Viva Las Vegas!

Sam's brother (and family) graciously allowed us to come visit for a weekend in February, and it was awesome. Except for the fact that I forgot my 5D Mark II battery. Torture! At least I grabbed the camera bag with everything else, so I had my Rebel XTi as back up. Not a complete loss.

Anyway, the weekend was soooo relaxing. Sam got some consulting work in for a wedding chapel on the strip (allowing us to write the trip off as a business expense!), I got to relax with the kids, Jake helped us with welding, and their kids introduced us to High School Musical. Ohhhhh yeah.



The park my SIL took us and the kids to (while the boys were working in the shop). Crazy awesome. Not only is there this amazing slide/play structure, they also have a HUGE sand pit where you can dig up dinosaur bones, a ginormous Triceratops head tunnel thing, the waterfall (above) and duck pond, a smaller play set for the littler kids, and in the summer, a water area where the kids can get soaked. Oh, and it's fenced. With a security guard to prevent kid stalkers. Pretty sweeeeet.



Bottle rocket mania! And our new mailbox posted welded by Jake. Seriously styling.

Baby John

My most recent newborn. Oh- he was so good. It takes awhile to get them to sleep (as his mom can attest) but once they are out they are so precious to photograph. Thanks for sharing your baby with me. I hope you love them!

18 months

Oh, how I love him. (And my new softbox!)

Newborness

Is that even a word? "newborness?" Seriously. I sat in on a newborn session my friend Jami was doing and it was a blast (plus, I wanted to see how the fabric I bought would work out!). I wish I could've stayed longer, but had other things to do so this is all I got. Cute though, huh? Newborn sessions just take longer. After they waited to get him to sleep, Jami got some awesome stuff.

Meg & Joel Engagements

I tried out new location with these two (it was okay, not tons of color), and then we went to the old Sinclair gas station. I love the old cars! They also wanted their dog, Bosco (did I spell that right?) in some of their pictures. Having never worked with animals before I was a little nervous, but he was great! I wish I were able to photograph their wedding in May, but I will be attending a workshop with the amazing Brianna Graham that weekend. Best of luck you two!!

The Flautist

Meet my little sister!! She's a flautist and is having her junior (college) recital this weekend. I'm so excited to hear her play. You'll do great sis!

Just one

This is from my engagement shoot last weekend. So fun! She's my cousin, and her fiance served part of his mission in Sam's home ward out in CA under Bishop Curren. Crazy coincidence, huh? :) More to come later so check back!

Snow Fun to Edit

Hahaha! I crack myself up! I went out shooting with some friends at the beginning of January (yes, it's been that long) and this is the first chance I've had to play around with some of the pictures I took that day. Hanging out and taking pictures for fun is a blast. These girls were so great, they let us pose them however we wanted and it was freezing outside! Such troopers. The guy is a nephew of one of my friends, and yes. I do believe he is single. Anyone want me to get them his digits? ;)

I played around with some different post-processing. Finally found a b&w look that I LOVE. I'm excited. If you think the conversion is awful, tell me now or forever hold your peace! :) Enjoy!









LOVE this one in b&w. LOVE, LOVE.

The Dark Side

My friend April posted a link from her friend Matt that I found quite intriguing. It's all about the "mommy blogger". He's a good writer if nothing and I might just have to subscribe and read his on a more regular basis. While this blog is mostly dedicated to photo shoots, I do put some personal here and there so maybe I qualify? I don't know. You can be the judge of that.

So, in the spirit of being negative, here are my top 10... err.. 5 things (ran out of time. Yes. I'm supposed to be working) that drive me up the wall about being a mom:

1. Whining. Seriously. Could you please just talk in a normal voice?

2. Being sick. Anybody. Me, the kids, the husband (although he's pretty darn good at taking care of himself when his is. Hallelujah). Having someone sick just drains the life right out of me. Take now for instance. Rachel started returning the contents of her stomach last Saturday night. She's over that (thankfully) but is now coughing like she's going to lose a lung. She wakes herself up from naps screaming and is generally cranky. Exit playdates. Exit going to gym. Enter: boredom.

3. My only ME time is naptime. Or after they are in bed. Has to be divided between editing pictures, reading my scriptures (ummm... does that ever even get done?), reading my newest favorite book from the library, srapbooking, blogging, napping, and anything else I generally feel like I need to do. Oh- and I want to spend time with my amazingly hot husband sans kids. That's in there too. Any time I attempt to touch the computer while the kids are awake, they're suddenly opening the disk drive, climbing onto my lap, punching the keyboard, and playing with the volume on the speakers. Not so productive.

4. Feeling mean. Sometimes I really do. Maybe my kids cry more than most (doubtful) but I hate "making" them cry. "No. You can't draw with colored pencils on the wall." "No. I really don't want to play Candyland for the upteenth time this week."

5. The extra time it takes to go ANYWHERE. I admit. Sometimes I enjoy that it kills time. Like in the evenings before bed, but usually I think how much more I'd get done if we didn't have 9 trips to the bathroom between Rachel needing to go potty and Andrew having a poopy diaper. Last Saturday, I put the kids down for a nap and raced to the bank (yes. Cute husband was home) before they closed. Hmmmm... Payless is right there. I want to look at shoes. I have no kids with me. YES!! Cute Husband calls 40 min later. "Are you okay? Did you fall in a hole or something?" Yes. Yes I did. And I liked it.

Is being a mom worth it? Heck yes. I wouldn't trade them for anything, but it's not perfect. I won't pretend like it is, but isn't that how most jobs are anyway? Highs and lows. Sam has boring workdays, gets frustrated, has to deal with stupid people. Well, so do I. Comes with any job description, including that of "mommy". At least I get to hang out with two amazingly cute kids who so easily melt my heart.

Outside

It must be a boy thing. Andrew LOVES to be outside. We go to get in the van to go grocery shopping, and he veers straight for his car instead (you know, those ride on, push yourself kind?) and screams when I pull him off to load him in the carseat instead.

Daddy was in the garage before dinner working on a project for me and I couldn't break Andrew's little heart again when he told me he wanted to go out. So, we got all cozied up and played outside in the driveway. He was the happiest little boy I've ever seen. This is him deciding he's done wearing a hat (it never lasts long!).