MJ Day Photos

Alaska Zoo

2011-08-13T17:57:00.001-08:00

So, as I said in my last post, we've been here a year and celebrated by making a family trip to the Alaska Zoo. It was very awesome to see the wildlife that is native to Alaska, such as a Polar Bear, Wolves, Grizzly & Black Bears, a Lynx, and the Moose and Caribou. It was also interesting seeing and learning about other animals that can survive cold winters such as a Camel and Snow Leopard. I did miss seeing the variety that the Seattle Zoo has - such as all the African animals, but we still got to see a Siberian Tiger.... and seeing a Polar Bear up close was just as cool or cooler than seeing a Lion.

Here are pics from our zoo adventure:

Watching the seals swim - I didn't get any good pictures of them because of the glass window

Sea Otter

The massive female polar bear - her feet are so HUGE!

The Moose

Watching the Grizzly Bears - they were a Big Hit

The Lynx

Umm... I think this owl is named Hedwig - it looks just like her to me!

Such a pretty girl!

Something interesting we read about camels is that they do not store water in the humps on their back, that acutally they store fat to burn for energy in their humps, and that double hump camels like this one are native to cold climates - such as Mongolia, as opposed to single hump desert camels.

Trying on brother's sunglasses - but he won't wear them!

Checking out the Reindeer - which means domesticated Carribou

Happy camper in the stroller!

The Snow Leopard - not the best pics due to where he was lying and the angles I could get through the fence since the glare from the sun was so bad off the glass.

This is the very WILD but ever popular 6 Year Old, this particular speciman we keep at home

The massive male Grizzly - check out the claws on this guy!

The Black Bear

This is where Bubba decided to throw his sippy cup off the wooden bridge we happened to be walking on, where of course, the cup rolled off the edge into such deep brush that we had no idea where it landed.

Disclaimer: The Alaska Zoo does NOT allow you this close to the animals to take pictures! All my pictures were taken with my telephoto lens - I love my 300 mm lens!

The sleeping Siberian Tiger

The Bald Eagles were singing...

... and Missy & Buddy were singing back :)

The Alaskan Wolf

Which, truth be told, were a bit of a disappointment since I was expecting "Twilight" size wolves with how people talk about how big they get here... :)
edit: Hubby read this and informed me that they do get quite large, and these are pups

The kids packed around the little camera and took a bunch of pictures at the zoo too - maybe that will be another post - all of their pictures from the zoo.

And last, and maybe least due to size, is the Artic Fox

This little guy is very tiny.

We did see a few animals at the zoo that I laughed about - like the squirrel and the crows they had caged up. The interesting thing is that while WA got me very used to seeing crows all over the place, AK doesn't have crows, they have ravens, which pretty much looks like a crow that have taken steroids and are huge! They can be a little scary sometimes.

Anyway, it was a great, fun trip to the zoo and we all had fun. And while I did miss the African animals that the Seattle Zoo has, I did not miss the Bug House, and thankfully Alaska doesn't have one of those- if they did it'd probably be full of mosquitos :)

Bubba's 1st Birthday!

2011-08-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of July we celebrated Bubba's FIRST birthday! Which was quickly followed by celebrating that we'd survived our FIRST year in Alaska, quickly followed by Buddy's 6th Birthday.

Bubba's birthday was very low key, and as you'll see in the pictures, he was tired and didn't want to open presents, he just wanted my camera. He was barely walking at his birthday and is now cruising all over the place and even crawling up the stairs if we leave the door open. He hasn't figured out getting back down the stairs - that is without hurting himself - but it very good and fast at getting up them. He's also managed to master crawling up on the kids beds and the couch, and then crying because he is stuck and can't get back down. He is also, what I'd like to call, a Master Walker in bare feet or socks, you put shoes on him and its a totally different story. The kids must be part Indian because he will remove both sock AND shoes as soon as he can. He always goes out the door with shoes and socks on but by the time we return home, hopefully at least has his socks on with his shoes securely put away in the diaper bag.

He is funny because he's so independent - which is really why he doesn't like wearing his shoes because with his shoes on he isn't able to walk, climb, or whatever as easily as he knows he can without them on. And he gets so MAD at his older brother and sister when they try to "help" him and typically knock him down or do pick him up so he can't go up the stairs.

Anyway, he is strong and healthy with beautiful blue eyes and I'm grateful for every moment I have with him, except maybe when he's crying "momma" in the middle of the night just after I've gone to bed. No, I'm kidding. I love this little man, he has my heart...

His favorite present was the balloon he got for his birthday! That thing floated for almost the whole month - I think I popped it and threw it away to clean up for Buddy's birthday party

Gotta love Neon Food Coloring!

Well, we sold the truck...

2011-08-13T16:31:00.001-08:00

So, after much thought, consideration, and prayer we decided to sell the truck and listed it at the beginning of the summer and after much prayer and fasting, thankfully sold it yesterday.

Of course the kids are sad about selling the truck - they talk about it as if we are selling their very favorite toy or pet, so before my DH took the truck to the new owner we went out to take pictures of the kids in the truck and for them to say "good-bye" to a great truck that we all will miss... especially Grandpa Day.

