Fun anniversary dinner

Last night Mary, Jeff, Andy and I took our Mom and Dad out to celebrate their 37th anniversary. We went to Teppanyaki at the Ritz in Eureka. It was a lot of fun and the food was amazing! They cook right at your table. Here's Mom and Dad.... the pictures aren't very good because I just had my little point and shoot with me. And the lighting was terrible. We had a great time!

Here's the guy that prepared all our food, Chef Jeff....

I think we should make this an annual tradition.....

Sweet girl

Isn't she sweet? I took her photos last week and this is my favorite...

Friday shopping

We survived our shopping trip today! We got to Target around 6 am and went to quite a few places after that. We were finally done around 1:30! Crazy, I know. I bought a few things, but it was more the experience of it all. We'll see if I venture out next year....

Thanksgiving Day

We had a busy, but good Thanksgiving. We went to Andy's Grandma Jane's first. After we ate we took this photo of Grandma and all the grandkids and great-grandkids.

Then we went to my parents' house. J.T. loved playing with his toys on the counter after dinner.

And both kids couldn't get enough of their cousin Michela....

I had a great time too holding and cuddling with her....

We are thankful for many things in our lives, most of all our family and friends!

Am I crazy?

It's 4:30 am and I am up and showered so I can go shopping today!!!!!

Happy Anniversary!

Can you tell who this is? It was taken on November 27, 1971.

I will give you a couple hints... they have been married for 37 years (as of today), and they brought me into this world!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Thank you so much for showing me what a wonderful marriage is, over the years. You have set a great example of what we should all strive for. Thank you. We love you!

Morning java

I think everyone knows, but I am hopelessly addicted to lattes. Although, I will admit sometimes I go for a mexican mocha. My new favorite latte is a Shortbread Cookie Latte (with nonfat milk of course!). I get it from my favorite coffee place in Fortuna, Shotz Coffee.

Have you seen these coffee sleeves before? Check them out here. The website is called Cup Couture. I have had mine for awhile and it's nice to not have to use the cardboard ones because I can keep reusing this one. Isn't it cute? They make really great gifts. Add in a gift card to the person's favorite coffee place and you are set! Check it out!

My favorite Thanksgiving recipe

Someone recently asked me what my favorite Thanksgiving recipe is... it is most definitely the sweet potato casserole that my mom makes every year. It is so good... it's almost like dessert!

Here's the recipe...

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 lbs sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (approx. 6 cups)

Beat sweet potatoes until fluffy. Mix in the following:

2 eggs
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup orange juice

Put in a 2 qt. casserole dish. Top with pecan halves, 1/4 cup brown sugar, drizzle with melted butter.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Christmas shopping

I have been doing a lot of my Christmas shopping online this year.... so I am almost done! I am, however, probably going shopping on Friday. It sounds like we are heading out around 5 am. Is that totally nuts? Of course it is... but it will be fun!

Anyone else have plans to go shopping on Friday? What time are you starting?

Taking photos of my kids

is SO much harder that other people's kids. I did a few on Sunday for a project I am working on, and they were so uncooperative. So I had to re-do them yesterday.....



I have the hardest time understanding why my own children are so much harder.... Any ideas?

My lil' buddy is 1!

I was lucky enough to do Evan's 1 year portraits over the weekend. He is such a happy, easy-going little guy! Here are some of my favorites...

We took a few with his big brother Isaac too.

I miss having Evan come to our house.... It still hasn't made me change my mind about wanting another baby though...

Proposal

Do you know what today is? You probably don't but that is okay. Today is the 11th anniversary of the day that Andy proposed to me! It all happened here.... at the pier in Pismo Beach, California....

Time sure flies... it's really hard to believe it's been that long ago...

It's a bummer

when your Daddy almost forgets to take your shoes and socks off before bathtime....

Michela is getting sooo big. I can't wait to see her next week!

Kids in the morning

I have really been struggling with the kids in the mornings. This seems to be much worse than last school year. They don't want to get out bed (it doesn't matter what time they went to bed the night before either), then they don't want to get dressed. Once they finally get in the kitchen for breakfast, they bicker the whole time. Does anyone have some suggestions for fixing this problem? I would love to hear what you all do to remedy this.... Thanks!

Thank you!

I wanted to thank everyone for their feedback on the proofing and ordering issue that I asked for opinions on in the last post. I received some helpful comments here and also received several emails.

