Snarkling

A new word I made up.
snarkling (v.) def. evil or mischievous giggling

5th Annual Sister Day

This post is way overdue and I really didn't get too many pictures, but I can't let a Sister Day go by with no mention whatsoever!
This Sister Day was a lot of fun. It fell on a Sunday so Em and I went to church in the morning. We stopped at Starbucks for a quick little treat first.
Don't mind the absolutely hideous picture! (Of me..not Em. She's always cute. :)

Em wanted to open the presents in the car but I convinced her to hold off until after church. ;) During the high school service I gave Em's small group pieces of a little puzzle with a note just to have something Sister-Day-like going on. They gave them to her throughout the morning and she put it together at her desk before we left.

After church, we made our way to Knott's Berry Farm! Our family grew up going to Knott's every Christmas because my Grandpa Shaw...and actually his brother, my Mom and Aunt Donna, all worked there when they lived in Orange County. My Great Uncle Foulton was friends with the Mr. Knott! ;) Anyway, we used to get free tickets every year and it was always a fun time. We hadn't been since high school so a trip there was due.

We opened presents in the car on the way. Can you tell I had some fun wrapping Em's gifts? Pinterest inspired me of course!

When we got there, we were surprised to find multiple roosters in the parking lot! I, personally, was also surprised to see some of the new rides. They looked terrifying! In high school, roller coasters didn't phase me a bit...but now that I'm old, I get a little nervous. But it all worked out. One ride we DID NOT go on was the giant swing ride. Em thought I was silly at first but after we went on Supreme Scream, she agreed that we had had enough of heights. And the swing ride was 50 feet taller! You can see the difference between the two in this picture. Yikes!
We had one more surprise. (It was funny too because in the morning it was pouring and so hardly anyone was at the park, even though by the time we got there it was a beautiful sunny day.) Anyway, I'm not a good judge of guessing numbers of people, but it was an empty park. As we were walking up to the front gate we saw a group of high school staff people! We had no idea they were going that day. So it was funny seeing them pop up here and there throughout the day. Apparently they had a little game of "Where's Waldo" going on trying to spot Emily and me. ;) All in all it was another Sister Day success!

The Mallon Family

(Okay, Sara I hope you're not upset if I post these. I'm sure there aren't too many people that will get your Christmas card that also read my blog. :)

The Mallons were super sweet to let me practice on them and take some Christmas-y pictures. I learned that I still have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to photographing kids! But it was fun and they were great! Their photogenic faces did much for my poor photography skills! Anyway, here are a few from the little session we did. I love the hats and if the sun had been in the right spot you could have seen the cute little Christmas poles Sara made. The Mallon's are a fun, hospitable family with two cute kiddos!

Caleb looks like he's contemplating doing something mischevious. ;)

It was a bit windy, but I think this one of you and Kali May is so cute!

Like I said, wind.

Slightly different from the top pic. ;)

Pinteresting Wednesdays

I did write this yesterday and thought I had posted it, but I hadn't!

This made me laugh. I want to make one of these right now! But I will have to wait until tomorrow. :(
If I am ever a mom someday, I want to be a fun one!
Aren't these rings too beautiful? Unfortunately they are pricey. (I think they use real silver.)
And have I ever told you how much I want to have a freestanding tub one day??

Mad About...

Flying!

Stuffed animals, reading The Babysitter's Club books, my parent's music such as The Moody Blues and ABBA, strange landmarks, rest stops. These are the things that comprised family vacations as I was growing up. Road trips. We never flew anywhere. My dad believed in saving money and getting there the old fashioned way. Not too bad if your grandparents live in Arizona. Unfortunately for Emily and me, our grandparents lived in Michigan and Montana. Try five days straight in the car. Torture. (Although now I actually miss those trips.)

It wasn't until I was 10 years old that we took a plane for the first time (not counting the one time when I was a baby). Okay, maybe 10 sounds young to some of you, but I felt really old at the time, and most of my friends had flown in an airplane dozens of times.

I still remember that first lift-off. Strange that a girl, normally extremely shy and timid and afraid of heights, would love the experience so much! I don't remember feeling any fear. There was a light layer of clouds and we sailed through them as the sun shone bright. The rush of the engines and the sudden weightlessness was thrilling! I still love flying to this day.

It's easy to romanticize flying...to forget about the screaming babies and talkative old men, the airplane food and the limited leg room. I like to look back at pictures from the fifties. The glamour of it all. The fun stewardess outfits, the flight wings pins they used to hand out, the excitement of traveling to exotic destinations.

It's really a humbling experience as well. Nothing else makes me feel as small. As you fly farther and farther away from the earth, the cars and people go from looking like matchboxes and ants, to nothing. You can't see anything. And it's a good reminder that the world definitely DOES NOT center around me. Funny and sad how often I think that it does. God is big. He's holding our planet in His mighty hands. All of the oceans are like a small puddle in His palm and He can weigh the mountains like dust on the scales. That's the main reason why I love flying, the reminder it is to me of our amazing Creator!

Puppies! The Second and Final Round

Well, I tried and tried and failed to post more pictures. I don't know what's up with either this blog or my computer or both, but here are the ones that made it through.

Poor, tired momma:


The Outcast:


The outcast gets in close:


Belly!


The definition of sweet:


Don't you want one?


Come on, you know you do....we have seven still waiting for owners...it could be you!

Photography Workshop

Last week I had two nice surprises.

First off, I had heard about Lukas' upcoming photography class and I really wanted to go, but it was just a tad more than I could afford at the time. I actually had already been to one of his workshops before, but it was shorter and a couple of years ago. At the time I knew basically nothing. I showed up with a camera that I THOUGHT was an SLR only to discover that it wasn't. Talk about embarrassing. That workshop was helpful, but now that I had come a bit farther, I really wanted to go again. Enter Jessica:




This lovely, sweet girl is in my small group and her parents, as a birthday present, signed her up for the workshop. The Van Dyke's were kind enough to offer a "bring a friend" deal for a lower price and Jessica was looking for a friend to come with her. She was kind enough to invite me along!

It was a fun day just getting to know Jessica better on the ride to and from L.A. One of the things I discovered is that she is a natural at photography!

The other surprise was that my dear friend Amber and her husband, Andrew were our models for practicing our newly acquired skills! This made it much more comfortable for me to get right in their faces. :) I had the privilege of being in Amber's wedding. And she means a lot to me. She spent the night at the hopsital with me and my family the night before my dad went to Heaven. You don't let go of friends like that! So without further ado, here are the pictures. Warning: I went a little overboard...

(Side note: I would love to be able to practice practice practice! If any of you readers out there need pictures taken for whatever occasion, let me know! Since I'm practicing it would be free. I'll even get you a Starbuck's drink for your trouble. :)