Boy, You Have Your Hands Full

Christmas Eve Traditions

2012-01-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Ryan and Allison's new house was the

perfect place for our party this year.

We had lots of yummy food

We get together with all the Livingstones.
They are such a fun and talented family.
And we have the formula all figured out for
Christmas Eve. #1 everyone brings delicious
food. #2 Tons of kids. #3 They have all the
costumes for the nativity play.
Completely authentic. And all the kids can be in it.
I am telling you, it is a huge wardrobe.

We had a fire pit out side.

Getting ready for the nativity play. Takes longer
than the play. There were minimal tears if
I remember correctly.

Little Mitt was pretty entertaining during

the performance. I will get the video for the play done soon and get it on youtube.

What a sweet little scene.

Wise Men
The great thing about this family is the
singing. After each part of the play we
sing the appropriate song. Silent Night,
Manger song, Joy to the World. And We
have all the parts being sung beautifully. It is
so fun to be with all those great singers.

Me mom and Jujo, Lindsey and Tessa.
Lindsey had that little peanut on Nov 1st.
She is looking amazing.

Group picture after the donning of the
traditional matching jammie bottoms.
Allison makes them for everyone. Yikes.
There were 23 kids at this party.
Multiply and replenish. Family motto.
The grandparents didn't get in the shot.
I think they were just standing back and
gazing at their prodigy. Quite an accomplishment.

Our Christmas Card

2012-01-15T18:23:00.000-08:00

Oh what to do with the Christmas card. I traded family portraits with my friend Karen Pearce. So I went and took their pictures and she was all itching to come and take ours. So I was trying to think of something. And then one morning I woke up to find this on Pinterest. And I had it. I showed my phone to Nate and said, "This is what we are doing for our Christmas card this year." He was Totally on board. Now to find the sweaters. It took me a while. I searched at several thrift stores. Finally found the winners.

I just love everything about this picture. The goat just adds so much. So we used that in our picture too. Not a goat. Although I thought about finding one. But we did have a large rodent on hand, so that did the trick nicely.

Other wise known as our Master Piece. This was so much fun.
We did the studio set up with the black seemless paper and off camera flash. I wanted to have 2 flashes but my extra trigger didn't come in time. But I think it turned out ok. Luckily I had a reflector too. We told the boys that they were supposed to be kind of silly, but we didn't want to direct it too much.
When we try to do that it usually goes south.

While we were shooting, my friend was just cracking up. It was so fun. We did it really quick. Not much time with all the short attention spans. Probably about 15 min

Tyler Got it. Ha. Great job. He is so hilarious.

This time Oscar's weird expressions were perfect.

Kind of cute if you can keep George Castansa out of your mind. Ooops, sorry I ruined it for you.

The beloved. Oh ya and her name is Pandora. I like to call her Cucumber.

Of course after it was done we thought of a couple more awkward things that should have been in there. Like some guns, which are big now in pictures. Spare Tire, inappropriate tattoos. Laser lights, disco ball. What have you... I found one where the mom and kids all had matching jammies standing in front of the Christmas tree and the dad is standing with them in a speedo, only. Fantastic. He was on the largish side and fury.
We wanted so more fun this season. And we wanted to share our awkwardness with all our friends and family.

Christmas lights at the Temple and at home

2012-01-02T22:31:00.000-08:00

There isn't much time to take pictures with all the kids trying to get lost and the chilly weather driving the father figure to move us quick. So I don't have very much. But we took our 3d christmas glasses and it was fun to see the lights with reindeer, stars, snowflakes, angels, and candy canes.

Thank you Oscar, at least he is consistent. Black and white because I am kind of stubborn about the flash. I know Lori, I need to practice with it.

Babies

It's not great but a picture of the 2 of us.

What it looks like thru the glasses. So cool Just don't drive with them. Not safe.

Bokeh. Why do I love thee.?

Our Christmas tree, takes alot of abuse. The babies love taking the ornaments off and throwing them back on again. It gets old quick. So the tree doesn't exactly have that polished look. But it is ours. I figure in a couple years I will be able to keep some ornaments on the tree.

Makes me laugh. I guess I will leave it in this chronicle.

My amazing sister Allison made all these little stockings for the boys last Christmas. Thanks again Alli

Love the sparkle of the tree and the way it feels late at night when the kids are in bed. Quiet and lovely.

Burton is 7!

2012-01-02T21:52:00.000-08:00

Burton wanted a lego cake again. So we found this on pinterest, Where else? and had to do it. It is thinly sliced cake and marshmallows on top covered in frosting. Grandma pretty much made it. Thank you so much mom. Love you and your many skills.

Visiting Santa at the ward breakfast

2012-01-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Santa was jolly and fat and it was good to see him.

Surprised that I got pictures of Tyler and Oscar with Santa, but I was lucky that day.

I love this picture. So sweet.

The ward breakfast was wonderful. We love our ward and this time of the year. We are truly blessed.

Our Trumpeter

2012-01-02T15:38:00.002-08:00

Ox had his first band concert. He is in 5th grade so it is his first year. It was very exciting, partially because it was the first time we went to the high school that they will attend. So they were excited to be on campus. And they got to perform on a stage in an auditorium. Well I was excited.

Happy Oscar.

When I saw him walking with his friends like this, wow, he just looked so big and grown up. Made me fast forward to when he would be in high school. He is going to be so handsome. Love that kid.

Thanksgiving day

2012-01-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

Beautiful day. Cloudy day, but not chilly. Hum, I wonder if it is going to rain. Ehh don't worry about it. Just enjoy. The food was beautiful and fabulous and tasty.

We had Shields, Cowleys, Fletchers, Williss'

Just look at that goodness. We had the turkey smoked by a friend of ours.

This makes me laugh. Andre will hate it. Ha

And yes it did rain big fat drops for about 3 min. But that is enough to soak your food.
So we were out of there.

Bella, Ashlyn, and Hollyn

Nathan the story teller.

Kim and Andre
We had a great day of eating and movies and kids playing and eating. Thanks Cowleys for a wonderful day. Happy Thanksgiving.

Fiesta before Thanksgiving

2012-01-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

A great family tradition that we have is to have a Mexican Fiesta the night before Thanksgiving. This has worked out to be a great idea, with all the many families trying to get together the next day. We can usually make this Wednesday dinner happen. We always have Chimichangas, jalepeno poppers, enchiladas, salsa, chips, And pictured above, Martinellis. A must.

My new Nephew Lucas. Getting some bubbly.

Picture of the soon to be Patterson family. Well at the time they weren't married yet. But they are now baby. Yahoo. It is so awesome to have Nunu living out here by us. Sorry Alli, we had to take her, don't spit at your computer screen. It isn't attractive.

Oh, Jujo and momma. Looking at the pretty lights.

My lovely grandmother, she pretty much looks the same as she did 20 years ago. What an amazing lady. I hope I can be just like her when I grow up.

Watching Mitt throw things down from upstairs. Stinker. But it entertained the Aunts.

Sweet mommy

Love this picture of Doug. Hilarious. Alex is the torturer in the picture

Brothers. Yes Lucas actually asked for this treatment.

talking about rings. Ahh

These 2. Lala and Valerie (Catter). I hope they are always friends.

Family Photo
Hawker Girls, no longer Hawkers in name. But always in spirit. Not pictured is my half brother, Steve and his 2 kids, Carrie and Kyle. And Kim and her husband Larry and their 3 kids, Sydney, Taylor and Cody.
Pictured is (left to right) Lindsey and David (Uncle Daybed) and their 5 kids, Sam, Phil, Valerie, Zeke, Julia
Amanda and Doug with their 3 boys, Alex, Lucas, Oliver.
Allison and Ryan with 5, Jeff, Leah, Tessa, Alana, Peter.
Nate and I, 6 boys, Tyler, Oscar, Wesley, Burton, Wyatt, Emmett
And the parents in the middle of the fray.
Thanks Mom and Dad for being there for us. We love you very much.

2011-12-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

My favorite boy had a birthday. Yep Nathan. 41 years old. Happy birthday to my best friend. Many many more to come.

Halloween 2011 Spooky stuff

2011-12-27T00:58:00.000-08:00

The Halloween Crew. Knockin on doors and gettin some candy.
We headed to the Stratford for some Halloween fun with the senior citizens. Everybody is happy.

Ok. You will never guess what Wesley is... Well he had the idea for us to be Snow White and the 7 dwarf Zombies. He was committed, all the other brothers, were not. So here he is the lone Zombie. I was wearing the Snow White costume. Not pictured.

Eating as he goes.

The superheros

2 floors of trick o treating.

And below are 2 of some of the birthday kids. We also have Philip and Jujo born on November 1st.

Lots of fun with the Livingstones.

What a Turkey

2011-12-09T11:01:00.001-08:00

Back row is our little B. Makes it hard for pictures. They sang a couple of songs and then they got to have a feast. Pretty cute little 1st graders.

