Happy 3rd Birthday, Cameron!!!!!

I can hardly believe my baby turned 3 today! Time has just flown by! And now I am having a serious old people moment, LOL. We spent this morning watching Cameron's home video, starting with his U/S's. Seems so long ago, I almost can't remember even being pregnant. And he looked so tiny! Well, in comparison to how big he is now, anyway. He was never REALLY tiny. A regular chunky monkey:-)

Let's take a walk down memory lane:

Just hours old

Less than a week old with his daddy
Blessing Day, 3 weeks old
Learning to crawl, 4 1/2 monthsHis first Easter. See the cute puffy tail?

6 months old. Ridiculously cute smile:-)

First Camping trip, 8 months old
First Birthday! Computer geek. You should see what he can do now! July 2007. Babies and Nature: God's two greatest creations.
Second Birthday!
Christmas 2006. One of my favorite pics of him!
May 2007. His first horseback ride
Look at this face! Makes me want to cry every time he does it;-(
July 2007

And finally, a few from today, showing off his new Mario t-shirt:

Bedtime

Ever wonder what it's like to have kids? This guy tells it. . .er, sings it. . .like it is! Every thing he sings about in this song has happened to Craig and I, often on a regular basis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISuvTiTYJA

Brought to you by the Number 8!

8 Things I'm passionate about:
1. My husband
2. My son
3. Photography. Some might say I border on obssessed with this one:-)
4. Music. I LOVE music! I'll sing it, play it, dance to it. Without music my life would be an endless void.
5. My Religion. I'm full-blooded Mormon and proud of it!
6. Gilmore Girls. The greateset show EVER. Until the final season which was totally lame. But the rest was AWESOME. Our first daughter will be named Lorelei.
7. Brownies. I just can't pass them up.
8. True Friends. The kind you would do anything for and would do anything for you.

8 Things I want to do before I die:
1. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
2. Have more kiddies:-)
3. See my kids grow up and have kids of their own
4. Visit as many temples around the world as I possibly can.
5. Learn to be more organized. Or at least be less messy.
6. Have a successful photography business.
7. Learn to be more patient and less sarcastic
8. Hang glide. I want to see what the birds see, how they see it.

8 Thins I say often:
1. "I hate my job."
2. "I REALLY hate my job"
3. "Cameron, stop!"
4. "I love you."
5. "Dude. . ."
6. "Woohoo!"
7. "No more chocolate milk!"
8. "Yo!"

8 Books I've recently read:
1. The Divide by Nicholas Evans
2. The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
3. The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
4. The Loop by Nicholas Evans
5. All the Harry Potter books
6. Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card
7. The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern by William Goldman (The first name is part of the title. There is no S. Morgenstern)
8. Thud! by Terry Pratchett

8 Songs I could listen to over and over:
1. Anything by William Joseph
2. Anything by Celtic Woman
3. Anything by Jon Schmidt
4. Anything by Bryan Stiles (that kid never ceases to amaze me with his talent!)
5. "Honey, I'm Home" by Shania Twain
6. "Everything I Do, I Do for You" by Bryan Adams
7. "I Stand all Amazed", any version. It will always bring me to tears
8. "Ascension to Cosmo Canyon" by Reuben Kee (from a FF game)
I realize that is technically a lot more than 8 songs, but I DID mention that I am passionate about music:-)

8 Things that Attract Me to My Best Friends:
1. Being able to put up with my sarcastic and too often negative attitude.
2. Personality. I don't have boring friends
3. Sticking up for me when the going gets rough
4. Being an ear to vent to and a shoulder to cry on
5. Supporting me in my many ventures in life
6. Understanding that I hate to clean, and not caring that my house is not perfectly spotless.
7. A really cute butt (okay, this only applies to ONE best friend, but he's my VERY best friend, and he does have a cute butt!)
8. They love me for just being me.


8 things I've learned in the last year:
1. Kids really do grow way to fast.
2. I hate deserts!
3. I HATE living in Vegas!
4. Moving the light closer to your subject will create a much softer glow, whereas moving the light farther away will create more contrast. A bigger light will also create softer glow, and will far more cost effective than a smaller light.
5. Beware the crocodiles. They lie in wait, then slaughter you as soon as you start to feel comfortable.
6. Food is waaaaay to expensive.
7. I'm a gamer!
8. Just because the Lord does not answer a prayer right away, does not mean he is not listening. Sometimes we have to learn patience and trust that He knows what is best for us.

8 People that I think should do "8
Anyone that wants to! No pressure!

Busy, busy, busy!

