Christmas is coming . . .

My friend asked if I could help design a Christmas card for her. Here are the two that she chose. I really enjoyed making them. I have only focused on photography for the last year, and not card making, so I enjoyed getting back into it for a bit. Hmmmm, will my family have a Christmas card this year? There is that saying, "the shoe maker's son has no shoes."

My sister, Valerie: Happy . . . FOREVER!

Last August Valerie was sealed to her husband, Kevin, in the Billings, Montana Temple. It was a great day and I was so excited to get to take pictures of them together, that is until I realized that would also make me in charge of the big group picture of all attending -- that made my heart sink with fear! Kevin's aunt who was attending is also a photographer and stepped in to help me out. She knew of a great spot for large group pictures and it was a big help. I know Valerie has been waiting for over two months for me to edit her pictures. Val, I apologize I don't have them done yet -- you're next on my list! Here's one picture, with more to come sometime later this week.

My nephew is a SENIOR!

I still remember Cameron as a tiny baby laying on his tummy on the floor while I watched a movie with my sister. One of my favorite memories of him was when he was two or three years old. I took care of him and his sister while my sister went to girls camp. It was my first experience taking care of someone that age for more than just a few hours. I will never forget how cute he was as he ran back and forth in the room acting out little stories that he imagined up. His energy never ran out. Now that I have a few boys of my own, I fully understand that energy and imagination. So, now he's 17 and seems more like one of my friends than one of my nephews, because nephews are supposed to be little kids, right? Maybe the fact that he's so old now really just means that I'm getting old.

I tried to do a variety of editing. I wanted to keep some soft and have others really pop. I experimented with a couple of different techniques to help bring out the color in some of the pictures and came across a fun Photoshop action that sketches pictures. So, I included one of those just for fun.

blonde hair blue eyed family

Here are some pictures of a beautiful family that I go to church with. The little boy in the orange shirt used to be in my primary class. Their whole family is gorgeous!!!