A Colorado Christmas

He did it! Hooray! Jordan is officially a college graduate. Hallie and I are so proud of him. This last semester was one of his hardest yet, and he blew through it. He was working full time, school full time, daddy full time, and husband full time. Let's just say he was scraped pretty thin. He finished. We are so amazed at what he has accomplished. Although we have no formal plans now, I am sure things will work out the way they are supposed to.

Our original plan for driving to Colorado was to wake up super early on the 17th and drive all the way there. This plan was all contingent on Jordan actually walking in his ceremonies or not. All semester Jordan kept telling me that he didn't want to walk, and I believed him. Week of graduation Jordan and I are talking and he says to me that he has decided he does want to walk. OH man I was in a frenzy! We had to get tickets, call all of Jordan's family, figure out if kids are coming, etc, etc. So he ended up walking on the 17th at 9 in the morning. After that we drove home, packed up, and drove to Colorado. We got there about 11:30. Not too bad of a drive. We were just happy Jordan did indeed walk.

My family is so chaotic and crazy you can't help but love them. They are totally opposite of Jordan's family who are calm and collected. It's so crazy to see the difference, but we love them both:)

Colorado was filled with lots of fun activities: Seeing Santa Clause, the girls getting their nails done, swimming, bowling (x2), the Elves!!, 2 sacrament meetings on Christmas, meeting up with some close old friends, sledding, getting our family pictures taken, shopping, and running around to get everything done.

Hallie did so amazing with Santa. She just plopped right on his lap and gave the biggest grin she has.

Swimming was also very fun. I was a little mad because I forgot Hallie's adorable swimming suit, but she still had fun splashing around. It was Jordan's first time swimming with her. All the kids went minus Mary. We played Marco Polo and man, I don't know if it was the altitude, but I could hardly breathe! It might also have to do with the fact that I don't work out. Ever. lol.

Of course we decided to go swimming on the day that it snowed the most. So while we were inside swimming, everyone else in Colorado Springs was on the hill next to the pool sledding. We decided we wanted to get in on some of that action. So we decided to tie sleds to the back of the car and go up to the school parking lot and ride around. It was hilarious. And very dangerous. It made your bottom so cold we had to stop.

Christmas of course was fabulous. It was so fun to watch Hallie open gifts. Although she didn't really care for what she got, she LOVED the paper. haha. She only ripped the presents to get the paper off. It was kind of hilarious. I can't wait until she is old enough to actually get up and be excited for presents. Grandma Suzi got all the babies (which is only 3) Christmas jammies. We tried to take some pictures, but Tristan wasn't having it. Oh well. It was a fun day that we got to spend together. Both sacrament meetings were awesome, and it really centered the day on Christ. My dad read a story in his sacrament, which of course made us all cry. And my sister gave a talk in her sacrament that was very touching.

We had such a wonderful week in Colorado. I'm sad that we live so far away from my family, but it makes it even better when we get to go see them with all the family around. We had such a wonderful holiday.

at it again

I must go on a rant. I do not and probably will never proclaim myself as a "photographer". That is unless I decide to get my Masters in photography and open my own shop. I don't want to be pinned as one of those people that randomly bought an expensive camera and decided they could take pictures. I actually got my major in advertising (which I photographed a lot of campaign assignments-which is four years worth), and my minor in photography (which included: concept of design, color, digital imaging, studio, history, film, darkroom, portrait, etc...). Just wanted to clarify... moving on...

None the less, I have a wonderful hobby. I really enjoy doing it. I get to work with all types of people. Some of which are incredibly difficult to work with.. don't worry I'm probably not talking about you:) I've only had one session that was difficult and it was one of my very first shoots. Anyways, I have had a lot of families coming out of the woodworks the past couple months and asking me to do their family portraits. I LOVE to do them. I love seeing the families interact with each other. I love making little kids smile, while their parents are so hoping that their little ones are acting their best and smiling their brightest. I love when my husband comes along and holds my reflectors and just observes (while Hallie is strapped to his chest). I love taking my SD card out of the camera and plugging it into my computer. I love looking through all the photos on bridge and finding my very favorites. I love finding pictures that I took while metering when the family isn't paying attention and they have some of the most tender moments (it shows exactly how they feel toward each other at that very second). There are so many things I love I can't even count.

My studio photographer teacher taught me this- people who like art and things related like to create. They like to create because it is one of the few things a human can do that is something closely related to being like Heavenly Father and Christ. They created this world, and with my camera, I create also. I'm glad I read that from my school notes today. Gave me a good boost as I try to figure out what exactly my style is...

Oh and he taught me one other thing, photography is science first, art second. And if you don't understand that... it took me a good 14 weeks to get somewhat comfortable with the inverse square law.

Ok off of why I love to take pictures... I got to take some family pictures a couple weeks ago. I really enjoyed taking them and going through them. Awesome family. Love them so much. Here are a couple of my favorites...