Have you ever wondered...

Is it Christmas??

bloopers...

so, i was making my new title picture (above)...

do you like it?

Lest you look at that picture and think they are all such angels, consider what i had to go through in order to get that "lovely" shot:

whew... i kept threatening but the more i did, the more they would 'mix it up'... the older ones know me too well.

And then they give me a shot like this:

Cole is still being goofy but this shot fits their personality so much. I just wish Matt was in it.

This is a picture of Erick & his daughter Ericka, part of one of our favorite families! We went to the movies last year after Christmas Eve service at church and I was able to catch this beautiful shot in the Anaheim Hills Multi-plex... go figure. Could Ericka look any more lovely??

i love beautiful photographs of family and friends... don't you?

Eek... I feel OLD.

So last Saturday night Tom & I went out to dinner with a couple that we are just beginning to know-


He is Tom's golfing buddy, She is his long time girlfriend.


First off, I'm EXHAUSTED before we even leave for dinner... I've been working all day. all I want to do by 6:30 is get in my jammies and cuddle on the couch where it's warm. oh well.


We went to Las Brisas in Laguna Beach (it's FREEZING there!) and then they say they have tickets for the show at House of Blues in Downtown Disney.


omg. It's 10 o'clock.


I'm so tired I can't even think straight.


We GO to H.O.B. and it's the wildest 80's Hair Band... see picture above.


2 songs was all we got to hear. Then their set was done (darn it! ;o) and we went home!!!! Yeah!


of course I'm (sort of) kidding... I love going out on dates with my wonderful husband... but sometimes I just want to STAY HOME.


I sound SO old saying that though, don't I??

Tonight we were meeting the Ronks at the District to see "Enchanted" (very funny, cute movie) and here comes that old fart thing... I just wanted to stay home! Tom kept calling me a "pooper" though and got me out of my cranky mood- we went- it was very nice.


As nice as snuggling on a warm couch though??? Not sure... :o)

Here are some more of the "Pastors & Elders" Photo Assignment shots... I like these. They're so fun and not at all like the traditional ones on the web site. I just hope they are what Tammy is looking for. Below is Chris Gniffke, our 5th & 6th grade pastor (the pastor for my Matt & Jon)



Josh Simpson & Nikki Smalley (below) ... they're awesome!
(secret: these are actually "staged" shots... I didn't want to interrupt the Jr. High group Wednesday night so they agreed to pretend for me after it was done. They Rock)




BIG week coming... starting Sunday we have rehearsal or a show every night until the following Sunday. This is going to be an amazing musical.
Click here for more info.

My Photography

So, when I was 12 and a budding photographer, my father asked me to help him with his part-time wedding photograpy business.

I would travel with him all over, being his extra camera, his 'shot arranger', etc.

At 13 I got my first job at Briar Photography in the circle, developing and printing black & white photos & film. We also built a darkroom in our basement where we could process all of our own stuff.

I also started taking lots of portraits of my friends.

I then worked at Albert & James Photography for years, in their black & white lab making custom b&w prints. It has always been such a passion of mine but you know how it gets... you get married, have a ton of kids and all of your interests get pushed aside.

It's been really fun getting back in to photography lately, especially learning how to do things digitally to a photograph which, previously, had taken YEARS to perfect in a darkroom! (All that time dodging and burning and color tinting... now it's a few clicks...wow. I'm bummed and amazed all at the same time!)

Anyway, I love what photography DOES... it captures a moment and holds it there. It's like listening to Ella Fitzgerald sing, or seeing "Birth of a Nation", it's like you get to grab hold of time and show something about it; something you and others can remember later when it's gone.

But I digress... ON to the point of all this:

I've been asked to take on different photo assignments over this past few months and thought I should have a Flickr site showing my work.

HERE is that link.

amen.

You Are 44% Open Minded

You aren't exactly open minded, but you have been known to occasionally change your mind.You're tolerant enough to get along with others who are very different...But you may be quietly judgmental of things you think are wrong.You take your own values pretty seriously, and it would take a lot to change them.

this was an on-line quiz i took. i felt the bend was, of course, to praise those who's minds are like flapping shutters, swaying and blowing open whenever the winds of society say they should...
there are SOME things, SOME points on which you should not bend.

how would our country have started without men who's minds were made up?

why is it ok to be "open-minded" now as opposed to then and

where will this take us?

pastors & elders assignment

Don't you just love Jeff?? He's an unbelieveable treasure at our church.

Hmmm... two plates?? jk victor ;o)

Matt & his lovely Marilee

Eric & Matt

I get the distinct priveldge of taking the new photos of the pastors and elders at our church, to be used in the web site. the photos above aren't really the ones for my assignment but I thoguht they were fun!

below is another assignment I recieved- taking the photos of the people involved in the christmas play - to be used in the program. another fun thing to do :o)

it really is going to be a great play - you should come!!

friends :o)

at the District with the boys - seeing Bee Movie

what IS IT about being somewhere totally mundane, like a grocery store - but when your friends are with you, suddenly it's a party! :o)

Below, at Jude's house... just playing

Mike & Matt, at rehearsal being silly

it's all fun and games...

lots of fun going on around here lately... above is Oct 31st, early morning- Jon's 11th birthday, we went to Ruby's for b-fast before school...

Cole at "Light The Night on Halloween Night, knocking a kid off his "perch"

the boys with Jon's friend, Grant, before going trick-or-treating in the neighborhood... we had a whole big group come join us - that always makes it more fun!!

Tom & Angela singing "The Gifts of the Magi" around the piano

We have SO much fun in rehearsals!

Jim, the Newport Beach Bum... (now THAT'S one Lucky Bum!! {One of the lines in a song he gets to sing, fyi})

Kerri & Mike are always up for a laugh!

i can't remember WHAT happened here... it's just a funny and cute picture of Kerri

Mike & his musical spoons...

Mike's got a bit of an "Elvis" sneer going on here, huh?

it's a roll of tape, SEE????

Doug & Jesse Brown, celebrating their 10th blender they've recieved as a wedding gift! (jk)