Backyard Fun

The other night after dinner, I started doing the dishes while Cary took Carson and Caden to play in the backyard. They were giggling so loudly and having such a good time that I grabbed my camera and decided the dishes could wait... that kind of wisdom only comes to me in a rare moment. :)





Carson had a brief pouty moment when he was reminded that he had to share the soccer ball.


Tackle Daddy:


Playing keep-away with Cary's hat:




Just for Roy and Deb, because they care about seeing our dogs... :) Here's a pic of Fisher and Maggie. This one was taken last week, so the grass wasn't as green yet. We are loving springtime and daylight savings! :)


Oh, Denique: Technically, storyboards are just a photo collage of sorts, but the ones I build are for printing and framing. They can be pretty much any size and can incorporate two or more pictures. Hopefully I'll get to put some together for future clients so I'm practicing now. :)

Caden's Storyboards

Since I did maternity pictures when I was pregnant with Caden, I built two storyboards for him. I'm not sure if I like the background on this first one for our home...I might change it to match the second one. The first one prints 5x10 and says "A son is one of the most beautiful gifts God can give."


And here is his 10x20 infant board. I have to say that all of these pictures were taken by a dear friend of ours who is starting her own photography business at the moment. When Caden was born, I didn't think I had any business taking pictures for anyone. :) Anyway, don't you love this background? You should be able to click on either of these images to see them larger, but this one says "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ"

A Storyboard for Carter

I finally got around to finishing Carter's newborn storyboard. When it's printed, it is 20x10. I've planned on doing this since before he was born, so it's about time. :) Now I just need to start working on Caden's newborn layout..... Hmm...I'm a little behind. :)



It says, "From birth I have relied on You...I will ever praise You. Psalm 71:6"

iHeartFaces Fix-It Friday: Cooing Baby

Fix-It Friday seems like a fun chance for editing practice, and I had a free moment, so I'm joining in. :) iHeartFaces posts a SOOC (straight out of camera) image, and anyone can join in to show how they would edit it. So, here's my effort...

SOOC:


My edited version:

First I cropped it. Then I brightened it, and cleared up some baby acne, as well as a booger that wasn't noticeable until the picture was brightened. Then I upped the saturation a bit so his cute face wasn't disappearing in the off-white of the blanket. Oh, and I brightened the eyes a bit.

Come join in and check out how other people envisioned this photo at iHeartFaces.com


On a completely different note, the Carter boy and I are heading to Women's Retreat today. CANNOT WAIT! I'm so excited!!! I'm bringing my camera, so hopefully I'll have some fun pics to share on Monday. :)

Meet Stella...

My mom got a new dog! Stella is a 3.5 pound Shi-poo (Shitzu-Poodle), and she is a doll! She is super playful, and a little fluff-ball of a thing. So cute! The boys and I went to visit the new babe last night and brought her a green puppy purse. I figured you ought to bring a gift when meeting a new addition. :) I was sure she wouldn't know what to do with it. It's about twice her size. She loves it though, and played with it as soon as we gave it to her. She's so good natured. Mom, here are the pics I took of her last night so you can show her off! Love you, and Stella too!











She was hard to take pictures of because she wanted to chase me and be right around my ankles. One time, she was chasing me and fell right off of the curb into a puddle of snow water that was up to her neck. It was SO funny!

Knock-Knock Jokes

"Knock-Knock! Who's There?" (Caden says all of this himself)


"Who's there?"

"Uummmm...a person...Tarter!! (Carter)


Just a few other pics from yesterday...Half of the snow was gone by 2, and it was pushing 60 degrees here! Colorado weather is crazy! :)


One of our dogs, Maggie:

Spring Storm

Our Winter was pretty unwinterlike (yeah...I made that up) this year. It seems our Spring is trying to make up for it. This is our third snow storm this month, and by far the worst. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow...I just would like it to be in the right season. Maybe after this storm is over it will stay away. I saw our day lilies peeking out of the ground before the snow began to fall. We did need the moisture though, so I guess for that I will be thankful...I'm also thankful that it's supposed to be in the 50's tomorrow. :) Here are some storm pictures...There is at least 18 inches on our patio table!

These are from last night:






And these are from today:

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter this year, and I remembered anew how thankful I am for my Savior. It was a different Easter for us, and a busy one. It started out with our church's annual Easter Egg Hunt that we host for our community each year. In spite of the drizzle and freezing weather, we had an awesome turn out! Here are some pics I took of the boys and my folks:




"Carson! Did you have fun?" "I only got 3 eggs..."


"But did you have fun?"


My cute Dad helping keep Carter warm. I'm not kidding...it was FRIGID!


Sunday, we had two services at our church and they were both AWESOME! We are so blessed. After church, we packed up the car and headed to Pueblo for my Grandma's 90th birthday celebration. I think it's so awesome that a woman as devout as she had her 90th birthday on Easter Sunday. It was such a great time, and so special to get to spend the afternoon with so many of my great aunts and uncles. Then we headed to a hotel in Pueblo to stay the night so that we could attend my Great Uncle Everett's funeral. He died last Thursday. He had been sick for some time. Between Easter, my Great Grandma's birthday, my Great Uncle's funeral, and seeing so many of my family, I was reminded once again of what an awesome heritage I have. I'm so thankful for our history, and that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. I am so thankful that I know what the end outcome is for us, regardless of what our future may hold. God is good.

Because of the craziness of Sunday, our typical Easter traditions we have with the boys were put on the back burner a bit. We didn't get to have them find their Easter baskets or eggs until we got to the hotel around 5 p.m. They didn't mind a bit though, and were super excited to search for their goodies around the hotel pool. Unfortunately all but one of the lights in the pool area were broken, so my pictures are awful. Oh well. With all that this weekend held, it's sure to be an Easter we will never forget! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Love this pic...it's probably the best one I have of me and my boys...which is crazy, because by this point in the day, they were SO done! :)


Caden watching a show with Uncle Stott (Scott):


Trying to waste time at the hotel before we had to get ready for the funeral on Monday:


Today Carter seemed like he was finally starting to master sitting up...as long as he had something in his hands. We've been working on sitting up for a while now, but he usually goes diving in one direction or another. He really likes to be upright, so it's exciting that he's getting better at sitting. Funny sidenote...Carter is wearing the very outfit that Carson wore in his first sitting up picture.




This last pic is just a testament to Carter's temper...notice how upset he is, and that there are no tears at all. He's just yelling at me. :)