What a doll

I love this picture. Just makes me smile.

So Awesome to have grandma there. Amanda came to but didn't make it in a picture. Come to think, neither did I. I really need to think about that.

Oscar's Arrow Of Light

2011-12-09T10:46:00.001-08:00

2 for 2 so far. Tyler and Oscar have their Arrow of Light awards. They work hard for these. Well the leaders work hard too. I hear that the kids work harder as they get older. The balance shifts.

Building the bridge to scouting.

I look very imperial. This is because I photograph really badly. I always end up with a weird look or my big horse teeth sticking out. Ha.

This is where he dropped the back of the pin. Then, while I bent down to find it and get the dang pin on my shirt, he got his reward handed to him and I missed it. Oh well. This is why I need a designated 2nd shooter that things like this.

Yes I got it!!
And yes that is lady liberty behind him.

Congratulations Oscar. On his way to Scouts.

Circle of Friends Field Trip

2011-12-08T13:47:00.001-08:00

So as it says in the title. Field trip to the farm.
Schnepf Farm.
Hay rides and train rides and running around. The kids were so good and we all had a great time.

Emmett prefered to sit in the front of the ride. He is not shy at all. Pretty cute. Oh and look he's wearing socks. That makes me feel pretty good. (good job mom) Yes this little triumph is big for me. Lately he has taken to removing all of his clothes and just hanging out. It is quite a chore to keep him dressed.

2 kids.

4 kids. Ha. They were so cute. Not the goats. I think they are pretty nasty.

Some of the friends. And Miss Stacy in the middle. She is an angel on earth.

So long from Schnepf farms.

GG's 87th birthday party

2011-12-05T14:01:00.001-08:00

The Uncles were there, the Aunts were there, the cousins and the GG. Phyllis is the most amazing grandmother ever. I love her dearly. She is GG (Grandma Great) To the great grands. We get to call her that too. But when I was a kid we were sometimes told to call her Phyllis. She was not about being a grandma. She drove a red car, red hair and a personality to match. and she wasn't afraid to tell you all about it. Namely that your hair was too straight and looked like you were just drowned. Among other things. She is also very generous and loving. But I really love that spunk, her life is an inspiration.

All the family that was in town turned out. and some family that wasn't in town made the trek over from California. Her little brothers were there too. There was much dessert and visiting. Lots of kisses for GG. Not on the lips, because it messes up her lipstick. On the cheeks like in Franc

Jenna & Sam
Born days apart from each other. Growing up so fast.

If the venue looks familiar, yes it is an institute building in Glendale. We are so lucky to have connections.

Cut to the night time activities.

The cousins just had to get together and visit. Aunt Lis and The Schuermans in town. Oh ya we have too.
Part at the Johnsons. Fire pit and cocoa. It was pretty dang cold that night. Above this picture is Aubry and Richard. Please take note of the tiny straw that Richard is drinking out of. Ya he is going to kill me for posting that. Ha. Im not afraid......

Well, I am a little afraid

***Priceless***

Everyone had a story to tell. It was wonderful good times.

So when Richard got some more wood for the fire... there were SCORPIONS on the WOOD!!!!
Oh my gosh, it was really scary. THey screamed as they were burned alive. Yikes. I highlighted them for easier viewing. Ya, that full body shake, that's because scorpions are scary.!!!

Yes below is some shots of the aunts. Aunt Lynn was getting into a story about her kids, a little smidgen of Aunt Lis is on the side and my mother. Aunt Valerie toasting her marshmallow while wearing a comforter wrapped around her.

Doug and Amanda
They will be getting married 2 days from this post!!!. And there is my handsome man.
A very successful party on the whole. Great company/ warm fire.

Oxcars Birthday (11!)

2011-12-05T13:21:00.001-08:00

Our Oscar turned 11. He is a smart kid. Loves video games and computer time. He has the cutest smile, his eyes disappear like other members of our family. Reminds me of his Uncle Andre all the time. We love our Ox dearly.

He wanted this Lemon Coconut Cake. Yumm
It is really involved. Well it was a difficult cake for me. I had to read the recipe like 5 times.

Balloons in his room. He loved the attention. He shares a birthday with his cousin Phil, Great Grandma, And another cousin JJ. She was born earlier in the morning when this picture was taken.

We are grateful to have this wonderful kid in our home.

Halloween

2011-12-05T11:44:00.001-08:00

So every year for Halloween the kids go to GG's Resort and Trick Or Treat with the residents. Older but wiser generation loves this. They are so excited to see the kids and there are lots of doors to knock on.

Wesley wanted to do Snow White and the 7 dwarf zombies. It didn't quite work. Everyone was on board originally but it fell apart as we got closer to the event. So sad. I even got the Snow White dress. No i didn't get a picture of me in it. Sorry. But Of course I looked like her. Dark hair, pasty white skin. Yep that's me.
So Wes was the only on that looked like a Dwarf. His shirt said, " I was a dwarf, til the Zombie got me"

I love this picture of our "Nerd" Tessa.

We love our GG. Doesn't she look gorgeous!

YY doing his wink for me. Captain America has been seen all over town, as well as batman, wolverine, and spiderman. The older boys are slightly appalled about the constant costume wearing. I try and remind them, that they all did this.

Ox was a Sumo Wrestler. He made his costume him self. Proud mama, right here

Below is little Mitt, I mean Rock Guy. He almost understood what was happening. Kept wanting to stop and eat the candy right away.

The Halloween Clean Up Crew

Our friends do a haunted house every year. It was very scary. I didn't go in. No thanks. But the boys went in multiple times.

Check out the spooky smoke over the neighborhood.

Fall Break Get Away

2011-10-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

My Men, Ah such a delight. We had a great time in Pinetop, AZ. Nate took the boys fishing 3 times and they didn't catch anything, but ask them what their favorite part of the vacation was, Fishing! ........ Boys!

We found a little play ground next to a big open baseball field and the day was delicious, overcast and cool.

I laid down in the grass and the boys were jumping over me. It was so fun. I didn't even get trampled.

He's bigger than he looks.

This one isn't. He's still little and we love him dearly. I water marked this one, playing with ideas for when I do a little photography biz. This isn't happening any time soon. In a couple years. I am concentrating my efforts on the home front. These boys are growing so so fast.

OUr BMW. Ha. She looks good in HDR.

What a beautiful scene. It was misting a little and there are water droplets on the lens.

These last images were taken with my iPhone. It just amazes me that phones can do with pictures.

There was thunder and Emmett didn't like it one bit and he told it off. There might have been baby cuss words. It was hilarious.

TruHDR is the app and this is what it can do. Love these images. What a gorgeous sky.

We rented this house from some one on VRBO. Check it out. We have rented in Montreal, Canada and Newport Beach twice, Utah, Flagstaff. All great experiences. This cabin had a hot tub and it was so nice to have a soak after a long day of vacation.

Side note, this was the first time that I planned out every meal and stuck to it more or less. It was nice to know what we were eating. It is a new thing with me to plan the meals ahead. I am liking it alot.

Camping with Cousins

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Headed up to Prescott and drove around a bit looking for a place to camp. It was about 2 hours, I am ashamed to say but it was just Alli and I and a bunch of anxious kids. The husbands were thankfully bringing up the rear later in the evening. So there was less stress. Just Alli and I bouncing around in the wilderness (oh and the kids) looking for just the right spot, (for one night). Finally landed somewhere near the Potato Patch.

It was a little warmer than I like to camp, But that means, warm nights. So that's good. Tyler got some new guns and had an itchy trigger finger for his birthday. We already had 2 bbguns, now we have 2 other ones. A 22 rifle and another 22 that can convert into a 12 gage shot gun. I know this well because I was sent to Walmart to buy the bullets.

Everybody got a turn on the bbguns. The older boys got to man the 22's.

If you look close you can see the cartridge flying in front of Oscar's face.

Uncle Ryan, the crack shot.

All the boys love climbing the trees.

Portrait of a happy young man. Not a boy anymore.

Wyatt had many offerings for the fire.

This last picture was cool. I set up the camera and then as it was taking the slow shutter image, Tyler and all the kids walked right past the camera carrying a flash light. This is the result. Pretty cool.

Emmett's 2nd birthday

2011-09-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

I have neglected my blog sadly. These pictures have been foundering on photobucket for months. But it is finally here. The pictures from Mitter's birthday. I got inspired by my cousins kid's cake. Amory was born 1 day before Emmett. They are on the East Coast and I saw the cake before I went to bed the day before and made my brain to the mental acrobatics that it takes to figure out how to make it. Ok maybe it is easy for you to see, but it took me a while. The boys were very enthusiastic about the cake.

Emmett watched it bake. He was so cute, he could sense the excitement.
There they are. I did them in loaf pans, so I could just cut slices from the bottom up.
It looks good, It tasted ok but not super good. Not adult eating cake good. Just used a mix.
Litte Mitters got some toys and was very happy from the attention. Love these pictures of him and his daddy. He is a lucky kid. And that is a lucky dad too.