Look at that face! What is it that hubby always says to me?... "Femal drivers, no survivors" I might believe it with the look she has in her eyes...

I guess he was RIGHT!

If you can't tell.... they all had so much FUN taking these pictures! I love that they all instinctively screamed and kicked their legs while I was taking the pictures, as if they were ACTUALLY riding on the hood of the truck.

This is the BEST because Bubba is waving good-bye to his beloved brother and sister.

Look at my little man - growing too fast

What a crew! The ironic thing is that Buddy was Bubba's age when we bought the truck!

So, we'll see how long the kids keep asking about when the truck is coming back, they don't seem to understand the concept of "selling". Even though Buddy said he wants us to get another black truck and Missy said she wants a white one, I'm surprised she didn't say pink with sparkles - which is the color she usually picks!

Good Morning Moose!

2011-02-26T12:28:00.000-09:00

This morning I was headed upstairs to make Missy breakfast when I saw we had a young moose bedded down in the front yard! So, I turned right around and went downstairs and told hubby and the kids about it and grabbed my camera! I was hoping to get a chance to stretch the legs of my new lens today, but had no idea that I was going to get such a perfect opportunity! Taken with my new 55-300 mm lens with a UV filter.

Buddy, was funny when he saw it - he said, "Let's shoot it and put it up on the wall!" and was really excited about this idea, and Missy's response from the top of the stairs was, "Oh, that's so sweet".
Needless to say, they were pretty excited about it.

Don't worry... I didn't forget about Missy, she got her breakfast AFTER I took the pictures of the moose laying down and BEFORE he stood up and started munching :)

I've been seeing the moose tracks through the snow for awhile and we've all seen a moose or two around the neighborhood, but this was the first time that it actually was close enough (which my new lens helped with) and still enough to capture in a picture.

Update on Bubba

2010-10-24T23:12:00.000-08:00

So, as all of you know - hopefully - "Bubba" is not the name of my new baby, but since hubby is anti, and so am I for some part, of identifying factors on the internet, "Bubba" for all intensive purposes is his blog name. So, in case any of you are trying to keep track, my three kids on my blog or facebook will lovingly be referred to as Buddy, Missy, and Bubba. Those, for the most part, are my nicknames for them, their Dad has others, but those are the ones I like.

Here are some pretty up to date pictures of Bubba, these were taken at 3 months of age and he'll be 4 months on November 2nd. But, this is what I got right now and will hopefully fill any cravings for pictures that his Great-Grandmothers have :)

a little blurry, but still a cute pic - every time he sticks out his tongue, his sister tattles on him because she gets in trouble for sticking out her tongue, at least she does now because she got a little too comfortable doing it and thinks it's funny - she even tattles on me when I stick my tongue out a little when I'm chewing gum and go to blow a bubble!

see what I mean with sticking the tongue out!? :)

she loves to pose for pics, especially when I'm trying to take pics of Bubba and he's getting ALL the attention

Bud attached a soft rattle to Bubba's arm, one that is meant to velcro around the arm on the baby carrier.

Hopefully this shirt will help influence Bubba as to what university to attend :)

What we've been up to...

2010-10-24T22:13:00.000-08:00

So, my significant other and I were talking the other day about how it seems like we've been in Alaska FOREVER already and not just the mere 3 months that it's actually been. So, he asked me if I'd put up any of the pictures of things that we've done here and that gave me an idea of several things I could blog about.

Not in any particular order...

Missy's 3rd Birthday...

We've since started on the road to potty training her and let's just say that she has her good days and her bad. :)

Buddy's first day of kindergarten! He was very excited even though I was on the verge of tears. He rides the big bus with all the other elementary school kids - which scares me, but the 5th graders at his bus stop keep an eye out for him.

We went to the Alaska State Fair, which was lots of fun and a new experience for the kids - they loved the little petting zoo and riding on a couple rides.

Buddy and his Great-Grandma on the Ferris Wheel, which she was terrified of, so of course his Daddy got him to rock their seat which just made him laugh and her even more terrified.

Bud's 5th Birthday!

Carly watching her Great-Grandma cross stitch - which she did often while Grandma was here visiting, little Miss would sit for 20-30 minutes and just watch - it was very sweet to capture.

One of Bud's birthday presents - a Transformer's backpack!

Oh, you can see the excitement on his face for his dinosaur birthday presents!

Gone Fishing in Hope, AK

It was a cold, wet, rainy day but everyone had fun!

Skipping rocks our last day in Fairbanks, when we went to see North Pole

North Pole, AK- Santa was very nice and reminded us all to be good!!!

On our way up to Fairbanks we stopped to eat lunch and this gazebo was built out of what are called "knotty trees" that have these HUGE knots in them, as you can see by what little Miss is sitting on. There was even a cool little shop called "The Knotty Shop" that was full of Alaska decor and animal statues made out of branches like these.

This is the great Alaskan Pipeline!

Captured this up at the pipeline, but couldn't resist, the light just seemed too perfect to pass up.

