MomShots

Before I announce the winner, I just want to say that I wish I had copies of the book for everyone.  As I was listing everyone’s name and finding a random number generator (I’m a geek.  I like tools!) to help me choose the number, I was agonizing over this.  I didn’t realize how it would make me feel.  I want everyone to have a copy.  I wish I had more copies to give away!!!   

The random number generator chose number 5.  The name on my spreadsheet that corresponded with that number is Shelle of BlokThoughts.  Shelle, Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book 1 is on its way. Congratulations!

Everyone else, thanks for entering.  It was really exciting for me to see all of your comments.  What can I say?  I’m a simple girl.  Comments make me happy.  :)

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Another thing I wanted to tell you about was a cool website I found last week.  It is called Photodoto.  This is the site where I saw the idea to put kids in a container.  When I wrote the post, I couldn’t remember where I had seen that idea.  This is the place.  My toddler addled brain… I tell ‘ya!  Anyway, it’s a great site.  Lots of good information and fun articles.  Check it out.  I’m sure you’ll love it too!

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So…  I had such a fun weekend.  I want to tell you all about it.  That might take a L.O.N.G. time so I’ll just share some of the highlights.  

We had a family reunion on Saturday in Moab, Utah.  The highlight for me was that my Uncle Eric was there.  He is an awesome photographer.  You may remember me mentioning that or remember some of his comments.  He’s great.  He let me play with some of his lenses.  Can you imagine how much fun I was having?  A lot!

To give a little back story, I should explain and say that I have only ever used my 60mm lens.  In fact, I didn’t even know how to take my lens off!!!  How silly is that?!?  So when Eric put a 70-210mm zoom lens on my camera I was like a kid in a candy camera store.  I was running all over the place snapping photos of people right and left.  I think I was kind of annoying my grandma.  She’s so beautiful and I wanted to get a good photo of her.  I kept coming back and snapping more.  It was so much fun.  

After the reunion, we went to the cemetery to see my granddad’s grave and to see the graves of other ancestors.  This is kind of a tradition in my family.

We went to Arches National Park on Thursday and saw some incredible scenery.  Mind blowingly (I know, it’s not a word…) beautiful.  We walked around until the kids were exhausted and then we drove around for a while.  Awesome.  If you are ever in the area, I whole heartedly recommend a visit to the Arches National Park.

On Friday we went to a rock shop and got slightly mislead but that is always an adventure in itself.  We were trying to find some dinosaur bones and petrified wood but ended up taking a wrong turn and then ran out of time so we didn’t get to retrace our steps and try again.  Next time we’re in Moab, I’m going to try this outing again.  It was still very beautiful and fun.

We spent a lot of time playing in our campground’s over chlorinated swimming pool and soaking up the sun.  My boys had a blast practising their swimming moves, playing with their cousins and charming all the other travelers.  It was a blast!

Now we are back home.  I am almost unpacked and we are starting to think more seriously about Halloween costumes and decorations.  Those will be some fun Momshots!  What kind of Halloween or Autumn plans do you have?  Any good photo-ops coming up?

Tomorrow I will put up the new Tip of the Week.  Tye wrote us up a great one.  I’m excited for you to read it!

I am getting really excited and running around like crazy trying to do all the last minute packing and getting things ready.  This afternoon, we are going to Moab, Utah for a few days.  We will be camping and exploring the Southern Utah desert scenery.  I am really excited to take photos out at Arches National Park.  My whole family is going to be there for a Walker family reunion.  So hopefully we can get a nice family photo.  

I am going to take a ton of photos.  I’m excited!!!  Any recommendations?  Our campsite supposedly has Wi-Fi (we’re not roughing it that much) so hopefully I’ll find time to upload some photos for you.

Thanks for all the feedback on the Kids in a Box post.  It is so exciting to me when I read your comments.  Thanks for taking the time to post them.  It really means a lot!

So the obligatory photo of the day is one I found of my baby, Magnus.  This was taken before he could crawl.  I think it may have even been before he could roll over.  It is a close up of his cute little mug and he’s chomping on his fingers.  I converted it to black and white and I like it a lot better now.  Baby pictures work so well in black and white.  It smoothes out their skin tones and helps you focus on their beautiful big eyes.

So if you don’t hear from me for a few days, I’m soaking up the warmth and enjoying the majestic red rocks of Southern Utah.  I’ll be back for sure on Monday with your new Tip of the Week.  Tye’s cooking up a good one.  You won’t be disappointed!  

See you soon, my friends.

We got home from our 3000 mile road trip yesterday.  It was a long time driving but really, being stuck in the car with my all time favorite people is one of my all time favorite things to do.  On our trip I took a ton of photos.  I took photos of things on the side of the road, mountains, volcanos, trees, signs, people.  It was really fun.  We stopped a few times and took photos of things we saw on the side of the road but mostly I had to snap my photos through the bug smeared windshield.  It was a blast!

Here are a few shots from the trip.

We pulled over outside of Palmdale, CA for an emergency pee break.  This Scoop - Thank Bob The Builder for the name - was on the side of the road and we let Garland and Ulysses climb all over it.  They had a blast.  Gar cried for about 15 minutes after we forced them back into the car to resume our cross country trek.

Magnus in his car seat.  He gets pretty tired of his seat but he’s a trooper.  If his brothers are sitting next to him he has much more fun.

Ben, Ulysses and Garland standing outside of the closed down post office and general store in Kelso, California.  This is one of the two remaining buildings in that little dead town.  Quite a bit worse than Radiator Springs.

Here is a little montage of inanimate objects we saw.  This is Mt. Shasta through my bug smeared windshield, a few Joshua trees, a tree in the Middle of Nowhere in California heavily laden with shoes, and a bit of Route 66 nostalgic glory. 

We have been on a whirlwind trip - a giant road trip loop.  We started in Utah and drove up to Bellingham, Washington and then drove down to Palm Springs, California.  Today we are going to complete the loop and make our way home to Springville.  

I have had many photo opportunities with new scenery and family members.  I am excited to get back on track with posting and playing with my Momshots.  I have been remiss in that I haven’t posted this week’s Tip of the Week.  Tye typed it up for me but I haven’t posted it yet.  I’m just going to say that I am on vacation and will post it next week.  It’s a good one about using spot color so that will be fun!

In the spirit of Momshots, I am posting a photo of my adorable sister in law.  She is 8 1/2 months pregnant and this photo shows her sisters’ hands on her baby belly.