Our little caboose is a delight in our house. We are so grateful to have him in our family

Outing in Payson. Beautiful

2011-08-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

Allison gets these ideas in her head. Let's liken them to a bee in her bonnet. "Let's go to the woods and take a 5 mile hike. Jeff needs it for cub scouts." Ok. Im game. I wasn't too sure about the 5 mile hike but I knew I could always take the weak ones and quit early. Grandpa decided to be the protector on our outing and we were grateful. Those bears were vicious, VICIOUS!. Thanks Grandpa. You are the best.

Big rocks to climb and sticks to throw. We had sandwiches, Cheetos, and gatorade for lunch. It rained a tiny bit and was so pretty.

Everyone took turns walking across this cool log.

Oscar and his defiance. You will not get a good picture of me. I'll make sure of it.

Alli and her little bird. Peter couldn't figure out how to bite the end of the camelback and then suck the water out so Alli spit in his mouth. Yes folks. The picture is prettier than the act.

A walk in the woods did us some good. Thanks Alli for getting us out of the house.

Mission Beach- the Kids and the Fun

2011-07-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

The babies and I went on a walk and YY got tired so he wanted to sleep on this nice comfy bed on the boardwalk.

He also found a little peice of paper and was convinced that it would help him to read all words. So he would go around comparing it to all the words he saw. Headless on the on coming traffic on the boardwalk. He almost got creamed a couple of times because he would dart across the walkway to see some words.

Tyler just had to have these sunglasses. So we finally got our selves down to the Belmont Amusement Park. When I say finally I mean that we saw them on like Monday and he kept asking me to take him and I finally believed him enough to go. Poor kid. He still has them and takes good care of them.

Guest photographer Nunu. Thanks for these next 4-5 pictures.
Group shot at the tide pools. Can you see Ollie twice.? That kid hid behind his mother during the picture. Well we fixed his wagon.

Alli, you haul your cookies down to the beach for some guy?

This picture was funny because Amanda didn't know there was a guy behind Alli until she saw it later. Well it was funny to us.
Nate got to come out for a short time.
Got a really pretty picture of Nunu baby.
This Laser thing was fun. The kids spent a lot of time trying to beat their times and going in and out It was fun to watch.
They were all obsessed with getting the fastest time.
I love this one of Ry. Makes me laugh.
My sweet Wesley

Best mirror ever. ha

Seaworld

2011-07-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

We had to go to Seaworld. It was our first time. What can I say.? It was a zoo. Kids everywhere. Trying to keep track of everybody. Exhausting.

But look at those happy faces. All worth it in the end.

I am afraid Ryan looked a bit like a polygamist with all of these sister wives and kids. Can you imagine.? LOL

Purely Photography (Mission Beach)

2011-07-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

I need to get this post out of the way and then I will post the pictures from our fun beach vacation in Mission Beach.

This first one is a picture of a flower/ succulent plant thing. It was just so pretty. The second picture is HDR. I like the first one better. Just interesting to see the difference.

The houses are near the Mormon Battalion in Old Town San Diego. I didn't get to stay in the museum for very long, Emmett was very cranky and wasn't having any of it. So I had to leave, and it was super cool too. Dang it. But I got to shoot a bit.

And check out this little sitting room in the museum. What a sweet little spot to think. The bust of Christ was lit up so beautifully on the table. The whole scene was so sweet.

Little Emmett walked up to that statue and put his little hand on it. It was an amazing moment. I love this picture.

This last one was interesting because I usually don't shoot straight into the sun. I had to over expose by 3 stops to get the over exposed shot for this HDR image.

Frame series

2011-07-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

I love seeing what other photographers are doing. I was on Instagram (iphone App) and one of the IGer's had these really cool pictures and I was inspired. Amanda, Alli and I headed to the beach for some nice scenery and started snapping. I took 2 pictures, one with the person and a frame (it had a cheesy beachy picture in it), and one with out. So I just put the pictures one on top of the other in photoshop and then brush away the picture out of the frame and blammo. See right through me.

Yes I can see how this might be a sad message if you look too deep. Like Oh look there isn't anything on the inside. Or Oh ya I can see right thru you. But really, it is just a fun effect. Alli's turned out awesome.

Check out Nunu. Love this one. It was the first one. Man it is so much easier to shoot adults. Kids just don't sit still.

Here we are. Missed Lindsey, they were going to head out to vacation with us but had a car accident. Everyone is fine. But we sure missed them.

I put a water mark on this one. Still trying to decide on a name for my photography. No I am not going into business. Just a dream for the future.

Utah Trip

2011-07-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

This was a really fun place called Gateway Discovery. The boys had a blast. 2 levels on non stop exploring and puzzling and fun. YY and Burton were quite the builders at this construction site.

Wesley could have a future in broadcasting. He was very natural. It was a hoot watching him deliver the news.
Then we were off to the Hogle Zoo. Misha and her kids, and cousin Bennett came with us.
This is the top of Snowbird in June. Snow fight in June, what a treat. Cold and windy at the top. We rode the tram, got out and played for about 15 min and got back on. Not much at the top unless you have some skis on.

Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point was the next destination. How did we do all this and why? Well we got the Utah connect passes and it had all these attractions to go and visit, so we did. So glad we got em. Thanks to groupon they were even cheaper than usual.

I love me some dinosaur displays. These are really cool. I love the mammoth hunt display.
Tyler and all the boys, were sweet to show the babies the sites.
Emmett was just amazed at the dinosaurs. It was hilarious watching the faces that he would pull.
Favorite picture of the trip. Can you believe that.? What a doll.

Father's Day

2011-07-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

The boys call it Daddy in the bed. (Breakfast in bed) I hate to correct those funny sayings. It is pretty cute. Look at all those darling boys. Nate is a great dad and we are so glad he is ours.

End of the Year School Programs

2011-07-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

I need to catch up on some of the events for these boys.

Tyler got to play his guitar in the talent show. It was so fun to see him. He chose the song and handled the whole deal. He is growing up. He played Tarantella or something like that. The name escapes me. Great job T.

Burton had a cute program and sang songs and danced. He is a silly kid. Kindergarten suited him well. This was his teacher Mrs Sessions. He loved her.
Like I said, silly.
He is named well. Burton Andre, who's eyes disappear when he smiles. Ha.
Oscar's class did an, um, interesting play about nature. More to the point don't damage the cacti in the desert, and clean up after your self when you go and picnic in the desert. Um ok. They sang songs all around that theme. Like I said, ...interesting.
But, it was patriotic. All about AZ so that's good. Here he is with the long hair. His best friend is there on the end with the peace sign. Right back at cha JT.
Wesley's grade didn't do a program. They stagger them so there isn't too much all at once. Great job boys.

Bear and Arrows

2011-07-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

Back in October Oscar got his bear and Tyler got his Arrow of light and passed on to scouts. I found the pictures and had to post. These boys are so awesome. Oscar was so funny. He had to hunt the bear and conquer to get his award. (Dad behind the curtain)

He Got the Bear Pelt. Way to go Oscar.

Our Tyler walked along this bridge to cross over to scouting. We are so grateful to his leaders for all their help and encouragement. Tyler is a hard working boy and wants to climb high in scouts. Always looking to the next merit badge and class. Great job T.

Early Morning Date with a sunrise

2011-06-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yes I made it. I had a little help. My parents needed a ride to the airport, otherwise. I would have been unconscious. Super happy that I got to spend a little early morning time with my parents, and the added bonus of making it to Tempe Town Lake before sunrise.

Only regret is there weren't any clouds. That makes a big difference. Well to me it does. So once again these are taken with HDR. This means that there are 3 pictures combined together with a program.Photomatix So an over exposed, Under and correct exposure. The program can combine the best parts of the pictures.
100 ISO f/29 and of course 3 different shutter speeds. I love how still the water is. Seriously exciting stuff.

ok This was cool because I thought that the original shot was better than the HDR. Less saturation is better sometimes.
Original on top and HDR on the bottom.
How cool is that.? Look at the difference. HDR is pretty big right now with landscape photography. I see it everywhere.

Late Mother's Day post

2011-05-24T12:42:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day was so nice at our house this year. The boys worked hard with Nate to make me a breakfast. Wow what a breakfast. Thanks guys. Potatoes, eggs, toast, whole jar of jam. Whole stick of butter. And a whole bunch of cards and coupons and letters and poems. Loved it all. And I LOVE being a mom. It is the best.

Nathan gave me the best gift, he took pictures. Thanks Hon. They were so great. It really meant alot to me that you thought of it.

Tyler got published

2011-05-20T23:48:00.001-07:00

The yearbook for the school had a contest to find art work for the cover. Tyler drew a picture. It was done entirely at school, I didn't see it until after it was chosen. I think that means that he is growing up.
The yearbooks came out today and Tyler got one for free. So fun. Great job Tyler.