More pictures from fishing in Hope. We were afraid of the kids throwing the fishing poles in the river so they mostly manned the fishing net. The nice thing about it being so rainy and wet was that it was incredibly muddy so once the kids stopped walking they were stuck and their little rubber boots were just suctioned into the mud. So, we didn't worry about them wandering off, just about them slipping into the river!

Bud and his Grandpa

Me and Bud

I caught a fish!

But had to throw it back because I barely missed hooking it in the mouth, but the rule is that if you hook it anywhere other than in the mouth you have to throw it back. Because they run so heavy you can just cast in and if you jerk hard enough you could catch lots, so hooking in the mouth is a lot more difficult.

Getting used to things...

2010-08-30T23:42:00.000-08:00

So, we have made our move to the Great North and began our stay with 30 straight days of rain. That was a new record for the locals, but for me it felt as if I hadn't left Washington and seemed an appropriate welcome.

I'm sorry that I've neglected my blog, it was not done to hurt anyone, it just happened as it became low on my priority list with being pregnant and getting ready to move. Hopefully I can turn over a new leaf and be better. :)

For anyone that hasn't heard, our third, and final, child was born on July 2nd. Our little "Bubba" weighed in at 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 inches long. He looks just like his Daddy and is very adorable, but then again, I am biased. :)

These were taken about a 6 weeks after he was born. Buddy and Missy are very excited and very helpful.
Here is a good side of him... ha, ha...

Car Toys = store full of toy cars (a 4-year old's logic)

2010-02-06T18:04:00.000-09:00

So, on Friday we had several errands to do and one of them was to go to Car Toys to see if the correct remote for our DVD player was in - when they installed it over a year ago they gave us the wrong remote and we didn't notice till now. Anyway, back to the story. My 4-year old, Mr. J, asked where we were going, so I rattled off the list: Home Depot, Car Toys, and Cost... "Car Toys!!!" he interjects, "get a car?"

"No, sweetie, there aren't toys there." I reply.

"Mom, car toys, go get car?"

"No, Buddy, this is not a store with toy cars, it is a store with toys for your car."
Which produced a very confused look from my little man.

Needless to say, this conversation went around and around a few times while we walked in the store, found out the remote wasn't in yet, and walked back to the truck. About at the same point I get the kids back in their carseats hubby returns from Home Depot and inquires as to the status of the remote. I told him it wasn't in yet and that they don't know when it will be in (to which he wasn't very happy about because somebody had told him it'd be in on Wednesday.) So, Daddy goes marching off to "talk" to someone at the store, to which J notices and exclaims, "Daddy go in car toys?!"

"Yes, he is."

"Get a toy car?!!!"

And it all started all over again.

Miss C and "her" slippers

2010-01-20T11:25:00.000-09:00

So, this past Sunday our little two year old was playing after church and came in wearing her brother's Spider Man slippers. I said to her, "Oh, are you wearing your brother's slippers?"

To which she wittingly responded, "No, wearing MY slippers!"

It was amusing how matter of fact she was, so I just kindly reminded her that they are her brother's but that she can borrow them because he isn't using them. She was fine with that and looked at me like it didn't matter what I said because she had the slippers on and wasn't going to take them off.

Just thought I'd share with everyone.

P.S. If you've tried to view my blog in the past couple months and weren't able to, I apologize. I made it private because it was hacked and I had an ad from India show up as a comment and wasn't sure what to do about it, so I just made it private thinking I'd get around to inviting everyone to view it, and, well, that obviously never happened. So, we'll see how things go being public again.

WOW! It's been awhile...

2009-09-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

So, it's been awhile since I've posted anything on my blog. A lot has happened since last January and I can't believe that September is almost over! So, in an effort to keep this from being a novel, I'll just try to catch you up.

June, went to the park and took pictures... only in WA would you still need a jacket at the park in June!

July, Mr. J marched in the town's 4th of July Parade with his preschool class...

...and celebrated his 4th Birthday!

August, went to the zoo with all the cousins (at least on my side of the family)...

...and celebrated Miss C's 2nd Birthday!

We ate spaghetti for dinner, so she is missing her dress, and hence looks a little funny in her undershirt and bloomers.

September marked back to school for J, another year of pre-school (and speech therapy) to improve his speech delay...we still don't know if we'll have him start Kindergarten next year or wait.

We also went to Seattle for a day with visiting family...

the kids loved the BOATS and the water...

and we learned that the smaller crane in this picture is the same as one in CA that inspired George Lucas when he was making "The Empire Strikes Back". At least that is what I think the tour guide said, all of my "Star Wars" friends will correct me, I'm sure.

September also marked my 30th Birthday, which was a blast! Little J took a great picture of his mom and dad before we went out, but Big J is completely against having his picture on the web, so sorry, I can't share it with you.

Well, that's about where we're at, everyone is doing well! Oh, and over the summer I have become COMPLETELY obsessed with the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer and am counting down the days until New Moon is released in theaters...57 days left!

Water, water, EVERYWHERE!!!

