Night Flowers

Last night we went to my sister in law's house for a family bbq and to watch the fireworks display put on by a local church. We had a great view of the show from the back yard. I had my first attempt at shooting fireworks and was pretty pleased with the results. For any photo buffs out there, I put my shutter speed on bulb and shot these at f/9.0, ISO 400, 2-5 second shutter speed. Don't they look like flowers?

After the Honeymoon

Kayla and Blaine got married in May, so they have plenty of recent pictures together, but I asked to take them out for a shoot

anyway. Since they met last summer while working at Aspen Grove, we headed up there for some pictures.

It's a beautiful place!

Twins Turn One

Remember these guys? They're turned one a few weeks ago! We had fun wandering around the farm together.

Whenever Amy and I are together I usually forget to take a picture of us. Blair reminded us this time.

The Move

After I finished my oral coursework exam I had one afternoon to rest before starting the packing process. Then this past Tuesday morning we said goodbye to our old apartment and got in our truck for a long drive.

This is our basement apartment in Provo--I eventually got used to the weird floor plan and low ceilings.

This is Ella's first nursery; it opened into our bedroom. But she has her own room now!

Our massive moving truck. We got the big one because it was cheaper than the smaller one. By a couple hundred dollars. Weird. The thing was only filled halfway.

Here's my manly truck driver. He tamed the beast and even managed to back it up successfully a couple of times.

We towed our car so Ella sat between us during the drive. Thank goodness there were no airbags and no policies against child passengers.

The trip was exhausting. Ella took some good naps but it was a trick keeping her entertained. She kept trying to get Blair's attention while he was driving. Very cute but not so safe! In the end, the drive that usually takes 10 hours ended up lasting 13 for us. That's really not so bad considering we could only make it up to 35 or 40 mph when climbing hills/mountains and the beast maxed out at 65 mph on flat ground. Oh, didn't I mention where we went? If you read this far you'll get the answer: Gilbert, AZ. Yep, Arizona in July. We must be crazy.

Beautiful Family

Remember this cute family? Sarah asked me to take some more family pictures for them before we move away. I actually did these for them a few weeks ago. Their little Elizabeth is such a doll and has been a good playmate for Ella. We'll sure miss them!

One Less

As of today I have one less hurdle between me and my Master's degree! I sat for my oral coursework exam this afternoon. It was just me and three of my professors locked in a room for 2 hours with me in the hot seat. I had to answer questions, draw diagrams, apply knowledge to new situations, and prove I've mastered the material I've been learning. And I passed! Now all that's left is my thesis project. I'll be finishing that long distance because we're moving to AZ on Tuesday.

To celebrate passing the exam Blair and I took Ella to the pool/water park in our neighborhood this afternoon. It was great weather and Ella had a fun time experiencing the water and watching the other kids. Then we splurged on some Haagen Dazs and I spent the evening NOT studying. It was refreshing.

No pictures of Ella swimming yet but here are some pictures that our friend, Emily, took for us a few weeks ago. We had beautiful weather until just before we met for pictures. The wind picked up--no, it REALLY picked up--and a dust storm blew in and made the air hazy. And Ella didn't want to cooperate very much. But Emily still managed to capture some nice pictures of us! Here are my favorites.

Favorites

Ella has really been showing personality and preferences in the past several weeks. Here are some of her favorite things:

Bath time. She kicks her legs and grins when she sees us filling her tub.

Bananas. We have to hide them or she'll point at them and grunt then whimpers pathetically when we don't give her one.

Anything from mom and dad's plate. She loves to experience new things.

Avocados. It's her favorite food...she cries when it's gone. And, no we don't feed her like this. We use a spoon.

Peaches!

Morning yoga...nice cobra form. Okay, so she's not a yoga prodigy. But she does enjoy playing with her toys on the floor each morning.

Her stuffed elephant, Zobedia. Ask me later if you want to know about the name.

Smiling and being sweet

Ella is going on 11 months tomorrow. Her first birthday will be here before we know it! And she's still our favorite little person.