The 2011 Spring season

2011-05-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

What a busy spring. Baseball, sure. Flag football, sure. Karate, Sure, Why not. Lets just pile it on. Yes I know it will only get busier. We did it though. Made it to almost every practice and game. The boys loved their sports and had a good time. Oscar just got his yellow belt.
Can you believe how grown up he looks. Going to be 12 next month. Ridiculous.
The boys, playing with the moon after Tyler's game. Oh. I found this wonderful computer app Stellarium it is for tracking the moon and stars. Real time. It can go forward and backwards in time fast or slow. You can chose your position on the globe and it will show you where the moon and stars are. It is really fascinating.

Some day we will time it right so it is bigger and at the horizon.

Pure Joy

2011-04-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

I wish I could fly. I guess it has been passed down to my son. Well all the kids like to jump of course. But YY gave me so many opportunities to shoot him in midair yesterday.

I captured these joyous moments with the help of my off camera flash. It was set up on the left side of the images and there was natural light from the window on the other side. You can see the flash on the wall, shadow from the umbrella.

YY is a darling boy. Always looking for fun or candy. Lately mac and cheese.

Note to self: clean kid's face before shoot. So much easier than photoshopping it.

For Jonae

2011-04-18T23:24:00.001-07:00

A friend told me on Sunday that she loved my pictures. I sure love takin them. Glad to have a fan.

Thanks Jonae.

Wesley

2011-04-11T17:08:00.001-07:00

Wesley was such a great model. We did a shoot to get some good images for a picture on his wall. He is such a sweetie. This first one was him standing on a hill and me on the ground getting the perspective I was looking for. Lookin strong.

The Big Day. Baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. A very important step. It was a wonderful day. Raining and overcast. We had friends and family there. The spirit was strong. We are so grateful to be apart of this wonderful work in the church. The boys are all preparing to be missionaries. We love teaching and helping our boys to become independent and strong. Knowing right from wrong, and striving to do good.

It was also a special day for 2 of his friends and the 3 boys sang the Army of Helaman song. They did great and it was wonderful to see them so grown up. Ethan and Collin congrats to you as well.

Sunsets, My Passion

2011-03-09T08:39:00.000-08:00

Everyday, I look to see if it is going to be cloudy and I study the sunset. I am never up in time for the sunrise although I would love to go. Mornings are also the busiest time for moms. (As mom everywhere will attest.) You have to have some clouds. Clouds just make it happen. These special days happen every once in a while. It almost makes me cry. I want to capture every one. Just the way it looks to me. As I see it.

So when a photograph is taken of a sky, any time, many things happen. You either get a blown out sky and a well lit fore ground or a dark foreground and a well lit sky, dark and colorful. So pictures like these take 2 pictures. HDR's take 3.

This post is about how to blend the 2 pictures together. See this first picture, how the sky is blown out in spots. Those details are lost. Can't be recovered by darkening or burning. And how the foreground is dark in the second picture. If you were to just lighten the picture, the detail would be lost and pixilated.So, drop one picture on top of the other and create a mask. Next to that little fx lower right. there is a box with a circle inside. That is a layer mask. Then hit B for brush and paint away the blown out sky and the dark, colorful, beautiful sky will appear. Yes it is magic.

Then flatten the image. On my mac its command-alt-shift-e all at the same time. Then I ran this action called rusty cage. Then I ran an action called selective sharpen, from pioneer woman.

Overlay a texture. This one is kind of grungy. Stretch it to cover the image and then change the layer mode to overlay, (in the picture below it says Layer and below that normal, drop down menu to overlay) change the opacity, add a layer mask to remove it from areas.

There it is. I redid it for the pictures. And i think I forgot to sharpen the one below. Oops. Still love it to pieces.

This one is the same process with out the texture.
The picture below is 4 in one. So 2 light, 2 dark and masked together. I just ordered a print of this one. 10X20 for the wall. Been waiting for the right day.

Wyatt's 3rd Birthday

2011-03-08T12:08:00.001-08:00

Can you guess what this is.?

Yep. YY's Elmo Cake. He picked it out a month before his birthday and was so excited about it.

Bubbles in the back yard with some good friends. We just had a little kid party at the house during the day.
Emmett got into it.
Nope it really wasn't his birthday. Didn't show up on the calendar again this year. Maybe next year. Lived 3 years but hasn't had a birthday.

Our little YY likes to watch Lion king right now. Alot. Loves it. Thank heaven it is one that I don't mind. It is so fun having these babies. Yes, I still call him my baby. I really don't know when I will stop. YY and Mitt are good friends and it's fun to see them play together.

Wesley's 8th Birthday

2011-02-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

Warriors preparing for war. Toilet paper fight. That is what Wesley requested. No Problem!

Was it a big mess? Yes, but... the boys cleaned it all up. 5 Minutes flat. Good kids

Wesley's cake was Despicable Me. Super cute.

He had a great birthday, great time, great friends. Thanks to all that came.

Cali for nia

2011-02-23T12:04:00.001-08:00

Disneyland on Thursday. It is a good day to go. Nate and I really enjoy taking the boys to the magical kingdom. Indiana Jones Ride. One of our family favorites.

I didn't get a picture of the tower of terror but here is a little insight that I find interesting. Nate likes rollercoasters, but doesn't like T of T. The up and down motion bothers him. Then we come to find out that Andre (his brother) doesn't like it either. But his problem is the same as Burton's. It is too scary. Andre says that it freaks him out a little more everytime he rides. HaToy Story Ride. Probably my favorite ride ever. It is amazing.Eeek. Slow Shutter makes my heart Flutter. I snuck away from the kids and Nate. They rode the jungle cruise and I took some night shots. It still amazes me. There were a ton of people in and out of this picture but they are gone as you can see in the final image. 30 sec for this one. F/8 200 isoPirates was 20 sec. F/13 200 isoThe astro ride was 15 sec F/13 400 iso Oh I loved Burton's little face in the Nemo Ride. So sweet. And those eyelashes. Just kill me.Hey, Me with my boys. Grizzly Bear Mountain Ride. This is one of the boys favorite rides. It usually has no line when we go which makes it loads more fun. I like to get pictures of them when they are getting started and then again in the end. This one is HDR. That's why it looks a bit cartoony. But I still like it. I missed getting them when they come down the big falls but got em at the geyser.

Wesley got "Nailed." That's what the boys call it.We spent a little time at the beach. YY had to be forced down the stairs. He thought we were going to make him swim and no amount of "no Wyatt we are not swimming" would convince him. Nope only him being down by the beach and sitting for 15 minutes and then he was ready to punish the ocean for being cold, by throwing back it's gifts of sticks and weeds.Tyler's shell. This one is also HDR.

The sky was so amazing on Friday last week in Laguna. I actually just used 2 different photos to make this one. Masked in the dark sky on the brighter picture. Nothin like a dark sky. Makes me feel grounded. Happy. I love the rain.

I convinced the boys to sit for a couple pictures. Not Tyler, he wasn't in the mood. I got #2,3,4.

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Wesley! He is now 8. What a delightful helpful child. Love him so much. He is an amazing person.

Tyler is drawing

2011-02-10T21:40:00.000-08:00

He hasn't for a while. It is good to see him doing it again. He also did a dragon. He asked me to post them on his blog. I will get them up soon. How does he do it? I really don't know. So grateful that he can. It is a real talent.

Christmas and New Year 2010-11

2011-01-04T20:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a blur. Loved the season and just didn't get to everything we wanted to do. Totally slacked on the baking and passing out treats. I have mixed emotions about that. I love the baking, but I don't want it in the house. And how am I to push it on unwary friends. Not nice. So I didn't make christmas treats. Except sugar cookies one night. Frosting. etc. Then one night I came home and Nathan was making gingerbread cookies. Yes Yes I am serious. I walk in the house and there he is with my bosch out and MIXing. He did a great job too. Wow. I guess I am not letting him express him self enough.

The boys were so excited and YY got the hint about Santa finally about a week before Christmas and has been gaining info ever since. Watched Rudolph TRNRD 5 times today. Keeps thinking that Santa is at church, because at the ward Christmas party, Santa disappeared into the building when he was done taking requests. Oh it is so fun. He is just a delightful child.

Ok so that last picture Tyler has the fingerlights. I put these glasses on my camera lens and it shows a snowman shaped halo around every bright light. This is COOL. My sis gave us a pair. Check em out. I think I am going to get them next year.

Oh YY got a new bed and the boys were all reading. Soo cute. And I got a picture of Oscar smiling genuinely at me.

New Year's Eve Was COLD

But we braved the weather about 4 times. Each time going in to get warm again.

Our neighbors across the street also did this and at 12 we finally had a duel. I guess you could call it. The neighborhood was definitely popping that night.

I finally got my settings right on the camera. I need to remember to do a

deep field of focus when I do this night time stuff. Works better.

