New Beginnings

Ms. Sadie

I had the opportunity to "dust" off my lens this past month and snap a few shots of one of my friend's sweet newest addition in her home.

Sadie and her newest "rival" Brooklyn

Brooklyn in her momma's arms

I also had the honor of capturing my beautiful neice Haleigh who is graduating tomorrow night. It seems like yesterday I was babysitting her as a cute little one year old and now she is headed to BYU Hawaii.

Congrats to both on celebrating a new life and a new chapter of life!!

P, P, P What Begins With P?

Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Dale

We ended the month with Dad C.'s birthday PARTY. You can always count on good food and cake whenever there is a reason to celebrate. The kids all enjoyed helping him blow out his 20 something candles. (your at least that young still right dad?) Happy Birthday!!

After some good food and cake what's better than a movie, Princess and the Frog to be exact. AND some popcorn. It was definitely one of the better Disney movies they have made. The music was my favorite.

Jared was being a big stinker this day. I guess everyone can't be happy!

Practice AND Patience also begins with P. Luckily before plunging in taking other family photographs my kids got to be my practice (with a little bribery). I also have to thank my good friend Sarah who was willing to lend me her fabulous lens and expertise. I have learned nothing ever goes as expected. For instance, I had something in my head I wanted them to pose for and it went NOTHING like I wanted. The best photos ended up being the ones I wasn't even intending on them doing. Like standing in water! But, it worked, they had fun, and truely capturing a natural image sometimes takes a little patience.

My f stop was much to low for these photos, hence being a tad out of focus.

Originally I had planned for a dry, photo......

But, by the end of the hour I let them do whatever they wanted.

Here they are in waist deep water, yes WAIST DEEP!

I offered to take a few family Photos during the crazy month of December. Most of the ones I am posting went out as Christmas cards, so hopefully they don't mind me previewing them.

Clouse Family

Hall Family

Schwenke Kids

Varvel Family

Gustafson Gang

They for sure are far from perfect, but I think they turned out rather well for an amateur.

Playing games. My mom got our family the game "Ticket To Ride" for Christmas. Obviously we opened it a little early (thanks to Amazon) and can't get enough of it. It's so much fun! If you haven't ever played I highly recommend it!

Luke and Miss Emma

We also spent a lot of time in our home listening to this little guy practice the piano. I am hopeful that Luke keeps up his ambition to play because I have never heard Jingle Bells so much in my life. (seriously) For just a few months of playing Luke has become quite the piano player. We are so proud of him!

Luke also played soccer this season. He wasn't normally the one to score the goals, but he did make some great passes. This last game he came on fire and decided to score one of the goals keeping them ahead to win the game!

Coach Steve and Weston

Last, but not least we survived an entire season of three kids doing soccer. Weston was my biggest surprise. I never thought he would keep up his stamina running in every game, but man I was wrong. There wasn't a game he didn't either make 5 or more goals or pass to his teammates in an assist to score. His coach nicknamed him the "hammer" because most of the time he was unstoppable. Way to go Weston!

As for Jared he was the boys personal cheerleader. If he didn't have a football game, he was there supporting them.

Queen For May

Being absent for three weeks in the blogging community feels like a lifetime.  Recaping that much time is nearly impossible. The other downside is the small things you forget on a day to day basis, the funny comments your kids make, or the observations you have driving in your car just gets forgotten.  But, what I can't forget is how well my children and husband treated me for Mother's Day. I was literally a Queen for the day.  Luke's kindergarten class had a workshop the Friday before Mother's Day.  It went from coloring to being served cookies all the way to a manicure by Luke himself.

Mother's Day came and went.  I can't forget how much I enjoy this holiday each time it comes around. Unlike last year, I had the opportunity to share with four important women in my life. My grandma never seems to want anything material except quality time with her family.  I decided to make one of my signature pies (which she also happens to love.

Grandma modeling her pie

Isn't she the cutest?

Janet, Mom, and Jenny

Grammy with her 5 grandkids

Dad & Mom

(Mom's birthday dinner)

The weekend following Mother's Day, it was the Father son camp out.  Doug & Mark piled all the boys in and headed up near Roosevelt Lake to enjoy the cool pine trees.  The biggest highlight was not having to sleep in a tent.  The boys all piled in the camper (I think that is definitely my kind of camping).  

One of the three photos Doug documented.

Doug and Mark's self portrait.

Apparently, car photos were the only ones that got taken.

Hey, but at least there's proof a Circle K stop was made.

While the boys were off in the wilderness, I took my 202 photography class last Saturday.  It was a FULL take and a ton of information.  The main focus was lighting.  I also was able to learn a portion about editing.  I found this photo quite humorous.  We had about 5 different sets of kids to practice on.  Because all 8 of us were practicing it looked like this poor 5 year old was dealing with the papperatzi.

Taylor was lucky enough to be one of the kid models.  This particular shoot was learning the natural sun flare.  Isn't it cool?  She was quite a trooper, it not only was terribly hot, but she ended up posing for about 1 hour.

The heat has definitely kicked in and THANKFULLY our friends down the street have allowed us to use their pool pretty much when we want.  Weston and Luke both have gone from very timid and having to wear a life vest, to jumping in the deep end and touching the bottom.

Hershal, Weston and Jackson

Last, but not least this little preschool trio has spent the majority of the school year together.  It has been so fun watching Weston's friendship grow with these two. I know for certain he will miss being at school with his best buddies.  The busyiness continues with my girls trip to California this weekend (running a half marathon) following a weekend getaway to visit our best friends in San Antonio.  It doesn't get better than that!

