another and the moment. It's super fun to shoot engagement pictures. David and Laura were awesome. They had never been to Madera Canyon, so it was fun introducing them to it. I wanted to create a playful moment to get them laughing, so towards the end of our shoot I had them play in the water. David wasn't that keen on getting wet...but Laura was all over it. The results-were just as I hoped. A few months later I shot their bridals and wedding day pictures. As the light faded on the temple grounds Laura really wanted to climb trees in her wedding dress and take pictures. I'm pretty adventurous but I wasn't about to have her ruin her dress or get injured the night before her wedding. She also liked the light poles, which all but one were not on. I don't think flash lighting,(at least mine is very pretty) so when we spotted the one light pole that was on I got an idea, and I really liked the way it turned out.

Seniors are so fun to shoot-when they like getting their picture taken. I have lots of senior images that I like but the ones in this post are the ones that really make me smile. Both were shot downtown. It's funny everyone wants their pictures to be unique, yet they all want there pictures to be shot at the same place. Everyone wanted urban downtown this year. I shot at Sabino Canyon, Madera Canyon and lots at Sanctuary Cove, down the road from my house. It's hard not to use the same poses-but at the same time it's neat that each shoot still turned out pretty unique to the person's personality.

I photographed a lot of new families this year. I also got to shoot and am still scheduled to shoot lots of families I have shot before-some that I have photographed for years now, beginning with their engagements. That is really fun. I love having established close meaningful relationships. I love getting to shoot a couples engagement, wedding, maternity, first baby, second baby etc...and holiday family pictures in between. They become a kind of extended family.

I love photography for the creative and social outlets. I like that I can fit it in around my own life and priorities. Sometimes I feel discouraged, that I can't keep up with the equipment, software, and trends, and that my work is pretty sucky compared with....(fill in the blank with a million amazing photographers). But then I apply my general approach to life to the above...I can only be me-I can only offer what I have. I'm not the best, won't ever be the best, but I can be happy and keep plugging along. Jared helps me to keep plugging along. Whenever I want to shut the door, he reminds me it's not necessary. Only a Sith speaks in absolutes.... I sure love that man. He has always helped me to reach higher, and has picked me up and assured me I could do things when I was sure I could not. He believes in me. He reassures me I'm sane when I think I'm going crazy. He tells me I'm an awesome mom and if I yelled at the kids it's because they deserved it. In his eyes I can do anything. That's pretty special. Recently my aunt posted on Facebook that I needed to expand my horizons, start making a real difference in the world. I wasn't offended in the least. But Jared sure was. I know who I wanted to be when I was a teenager, and the life I was willing to have in hopes of making the world a better place. I also know how wrong I was and how gently and lovingly my Father in Heaven led me to the place I am now that has brought me more happiness I ever knew or considered existed. Jared makes me feel like that same girl who wanted to devote her life to saving the world, but as the woman who devotes her time to her family. I didn't think my honor needed defending, but it was nice that he defended it so passionately.

With our 15th anniversary coming up and all this talk about love and support I am reminded of how it all began....The first time I saw him, my heart lept, like I had been electrocuted and I slammed the door shut and leaned against it to catch my breath. I remember he was baffled when my car broke down and I didn't call him...I could fix it myself, so why would I call him. The first time he told me he loved me and I rebuked him with suspicion. The first time he talked of marriage I replied the concept was a good one for those who were ready. I remember his reply when I was trying to figure out whether or not to major in something that would be high earning vs. something I felt passionate about. Why would I worry about earning money to financially support my future family-that would be his job. I remember how he shopped for me before I went to Europe for a month, how he would help me do the dishes, and go for long walks in Sabino Canyon when I had had a hard day at work and school. How he was so kind to the homeless man we encountered downtown. The way he listened to him, the way he treated him like an friend. He took me on new adventures, rock climbing, spelunking, jacuzzi hopping. He was the most fun I had ever had. He was always so persistent, and confident. He scared me to death, yet was the only person in the world that had ever made me feel so safe. He doesn't scare me anymore, but sometimes I fear that I have grown weak in my dependence on him. He says he's glad that I need him. I love him. I love our family that we have created together. I love growing old...um older...with him.

Hannah turns 11!

Oh Hannah! I love my girl! I love that she's courageous. I love that she is strong. I love that she is smart. I love that she is kind and wonderful with little children and babies. I love that she is a natural artist. I love her determination. I love her laugh. I love her honesty. I love that she loves doing her nails, and catching lizards and butterfly's. She is only eleven but seems so much older sometimes. It's hard in ways. She's always learned and grown by leaps and bounds. In that process I feel like we have skipped through years. I realize how fast the last eleven years sped by and in the next she will have become a woman. No point in shedding tears over that right now. sniff sniff. I am proud of the girl she is and am in awe of the woman I know she will become. It is a privilege to be her mother.

More October Fun!

Truth be told...I hate Halloween. I am a Halloween hater. BUT...I try. So this year, Hannah really wanted to be Elfeba from the play Wicked and she wanted Bradeigh to be her flying monkey. Super cute idea. Well...Hannah wasn't so thrilled with her transformation, and the paint kept rubbing off. She did not like being green, and she liked being partially green even less. It was really hot at our wards Halloween party so she literally began melting. Poor girl. To top it off this was the night the flu hit her, so she was beginning to feel the first effects at the party. Bradeigh was so hot and tired she found a place on some cool grass and just laid down. Noah had an awesome time as a Wolf Ninja climbing dirt mounds, and collecting candy.

The actual day of Halloween went much better. Hannah dawned a cute bat shirt, sprayed herself down with glitter, and threw on B's monkey wings for bat wings and called it good. B had black kitten ears on and a cute black and orange pettiskirt, Noah was happy being a wolf ninja. We caught up with friends spent the evening tricker treating, which Bradeigh thoroughly enjoyed. Glad it's over. I hate Halloween.