This last one is my fave. Look at those sparks.

Happy New Year

Bokeh Fun

2010-12-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

I like MCP actions on Facebook and they have some pretty cool blog posts. This one about Bokeh, I have been meaning to try since I read it. I was shooting pictures of my tree and decided today was the day. Oh my gosh, the endless possibilities. I just did a star shape and a heart. But you gots to try it. You need your slr camera and paper.

Here is the out of focus picture before...

And After... (these are all sooc= Straight out of Camera shots) Not time to edit.

MCP lady attached the paper to the lens. I just held it. I also needed to take the paper away to focus. I have my camera on back button focus so it locks and it doesn't change when I press the shutter release. I shot in Av or Aperture priority mode. Just set it to 1.8 on my 50 mm lens.

Love these cookie ornaments. Have one for everyone.

Oh. I love this the stars leading away on the right are beads. Not lights. Well they are reflecting light.

Christmas lights/ Night photography

2010-12-22T08:49:00.000-08:00

Karen and I went out to do some night photography. Practice. We went armed with Tripod, stool, boxes for supporting the cameras.

Frosty here was shot at 3200 iso f/2.8 for 1/200 sec. Hand held. Added a seventies finish to it. And a stary texture to the background.

Oh I love this one. This tree was so cool being under lit by these hanging globes.

100 iso f/18 for 15 sec. Have to mount this one on a tripod. Ok here is the great thing about closing down the aperture. This takes the light longer to get in. And the iso is as low as possible. So look at the individual lights. This is how you get the starburst effect with lights. I have a couple of sunsets that have the sunburst look to them because the iso is low and the exposure is long, and the aperture is small.

See all the detail because it is such a low iso. Lots of time to get the information into the camera. This just fascinates me.

iso 100 f/2.8 for 1/2 sec. hand held

For the editing. I played with it plenty. I took out the red glow off the ground. It was a bit over whelming. Also brightened the exposure around the lights. Then sharpened the front light.
This last one was hand held also 3200 iso f/2.8 for 1/125 sec. Just sharpened the front of the present. So get out there. SLR cameras on manual. YOu can do it.

New favorite

2010-12-20T21:52:00.001-08:00

Pied Piper Photography

Looks like several of my friends know about this gal already. Pretty talented photographer. I am a new and big fan.

Burton's Birthday 6

2010-12-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

We had a friend party for our little B. This picture shows the pure joy of a 6 year old and a can of silly string.

We had lots of friends and fun. Burton is a sweet kid. Little intense. Burton Loves video games and we as responsible parents try to keep it to a minimum. Recently I told him that I talked to the Dr about his video gaming, and the Dr said that "He can't play more than an hour at a time or it will make him stupid." And he actually bought it. And Wesley. Hey, I'm not lying. I really do think it would make him stupid but, I didn't actually talk to the Dr. So funny how it sounds more official and believable coming from Him/Her. I will have to play that card sparingly.

Pizza on a trampoline. Fun fun fun.

His wonderful friends brought great presents and presence. Ha. Really fun kids.

I made the cake. I am sad to say. It is supposed to be car parts that shape up to be a car. Like fenders and wheels and stuff like that. Burton liked it.

We had a family party with just us and the boys. Love being with these boys. It isn't a quiet life.

I like these 2 pictures with the change of the focus. Look at that face. Fire!

Happy Birthday Burton

Nate's 40th Birthday

2010-12-05T20:30:00.001-08:00

Friday Morning is when the fun started. Our wonderful office staff decorated for Nate and surprised him with pictures of him self on the wall as a baby. Awe.

I wanted to make an effort too. (I am usually asleep before Nathan leaves in the morning so I had to come up with some lame excuse about going to the store early before the kids left for school) So as soon as he left the house. I started yelling "go go go! get in the car come one party at dads office" Kids had no idea. I didn't trust em to keep the secret. So they were bewildered and a little unnerved I think. We were out the door in 2 minutes. Record time. We showed up after the surprise but it was still fun. They sang to him.The rest of the birthday was creative i guess you could call it. Amanda called it "weird". Maybe you would too. But let me explain. I wanted to have a party. Do I have it at a restaurant? Ick. Can't talk to any one unless they are at your table. At a hotel? Um that would have to be a big hotel room. Our house? that would mean I would have to clean it. And I wanted to get away. So I rented a house in Gilbert through VRBO.com. 2 nights in a nice clean house close to our house in case I was needed at home. So Friday night we went out with friends and then got to sleep in a silent house, all to our selves. Nice change. Then Nate got up in the morning to golf with some buds. Came back to the house and took a nap. Awesome. Then we went shopping. And got ready for the party. Thai food and pool. Great friends.

Thanks Sarah, for bringing the birthday hat. Nice touch.

This one of Ryan is hilarious. Love it Ryan. Give it all you've got. Take no prisoners.

He said that it was a great birthday. Nathan is my best friend. I'm so grateful for him and his wonderful example. I am so glad he's mine. Love you babe.

Oscar's Birthday

2010-11-07T12:08:00.000-08:00

Oscar is 10. What? Pretty fun watching these guys grow up. So I wanted to have a party for his friends and I really wanted to avoid Pizza/Jump joints. I googled what to do for 10 yo birthday party. Video game party. Bingo. I know you can rent the trucks with the games inside. But Im cheap. So I borrowed. Thank you to the Webster, Buyack, Richardson, Livingstone, and Peralta families. 5 Gaming stations and 11 boys. So much fun. Sure there was the occasional glitch and they needed some tech support, but on the whole. Big success. I recommend.

We had 3 wii consoles, PS3, and an xbox360. Lots of games and licorice and lemonade and pizza. A night of Excess.

We had a family party on a different night. Planning parties gets complicated the older they get. So yes 2 parties.
I think I need to try harder on the cake for the next kid. I am just seeing how long Oscar will let me get away with Halloween deco. Birthday is Nov 1st.

Happy Birthday My Boy. Oscar is a smart, wonderful kid and we love having him in our family. Keeps us on our toes.

Chasing the Garbage Truck

2010-10-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

YY loves the garbage truck. We missed it on our street so we hopped on the bike and took off looking for it in the neighborhood. We looked and looked and just as we were going to give up, (well I was going to give up) we found it! In the Wiser, Schlerf neighborhood. So we followed it for 3 streets. Oooos and Aahhhs from the back seat. Mitt likes it too. On the last street we ended up being down wind. Well that's it for me. Yuck. But man it was a beautiful day nice ride and YY got his garbage truck fill for today. He is a one-track-mind kind of kid.

Notice we didn't even have time for pants. Not when the garbage truck in on the move.

The 1st Halloween Party

2010-10-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the party means that all past costumes get pulled out and tried on. Emmett really wanted to be the dog. 16 months and he knows what he wants. Cute cute.

Ok so the makeup jobs are pretty awful. Getting 5 zombies ready for the party was fun but I am not good with the makeup. Oh well. Thank heaven they are supposed to look messed up. Brains for dinner. That's how you get that look.

I made all these zombie costumes. Took me about 20 minutes. Only YY and Wes ended up wearing them. They are not comfortable as you can imagine.

Emmett's 3rd costume. Little bat.

Here is the sunset at the Trunk or Treat. Wow.

The ward party was a complete success. Thanks to our primary, there was about 20 different soups and candy galore. What more can you ask for.

Beach Bums

2010-10-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Shields Family Reunion time. We had a beautiful vacation with the Cowley's and Shields and Nana and Bumpa. The beach was cold but that didn't stop the kids.

It was over cast most of the time. Works for me. Everyone else was hoping for more sun.

Love this one of Nana and YY.

The house on the far right is the house we rented.

This was at the Wedge. It has crazy high waves. They weren't that high the day we went or the time of day. But there were plenty of surfer/skurfers. I don't have the lens to take pictures. To do it justice.
There is a wave in this one. But it is just different being there. Look at that shoreline. Those waves are powerful.
We had a relaxing week hanging out at the beach house. We went to a swap meet though. Got some hummus and a helicopter toy. Oh and I got a new purse. I needed one bad.

à Montréal pour voir mes parents

2010-09-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

This is my parents 3rd mission. 1st was Japan, then Kiribati (island near Fiji) and now Montreal. Serving in the Chinese Branch and helping with the missionaries. Interesting places and they are wonderful missionaries. We are so so proud of them and grateful for their faithful service and example to our young boys.

Of course I took every opportunity to take some pictures. This is the view from their balcony in Cote St. Luc. Kind of a residential area but there are some landmarks in the distance. It is on the 16th floor so it is really nice and expansive. I was able with LOTS of help from photoshop to get the 12 pictures stitched together. 180 degrees is a problem because of the angles and distortion. But I really like the results. It was a cloudy, foggy day unfortunatly.