2009-01-08T12:33:00.000-09:00

For any of you that have been watching the news, you are aware that a good part of WA is flooding. Well, this one is particularly bad. I am very grateful to be nice and warm in my house with lots of food in the fridge. We are fortunate in that our house has not flooded, and doesn't look like it will, however, the small town we live in has become and island unto itself. As we were out taking pictures today one neighbor commented that they now have river front property! But, when everyone has river front property, some with the river running through their property, it loses its appeal.

So, while I should be blogging about Christmas, or folding laundry, I'm not, I am sacrificing my precious time to blog about this record-breaking flood and share with you some of the awesome pictures I got!

So, this is what my hubby had to walk through to get home. He ended up parking his truck at the church and hoofing it home. As my mom put it, "I knew he'd get home, I just didn't know what rules he'd have to break to do it." Lucky for him I was able to drive to the other side of the bridge that he had to walk across and pick him up so he didn't have to walk ALL the way home in soaking wet shoes!

My honey took this pic of the river from the bridge he had to walk across because they closed it to traffic - this is a main bridge going into town. (Since I am blogging this I am trying to not be specific in case their are any creeps reading this :) )

So, this picture is of the highway to the south of us. We sat and watched a truck pull up to the edge of the water, and you could tell they were debating whether or not they'd make it through. We were shocked at how stupid of an idea that was and that they were even considering it. But, they came to their senses and turned around.

And this is the highway to the north of us. This picture really surprised us because we were able to go much further on the road last night. This water over the roadway is only .3 miles away from our house. There is a family from church that lives further down this stretch and they are completely isolated in their home, it is surrounded by water, but at least they are warm and dry inside their house.

This is a picture I took of my feet. I am standing in the flood water, it is about up to my shins with my rubber boots on.
This is some flood water rushing over a small road or driveway - it is hard to get an idea of how fast the water is moving from a still picture, but my camera doesn't do video, so this will have to do!
And here are a few other pictures of the flood.

We thought that when it wasn't raining this morning that the rivers would start to recede, but we'll just have to see. It is now pouring again, so we'll just keep praying that things don't get any worse! Also, people are worried about any wind that might come along and blow down any of our water logged trees. At this point if you lose power it could be a week before it gets back on because they are saying we'll be flooded for a couple days and then its a matter of time until the power crews are able to make it to your neighborhood.

My dad was telling me of a small neighborhood (3-4 homes) and the bridge to their neighborhood washed out. Well, their homeowners insurance doesn't cover the cost of the bridge and it will cost them around $40 K to replace the bridge, and after paying for the bridge once, they don't have the money to pay for it again. So, who knows when those people will be able to get out!

We do hope that all of our family and friends are safe and warm - our prayers are with you!

I guess its been awhile...

2008-12-14T14:40:00.000-09:00

So, looking back over my blog I realized that it has been awhile since my last post, so I figured I ought to update things.

Carly has started walking and since she is still wobbly and big brothers don't help with balance, she always has bruises on her cheek bones, forehead, or a fat lip, it just depends on what part of her head hit the wall, laundry basket, or any other piece of furniture.

Jakob is really enjoying school and has started being more vocal. He asks "what's that?" whenever he hears a new sound. It is really exciting to hear him talking more and trying to make words and repeating words that he hears. He is 3 1/2, so we are grateful to be getting better communication with him, it allows for less frustration for everyone. :) Now I suppose we will have to wage the war on the potty training front since we are understanding each other better. I'm not looking forward to it, but what parent really is, however, the plus side is not having to change his diaper anymore.

All right, I've been distracted now for a few hours, so I'll have to finish this later!

Pumpkin Picking

2008-10-30T12:27:00.000-08:00

We went pumpkin picking earlier this month with my older sister & her family & with my youngest sister. It was lots of fun, the kids really enjoyed running through the muddy fields looking for the "Great Pumpkin".

Most of us - my brother-in-law & I were taking pictures. Here are some more great pics I caught on this beautiful October day...

F & M

E

B

Curly C & Curly C

D

Miss C

Best Buds

Me & My Kids

Jakob's First Day of Preschool

2008-09-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

Some of you know, but some of you don't, that Jakob was accepted into the preschool program at the school to continue his speech therapy. Well, he started school last week, and while he and I cried the first day he now loves it and especially loves riding the bus.

Oh, I must mention how excited he was to get his new back pack! We went to Wal-Mart and he got to choose and picked a very cool Marvel Heroes back pack. He put it on in the store and didn't take it off for two days, getting him to take it off to pay for it was like pulling teeth!

I *thought* it would be easier if I drove him the first day, as opposed to putting him on the bus, but boy was I wrong! As we were headed to his classroom I saw his bus and showed it to him and introduced him to the bus driver and he got on the bus and didn't want to get off! So, while he is screaming, I carried him off the bus and one of the classroom aides picked him up and left me feeling a bit in shock because I hadn't had a chance to even say "good-bye". So I quickly yelled "Bye Jakob, have a good day at school!" and blew him some kisses, and he disappeared into his classroom crying hysterically. Another teachers aide said to me, "Don't worry we have your phone number, we'll call you if he doesn't calm down."

