Hannah Claire

I had the coolest shoot this week photographing this wonderful couple who just had a gorgeous baby girl. I photographed Eric and Brenda with baby Hannah right in their front room. It was just beautiful to see what an amazing gift of life she is. Way to go both of you! Brenda and Eric are so proud of their little one...and you can see why....she is so precious!

So, we made it into a movie and you can see it right on my home page....just go to the home page
and go the the movies section...then scroll down to the kids and Hanna Claire.

Enjoy!

From Bangladesh with Love

Janea has been on a missions trip to Asia and we have been missing her here. Our families our quite close and we can hardly wait until she is back. Where is she now? Bangladesh, it's just East of India.

Now it's only a couple more weeks until she is home. So, would you please continue to keep her in your prayers. Thanks!!

Missing the kids

I have never quite related to families who were happy to be away from their kids. It's just not the way that Denise and I are built. We love being with them and when they are gone...well something is missing.

How many countries?

My Mom is always asking me how many countries I have been to. And quite frankly I don't know. It could be a numbers game, but I prefer to not make it that. I enjoy the memories I have of each place, under different circumstances. Some trips have been easier than others, I guess that is just the way it is. But, I have always had the incredible opportunity to see things, to experience the miraculous on every trip. I thank God for that and I can hardly wait to go again.

Here' a really cool map that I found from a friend of a friend. You can build your own too.

Changing...for the better

As anybody can tell you that has been married awhile...let's say 10 years...and has kids too, it is important to take the moments and treat each other special. Life is busy, going here and there, business is over the top, the kids, schedules - whew! Every home after awhile simple evolves into something that maybe the best intentioned hasn't wanted it to be.

So, how to preserve the most important aspects of your marriage and relationships? Make them a priority. Our boys are getting older so every moment is really precious. How I instruct, guide and encourage is really important to me and will more than likely be played out in the next generations as a model.

But where did I get out of the habit of opening the door for my wife?

Good question.

I am so glad that when we realize that we need to improve...we can.

Yesterday, I took Denise (aka Neesie) and snuck away for a little lunch at Olive Garden...what a wonderful memory just talking and laughing.

Life is good.

Amazing Rachel

Rachel is one of the most amazing people you will ever meet. I first met her in Central Mexico working with the Cora people. This week I thought I would share with you an image that moved me. Rachel is sharing her personal vow to Jerry...with scratches and redos. If you look closely you can read the whole vow with what she brings to the table.

Marriage can be hard at times and takes unbelievable committment in the good and bad times...thick and thin....prime rib and top ramen. ; ) In the years ahead I hope to share more with you about this amazing couple. Stay tuned cause it's unbelievable!

Valentines 07

I know that my wife likes cards and for years I would just buy them for her. But lately I have been making my own for her and although it takes a lot more time, it is well worth it.

I took Sausi and tried to have fun with her but all she wanted to do was bite the tin of chocolates.

Happy Valentines Honey!

r

Update on new blog

There are a lot of reasons to go forward on this new blog and moving away from blogger. And I have been getting feeback from other professionals around the country and they have been encouraging. Right now my blog doesn't seem to searchable even though I have requested it to be. And the admin...well, what admin? Even though blogger is free, well I would rather pay and have service.

So, Rick is working on the new blog. So, stay tuned.

Blogger Problems

It has become increasingly difficult to blog and upload anything with Blogger. Therefore, we will be replacing the blog at blogger with an internal blog in the near future. So, stayed tuned for a new look to our blog!

Googling Grant

I am pretty proud of my two boys for a variety of reasons. Today I thought I would take a moment and Google my oldest Son's name and see what came up. Yep, the crawlers found Grant...amazing I think.

Flu Season is here

Ok, so I don't feel that hot right now...in fact for the last several days I have been feeling pretty cruddy. But I am pushing through it. I think the nice thing is going to bed after taking NyQuil - I sleep so deep. I know that not everyone does well with NyQuil products, but I am one that enjoys not sniffling through the night. So, I went over to NyQuil
and found there are methods that one can take to improve sleep. But I think that all that reading just put me to sleep!

Superbowl 2007

Some of the Super Bowl ads this year were pretty funny. I especially liked the Wedding Ad
It just shows how creative some of these agencies are without being tasteless. I thought it was especially funny since over the years I have overheard people just wishin they could hurry it up. Ha! Too funny!

Dateable

This past month Lance and Jared Wilder, Rick and Madison Allen, Grant and Torey (my boys) and I started to go through a book on dating. For years now, I have heard how difficult this time can be for parents. I am so thankful this hasn't been the case with our boys. But, going through a book on dating...come on...that doesn't sound like much fun. But, I was wrong.

Rick found this book (he always finds cool books) Dateable
by Justin Lookadoo and Hayley DiMarco. What an incredible guide! If only something like that would have been out years ago.

How do we do it? We read a few chapters of the book individually and share what it meant to us each week. In our meeting we agreed that everything shared is confidential and only for our ears. So, sorry I can't share any details,... no stories,... no jokes...that's just the way it is. I can tell you this, that it has been a great time interacting with the boys as you can see here.

Improvise to Survive

My Dad taught me to improvise at an early age. Actually, it wasn't really taught as it was more just caught. Dad would take what ever he had and make it work, everytime. I suppose that it was just that era that he came from. To this day his shop is still pretty full of stuff. Sure, it's a challenge to navigate it let alone find anything. But if he did find what was looking for it saves him going to the store.

Today, Denise needed her car warmed up. I didn't have a ice scraper so I reached into my pocket and pulled out a business card that I had and it worked just fine. If you get one of my nifty cards feel free to keep it in your pocket in the winter for those cold days to knock the snow off...or go here - for custom ice scrapers.

But improvise to survive.

Best Seat in the House

For those of you who wonder how sports photographers "do what they do" or simply want to improve their skills, here you go. I want to refer you to Rod Mar
- an awesome sports photographer! He shows tech notes on images and I have found it to be a great resource as well as being entertaining.