This is us waiting for the plane. It was the first time on an Aero Plane for the boys. They loved it. Oh I love the window seat. But so did the boys. So Tyler snapped this one for me. The clouds are so amazing. I just wish there were more here in AZ

Once we got to Burlington, which was no small feat. Running through Detroit airport to make the next flight. Running is not my strong suit. But we made it.

We traveled down to Sharon Vermont, since we were so close. To Joseph Smith's birthplace. Wow. What a beautiful place to live. Here is the memorial.

This pic is funny. I took 2 different images. One with Ox sharp and one with the leaves sharp. Then I masked them together. Kind of cool.

This is the boys looking at one of the Mack houses. Seriously. It was a bunch of big rocks. I didn't get a picture because there was not much to see. A hole and big foundation stones all cattywhampus. Ok I found a pic online if you want to see what I am talking about.

I am training up the boys to be photographers. Tyler and Oscar are both doing great. I didn't even have to crop this one. Good job T.

So on we went to Montreal. It is only 2 HOURS away. We drove because I wanted to see the sites and the landscape. Really cool. And it turned out to be cheaper. AND we got to drive a little Altima. Kind of a novelty in our house.

Montreal. Super cool place. Loved all the old buildings.

Here we are out side this super duper restaurant in Montreal. It was tres Bon. OH ya, Everyone speaks French. Wow. My one semester of french in college was not up to it. But is was fun to try it out.

My Aunt Kitty and Uncle Bob (AKUB) were there at the same time and we got to hang with them. It was really fun. Love them. Got this really sweet image of them in a pretty park.

Mother and Kitty

The Olympics were held in Montreal in 1976. So we went by the campus. Is that what it is called? Olympic Park? Ya i think that is it. This was the pool area. Really cool. The building was Weird. I didn't really like the architecture. Alien Ship more like it.

Dragon Beard. Mom was really excited about this. It is spun sugar and nuts inside. Funny candy. Once you bit it off you are supposed to let it hang out of your mouth, like dad. Hence the beard reference. These pictures were taken out on the street in China town. It was dark out side. But they turned out ok.

We actually went to China Town several times. It was really cool. Great shops and restaurants. My mom actually shops regularly at the Marche Chinois (Chinese Market) all the time.

Case in point.

Awe. Tyler took this one for us. Finally one where I am not making a weird face. I am finding that I am not very photogenic.

These trees were amazing and the log art. Ha. Pretty cool place.

SUBWAYS- I love em. I know some people may think that I am weird. But I LOVE em.

Boys had a good time too.

Just in case

OH I love this one. In the Marche Jean Talon Beautiful fruit and veggies everywhere.
I have so many more pictures. Maybe I will post more. But I worry about boring you all. I will make a book for us to keep at home. Anyway. We really enjoyed our trip. Thanks mom and dad again.

Burton's Art Work and Canvas

2010-09-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

OH Burton. What did you do? This was in the car, while I was driving. Stinker. I said "What the heck are you doing?" "He wanted me to do it mom." Ya He is practicing his hand writing any chance he gets. Window sills, paper, faces...

It all washed off easy.

YY fills up the cup and dumps it on Emmett's head as many times as he can before I get him out.
Little screamer.

Lake Powell Trip

2010-09-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Our annual Lake Powell trip was especially special to me this year because I got to practice photography a bunch. Loved it. Did little else. SOme people think that I missed out. No wake boarding, no volleyball. But I got great shots of other people doing it. It just didn't interest me. I am a big nerd and this trip proves it. But I got lots of fun beautiful shots. And I am HAPPY. IT was a great vacation.
This one of Nate was awesome because I didn't even know that I got the canyon behind him til I looked at it on the computer. Sweet. And he looks tough.

The group. We had 10 couples and 5 single guys. Fantastic people ALL.

I am a bit horrified at this picture. I really didn't know how awful my outfit was. OOps. Oh well. Here we are playing Speak Piggie Speak. It is hilarious. Great fun.

Bo-Ga

Check out our back yard. So cool. Got to take pictures of the groups jumping.

Sweet Grab Nate!

Scream! this was so fun. I love love night time photography. It was so so dark. No moon. I love these images.

He's a pirate.

So Excited

2010-09-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

I ordered my first gallery wrap. This image was done with HDR High Density Range Photography Technique. 9 pictures blended together. The gallery wrap is going to be 12x 40 inches. and Metallic print. I am just giddy.

This picture was taken at Lake powell. On the top of the boat. Nate and I slept up top this year and it was so beautiful. One morning I woke up and this is what I saw. THis Exactly. I can finally take a picture of what I see!!. If I had taken just one picture it would have been dark sky, but also dark mountains. Or Light sky and light mountains. Hence the 9 shots. It's called AEB bracketing. SLR's can do it. you just have to hold still for each of the 3 shots. Oh and have the program to process the photos, and photoshop.... Ya that's alot but check it out. Scream!

Mr. Mitters

2010-08-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

Thought I would write about little caboose. Emmett is a fun little kid. Tries to be just like his brothers. If they are screaming he wants to also. He also likes to get into the fracas if there is fighting. It is so cute to see his little brain working. YY and Mitt are good friends for the most part. YY delights in knocking him down. Not odd in 2 year olds. Emmett takes it like a man most of the time. Just gets back up.

He likes to play in these vertical blinds, those door stop things that boing when you hit em. And the stairs.
I convinced Nate to let me take these pictures. He is a little camera shy and usually tries to ruin the picture by making weird faces. He behaved today. Thank you Nate.

It is so fun to have a little baby around. He is so small and fun to pick up and hold. he is a cuddler. Darling little Emmett.

Toothless

2010-08-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Oh my Sweet Wesley. Is that the cutest thing ever. He has been trying to get this tooth out for weeks. Finally got it out. I just love love toothless kids.

My Sweet Wesley

2010-07-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Little B hurt his neck last night on the trampoline. Finally convinced him that he needed to lay down and rest for it to feel better. So he went to bed at 6. Found out this morning that he woke up in the middle of the night. Wesley got up with him and read books to him. Nate found them in the bottom bunk together in the morning. What a sweet boy. Burton told me that Wesley read books to him. I feel very blessed today. Love these boys.

School. A vacation from my summer

2010-07-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

I have big hopes for next summer. This one has been challenging.

That a side. The kids have been so excited to start school. Burton starts Kinder. I just saw him at lunch and he was so happy. Has 3 new friends and is having a great time.

Here is our scholarly bunch.

Happy School Dayz to everyone.

Emmett is 1

2010-07-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

The oldest and youngest boys are almost exactly 10 years apart. Little Emmett is 1 and walks like a champ. Has 1 tooth. Our boys are late bloomers when it comes to dentition. Just a happy kid.

YY just showers him with love and attention. And pushes him over and sits on him. But... THats what he's for.
THis picture cracks me up. Mitt dropped his pizza crust in the pool and they are both looking at it like. Oh dang it, now what? Don't worry, Nana scooped it out and gave it back to him.

Ok these next ones, I only had to take 200 pictures.

Smoosh smoosh smoosh. He didn't get much cake. There was so much frosting, Yuck.
Just love kissing this little man. All of his brothers just love him so much.

Camping with Good Friends

2010-07-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Ahh good friends. So fun. We found a place put down stakes. We actually didn't take the time to set the stakes. My dad will be appalled. Only stayed one night.

This first picture is one of my first attempts at HDR. I need to get a plugin for my Photoshop so I can do better. But it took 3 shots blended together to get this look. It is pretty bad compared to what is out there. Look it up. Here is one that I like. There are so many more. I don't like the ones that are really cartoony. But the others are breathtaking. If you see a picture that has dark colorful skys and the foreground is lit nicely. Sharp and colorful. It is HDR. it is not possible to get all of these things in a single shot.

Look at that look on his face. Pure happiness.....

Some night time shots. On a tripod. Shutter was open for 25-30 seconds. So so cool. Oscar had a stick that had an ember on it and was blowing repeatedly for the whole exposure. Pretty neat.

THis is Tyler whittling in the dark. Not Whistling> Who gets the reference.?
This is my friend Megan. She did some cool things in these exposures.

And of course YY was the picture of the campout. What a doll.

Tyler's Birthday

2010-07-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tyler Tyler Tyler. Wow really 11? Really. THat just flew. Here is my biggest boy. He is so good and we are so grateful to have him in our family.

We took everybody to good ol PPP. Cousins and friends. Tyler was determined to win the 10,000 tickets hanging in this machine. I finally had to pull him aside and beg him to stop pumping tokens into the machine. I think it gave him the shock of his life when I told him the machine was rigged. "It can not be won!" I told him. He looked at me like I was crazy. I am telling you those tickets have been hanging in there for a year or two. Probably since it opened. Just stop wasting your time and money.

Oh I just love PPP.
Looks like Amanda and Allison do too!
Look at that Peter. Looks so much like our YY
Tyler got this hat. He LOVES it. So cute. He has his own style.
Happy Birthday my big boy.