Everything turned out just fine. His teacher wrote home that he quickly calmed down playing with the water table and I have had no trouble getting him to school since.

I do love that when we were ready to head out the door on the first day that Jakob wanted to wear his Daddy's hat. I think that it gives him a sense of comfort.

Oh, they just grow up so fast!

Carly Turns 1!!!

2008-09-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

Well, Carly turned 1 year old a few weeks ago, at the end of August, but it wasn't until today that I realized I had not posted any pictures of her milestone birthday. So, please forgive my lateness...I suppose the fortunate thing is that she is too little to know. :)

She loved all of her presents...but not as much as Jakob did. He packed around the singing bear she got for a couple days, he has a hard time sharing, even when it is Carly's toy to begin with.

Silhouettes

2008-08-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

My photo group did "silhouettes" tonight and it was tons of fun!

Here are my favorites... sorry I couldn't resist sneaking in one with a model!
None of these are edited, because I really dread editing, so here is how they came out. Thanks to everyone for all your help!

Ode to Carly

2008-08-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

So, I noticed today that my little girl hasn't had a lot of pictures posted lately, so in honor of her upcoming 1st birthday, here is my little ode to Carly. All of these pics have been taken within that past couple weeks.

Head Lamp

2008-08-13T12:49:00.000-08:00

Jakob had fun wearing his Daddy's headlamp the other day and decided to go out and ride his trike...
...unfortunately, it didn't help him see where he was going...
He thinks he's so funny!

Family Reunion

2008-08-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well, the kids and I traveled to Black Beach Resort in Republic, WA. with my Dad for our family reunion. While I took nearly 400 pictures on the trip here are a few highlights...

Carly and her Great-Grandma

Jakob with his face painted...which he was very reluctant to do, but once he saw the other kids he let his Auntie give him some war paint too.

Carly LOVED eating on this trip...and she didn't have to do much to get somebody to give her something. Here she is enjoying spaghetti and watermelon, but later she got her Grandpa to give her a rice krispy treat! I knew my uncle had given her a couple small bites of his, but it wasn't until the next morning that I found out that my Dad had gotten her a whole other rice krispy treat and fed it to her. Sometimes I think I've got to watch those grandparents more than I have to watch my own kids! :)

Everybody loved playing in the water and riding on the boat.

And we all LOVED spending time with our cousins!

Jakob's Birthday!

2008-07-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Jakob's 3rd birthday yesterday and it was lots of fun!

We celebrated by having his best friend and favorite cousin over to play...
Then Jakob enjoyed talking to everyone who called him to wish him a "Happy Birthday"...
...especially while sitting in his new lawn chair from his Aunt Mandee

Then after dinner we took Jakob outside to see what Mom & Dad got for him...
A NEW TRIKE!!!
...well, "new" to us, Mommy found a great deal on Craig's List

Jakob even tried a few tricks all on his own! His Daddy and I have no idea where he saw anyone do this or why he even thought to do it, but he did and the faces he made just made us both crack up!Look! No Hands!
Yeah, I know that he is pushing himself with his feet but, hey, he'd only been riding a bike for 15 minutes!

Look at those mad skills!
Our boy's got talent!

Jakob enjoyed opening his other presents too...

a shape puzzle from his G & G Day
and there's nothin' better than money in a card!

and of course we finished with cake and candles...

it was a great birthday and lots of fun! Daddy was also really happy that Mommy has a digital camera because Mommy managed to take 300 pictures in one day! Yeah, I know that is a little excessive but I just wanted to catch every moment!

Shutter Speed Assignment

2008-05-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

For this assignment I went out to Twin Falls State Park and took a few pictures of the river, when it was very high from all the melting snow due to our heat wave. Now, I don't have a tripod and didn't have anything to balance my camera on, so my "slow" shutter speed picture is not extremely slow. Also, I didn't know if anyone else would find this helpful, but I did, in my manual I read that to help reduce camera shake that you should not select a shutter speed that is slower than the length of your lens when you take the inverse of your lens length. SO, if you are shooting with a 300mm lens, then your shutter speed should not be any slower than 1/300 of a second. So, my lens came with my camera and is a 18-55mm lens, so the slowest shutter speed I used was 1/60.

Here is my first picture with the water in focus:

shutter speed 1/4000, f5.6, Exp. 0.0, 55 mm

Here is my picture with the water blurred:

shutter speed 1/60, f 22, exp. 0.0, 55 mm

What I find interesting is that even though both my exposure readings were 0.0, that the first picture is obviously darker than the second, and I would say that both of these need the exposure adjusted. But my eye needs more training to recognize whether the picture is over or under exposed, and I need to practice adjusting my exposure too.

All in all a very interesting assignment because as I was taking the pictures I thought they all looked the same until I got home and looked at them side by side.

My Pretty Pink Hat

2008-04-25T21:19:00.001-08:00

So, Mom found this hat a little while ago and thought it was SO CUTE that she HAD to put it on me today so she could take some pictures. It was fun for a little while, like two minutes...but then I was done... hey, I am ONLY 8 months old!