I think the consensus is that people really like ordering online. Several people said that they like the idea of personal delivery of the product. I like that too. It gives me the opportunity to make sure the prints (or other products) are just right.

My ideal situation would be to have customers order and pay online, have the prints shipped to me, and I could deliver them to the customer. If a customer lived out of town, I could ship the prints to them. Now I just need to make sure I can find a proofing site that will allow me to do all that!

Thanks again for your suggestions!

Need feedback

As I go through this planning process for my possible future photography business, there is something I am trying to decide on. It has to do with the ordering process. Right now when people order photos from me, I put them in a gallery on my smugmug site and have them call or email me with their order. Then I deliver them and collect payment (by check or cash). I am thinking of changing my ordering process and putting them on a different site. That way, people can view, order and pay online (with credit or debit card). Then the photos get shipped directly to them.

I am curious what everyone's thoughts are.... I can see the benefits of both. Please give me some feedback (via a comment here or an email to me) of what you would prefer if you were a photo customer of mine..... I really appreciate it!!

Edited to add: Sorry for the confusion... I wasn't really asking for feedback on my photography (although I will take it). I was asking whether I should have customers order online or through me. Thanks for all the suggestions!! :)

Last two loads

Today we shipped out our last two loads of calves (for the year) to Harris Ranch. I met the trucks and led them to the ranch while Andy, J.T., my dad, Andy's dad and Ernest got the calves weighed and sorted to get on the trucks. It's a great feeling to have them on their way.....

By the time I got to the ranch, J.T. had been there for a couple hours and was having a grand time playing in the mud. Can you see it next to his eye and in his ear?

And away they go.....

Am I nuts?

I am thinking about officially launching my photography business. I have been thinking about this for a year or more. Am I totally crazy? I love taking photos, especially of kids. I get so much satisfaction out of capturing a photo, especially if I think the parents will just love it. However, I have a lot of fear of failure. I have a lot to think about. I have been working on putting together a business plan for this potential business. Then if, and when, I decide to move forward with this, I will have my business organized how I want it.

I have had quite a few requests lately for kids or family photos. That makes me really excited but also nervous. I guess it's a good sign that people like my work. Lots of things to think about....

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking photos of Cody, McKenzie, and Elle. They are soooo photogenic and adorable! Cody wasn't having quite as good of a time as his sisters, though. I think they like being in front of the camera!

I will keep you posted on what I decide about the business thing. I would love to hear comments from you all... especially if you there is a specific issue that I need to think about regarding this.

Sleepover

Abigail had her first sleepover at our house last night. Her friend Emily came over and they had a grand time! They watched movies, played dress up, played with Emily's Leapster (which the kids want for Christmas now.... more on that later!), terrorized J.T., and had lots of fun!

They didn't go to sleep until after 10 pm and were up by 7:30 this morning! Apparently they both slept fine though....

Back from Boise

Andy and I were in Boise, Idaho earlier this week for a Ranch Management conference. We didn't have a whole lot of free time, but we had some. On the night we got there, we went to Joe's Crab Shack which is fun.

On Friday afternoon, we took a little stroll to get some fresh air. This was the river that ran behind our hotel. The fall colors were really pretty.

It's nice to be home!!

You can

call me a bad blogger lately! Sorry about that. There has been a lot going on with an organization that I am involved in (The kids, Andy and I are fine) so I haven't had much time to spend here. Someday I might be able to write about what's been going on and how I feel about it, but for now I can't. I will try to put a post on here about the kids in the next couple days! Thanks for checking in.....

Your life...

is about the choices you make.

Sisterly love

On Saturday I had the pleasure of taking some family photos for my friend Deanna. Aren't her girls so adorable?

Happy Halloween...

a day late! I haven't been a very good blogger lately because it's been really busy. Anyway, here's a few pictures I took on Halloween. I decided to use my little point & shoot camera because of the rain. The pictures aren't as good, but at least I didn't have to worry about my big camera getting wet.

This was taken right before we left for school..... not sure why the background turned out so dark.

J.T.'s preschool always walks downtown to Ferndale to do a little trick-or-treating in the morning...

We made our rounds to friends and family in the evening....

Last stop was Andy's grandma's house.... four generations!

And we had a very tired cowboy....

The cheerleader was pretty tired herself...

All in all, it was a good Halloween. It didn't rain on us and the kids got lots of goodies!