Father's day

2010-07-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

We have to go back a bit before we get to present day.

Our daddy gets the full treatment. Gets woken up by 6 boys and cards and breakfast.

Oh daddy, we love you so much.
This was such a sweet picture.
We went to Nana and Bumpas to wish them a happy fathers day also.

We are so grateful for parents that love us and help us with the kids. We enjoy spending time with our Nana and Bumpa. They are very special and good people. The best people. Helping us with our moves, working tirelessly. And they are just fun to hang out with. The kids love being with Nana and Bumpa. Thank you Nana and Bumpa.

YY ended up being the most photogenic of the day. He would fall out of the swing and I would have to say "oh no YY fell down!" " Are you ok?"

Another mouse over one for the effect.

YY was pointing to and yelling at the rocket. (airplane) Oh a Rocket!

My babies

2010-06-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

YY was playing on the slide which was situated on the grass. When all of a sudden... the sprinklers came on. Panic. Let me tell you. He had quite a time trying to get out of the sprinklers of DEATH. At least thats what you would think they were. But he lived. We are so grateful.

It is quite pleasant in the evenings right now. So we usually head out side to enjoy the weather and the light. Now that I look at these, they seem dark. Umm

So cute. Love these babies.

Summer Photos

2010-06-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

I wish I could take more pictures. But we are just so busy. These are about 2 weeks old as it is. But i need to do another post with Ty and Oscars Day camp stuff. So I gots to get it done.

This was at the Cowleys. Wesley discovered the Apricot Tree. I know the sequence is mixed up. I just did it fast and didn't want to fix it.
Emmett has discovered that he can at 11months, climb all over the play structure at the park near us. He thinks he is so big.
Oh my Tyler....
Babies
If I can get em I take em. Look at those eyes. So beautiful.
Burton was showing me his owie.
our improvised water feature in the back yard. Sprinkler under the tramp.
Mouse over this one. The editing is subtle but makes all the difference. Just did boost from Pioneer woman at about 30% and Sharpen From PW too. Then edge burn at 25%

Burton Graduates

2010-05-29T21:19:00.001-07:00

Oh our sweet little B. Getting so big. Heading off to big boy school

with his brothers. He had a great 2 years with Miss Stacy.

Thank you Miss Stacy for everything. Best preschool teacher we have ever had.

Tyler sat for a minute so I was able to get a cute shot of him.

Wesley. So cute.

Emmett didn't really have a choice to move around. He was the easiest.

Grandma

2010-05-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

I stole my sisters post (allison). Ha ha ha ha ha. I am so evil. Well . I can't write it out. I have a house to unpack. So here it is.

Today has been quite a day and even though it is late I had to write about it. I've been so impressed with my family today. My Grandmother, Phyllis, is pretty much an institution for me. She is just always there, unstoppable, completely loveable and she has this wonderful tendency to say the most shocking and surprising things. Well, she's had a hard day, it started out rough and it culminated in her falling on her way back from the dining room this evening and landing square on her face. My sister Lindsey got there to find that Uncle Phil had already arrived even though his youngest son was in the hospital after he cut his hand very badly this morning doing home repairs. Uncle Phil stoically came to the rescue of his dear mother while he received updates about Marc's impending surgery from my Aunt (it turned out he severed 5 tendons, one artery and a nerve - it is a life changing injury that will take at least a year to partially recover from, thankfully he was able to be given wonderful care by skilled doctors and his prognosis is much better than it should be considering how bad the injury was.)

Anyways, they took Grandma to the hospital to find that she had broken her nose and needed three stitches. I arrived at the hospital in time to see them numb her up and stitch her up. I used to think that I was fairly tough. I don't get woozy around blood, I can handle situations. But I've got to say, watching them stick a big needle in her gums to numb her up and then seeing them put the stitches in while she squirmed a bit and seemed so uncomfortable, and seeing her blood dripping down her face, I got woozy and I kind of wanted to punch that nice doctor lady in the face. Then as she was getting ready for bed after we got her home, she found yet another injury up under her bangs near her hair line where she'd bashed her head open in the fall that nobody had noticed (we hadn't wanted to mess up her hair, it really is very pretty). So we got that cleaned up and got her more settled and Uncle Phil went to be with Marc for when he woke up from surgery. And I stayed to help her get to bed. Rubbing her feet I noticed that I got her feet. Pretty soon I noticed blood start dripping down her face after it had filled up the bandaid she had on her nose. It was because of the blood thinners she is on to protect her from having yet another stroke, she has had at least three already. It hurt me to see her hurting and bleeding. She has been thru so much. She lost four baby brothers. She lost her dear Husband to cancer and has been alone for almost 25 years. She lost a dear son. And yet she is still happy and cheerful and so funny. She is a joy to be around even when her face is bashed in and she's had a terrible day.

I hope I got more from her than just her lovely feet.

Moving day

2010-05-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

We moved yesterday from our home of almost 4 years. We decided it was time. Ya I know at the bottom of the market. But we are hoping to find another home. So... a wash right?
Moving 8 people and furniture is daunting to say the least. It is just a matter of one foot in front of the other. Or one box after another.
We are in my parents house while they are on their mission. They are incredibly generous and we are so thankful for this wonderful house. Smaller, but we can make it work. The boys are kind of helping. Every once in a while they want to help, but usually it is repeated asking and begging that gets them motivated. Never screaming, not me.
We went to the store to get some necessities and I told Wesley we were going to find some snacks for the boys. He said, "Oh I want those bars that we have at Nana's, um Nudie bars!" Of course he didn't spell it. But I laughed the whole time through the store. It was so funny. Then I finally figured out he wanted Nutragrain bars. So I got em. Had to right?
The other entry for funniest moment yesterday was Tyler
Setting: Grandma and Grandpas house, evening before bed
Me: "Tyler, you need to take a shower." "Oh and there is no hot water yet."
Ty: indignant- "What, I have to take a cold shower?" Why doesn't this house have hot water?"
Me: "The hot water comes on Monday"
Ty: more indignant-- "There is only hot water on Mondays?"
I could bearly answer him, I was laughing so hard.
We did get a chance to go to the Temple dedication today. Our family is so grateful for the blessings of the temple. Wonderful experience to see our wonderful Prophet. We love Pres Monson. The meeting seemed very personal, different than Gen Conf.
We also found time to take a walk, so not a bad day.

My Mother's Day

2010-05-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

So the festivities began on Friday and Muffins with Mom. The boys were excited to take me to school. We also got to show Burton where his class might be.

So if I am ever to get pictures of me and prove that I am in this family I will have to train up an apprentice. So Tyler snapped these for me. Thanks buddy

On Sunday Morning the boys brought me breakfast in bed. They were so excited to surprise me so I had to be sneaky and get makeup and clothes on. Thanks Nate for taking the pictures. It was fun to pretend waking up.

They gave me CHocolates! and A watch. and kisses and hugs and cards. Good boys.

I pretty much just laid in the grass and enjoyed the day and took pics. So fun.

The boys played with balls and rode bikes and what not. Burton decided to be brave and try to ride down a steep hill and bonked his nose. Sad.

I had Oscar throw this ball in the air a bunch of times and finally got one I liked. I changed the ball to Green it was pink. Not a boy color. I don't know where we got it.
This one is my favorite of the day. So cute. and Nate in the back. Nathan finally let me take some of him. He is usually too squirmy.

Ok this is cool. Mouse over these last ones. So fun.

Check out Pioneer WOman Email me if you have questions.

Emmett again

2010-05-01T23:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry but he is just su derned cute....

Oh that little face. I could just kiss him all day.

The babies and I, Me and the babies

2010-04-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Which is the right way to say it?

I had the time to do some pics because the older 4 boys went with dad on the Father and Sons campout.

Anyway. I went out with the babies and the light was so perfect, I couldn't resist.

I do have a hard time getting them to look at me. I think since they can't see my face behind the camera they don't look my way. Maybe I need a little toy or rattle....

Any way, Emmett is just a delightful child. Chubby and cute and lovable.

Wyatt learned how to jump on the trampoline this week. So he can play with the big boys now. Sweet kid. Although he is also trying his hand at torturing younger brothers. He likes to walk by Emmett and knock him down. Oh Brothers.!I also went a little nuts with the overlaying of textures.

The Shields are HOME!

2010-04-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

We are so happy to have the mom and dad back from

London. They were serving in the London Temple

In Surrey. They served in the visitors center and no doubt

TOUCHED many lives. We are so grateful for their willingness to serve.

Here is Emmett Glenn and Robert Glenn Shields.

It was a long trip on Monday so we let them rest on Tues. We will check on them today and see how they are recovering.

Welcome home Shields

Practicing at Mesa Arts

2010-04-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

I have seen some pictures at this location and wanted to check it out.

There is some really pretty picture taking places. This wall especially.

I have seen other shots here before. Great location.

So I packed up 4 boys and headed out. They loved it. Ran all over.