Depth of Field (DOF) Practice

2008-04-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

f5.6, ISO 800, 55mm, shutter speed 1/60

f5.6, ISO 800, 55mm, shutter speed 1/500

f 4.5, ISO 800, 32mm, shutter speed 1/60

none of these picture have been doctored, my focus was her face then her front foot, I left my WB on Auto, matrix-metering, shot in P-mode on my camera

I like the last picture the best because the shutter was slow enough that both her face and foot are well lit, also I like that her face is a little blurry but not indistinguishable. It looks more on purpose to me.

Bare with me, I got a new camera for Mother's Day (early) and am still reading the manual, but I couldn't help just playing around with it and probably took at least 60 shots of Miss C that night playing around!

Early Morning Visitirs

2008-04-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

My hubby woke me up at 7:45 am today to see our visitors. These guys were in the field behind our house... these elk are so domesticated that I was able to open our back door to take these pictures and people from the trailer park were getting in their cars for work, and they just leisurely walked around. But, the one was keeping an eye on me and our dog.

Apple Bread

2008-02-24T14:31:00.000-09:00

So, for those of you that need a background story... a few weeks ago I asked Suzie (my MIL) for a German dessert recipe for a Stake Enrichment Activity for which people were asked to bring desserts from different countries around the world, perhaps to do with our heritage. So, I thought a dessert from Germany sounded good and since Suzie had lived there I thought she would be a good resource. Well, Suzie came through for me and emailed me a recipe for German Apple Bread.

So, I made sure I had everything to make the bread and decided I would make it on Friday since enrichment was on Saturday. However, something told me that I needed to make something in addition to the apple bread. So, I looked online for a simple recipe and found one for Cinnamon Swirl Kuchen. When Josh came home Friday night he asked why I had made two things and I told him I didn't know why I just felt like I should, and I thought that perhaps it was because the single loaf of bread wouldn't be enough or it would be too crumbly or something.

Friday night I had a photo class to go to, so I headed off to my class leaving the apple bread cooling on a wire rack and warning Josh to keep an eye on Jakob because he had been trying to get the apple bread ever since I pulled it out of the oven. I kept telling Jakob that the bread was too hot and that he needed to wait for it to cool before he could have some. But, he is 2 1/2, so that obviously wasn't sinking in. I ate my dinner really fast and told Josh that he and Jakob could have a piece of the apple bread after Jakob ate his dinner, and headed off to my class.

However, the communication flaw occurred when I left the apple bread on the table, because dinner was on the counter, but Josh thought I had put the apple bread in the kitchen where Jakob couldn't get it. So, while Josh was feeding Carly he didn't realize that the apple bread was still on the dinner table where Jakob could reach it if he wanted to.

So, I came home from my class and saw the following picture...

...and I thought to myself, "Ok, so the boys tried the bread, I wonder if they liked it?"
Then I turned around and as I was headed out of the kitchen I saw this picture...

"Oh, your kidding!" I exclaimed, "Jakob took a bite out of the end of the loaf?!" I said to Josh, "Why didn't you cut off that end of the loaf?" And Josh just smiled a great big smile and sorta laughed and said, "Oh no, he didn't take just ONE bite out of it, go and take a look at the OTHER side." And here is what I found..

Yes, that is right, my lovely little son took bites down the entire side of the loaf of apple bread making it completely unacceptable to serve to anyone other than our little family. There was no way that I could slice up this bread and take it to a church function! The funny part is that I wasn't even mad, I just laughed and said, "well, I guess we know he likes it" and knew that was the reason I needed to make two things.

So, on behalf of Jakob, "Thank you Grandma for the yummy bread!"

Photo Assignments

2008-02-21T22:41:00.000-09:00

Photo Assignment #3: Picture quality vs. Number of pixels

Ok, so as I was reading my notes I realized that I wasn't taking pictures correctly for this assignment. I took several pictures of the same thing but was only changing the picture quality (SHQ, HQ, SQ, etc,). When I got home and was looking at the picture specs I noticed that the first few all had the same number of pixels, I had thought that changing the quality standard would change the pixel size.

I tried looking through my manual to see if I could figure out how to change the quality & the pixels, but I can't figure it out. So, I am sorry that I did not complete this portion of the assignment. However, I will mention that I always take pictures in SHQ (super high quality) because it really shows when I print the pictures and when I edit them (I didn't know before about not editing in j.peg) and I seem to lose a lot more pixel faster if I am editing a lower quality picture.

Photo Assignments

2008-02-21T22:33:00.000-09:00

Assignment #2: Loss of j.peg quality in editing

All I did was vary the color saturation. When I zoom into the pictures the loss of pixels is quickly apparent.

Here is my original photo:

Here is the 10th edition:

Photo Assignments

2008-02-20T15:36:00.000-09:00

Photo Assignment #1: LCD Screen vs. Viewfinder

Ok, I took these two shots and I am pretty sure that the first one I used the LCD screen and the second I used the viewfinder, but I really can't tell and I had forgotten to take a pen with me to take notes.

