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The Crazy Chickens May 31, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Exercise, Friends, My Handsome Husband, Photography, Princess Hannah, Thoughts, Utah , 2comments

I never get up before 6:30 AM.  Ever.

Hannah sure tries her best to get me out of bed before 6:30 everyday, but I have a way of sleeping though all her chit chat.

Dallin understands my needs, and never wakes me up before I’m ready.  He’s a cool cat like that.

I like to refer to these people here (please take note of all the crazy runners) as “crazy chickens.”

These are all people in my neighborhood; all of them rip roaring and ready for an early 5K run on Memorial Day.

Have you ever wondered what a race looks like from the front?

Well, wonder no more!  I placed my life on the line and laid flat on my back and held my breath while people jumped over me.  It was a stampede I tell you!

David represented our family in this run.  Obviously, I could have used my superwoman strength and skills to run in the 5K as well, but my job is to take pictures, right?  That’s what I told David anyway . . .  I talked David out of running in the race bare foot (his feet are not ready for that yet) so he wore his VFF’s.

Now, please take note of our ROCK STAR 80 year old neighbor.  He passed David on the second mile . . . but this guy is not your regular 80 year old man.  He averaged a little over a nine minute mile on this run.

Seriously, he is such an inspiration.  Talk about someone living life!

Hannah represented us as well . . . she ran a mile.  GO HANNAH!

This is David demonstrating his very quiet run . . .

And now here are two of my favorite peeps!  Go David!  Go Luone!  Way to represent the VFF’s!

Photo Shoot Giveaway Winner! May 27, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Photography , 4comments

Do you remember the photo shoot I gave away last November?  Well, Jessica won, and wanted to redeem her photo shoot when the weather warmed up.  We got together this week so I could photograph her family.

Honestly, I was a little nervous when she told me she had five kids.

Kids can be very tricky to photography because they are a moving target and getting all of them to look in the same direction simultaneously can be challenging.

But . . .

Her family wins the easy-family-to-photograph-award because you see this picture here?

This is what they were like.  Easy.

This shoot was so much fun!  Hmmm . . . maybe I should give away another photo shoot soon . . .  :)

The Post Where I Divulge a Little Bit Too Much About Orem High School May 26, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Memory Lane, Photography, School, Thoughts, Utah , 6comments

My high school is going to be razed next week.  The new high school has been under construction for a few years and will be completed shortly.  A parking lot will be made where the old school sits, and the new school was built in the old school’s parking lot.

I am one of the few people (so I’m told) that loved high school and I find myself very nostalgic at the moment.

I drove by Orem High today to take some pictures before it was destroyed and I was too late!  The school’s name was already taken off the building! (Do you see the snow capped mountains?  They are compliments of the Monday’s storm.)  Today was the last day this building functioned as a school.

I happened to go to my old high school right as school was letting out . . . not something I suggest when carrying a bunch of camera gear.  I ran into my niece Betsy (who graduates on Friday) and my nephew Jake in the halls.  They were pretty surprised to see me wandering about!

Each year, the graduating class would nominate people for “Superlatives.”  I had forgotten I was nominated, and found it interesting and funny that I was voted “Most Photogenic.”  Yes, there was a time when I LOVED to be in front of the camera, that was about 10 years and 20 pounds ago.  Now, I just like to be behind the camera.  Maybe the category, “Most Likely to Become a Photographer” would have been more appropriate.  :)

I posted some of these pictures on facebook and it seems like everyone is a bit nostalgic!  Poor us . . . all of our memories will have to remain in our minds.  Our homecoming King from the class of 1996 (Andy Payne for anyone who knows/cares) messaged me after seeing these pics and told me I made a great Homecoming Queen.  I was all, um . . . what exactly made me great?  They way I accepted and wore my tiara?  Not a lot of duties (meaning NONE) if I remember correctly . . .

I saw this chart outside of the counselor’s office and it stopped me short.  I mean, 27 credits to graduate from high school?  Seriously?  Only 27 credits?  Doesn’t that seem like, not enough?  Gosh.  Four years to complete it too.  That is an average of six credits per semester.  No wonder I thought high school was easy.  To put it in perspective, medical school is an average of 31 credits per semester and there are no lame-o-filler-classes with that.  I’m just sayin’!

As I walked through the school, I couldn’t think of one teacher that I really remembered or who had influenced me . . . most of my memories were of my friends and in the cafeteria, which was renovated a few years ago.  I did however, drop into one classroom where I recognized the teacher’s name, Mr. Ashdown.  He was my driver’s ed teacher and had absolutely no recollection of me.  When I told him I was in his class in 1993, a girl sitting in a desk overheard me and said, “Hey!  I was born in 1993!”

Yes.  she just said that.  In that moment, I knew I had been in denial about aging.  Seriously, how can you deny your age when current high school kids were born the year you attended high school, and the actual school itself is going to be torn down because it is is SO OLD?