Practice Session For Mom

As I was scrambling trying to find an updated decent photo of each of my children I realized that I had absolutely none. With Easter fast approaching I felt it was appropriate not only to take advantage of our gorgeous weather, but take some updated photographs of my kids. I am normally a matching freak when it comes to a photo shoot, but being in a time crunch I'll take what I can get. I have learned that lighting is key for photographing in manual mode.

Despite the whining and complaining I managed to squeeze out a couple of smiles (with some major candy bribing of course). I instructed my kids to meet me in a field right after school so I could capture their bright smiles.

I am learning that as my kids get older it is harder for them to make a "natural" smile. I suppose that is part of growing up and being independent, but Luke's pirate eyes or Jared's funky squint makes me crazy. Weston on the other hand just gives me the same cheesy grin in every photo. I am sure this won't last. I took quite a few and ended up liking only a couple. I was so worried about the lighting and positioning that I didn't even realize I stuck them in front of this dead palm! I am sure I will have a redo session come Sunday when they really are all "matchy."

Thanks kids for being so patient with me, I know having a camera in your face 24/7 makes you all a tad crazy. But, with my new calling for girls camp (camp photographer) I am going to need all the practice I can get. Thank goodness my 2nd photography class is this Saturday.

Week In A Nutshell

The newest Frontier Girls
Jenny and Julie

A few months ago my dear friend Julie approached me and asked if I liked camping. Those who know me, KNOW camping don't go hand in hand. However, now and again I am up for trying new things even if it involves getting dirty. Little did I know that she had something more in mind for me. Never mind the fact she was also the stake camp director over girls camp. (which I vaguely remember back then) I replied with a "sure!" not thinking twice about it. Months rolled by and camping never came up again. Until this week. All the names that are submitted for any church outing or function have to be looked over and "approved" You are now looking at one of the newest stake leaders over the 3rd year girls. Yep, that's me! Thursday night was our first meeting. They have made the entire theme western frontier. Camper or no camper I have my boots ready!

Just a quick snapshot to prove we were there.
It was pretty windy after we got outside

I LOVE this guy!

Friday was just great all around. Doug got off early, the kids were in school so we headed over to the temple. We slacked the past couple of months and squeezed in a session just before the end of the month.

Sarah giving us her tips and secrets

After getting my camera, my sweet husband signed me up for a couple of photography classes with my talented friend Sarah. I spent 8 hours learning buttons on my camera that I didn't even know existed. It's going to take a lot of practice, but lucky for me I have 5 subjects under my roof to use as my guinea pigs. Beware of upcoming photo posts!

Sneigar Park
Baseball tryouts

During the time I was in class Doug drove Taylor over to her dance competition in Northp Phoenix (no photography allowed) then rushed back to catch Jared's basketball game and his little league tryouts. I caught the last 15 minutes. It took nearly 3 hours to have all the boys catch fly balls, hit and do a little fielding. Much thanks to my inlaws who watched my little boys for most of the morning.

With aperture, exposure and shutter speed information in my head I quickly took advantage of the last 30 minutes of light while the boys played at the park. I had to take this photo because I am constantly telling them to keep their shoes on, and this is where I often find them. Scattered in the sand or in odd places.

Doug lounging on the love sac

Once the sun went down I decided to pop in to some of our favorite neighbors. Heather made the suggestion that we grill some steak and chicken. We pulled together a fajita dinner in a matter of minutes. It ended up being so great! Thanks Hunter's for a fabulous yummy evening. Just so you know, Doug fully expects a dodge ball tournament in the near future. :)

good deed Thur: went to a girls camp meeting
good deed Fri: went to temple
good deed Sat.: helped Taylor get ready for her competition

SPT--SLR (Canon 20D-Borrowed) Yet Smitten

Loving the manual setting.....and a little SP too.

A Day With Weston

I don't need your help, I can do it MYSELF!

On most days I am constantly reminding my boys (mainly my younger ones) to wash their hands after using the potty. I have never really documented any of my children washing their hands, but found it to be quite amusing via the camera lens. I am by no means a camera expert. Most of the photos I took today are primarily practice and unfortunately I only had one subject at this particular time. This is my first experience on a manual setting thanks to my friend Sarah (check her site out if you have the chance) who was generous enough to loan me her fabulous camera! As you can see natural lighting without a flash is tricky. (at least for me right now)

W: "Mom this water is TOO hot!"

It wouldn't be washing your hands without splashing a little water.

"Hey Mom look, it's getting in my eyes!"

......Yes, I am pretty cute.

Without Luke around, Weston finds himself bored on most occasions. Apparently mom as a playmate just isn't the same as your brother. I can't say that I blame him really. On the days he doesn't have preschool you can find him roaming the house along with repeating these phrases:

1). "Can I play Nintendo DS?
2). "I'm hungry!!" (in the most demanding whiny voice possible)
3). "Mom, when and where are we going?"

Just to prove that I don't starve my 3 year old child.I actually took the time to walk through the process of cutting up an apple with him. Of course, I couldn't do it, Weston specifically instructed that he wanted to do it ALL by himself.

Step 1: First you have to pick it out of the bag....

Step 2: Make sure you wash it really good....

Step 3: I want to cut it by myself, without YOUR help mom!

Step 4: Hmmm that is tasty, you want some mom??

Despite his demanding nature I really do love this little guy. How can you not resist this sweet face? Practicing a little self portrait of ourselves (yet again a little tricky)

Next up CARS!!!