Every once in a while they would allow me to shoot an image.

Love the color of this wall.

It is a lot of work being a kid.

This is the first place we found. I know that I am not getting all the angles right.

I need some more time at this local.

There were 2 photographers there doing shoots.

I would love to pick the brain of some one who shoots there often.

Oh this was a great spot. The reflective wall was so interesting.

This cracked me up when I was editing. Burton is the same size as the other boys. Looks like a giant 5 yo. LOL.

Can only fit 1 person or 2 at a time. There is a window to the right.

After I took them to a shooty water thingy by the Hale theater.

I am not good at the low light picture taking yet. Needs work.

This is the only picture that I like. I took about 60 others. All junk. Oh well.

Pictures from my phone

2010-04-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

Although I don't like my blackberry very much. It does have some cool features. One is that it uploads my pictures right after I take them to my photobucket acct. That's nice. So we got some new bikes and we have been enjoying them so much. I dislike running, (Grrr) but I love riding bikes.

And yes, I am renting out my forehead for advertising for the right price.

Nathan is enjoying it too. Got him a manly bike. Dark blue. Got a great deal on Craigs. Thank heaven the babies don't mind the rides.

Oh my little Mitt. He is so good.

These aren't from my phone of course. I had to take some pretty pictures. I like the bikes.

This one is awesome. " I am walking through the field in my underwear. There is nothing wrong with me." Nate and I were on a date. So hilarious.

Emmett and Daddy. Trying a pickle for the first time. He didn't like it. His face is so funny.

I couldn't resist

2010-04-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

I just love these kids. They are so good and we have been having so much fun. I just wanted to capture this time. They are growing so so fast. I get teary and overwhelmed just thinking about how much is to come. The successes and setbacks, the joy and the sadness. We will share it all.

The angle is a little wide on this. But look at those lashes. Ahhh.

Emmett is pulling him self up on everything. Working those little legs.

A picture is worth a 1000 words. At least that is what I hope. My writing is subpar, so I try to make it up with images.

A conversation

2010-04-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

This is one of our typical conversations.

Setting: our bathroom

Time: This morning

N: Did you cut Wyatt's bangs?

W: Yes

N: What did I tell you about cutting his hair? (He wants it long because it is the only kid that has his coloring. Even though it isn't red...., it isn't brown)

W: I was trying to even it up

N: Looks like you are not done.

This makes be laugh even now. Nate is so fun

Oh I just remembered what he said about Oscar's haircut. I will put pictures later. I am trying to figure out how to do a long hair cut on him. I like his hair longer. Using scissors instead of clippers.

W: I cut Oscar's hair, what do you think?

N: Looks like you cut it with a sharp rock.

Light, ahhh Light

2010-04-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

So I think about light all the time. What kind of light? What direction is it coming from. And I have been thinking there is something in using a reflector or diffuser. Went on line naturally and found some info. A quick reflector is a piece of white paper. Cool. So this is what I found. Here's my old ratty shoes that have seen better days. The first picture is with out the reflector and the second, with. It is slight, but sometimes that is all you need to light the face a little more.

Here is an example with Mitt. Unfortunatly the second picture with more light wasn't focused completely. Arggg. Anyway. It is funny but out of these two pictures I like the one on the left, but the experiment was a success. Paper Works.

The ones above are SOOC (Straight out of Camera) and this the one below has been tampered with. Altered, subjected to post production. Cute baby.

Last ones from Flagstaff

2010-03-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

Oh boy this was fun. This crash was a High Flier.. Poor Oscar. I got it all. Missed the landing though. Just the after. These are all Oscar. I just masked them together so it wouldn't take 4 pictures to show it all.

Looks like he is going really fast hu.
YY was so excited to do this again. The first time we went he didn't quite know what to make of it. But by the end he was insisting on pulling up his own sled. Tough kid.

Emmett is always fun. He loves the ball balls. We usually name things for babies twice. Ball ball, car car, shoe shoes, hat hat, cup cup. It seems to only apply to one syllable words.

Shallow depth of field. Notice the strip of felt on the table that is in focus. This just fascinates me to no end!
YY in the car as we were leaving. We had a great vacation. Again I say we will always go to VRBO first from now on. So much fun.

I am just going to quickly list the reasons why it rocks

* you can cook in a real kitchen

*2 bathrooms

*No elevators, no neighbors to disturb ( we are disturbing)

*Drive right up to the house instead of walking through lobbies and hallways.

*Homey feel

*Rooms for babies to sleep in undisturbed. Again the disturbing thing.

So we are hooked. I am trying to figure out when we are going to Montreal to see my parents on their mission. Already on VRBO looking. 139.00 a night for 3 bedrooms. We are thinking of taking 3 kids with us. Awesome.

Sledding and boarding

2010-03-25T21:57:00.001-07:00

We dropped T and O off at the hill. Put them in lessons. They did great. But before we picked them up we took the other 4 sledding. The snow was melting and there wasn't great hills, but kids don't know that.

Burton is usually the hardest to get pictures of. But his was the best of the day. So cute

Wes and Burton just went up and down over and over.
Emmett seemed to want to be down on the ground touching the snow. I think he was very curious about it.

This is the second time they have snow boarded and they are getting better. It is quite a thrill to see them coming down the hill. Oscar likes to go fast.

Tyler is more technical. He even does a hop as he is going.

It was a very active day. Boys were exhausted by the time we got home. Burton still says this is the best place he has ever been. Here is the listing so you can see it.

http://www.vrbo.com/245618

Exposure in Flagstaff

2010-03-25T09:41:00.001-07:00

No I don't mean the cold. That is something I try to avoid. It is chilly up here.

I am talking exposure as in the new hobby that I love.

I since I love my hubby too, I was trying to get pictures of him playing pool in a room that is flooded with light but the images turn out so dark at first. I thought hum there has to be a way. I know I read about this some where..... Oh ya EXPOSURE. So I went

to the manual setting on the camera. The first pictures were done at ISO 200 and they were just too dark so I bumped the ISO to 400. Don't want to go any higher. I hate the grainy.

The initial picture was taken with F5.6 1/250 So dark. The shutter wasn't open long enough to let the light in.

So I opened the aperture up to 3.5F and slowed the shutter to 1/60. Oops too much.

3.5F and 1/250 worked great. I was so excited. I did it. I actually talked to Lorri Craig about using manual mode more. Thanks Lorri for the inspiration.

I didn't edit the above pics. But I did edit these of tyler. Pretty cute. He likes pool and being big.

We rented a house and I am telling you, it is the way to go. We love it. 200 a night. Which is what we would spend on a hotel and it wouldn't be as nice. The kids ran into the house and explored and pronounced that it was the coolest place they have EVER been. Burton actually followed me around saying, "I can't stop saying, this is the coolest house, mom it is so cool." BTW we have to get 2 rooms when we go to a hotel. Then we have to worry about the people below us. The kids escaping....

Tyler and Oscar are snowboarding right now. So fun. Tyler is determined to board like Shaun White. Oscar just heads straight down the hill.

Chihuahua Puppies

2010-03-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Ok. Who can resist these puppies, well besides me. I am not getting one. But they are sure cute and I loved taking pictures of them. They are Lindsey's new pups. Pure bred Chihuahuas. Cute as heck.

I set up a shoot in the back yard.
The boys just loved em.

This is Ezekiel. He is Lindsey's baby. So cute. He usually won't let me take pictures. But he did it this time. What a doll.

Sammo. She is going to be 13 this summer. I can't believe it. Love you Sam
Mitt and the puppies.
Valerie and the pups. She is such a fun girl. Thanks Lindsey for bringing over the fam. We had a great time.

My Birthday

2010-03-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yay Mom's birthday!!!!

On March 16th. Guess what I wanted to do.... Take pictures. Yay. The light was midday so there weren't very many good ones.
Nunu came out to spend the day with me. Thanks Nunu. It was so wonderful to be with you.

Nate took me out for dinner later. I had a really nice day. Oh ya, I'm 34 now. What?

I feel about 24.
This is my weened baby...!!!!! It is very exciting.
I am playing with a name to put on my stuff.

Wyatt's birthday too

2010-03-20T11:58:00.001-07:00

I have been saving up pictures for a while. And now the time has come. So, I will probably post about 4 times today.

Wyatt turned 2 years. But isn't 2. How is this.??? LEAP YEAR So he will be one in 2012.

This one cracks me up... It was a ELMO doll. Like YMCA. He sings the song but ELMO> So YY thought it was cool at first and then he started backing away. Hilarious. He gets further and further. So cute. He got a bunch of Sesame Street Characters. Loves Elmo.

Notice the front of the cake has been attacked. Hey it's his cake.

Wes and YY they are going to grow up to be good friends.

YY is a fun loving little kid. He enjoys

* Testing Limits

*Watching Elmo

*Reading Books

*Eating Oatmeal

*Playing with brothers

Happy Birthday baby