I must not deny it anymore.  I am aging.  I have wrinkles and some sun spots.

Heaven help me.

Wait, I think I just need a dermatologist to help me get back into the denial stage.

Yes.  I think I like being in denial.

A Few Thoughts This Morning May 25, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Family, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Thoughts , 5comments

Watching Hannah dance on stage this weekend and last night was more exciting than experiencing her excitement on Christmas morning!  David was laughing so hard, (because she was SO DANG CUTE) he literally had tears!  I wish I could have taken pictures, or video to share with you, but it was not allowed.  :(  Needless to say, the show was beautiful, and I have a feeling Hannah will be in many more productions.  :)

And now, GET THIS . . .

My Dad came to see Hannah’s ballet.

Did you just read that sentence?  Yes.  He came.  How could he turn down her cute little face asking him to come see her even after he paid her off?

He came, and for the record, he said, “I throughly enjoyed the ballet!  When’s the next one?”

I’m still processing his comment from last night.

WOW.  Who knew?  My dad . . . a ballet junkie?  :)

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

David finishes his medical school rotations on Friday.  That means he’s DONE with medical school on Friday.

FRIDAY!

I might just start calling him Dr. Lesher.  :)

His school held graduation in Boston last weekend, but we didn’t go.  I think I was more bummed than he was.  The bottom line is that it was just too expensive to travel across the United States of America to go to a ceremony that would recognize him as a Doctor.  I wish we could have gone though.  Really.  It’s a bum deal having to choose NOT to attend your graduation.  This is one of the many challenges that comes with attending a foreign school.

I saw some of his fellow classmates post pics on facebook, and it made me sad.   The road to MD is hard!  And I’m just the spouse!

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

My high school, Orem High, is being torn down in a few days.  They built a new one next to it, and as soon as school is out, the old school will be razed.

I have a million good memories there, and it makes me sad.  I’ll have to go take some pictures of it before it’s gone.

Contradiction May 24, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Thoughts, Utah , 4comments

We woke up to a cold, winter snow storm today.  I’m sure this would be totally normal if we lived in ALASKA.

It is May.  The end of May to be exact, and we are still experiencing winter.

UGH.

Remember when I posted about why we may or may not end up in Utah after David finishes residency?

Yep.  This post confirms that post.

No park for us today.  :(

Dress Rehearsal May 22, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Beauty, Photography, Princess Hannah , 8comments

Last night, Hannah experienced her first dress rehearsal (many more in the future, I’m sure) for ballet.

I was told she needed to wear makeup, and when I told Hannah this exciting bit of information, she ran up and down the street telling the entire world.  (OK, figuratively.)

We had a couple of minutes of free time before she had to head out the door to rehearsal, when she asked me to take her picture.  Heck, why not?  She is so dang cute and she was soooo excited about her beautiful make up. How could I not?

David took her to rehearsal, so I had some free time to play around with these pictures while they were gone.  (Look at her darling lips!)

See this pic here?  It is actually the same picture as the first image on this post.  In Photoshop, I duplicated the image (so I had two open copies of the image) and flipped one of them around and pieced them together.  This picture is actually just the left side of her face.

OK, maybe I had a bit too much time on my hands because I kept playing around, doing whatever.

I love my kids.

I love Photoshop.

In that order.  :)

Purchased for $8 May 21, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Family, Princess Hannah , 5comments

Hannah will be performing in the ballet production of “Coppelia” at the Scera Theater this Saturday evening and Monday evening.  She has invited all her relatives to the show.

However, my dad does not “do” shows.

EVER.

No movies, no plays, no concerts, and no ballets.

He offered Hannah a proposition (to which she asked, “What’s that?”) she simply could not refuse.

He bought her off.  He told her, he would PAY her the $8 it would cost him to go the ballet instead of actually attending the ballet.

Wanna know what she said?  (Be prepared, it will pull on your heart strings.)

Hannah: “But grandpa . . . I really, really want you to come.  Don’t you love ballet?”

My Dad: “Well honey, why can’t I just pay the money and then I won’t have to go to the ballet.”

Hannah: “Well . . . I still really want you to come.  You should come.  I’m in it!” (Smiling really big at this point and not taking a second look at the $8 dangled in front of her.)

After a little more convincing on my dad’s part (unbeknownst to Hannah, my dad did not plan to attend the ballet whether she accepted the money or not) Hannah decided that money was not all that bad and was throughly convinced she could buy all of Walmart.  Like, the entire Walmart franchise.

Looks like I need to take her shopping.  :)

One Year Cuteness May 20, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Friends, Photography, Princess Hannah , 1 comment so far

Oh.  My.  Cuteness.

This baby belongs to my friend Jeneece.

She just turned one over the weekend.

Hannah, who was such a helper with this shoot.  See this picture?  We held Hannah high above the baby’s head to get this expression out of her.) Hannah asked if “that baby” could just stay and play, and play, and play all day.