I am not purposefully neglecting my blog, it's just that I have been sooo busy lately. Things at work have become extremely chaotic. Stress levels are through the roof! But it has not been all bad. I've had the opportunity to do some really amazing weddings.
One of the weddings was that of my own Cousin-in-law, Naomi. She as married in the Albuquerque temple. It was a beautiful day, perfect for a wedding. And it was a lot of fun, too. I was a little nervous at first becuase I have never been there, so I really didn't know what to expect. But I have become pretty good at learning on the fly. Naomi was beautiful in her gown, until it got covered in cake, LOL. I don't think I will ever understand that tradition of smashing cake in each other's faces. Messy, messy!

If you would like to see images from all my recent weddings, hop over to my photography blog and check them out!

A kid and a cat

I was trying my very hardest to take pictures of my cat, Ender the other day. Normally he is very cooperative and a real ham in front of the camera, but I guess he was in a lazy mood that day. No sooner had I sat him on the towel I was using as a prop, than he promptly rolled over and went to sleep! Crazy animal. I did get him to wake up and do a few descent shots.



Well, of course Cameron came in, and wanted his picture taken, too. It's been a while since I have taken pictures of him against a backdrop, so I thought it would be a good idea. Cameron really is a ham in front of the camera. I had to do some silly things to get him to laugh, like put TP on my head and make a lot of silly noises, but he loves it. I hope he always does.


If you would like to see more images from this session, please visit my photography blog!

Independance Day fun!!

Even though i had to work yesterday day ( I know! How annoying to have to work on a holiday!), I was still able to have some fun. As soon as I was able, I headed over to Craig's grandparent's house where they were having a big b-b-que with all the family. I love those big get-togethers. Lots of people, lots of fun!

As soon as it was dark enough we brought out the little fireworks. I had LOTS of sparklers. I think they are my favorite becuase everyone can enjoy them, even the little ones (thought very carefully supervised, of course!). Since I have my nice camera, I used it with a tripod and a remote to get some great sparkler art.

We weren't able to go see any big shows, unfortunately, but I was able to go up a hill nearby and take pics of some of the illegal fireworks that were being set off. I liked how they looked with the city down below.

Family Vacation in Utah

It's been a little while since I've posted. I figure I should tell about our recent trip to Utah. We spent Memorial day with my family in Orem. We had a little b-b-que. real Texas brisket! Mm. Mm. Good! Almost everyone was there, expect my sister Jenny and her family. It's so hard to get the whole family together. Anyway, I took the opportunity to do a photoshoot with my lil sis, Amanda. You can see some of the those photos by checking out my Photography blog. One of the most stirring sights was to see all the American flags in everyone's yard. rRows and rows of them! The Boy Scouts put them up as part of their fundraiser.


The next day we went up to Idaho to visit my sister. It was a very short visit, but we were able to ride her horses.. it was Cameron's first horseback ride, and he loved it! He couldn't get enough of the horses. That is, until he found the long grass and discovered how much fun it was to roll around in it, LOL.We also got to play with Jenny's new dog, Itchy. Dang cute little Dachshund! I took lots of pictures of him, which you can see on my Photo blog.


After Idaho we headed down to Bountiful Utah to spend time with Craig's sis, Melanie and her family. We spent one morning at the Hogle Zoo, but our trip there was cut short, becuase Aubrey had an allergic reaction to the sun screen she had on. Still, I got some great pics of the animals:-)
Mostly we had a lot of fun doing absolutely nothing on our vacation. It was very laid back and relaxed, and very stress free, which is just what we needed. And now more than ever we want to move up to Bountiful. Just a beautiful (and much sfare!) place to live.

A Weekend Visit

This past weekend we had a visit from Craig's sister and her little family. They came down to watch Craig's brother, Chris, in his choir concert. The concert was pretty good, but Chris totally stole the show. He has so much stage presence, and a remarkably good voice (I hope I'm not making you blush too much , Chris!). He would be a total shoe-in for the MDT Major at BYU. That kid was born to perform!

Since Melanie (my SIL) was in town, I decided it would be a great opportunity to do a little photoshoot with my niece, Aubrey. She's probably about the cutest thing on two legs, except for Cameron, LOL. But I think they are about equal in the cuteness factor. She's a little bundle of energy, though! We had a tough time getting her to hold still, and had to bribe her with candy;-) She wasn't too thrilled at first, but warmed up when we put her in the teacup. She loved it! And she was such a cutie-patootie, too!
They're visit was really short, and I would be a lot sadder if we weren't planning on going up to Utah next week to visit them. I would love for Cameron to get to know all his cousins. I never really knew any of mine, but Craig grew up with all of his and they were always very close. I want that for my kids, too:-) Here's a pic of Cameron in his shades, just for fun. He is one cool kid:-)
If you want to check out more pics of Aubrey, visit my photography blog (link on the side).