I'm not the only one so glad when Daddy comes home

One of the joys of marriage

is watching your children love their daddy.

He is the star player in our home without a doubt.

If the kids want to play ~ they ask Dad.

If the kids want a favor ~ they ask Dad.

If the kids need to understand something ~ they ask Dad.

If the kids need a batch of awesome sugar cookies ~ they ask Dad.

As for me...

I still fit right under his chin and that is the safest place of all.

Happy Father's Day!!

We love you to the moon and back.

what are we doing around here??

Just growing up!

So Maddison makes it to yet another birthday.

Her birthdays are bittersweet to me.

The sweet and bitter come from the same source ~

loving watching her grow

and wishing she wouldn't.

Love you 17 Maddison!

And another one doing some growing is this kid:

losing your first two teeth makes for great excitement when your six years old!

experimenting...

FIRST ~ a HUGE disclaimer!!
I don't know the first thing about taking pictures.
I just know I enjoy messing around with it.
And I haven't even moved my camera off AUTO yet!
I hear there is a whole new world to explore when I get the nerve.

So with that said...

One of my favorite things to do is play with my photos in a post editing program.
I don't have Photoshop so I use two simple and FREE programs.
One is Picasa and the other picnik.
I don't mess around too much.
Just some tweaking here and there.

Both of these shots were taken within minutes of each other.

In this one I enhanced the cool tones, deepened some of the shadows and then added just a little bit of highlights back in.

In this one I enhanced the warmer tones, barely touched the shadows and then added a few highlights.

I really like them both.

The top ones just feels watery and swimming pool-ish.

The bottom one feels warm and summery.

more experimenting...

One of my favorite subjects...
my kiddos!

In the first two pictures I brought in more shadows to darken up his eyes.

In these two shots I left the shadows and highlights alone.
I added some saturation so the blue of his eyes was enhanced and then I softened up the edges.

P-u-leeeeeeeeeese!!

I love this kid.

Is it him or the flowers??

Cooper loves to play at Ethan's house.

When it is time for him to come home he usually steals a flower from Ethan's entryway and brings it home to me.

This time was no different.

He came through the door with not just one flower in hand, but two.

He said to me:

Mom! Mom!
(putting the bloom right smack on my nose)
You have to smell this one first.
It is just delicious!


Sigh...
just delicious indeed.

Our ward is what? CORNERSTONE!!

Back from another year at

GIRLS CAMP!

I'm sad this picture does not include all 34 of our girls!

We had a troop - that is for sure.

And such fun ~ every single one of them!

Our Stake Camp theme this year was

BELIEVE IN ME.

It carried so many meanings and the Stake did an

incredible job of pulling out every possible angle

and providing the Young Women a beautiful experience.

Sister Cavenee in our stake wrote a song especially for camp

to compliment the theme. She was truly inspired.

The words are so sweet and tender and yet carry such a power

that it was always a rush to sing this song and hear

the strength and spirit just pouring from these young ladies.

Goosebumps, again and again.

The Spirit always confirms truth but

high in the mountaintops it is a whole other experience.

I was blessed to be surrounded by these Young Women

for nearly a week and I marvel on every occasion at these

amazing YOUTH OF ZION.

The Lord is preparing them for incredible things.

And spending time with Maddison is such a highlight for me.

I love you Sis. 17 and then some!

2008~2009 School Year ends with much celebration!!

Maddison is now a freshman and ready for Highland High.

I, on the other hand, am not sure I'm ready for her to keep on this fast track to growing up.

You had an amazing year Sis!

Cooper sang his heart out and moved and grooved in the kindergarten program.

His performance pleasantly surprised me.

And I could never say enough about his fabulous teachers.

Thank you Mrs. Monsegur and Mrs. D - we love you!

What a fun night!

The girls got a bit caught up in the excitement and left a piece of themselves on the tour bus...

yeah, they kissed it.

The Highland Jr High Ladycanes basketball team ended the season with a

CHAMPIONSHIP!!

It was amazing to see Maddison try something new, work hard, improve and be a part of such a fun group of young ladies.

And thanks Coach Little for believing in her.

Davis' Little League team had an awesome season.

They battled an undefeated team for a place in the championship game and lost in the final moments of the game. It was a nail biter!!

They were a great bunch of boys and Davis and Brent enjoyed being together for another season of ball.

The Trailer

The Twilight Saga: New Moon 'Trailer'

Come on! You know you want a sneek peek.