You see, we never let our clients go home.   We expect them to stay and play all day.  :)

Totally unrelated, I finally took time out of my busy and important life to post a little something here and here on the other blog I contribute to when I’m not so busy and important. (Please note that I DIDN’T write my bio.  I was too busy and important.  Obviously.)

Child Photographer May 19, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Photography, Princess Hannah , 3comments

(I’m not a fan of snapshots, but it’s warranted for this post.)

Oh my goodness.  What have I created?

I was in the other room when David called me in to see what Hannah was doing.  He promised it was worth it.

She set up some toys on a book so she could photograph them.

She even used flash!

When I asked her what she was doing, she said. “Oh, I’m just taking pictures.” Like it was TOTALLY NORMAL for a three year old to set up a shot and take pictures of it.  Too bad the camera she used was broken (hence, why she gets to play with it) because it would have been interesting to see how her pictures turned out!

In other photography news, Hannah’s cousin came over to play and brought along this little number which was an instant hit.

Hannah asked me if I would take her picture in it, and then she asked me to take a picture of the movement of her dress while she twirled.

See?  What have I done to my child!  Who thinks like that?!

This is the “movement” of the dress she requested.

She was quite happy with the pictures, so I’m glad I could please my number one client!

Other Hannah’s Headlines:

Seriously, everyone needs a Hannah.

Timpanogos Cave May 18, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Exercise, Family, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Parenthood, Photography, Princess Hannah, Utah , 4comments

Over the weekend . . .

We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese’s, which was our first time there since we were kids.  Oh.  My.  It was kid heaven.  The food was overpriced and average, but the kids loved every second on the rides.  At one point (before dinner mind you) Dallin climbed up the slide, and to our surprise, another child left a PUDDLE of pee for him to crawl into.

Oh.  My.  GROSS.

Of course I didn’t have extra clothes for him (Why would I?  He never leaks and never needs a bib, so I don’t pack extra clothes every time I leave the house!) so we stripped him down to his diaper and let him run around.

Boy did we ever feel like white trash.  Fortunately, the shirt was fine, but still . . . a baby running around in a shirt and a diaper in a public place just screams white trash to me.

On Saturday we hiked up to Timpanogos Cave (for those of you not familiar with Utah, it is cave in American Fork Canyon on the North end of Timpanogos Mountain.  The cave sits at 6,730 feet, and the hike is 1 1/2 miles rising 1,065 feet) and Hannah hiked the entire way up, complaining that her legs were tired almost the entire way.  (Poor kid, we only had one backpack for Dallin, but even if we had one for Hannah, neither one of us would have volunteered to carry her up!)   I planned on taking my camera, but at the last minute decided not to.

Really.  It was a good choice.  The hike is steep, and long (about an hour and a half hike uphill) and with kids, and all the extra hud we were carrying up (for the kids, who are needy) it would have been a pain.

But . . . the view is AMAZING.  I plan to hike this without the kids just to take pictures of the valley (where we live) from the mountain.  We did have David’s phone, so we got a few snapshots.  You might find this interesting, (because I know I did) but I am LAME, as in DO NOT KNOW HOW, to take pictures with a phone.

Silly.  Yes?

You would think that manipulating the camera in various ways (like I do) would make me an expert at all things techie (especially cameras) but you know what?  When we were driving home, I asked to see the pictures I took of David and the kids on the VERY-STEEP-DANGEROUS-TRAIL and there weren’t any.  After I accused David of deleting them, I realized I may not have successfully taken any.

Blast.

This is what we did get:

I know, it’s terrible quality, but can we just look past all that and focus on the valley between the mountains?  That’s where we live.  :)

The cave was fascinating to David, Hannah, and me, but Dallin was bored out of his brains and a little past bedtime when we entered the cave which made him extra pleasant.  You can’t take in baby carriers that have metal on them, so we had to hold the squirmy kid in a tight (and at times, claustrophobic) cave for 50 minutes while we waked through it.  (It’s a big cave.)

The last five minutes in the cave he screamed “Mommy!” and “Binkie!”  and “Tigger!” over, and over again, until everyone in that cave knew exactly what he wanted.

Note to self: Never take the kids on a hike when you can’t use the baby carrier the entire way.  Never take the kids when it’s past bedtime.  Never.

The highlight of the trip for me came a day later when Hannah was talking to Brian on the phone.  She told him, “Uncle Brian, do you know what stalactites are?  They grow from the ceiling and stalagmites grow up from the floor.”

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of her her knowledge eclipsing mine.  I don’t think I knew the difference .  .  .

Now you know I have to watch everything I say because she is paying attention!

Oh, and we hiked to Timp Cave in our Vibram Five Fingers.  It was quite nice actually.  At this point in the post, I would actually POST a picture of David in his five fingers, but  you see, I’m retarded when it comes to cameras on phones.