Personally, I like using the LCD screen because I feel like I can see the picture better, when I am looking through the viewfinder my eye has a hard time focusing to see the picture clearly. I do struggle to get a clear picture using the LCD screen and have observed that I brace my elbows on my body to steady myself.

2007-12-30T21:47:00.001-09:00

Christmas KissesI just love it when I can capture moments like this, of course I told him to give her a kiss, but still love the tenderness. Something just tells me he is going to be a good "big brother".

2007-12-14T11:44:00.000-09:00

Happy Girl!

Miss C is about 4 mo. old now & loves to play, but then again, what girl doesn't love attention?

I am pretty positive that she didn't wink on purpose, but I still think it is pretty cute!

2007-09-19T23:01:00.000-08:00

2007-09-19T22:42:00.000-08:00

Triptych
This photo assignment had a dual purpose, in that it completed the photo assignment of taking three pictures I would put up together, and it allowed me to post multiple pictures of my new little girl. Gotta love those chubby cheeks!

2007-07-10T12:59:00.000-08:00

This is how we "celebrate"...
With Food, Family, & Fireworks!

The kids are anxiously watching a"snake" grow out of the cement.

2007-05-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I must apologize for it having been so long since I have posted any pictures. I have been having internet problems. But, for now I seem to be back on track and going on vacation last week gave me time to catch up on all my picture taking! So, most of these pictures are from Seaside, Oregon.

I want you all to know that I love your pictures, as I have been able to look at them from time to time when the internet would work, but whenever I tried to leave a comment my internet would freeze and stop working. So, kudos to you all for your beautiful pictures!

2007-05-15T22:11:00.000-08:00

Time Gone By

I know this is not a comparison of three pictures showing time has passed, but to me it is symbolic of time gone by. I see the little boy, who I still want to call "my baby", but has grown. And though he is small in stature compared to his Dad, I look at their shadows, that seem to disappear at the same point, and it somehow makes me think of the man that this little boy will grow to be. While he is now walking hand in hand with his father, that he will one day grow to his father's height and walk with him side by side.

2007-05-15T22:07:00.000-08:00

Art

This is a sign that is for sale in an Omish Collection store in Oregon, I laughed when I saw it, so of course I took a picture.

2007-05-15T22:01:00.000-08:00

Lines

Two of these pictures are lines in the sand from the wind. The other is of lines in the horizon, this may be a stretch for the "lines" assignment, but I really liked the lines in the sand.

2007-05-15T21:47:00.000-08:00

Licking the Brownie bowl with Dad

This was a new experience for our little boy, as he has never indulged in what many consider the "best part about making brownies", and that is licking the bowl. In my household it is an evil act putting the bowl directly into the sink without giving it to anyone to lick first. :) However, Dad helped him get it all over his face!

2007-05-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

Silhouette

This is the Lewis & Clark statue in Seaside, Oregon. If I was taking the time to edit my photos, I would have cropped this one to focus on the statue. :)

2007-04-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

Leadership

My husband is the leader of our family in multiple ways, and needless to say, our son loves and adores him, and is always watching him. Jakob ALWAYS wants to be doing what his Dad is doing, he wants to be just like his Dad, and so far, is just like his Dad.

2007-03-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

GREEN!

I love the Super Macro setting on my new camera! Just look at those water drops on the grass! Thank You Pat!!!

2007-03-07T13:52:00.000-09:00

Self Portrait

This is how you can most often find me...
Sitting at the computer, enjoying a quiet moment.
Taking advantage of nap time to relax, put my feet up with my slippers on, and watching T.V.
Or, being a "Mom", washing dishes in my "never seems to be clean" kitchen with my frog collection looking down on me from the window sill.

I love my life!

2007-02-22T13:19:00.000-09:00

Reflections

2007-02-14T21:29:00.000-09:00

LOVE

Here is a picture for your imaginations. The other day my husband took me to a job site to show me his current project. When we got there I opened the door to find the truck surrounded by mud, so I turned to him and told him that I was not getting out of the truck and walking through all the mud and that he could simply tell me about his project. Well, he looked at me, smiled half a grin, sighed, and came over and picked me up, right out of the truck, and carried me to high ground. I said, "thank you", but the part that made me love him all over again was the look that he gave me. It was a look that said, "well, I'm not surprised that you don't want to get muddy, but ya oughta know that I'm not gonna give up on you, I'll get you to me."

Any of you that know my husband know that is his forever attitude, to never give up. Oh, and he also carried me back to the truck when we were finished. :)

2007-02-14T21:25:00.000-09:00

L-O-V-E

2007-02-01T19:08:00.000-09:00

Welcome Baby Ean!

8lbs. 5oz.

20 1/2 inches

2007-02-01T19:01:00.000-09:00

#5

A day late for my photo group, but well worth the wait! Welcome Baby #5 of the Quinton clan, being lovingly held by my sister, who happens to be the 5th child in my line of siblings. How's that for a twist on the #5?!

2007-01-15T21:01:00.000-09:00

Interaction

Make an online slideshow at onetruemedia.com

2007-01-08T15:15:00.000-09:00

EMOTION

This weekend we went to Yakima for a surprise 70th Birthday party for my Grammy, the top photo is her seeing my Mom and realizing that we had all come to surprise her for her birthday. The photo below is, of course, her blowing out her candles, which always makes me feel happy to see.

