Birthday 2012

As usual, I spent my birthday at The Lake. It was especially nice to spend the day with my family and friends.

With the fires and wind, the smoke blew in about half way through the day, and filled the sky. We didn't play in the water too much but we had great conversation and food.

I was touched by the birthday greetings and love shared on me that day.

Chance's 3rd Birthday Pictures

This year, Chance's birthday was celebrated at Sugarhouse Park with both of the families. It's always interesting to see the two families get together (a bit of a collision, really). Being a social person, myself, I never have a problem with either side. Thank goodness.

And if I DO have a problem with someone, the camera is a bit like a cigarette, in that I can always step out to "take pictures." LOL!

Here are the pictures I loved at Chance's birthday:
Alexis smiles at the camera:
Blowing out the candles:
Kirsten and Evan pose with Chance. It's nice that they get along:

Happy 3rd Birthday to Chance!

Today is my nephew Chance's 3rd Birthday! Here's the video I made for him. Choosing the music was the hardest part.

Happy Birthday, Chance!!

Tammie's Birthday

July 13, 2011: My aunt Tammie turned 50 this year. My cousin, Emily, is in town for her brother's wedding, so she threw a surprise birthday dinner for her mom. She made the most impressive (and delicious) cake. We all went to Porcupine Pub & Grill for the surprise.

I got a picture as Tammie was realizing we were all there for her...yeah, she looks like she's overwhelmed.

It was a very nice evening. Here are some of the pictures I took.
Emily and her son Carson:
The family, minus my cousin Derek:

John and Kathy's Birthdays

Eric's mom and dad celebrated their 60th birthday in July. They are literally only days apart in age.
To celebrate, the family had a 'surprise' dinner, that wasn't a surprise. We went to Market Street. I love Market Street, but this was the first time I wasn't entirely impressed with the service or the food....too bad, because it normally is top notch on both counts.
I enjoyed the halibut, which had an amazing tarter sauce. The tarter sauce made that dish. Without it, the fish was bland, bland, bland.
We embarrassed them both with a happy birthday song and later went to John and Laura's for an evening of conversation.

Very nice evening.

Here are the pictures I loved from that night:

Me with Eric's Mom and Dad:

Happy Birthday!

Today is the day that Sandy and I celebrate our day. It's the best birthday to have because it's the half way mark to Christmas and as kids we always knew it was six months away. LOL!

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the two of us as kids.

A few months old:

Our first birthday:
My favorite picture of the two of us (of all time!) I loved that purse! I remember what ruined it. I put red jello squares in there as my treasure and they melted and ruined my beautiful purse:
Our third birthday:
Our ninth birthday. I hated taking showers or baths, so my hair is all greasy (LOL!)

I love my sister! I can't imagine life without her and it has been my pleasure to walk through this life with her! We've had some fun memories! I love you, Sandy!!!

Collin's 11th Birthday Dinner

We all went to dinner to celebrate Collin's birthday on April's birthday...so we celebrated both of them...April - long distance.

Collin loves sushi so we went to Simply Sushi. I love sushi and it was pretty good, but I told Collin that I would take him to some REALLY good sushi the next time we have a Collin-Weekend.

It's stange to see him at the age of eleven...I remember being eleven years old and it was a tough year...one of my tougest as a kid. I am committed to help Collin (and the other kids) through a rough patch in their lives.

Here are a few of the pictures of the kids:
Sweet little Marcus:
Tough kid Andrew:
The amazing Elise:

The most awesome 11 year old I know! Collin:

Celebrating Mom

My mom's birthday is at the beginning on November, so we all gathered to her house to celebrate her. Here are the pictures I love from that day. I sure do love my family; they make me happy.

Elise's Birthday

Eric and I spent a Saturday with Richard's family and celebrated Elise's birthday and baptism. Here are some of the pictures. I sure do love this little girl!
Before going into church:

Making sure the jumper fits:

Elise with her proud father:

Elise, Collin, Andrew and Marcus:

Chance's 2nd Birthday

How much better can it be for a two year old? Have two birthday parties, two cakes and a double dose of center of attention. That's how Chance's 2nd birthday was celebrated (clear back in August).

Here are some of the pictures taken at his two parties. Pictures from party #1.
Eyeing the pizza:

Perfect reaction to any gift, I'd say:
Mr Potato Head filled with more potato head family members:
Party #2 and Laura and John's house:
I loved his smile in this picture as he's ready to blow out the candles:
The first attempt to blow out the candles didn't work...so he re-adjusted himself in the chair and tried again:
While I was at it, I thought I'd try out my new macro lens on various flowers in Laura's garden. Here's on of the shots:
To answer the question that's been posed to me: I love my new camera...I have had a blast experimenting with lighting and camera settings. Love, love, love it!