Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Catching Up: May and June 2011


The annual LDSEHE Homeschool Conference rolled around in May.  I have a couple of pics of the Neptune statue on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach.  The hotel was just past the end of the boardwalk.
Logan and Amy

Me, Logan and Amy

Me, Jennie, Amy, Logan, and Miranda


Rick and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary this year.  Can't believe it's been that long!  We went on a nice, relaxing trip to the Pigeon Forge TN area and stayed in a lovely cabin for a few days.  It was great, and we can't wait to take the kids there sometime soon.
I took this quiet getaway as an opportunity to try to figure out my camera a bit more. 

Our cabin was so secluded in the trees, I didn't have much to take photos of!

The wonderful cabin.

On the back deck.

Wonderworks....such a cool looking building.

Me in front of the "Titanic"....at the Titanic museum.
Rick's father passed away on Memorial Day.  It was very unexpected and a big shock to us all.  We made a trip to California for the funeral.  It was a beautiful funeral but we were all very emotional.  While we where there, we took the kids to a great park in Cerritos.  I believe it's called Heritage Park and it's on a little island with kid-sized, colonial-style buildings.  Slides and steps and different levels are inside the buildings.
That's Henry in the window.

Henry on the slide.

And then Emma.

Austin....thinking....so....intensely.

Rick.....touchdown?

Thomas posing for me while I tried out different camera settings.

"I'm flying!" (Thomas)

Henry

Love these looks on Emma's and Thomas' faces.

Audrey and Alyse

Emma posing for more camera exploration.

Audrey, Emma, and Alyse

And then, of course, I had to get all artsy-fartsy with the camera.  (Audrey in the background)
Right after, and I mean right after, that trip to California Audrey and I drove up to southern Utah for my nephew's wedding.  My sister asked me to make a cake for the rehearsal dinner.  And I also made the groom's cake at my nephew's request.  It was a busy caking week!
Beach-themed rehearsal dinner cake....a Fedora on one chair and a  bouquet of lilies on the other.

Meaghen and Daniel

Groom's cake....he requested a wakeboarding cake.

My sisters Anna and Amy in front of the house where the receiving line and refreshments were served right after the wedding in the church next door.


Audrey, Aaron (my other nephew and Best Man), and Madison

My brother-in-law Kelley and my sister Bonnie

More....

....artsy....

fartsy....Hey wait!  Where did my daughter learn to be so silly?  That is ridiculous.

See...a nice serious picture...lovely.  Why can't she be more like me?

Uh, never mind.





They whip their hair back and forth!  They whip their hair back and forth!

My parents and my brother-in-law and sister dancing.
And my niece did have the baby!  Here he is....so sweet!


This year was our family's 3rd year participating in the outdoor drama The Promised Land in Bath, NC.  Henry and I have sat out for the last 2 years.  I think I might have to get back into it next year!
Audrey, Madison, and friends singing a beautiful song a capella in the preshow.

Half the cast.

And the other half.

Audrey, Thomas, Austin, and apparently a very tired Emma.

Rick as John Taylor.

Oh my gosh!  I caught up through June!  Sweet Pickles!!!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for all the pictures! I loved the ones of TN. We'll have to go sometime. Those cakes are awesome. How did you bake cakes when you're not at home? You're amazing. Looks like you've been having a grea time. Kylie sure misses you at church.

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  2. Hey Marcie,
    I took a bunch of my stuff with me to my sister's to work on the cakes.

    I miss my Primary class. I'll miss the next two Sundays! Man, I hate this summer. Can't wait for things to settle down some.

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  3. I LOVE the new look of the blog! Did you do it yourself?

    It's fun to see what you've been doing while away. You're so great a photography! I'm just learning about aperture, ISO, and shutter speed and how they connect. Whew! It's a lot for my brain... You seem to have it figured out, though. :)

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  4. Hey "Anne" ;) Yes, I did the blog myself. After doing the MM, I thought maybe I would try custom design on our family blog.

    I'm just trying to understand ISO, aperture, shutter speed myself, along with the white balance settings on my camera. I am having a hard time understanding and keep it all straight. Some of these pics were edited in Photoshop since I'm not quite there yet with the raw shots. But I do enjoy photography...wish I had more time to spend learning about it. I have the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. That was recommended to me and it's been helpful....just can't quite wrap my brain around it all yet.

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  5. So sorry to hear about Rick's dad's passing.

    Your kids have changed and grown up SO much. They are darling and I enjoyed all your photos.

    Your cakes are, of course, AMAZING!

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