2006-12-13T14:00:00.000-09:00

Brown Eyes

So, I copied Kristy's idea, but I just couldn't resist the opportunity!

2006-12-05T22:13:00.000-09:00

Full Moon

This is my attempt at night photography! I couldn't change my ISO settings, so I set my flash for "night" and took a bunch of pictures of the full moon! It was fun!

2006-11-28T15:51:00.000-09:00

Thanksgiving to Me...

Nothing quite says "Thanksgiving" like Turkey, Pie, and Dishes! Sorry, I took my pictures after dinner, so the turkey was all carved up and the pies hadn't yet been served.

2006-11-28T15:43:00.000-09:00

Editing...

The top picture is my original picture that I took of Josh & I, and the one below is the edited version.
It isn't much, but I removed wrinkles on my neck, blended out the shiny spots on our faces, and cropped the picture.

2006-11-01T21:10:00.000-09:00

Happy Halloween!

This is a picture taken from the INSIDE of our jack-o-lantern, which made it "hit or miss" for getting a good picture!

2006-11-01T20:53:00.000-09:00

Up Close & Personal

Here are my macro shots for the week, I am sure that you can tell what they are a picture of because they are not very abstract. But, it was still fun trying to figure out what I was going to take a picture of.

2006-10-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

Fall Fun!

Video editing at onetruemedia.com

2006-10-11T08:18:00.000-08:00

On My Tummy!

What great fun! I love the perspective and how Jakob's little feet look so big!

2006-10-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

I tried a few different things trying to capture the "depth of field" perspective, but I found it difficult with my simple "point and shoot" camera, so this was what I came up with. I am excited to see what everyone else did!

2006-09-29T12:53:00.000-08:00

Angles

Finally! Somewhere that Jakob would sit still... in the dirt!

2006-09-13T21:33:00.000-08:00

Froggy Chair

This was a gift from a friend for Jakob and I just think it is the cutest little chair!

2006-09-13T21:28:00.000-08:00

Relax
My nephew was so good to pose for me that I just had to put him in! He is sitting in a chair that was Mandee's when she was a kid, Mandee has since reapolstered it.

2006-08-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

Jakob is always underfoot, and hence, always within 20 feet!

2006-08-30T11:31:00.000-08:00

Rayne

This is our energetic Rayne! She loved having her picture taken!

2006-08-30T11:29:00.000-08:00

Our Beautiful Backyard Maple

2006-08-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

Mt. Si

This is the view from my front yard.

2006-08-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Pickles!

2006-08-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Yellow

These are some cute little bundles of yellow roses that I got from a friend, and they are sitting on a beautiful table runner that another friend quilted as a wedding gift.

2006-08-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

Father & Son

Jakob just loves to cuddle with his daddy, and I am pretty sure that Daddy likes it too. (I love this picture!)

2006-08-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

It's My Party & I'll Cry if I Want To!

I thought that the party hat, Jakob, and the hichair, were the essential three parts of this picture.

2006-08-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

Watching T.V.

I was going for a diagonal line on this picture, considering the Rule of Thirds.

2006-07-26T11:35:00.000-08:00

Fish Anyone?

So, this picture is from our Family Reunion in 2004, but it was the first thing I thought of when I thought about "summertime fun"!

2006-07-24T20:31:00.000-08:00

Mmm...Ice Cream!

Nothing beats ice cream in the summer time! Especially when it has been so HOT! I had to post the whole progression of pictures, it was just too funny, this is Jakob helping Grandma eat her ice cream.

2006-07-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Blue Eyes

This is my niece with her beautiful blue-gray eyes.

2006-07-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

Natural Light

This is my attempt at "catch light". I spent the whole week taking pics of Jakob in hopes of catching him at the right angle in the right light!

2006-06-27T12:07:00.000-08:00

Red Handed!

Jakob was caught red handed! He crawled through the TV trays next to my rocking chair, then behind the rocking chair, over to the end table to get the pen that I had taken away from him earlier! He did this while I was doing dishes. I knew he was up to something when he stopped making noise and was suddenly quiet.

2006-06-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

Red Poppy

I think this is a poppy? Taken at the off-ramp headed to Wal-Mart in Covington.

2006-06-14T21:27:00.000-08:00

Jakob, Up Close & Personal

I just took this picture tonight. I love taking pictures of Jakob and he lets me get really close, until of course he grabs for the camera! I cropped in closer editing it.

2006-06-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

Abstract Tulip

This is a picture I took at the Tulip Festival and then tweaked.

2006-06-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

Best Buds! Here are Josh and Jakob playing together at Christmas.

2006-06-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Cole. I don't remember how old he was in this picture. It was originally a color picture, I turned it black & white, diffused glowed it, cropped it, and gave it a soft edge. I use microsoft digital image suite. This is one that I gotta get to Mandee!

2006-06-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

This is my family at my sister's wedding at the Las Vegas Temple.