Silhouette

Today in my photography class we learned lots of different ways to use light, both from a flash and natural light.  We learned how to bounce a flash off of a wall or ceiling to light up our subject, that was pretty cool.  However, my favorite was this silhouette technique.  You put your model in front of a window.  (This is Jocelyn in front of my living room window.)  Then you meter your shot behind your model, move your camera back to your model, focus and shoot. . . . VOILA!

Soooo easy!  and such a neat effect!

Puppies, Puppies, Puppies

We have had 2 female miniature wired hair dachshunds for several years.  They have been great little dogs,  they're pretty quiet and pretty low maintenance.  Before having these dogs I would  have definitely consider myself a big dog person, in fact I've always considered little dogs a bit "yippie" for my liking!  However, big dogs have big poop and with small children the two just don't work well together for me!

Anyway.  John decided last year that it would be fun for our kids to experience having new puppies.  So he and Jacob went on a quest for a "baby daddy" and came home with Rico.  Well, Rico has done his job, and has done it well.

Mable had two puppies a few months ago.  This breed is pretty small (6 to 8 lbs.) so their typical litter is only 1 or 2 puppies.

And. . . Izzy had puppies in February.  She was so big we thought that she was over due!  We took her into the vet and he said she was fine and would deliver within the next 12 hours.  He also thought that she was big and said that he was sure that she had two puppies maybe even three in there.

By 10:00 that night her first pup was born.  About 15 minutes later another.  I went to bed and John came in about 11:00 and said that indeed there were three puppies!  And, they were all doing well.

     When we woke the kids up the next morning to show them the new puppies. . . . 

To our surprise there were now 5 PUPPIES!!!! 

CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!

Brothers

 John and his two brothers had the opportunity to get together last night!  They had a lot of fun visiting and catching up!  Rodney has been in Iraq for the last 5 months and gets to be home for 21 days before he heads back over.  Both Paul and Rodney are great guys, and  it's always fun to sit and listen as the boys reminisce.  Although, I must say we hear some of the stories over, and over, and over again with each family gathering.

TwEnTYOnE aND CoUntiNG!!!

So John and I have now been married for 21 years!! Wow!! Time flies when you're having fun!!

My sister-in-law did a super cute post the other day all about her man! And seeing that it's my anniversary, she's inspired me to do the same. Thanks Allysa!

You've all heard the jokes "You might be a redneck if. . . ." Well, here's a little twist!

You might be married to John if. . .

You might be married to John if. . . when channel surfing you occasionally stop on, and are slightly interested in, some incredibly old western like Big Valley or Bonanza!


You might be married to John if. . .when shopping you hear yourself ask "Does that come in orange?"


You might be married to John if. . .you have learned to fall asleep to the sound of extremely loud snoring! And in fact, you even find it comforting! ZZZZZZZzzzzz


You might be married to John if. . .you find yourself constantly trying to work animal heads into your very traditional style of decorating!


You might be married to John if. . . you are often awakened by the sound of someone doing dishes, or the laundry or even running the vacuum! At 4:00a.m.!!!


You might be married to John if. . .you own a truck that is taller than your house!


You might be married to John if . . . almost everything in your house is from COSTCO!


You might be married to John if. . . you set a glass on the counter and when you turn around to get it, it's been washed, dried, and put away!


You might be married to John if. . . when you go to a store (any store), you check out their signage, location, wonder about the demographics, and are curious about the number of people per household!!!


You might be married to John if. . .you always receive the most incredible birthday gifts!! Not the least of which was my very own hunting rifle! In camo print!!!


You might be married to John if. . .when you change your toe-nail polish, it's ALWAYS noticed, and you would never even attempt going without!


You might be married to John if. . . at the end of your day, when you finally get the chance to sit down together and ask your husband how his day was? He literally falls asleep mid-sentence as he replies!!!


And finally,

You might be married to John if. . . you always feel like a million bucks no matter what you're wearing! If you are lifted up when feeling down and always feel loved and supported in all that you do!


Yes. . . I'm a very lucky girl!!! Because, I get to be married to JOHN!

Making Memories - Tahoe 2010

We had a great time in Tahoe this year! This was the first year that all of our kids (with the exception of Jared) were able to ski/snowboard independently!!!!

Jacob and Jessica are doing well at snowboarding, Jenna has almost eliminated the snow-plow and Jocelyn can basically do any run that we do, she just slows down and makes long traverses.

This year was a huge turning point for Jocelyn! Instead of a class,on the first day of our trip, we did a private lesson with just Jenna, Jocelyn and their instructor. Wow!! What a difference!! In just one day she went from the bunny slope to skiing on any intermediate run at Heavenly!

We thoroughly enjoyed spending the day on the slopes with our kids. It was so much fun to watch them enjoy the sport and enjoy eachother! It was beautiful!

And, as always, we had lots of fun with our friends! Can't wait 'till next year!!!




Look at this place!! This was at the top of Tamarack! (One of our favorite lifts!) I took this picture with a new lens that John got me for Valentines Day.
Thanks John!!





So Sweet!




This was a six man or should I say "girl" ski lift!










Jared watching the skaters.






Jessica and Abby.
Ice-skating in Heavenly Village.











I asked Jocelyn to sit and wait just a minute as I turned our skis into the valet. This is what I found when I turned around!! 30 seconds later!! She was totally out! It was a good day!








Jocelyn and Jenna LOVED their instructor!






Logan, Jacob and Tyler