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Thanksgiving in Vegas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My sister Nancy and brother-in-law Tom joined Chuck, Sophia and me on a fun filled trip to Las Vegas. It may seem odd to head there for Thanksgiving, but my brother Gary lives there with his wife and two daughters Sarah and Megan.

Sophia LOVES airplanes and was just as excited to watch them take off as she was to board. Here she is with her daddy and a pilot who was joining us for the ride.

While at my brother Gary's house, Sophia roped everyone into coloring with her. She loves to color and especially loves to have you outline her hand. As Gary found out, those fingers tend to move ALOT.

Here's my niece Sarah giving Sophia big hugs.

We decided to go to the Stratosphere for lunch and ate at a place called Top of the World. It truly was. The restaurant rotated a full 360 degrees in a little over an hour and gave a stunning view of Vegas. Our daughter has no fear and loved the view.

Daddy loved to freak me out. I don't like heights!!!

The food was great. Especially the deserts!!!

My brother had his whole house painted and new shutters put on all the windows. It looked fabulous!!! Here is a picture of him and my sister and the shutters making a nice background.

And finally beautiful Megan.

If you want to see some pictures from Circus Circus, you'll have to check out Sophia's site

Maryn's 1st Birthday

We had the pleasure of attending Maryn's 1st birthday party this past weekend. What a little doll. It's hard to believe it's been a year since our friends Mark & Stephanie adopted little Maryn.

Here is Val with their new little guy Noah.

When's the last time you enjoyed cake this much?

I think Maryn had a great time all the way around. The presents were just the icing on the cake.

Oh and let's not forget our little Sophia, who decided she need "princess hair."

Little St. Nik

I had the pleasure of shooting the little Nikolas and his parents yesterday. He was adorable. Sophia greeted him with a big hug as soon as he arrived. I wasn't sure how he would take her assertive socialism, but he released a huge smile and we were set for a great shoot. He enjoyed throwing rocks in the pond and didn't seem to mind this relentless woman following him around with a camera. We had a great time. I adore this picture!!! The purity and curiosity of his eyes remind me of mystery and wonderment of Christmas.

When we were done he and Sophia did laps around the living room chasing each other with giggles and belly laughs.

Look for more pictures of Nik as I get further along in the editing process.

Cousin's Luncheon

Want to know how to make a rainy afternoon a lot of fun. Invite 5 of your cousins over for a visit and lunch. I am blessed to have such a wonderful family. Our parents were siblings and while many of them have passed on, we have decided to keep our relationships from fading into an occasional card or email. These lunches allow us to stay connected. Being the youngest of the group, I cherish the stories of my family's history, and gain strength and wisdom for the stuggles and endeavors of these wonderful women.

Our glasses are not only half full, they are running over with blessings!!! Thanks to each of you for coming over.

Coming Soon

Okay soon to come is a challenge to anyone reading this blog. It is the challenge of 75 in 750. My friend Steph and I are in the process of documenting the top 75 things we want to accomplish in the next 750 days. For those of you counting down, that will put us at Thanksgiving 2009. I'll tell you soon the official start date.

I put this photo up just in case anyone need motivation to put "get killer abs" on their list.

Page Layouts

All this learning hurts my head, but I LOVE it!!! I am finding that my clients are having a hard time narrowing down their picture choices, so I thought why not make books. Sounds simple enough, but once you start researching page layouts, double sided print, full bleeds, printers etc. It becomes evident their is a bit of a learning curve.

Then how to make it work with Photoshop using smart objects, grids, smart grids...WOW!!!, but I think I have cracked the surface of this new element of design, and thought I'd share a couple of the double page layouts I created for Rachel's book.

And here's one of Nathen

Queen Bee

We had a great time with our daughter Sophia last night. One of Sophia's first full sentences was "I need choc-o-late" I can relate! So to think she would enjoy Halloween wasn't difficult. She loved the social aspect even more. She wanted to enter all the homes with children, but quickly gathered we weren't staying for a playdage there was more chocolate to be had at the next house. So she buzzed around the neighborhood and then shifted in to high gear with her sugar buzz running around the house like bee in a garden of sweets.

This is the pre-sugar calm before the storm.