Hey Mr. Easter Bunny.....

In spite of all the sickness swirling around in our house we managed to have a wonderful weekend. We dyed eggs and Austyn drew photos of me and Makenna.....



McCall tried to eat everything in site including hard boiled eggs......

The little girls hunted eggs until Savanah figured out that some were full of chocolate.....








Makenna was not impressed that she had to get a ladder to get her basket down :)

More of the little mister....


the little girls loved their new glasses...... so cute!!!!



We missed everyone in California and wish we could have been there.... :( We love you all!!!!

One more before I go...........

He made me laugh... really really hard... the kind of laughing that you love that makes you laugh for days... I love that about him, that and so many other things.
He is gracious and humble, he is strong and sincerely kind. He is amazing, in his 89 years I am sure he has seen so much. He is a wealth of knowledge, a sweet friend a wonderful man. Thank you thank you Don for humoring me in my photographic wonder... you are simply amazing and I love you.





His beautiful colt... who really needs a name :)






beauty... all around us. Promise not to tell Jerid... but I honestly love it here.. the beauty, the wonder, the way the light hits the grass.. the open land the mountains............ shhhhhhhh!!!!!


and sometimes photos just speak to me.. they ask to tell a story and they ask me to be their author.. I feel so humbled so blessed, so absolutely in awe....

think about this one, his hands...
imagine all that they have held.

Jamie beautiful Jamie......

I couldn't have asked for an easier session or for a more beautiful girl. Jamie best of luck in the Miss Utah pageant..... may you wow them all with your beauty and grace...

Why are professional photographers so expensive????

Written by an excellant photographer, Shawn Richter, Caught on Film Photography, San Diego, CA

.....................
In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home "photo printers", when people upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time - How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store?

Here's why.

Simply put, you're not just paying for the actual photograph, you're paying for time and expertise. First, let's look at the actual time involved. If you don't read this entire page, at least read this first part.

For a two hour portrait session:

- one hour of travel to and from the session
- two hours of shooting
- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 - 4 Gb of data)
- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive
- 3 - 4 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs
- 2 - 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at Fed Ex.
- For local customers, we also print a set of all of their photos, and meet them at our studio to review the photos and place their order. Meeting and travel time averages 2 hours.

You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour.

For an eight hour wedding:

- I won't bore you with the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least two to three full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500 / hour.

Now for the expertise.

Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website etc.

And let's not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera - and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself.

Think of it this way - the next time you pay $X to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional.

What about the cheap studios at the mall?

Please don't compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won't come to the beach! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for.

The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you'll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you're there, you'll also spend $200 on other things. They don't have to make money, they are just there to get you in the door.

Conclusion

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store.

Pneumonia and the tooth.....

Needless to say I spent the last week in bed with a bad case of pneumonia.... yuck.. I felt a bit like I was in hibernation. The little girls were busy destroying the house... and mr McCall finally sprouted a tooth!!!!! Most everybody has a runny nose here now and we are just hoping for a sick free Easter! (fingers crossed)
He really didnt want to show off his tooth for anyone to see....

nope not even when I promised him a treat....

He is STUBBORN..... geesh I shouldnt have expected anything less right?

Comeon little man.......please.........



O and he is on the move..... so much so that he crawled into the woodstove........ (we promptly declared it spring and removed it from the house.....)

back to the tooth at hand.... I finally I mean FINALLY got him to show off his little chomper.... isnt it cute?


I promise to catch up on sneek peeks this week.... promise.... when my kids stop whining and I stop coughing...... :)

I love you but............

Jerid took the kids this Saturday morning so I could sleep... after a night of restless toddlers I needed it. We worked on the yard the rest of the day and made some good progress.... I am getting sooooooooo ready for spring!!!!! I am ready to garden I am ready for green grass... I am ready for warm nights.
Our kitchen is making progress..........slow albeit........but progress.......


I finally found my Metropolis sign...............teehee

We went to donkey basketball this weekend..........McCall was in his true drooling/teething form..........



Austyn keeps asking why he is spitting .........its pretty funny.
One of me and my love...........my how he melts my heart. Even when I am mad at him he still seems to make me smile :)

and the little mister love......


When Jerid took the kids for a drive Saturday morning he took them out by Sand Mountain........a place where people take their four wheelers and dirt bikes......I guess there was a big climb that he drove up to and Makenna was begging him to go up it. When he finally gave in and said ok Bee............lets go she said ok dad............I have two things to say first........
I love you
and......
sometimes I use your toothbrush.



When he told me the story I nearly died. Here she thought they were going to do something dangerous.......something that may end their lives :) and that was her parting words....
I love you and sometimes I use your toothbrush............

gosh I love her...


on that note......she wrote a poem for school this week about where she was from. I am so amazed and so in awe of her talent... she is amazing that girl....

where I'm from
I am from camomile and cloth diapers.
I'm from the late 90's
from friendship chains and friends.
I'm from chaos and confusion and the promise.

I am from horses,
from riding horses to getting thrown off.
I am from hay from my head to my toes
and long rides with my dad.

I am from Kelly and Jerid,
and Steve and Debbie.
I am from basketball with grandpa (bapa),
and from helping him get olives.

I am from popcorn until my belly hurts.
from moms homemade pork-chops,
mashed potatoes and gravy.
I am from noodles of every shape and size.

I am from excursions to an
old ford, and a rusty Chevy
my mom learned to drive in.
I am from dirt roads and one stop
light towns.

I am from daffodils and sage brush,
and sunsets that never end.
from roses six generations deep,
and a land that knows my name.

I'm from lime green and hot pink
from blue and from brown.
from the colors of the rainbow.

I'm from liking to be the oldest to not,
from never being alone.
I'm from crying and streaking babies and
from Dora and Diego on the T.V. all the time.

I am from sharing a room with
my brother Mason and fighting over
who gets what part of the room.
I'm also from bunk beds.

I am from swimming
from sun up to sun down.
Water chasing memories...

I am from the nicknames
Sunny Bunny, Honey Bunny
Bee, Beetle, and Bee Bop.

I'm from bike rides to
Camp Richardson, and
running from geese on the beach.
from fire works over the freezing lake.

I am from moving and becoming more...
from fresh paint and a new address and
belonging.
I'm from a new way, a new thinking, a new reality...
i am from change.

I am from freckles, and
dimples, and hair of blonde.

That is what I'm from



I couldn't love her more!!!!!!!!

Im off to bed... but if you live in Holden and you are missing a sweet sweet little black male dog he is at our house.......and if you dont come for him soon my kids just may fall in love. (ok me too)


On to another week... packed full of kids and excitement I am sure....
I love you..........and sometimes I use your toothbrush...........

:)
what would you say in that moment? What would your last words be?

think about it :)