Battle of the Bands 2011!

Every year, Ogden holds a "Battle of the Bands" competition for local high school bands. Cole's brother Heath's business, Music Village, is one of the sponsors. I love stuff like that, so I thought it would be fun to go down to the Union Station, listen to the bands, and support Heath. I also thought it would be fun to take Kyle with us...

We headed down and got there right as the doors opened. In addition to the main event, the Newgate Mall was giving away $10 gift certificates in between every band, Cherry Bomb Salon was doing "Rock your Hair" colored extensions for free, and there were a bunch of vendors of music "stuff" (for lack of a better word, there was a wide variety) for the bands and kids to check out.

From April 2011

(this pic was a little over exposed, but perfect in every other way!)

I got some sparkly strands tied into my hair, and we ate some dinner (Chick-fil-a and Pizza Factory) while we waited for the bands to begin.

From April 2011

Like Father like Son...

From April 2011

From April 2011

My nephew Hunter...

From April 2011

My father in law was talked into getting a rockin' hair extension by my niece and nephew...and they chose pink!

From April 2011

From April 2011

The things a grandpa will do for his grandkids!

These guys had built their guitars out of gas cans...and they were AMAZING!

From April 2011

The Crowd...

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My father in law and brother in law working the sound....

From April 2011

These guys, from Layton High, were my favorite...unfortunately, they didn't win :(

From April 2011

These guys were from a special needs high school.

From April 2011

Each band had to sing 2 songs of their own material. These special needs kids...the drummer was deaf, and played by feeling the vibrations. Their first song was tolerable, the second was much less than tolerable...but my heart was warmed because all the high school kids cheered for them just like they did for the other bands. It was remarkable.

It also made me smile to realize that on the surface, high school kids really haven't changed that much. And neither have I. :)

Four

How is it that time has passed so quickly, and now my baby is Four?

From April 2011

No longer a baby except to me and her daddy, she is such a fun little person. She is still sunshine personified, with a bit of attitude and "drama queen" thrown into the mix.

From April 2011

We decided to have a "friend" birthday party for her this year, so our Friday was busy. I had trouble sleeping the night before (for some reason, I kept replaying the night I was in labor with her over and over in my head...definitely my easiest and best labor experience) so Cole let me sleep in while he got the kids off to school and started getting things ready for her party. After I got up, I got to work making frosting and decorating cupcakes for the party and of course, her birthday cake.

From April 2011

From April 2011

She really wanted a Littlest Pet Shop birthday...she loves her little animals. I couldn't find supplies locally, so we had kind of a conglomerate "girly" birthday party...princesses, pets, flowers, butterflies...it was a little hard for me, my type A personality coming out wanting everything to match, but she was happy!

From April 2011

From April 2011

We got all ready for the party...we started off decorating tiara's...

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From April 2011

(intense concentration)

From April 2011

Then we played "Stick the ladybug on the Poster"..which I have no pics of because I was the one helping the girls...

Finally we had a pinata, lovingly made my my wonderful husband.

From April 2011

From April 2011

This girl really knew how to whack a pinata...

From April 2011

From April 2011

Despite Cole's efforts to make the pinata weak enough for the little girls to break it, it was still too strong. We had to call in a "heavy hitter" to take it out...

From April 2011

From April 2011

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(I had to post all those pics...I love his expressions as he tried to take out the pinata!)
Gathering the loot...

From April 2011

Then we opened presents (and she loved them all, Thanks!), and had cupcakes!

From April 2011

After the friend party, we did some damage control. Later, Grandma and Grandpa joined us for pizza. Talia opened her present from them...

From April 2011

She was thrilled with the clothes, coloring book and crayons!
Then she opened her presents from Mom and Dad...

From April 2011

From April 2011

Butterfly wings, "Tangled", Clothes, and Sandals...she was so excited!

Finally it was time for the cake. She'd been asking for it all day, so excited to get her new pets to play with...

From April 2011

From April 2011

(the best pics I've ever gotten of any of my kids blowing out the candles...I LOVE my new camera!)

We enjoyed cake, and then we watched "Tangled" for the first time. Talia told me it was "the best movie ever!". Talia kept telling me what a great birthday it had been..."and next time on my birthday, I'll be 5!"

Thankfully, not for another year. :)

Happy (very early) Birthday to Me!

As many of you know, I've been getting more and more into photography in the past couple of years.  I haunt the photography blogs, I pore over my friends' photo's, asking about techniques and tips....and I've been researching digital cameras.  I have loved my current camera, the Canon 980IS.  However, when I bought it, I didn't know enough about photography to know what I really wanted/needed out of a digital camera.  As I've been reading and researching the past 6 months or so, I've discovered what I want is full manual control (like a DSLR) in a point and shoot size package.  I know myself, and I want a camera I can throw in my purse when I'm out and about, or stick in my pocket when I'm riding rides at Lagoon.  I don't go anywhere without my camera, and a DSLR is just too big and bulky for me.  So, I've been researching smaller options, and for me, the best option was this camera....

From March 2011

This little camera has full manual control, an f/2.0 capable lens, and some nice program and auto modes (for those moments when I don't have time to compose a shot).

I've been watching the camera on Amazon since February.  It went on sale, I didn't buy it, and then it went back up to full price.  Then it dropped a little...but I waited.  Finally, it went on sale for a pretty good discount again...I talked to Cole, and we decided to not wait to see if it would still be on sale in May, for my birthday.  We bought it.  It came last Wednesday....when I was sick.  I was so excited, but didn't feel good enough to do much with it.  I did play with it a little, however, and got some pretty good pictures considering I don't really know what I'm doing with the manual settings...

This one's a little dark...no flash. 

From March 2011

Better...my princess was being so sweet to "take care of mommy" while I was sick...

From March 2011

From March 2011

Doesn't he look like a miniature lion? I love the way the light coming through the window makes his fur glow!

After I was feeling better, I played a bit more.

From March 2011

I LOVE how I was able to get pictures of the actual snowflakes coming down...something I haven't been able to get to work on my other camera all winter....The white balance is a little off though....

Then, yesterday, we had a family bridal shower.  This is my Grandma's side of the family, and even though we really only see each other when we have someone getting married, we always have such a good time catching up.  I took my new toy to see what it (and I could do)....

All these pictures were taken indoor without a flash.  The natural lighting was pretty good, but my other camera would never have gotten such clear images...I was doing an internal happy dance!

From March 2011

From March 2011

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From March 2011

From March 2011

There is a little movement blur, but I still don't really know what I'm doing, so I was thrilled with these results.  I didn't want to use the flash because it's distracting, and my family has a bad habit of running from the camera, so I knew that my best chance of getting pictures was to shoot without the flash.  The last picture in that bunch was my Aunt and her grandaughter.  My cousin and family just moved to Vegas 3 weeks ago, and it's been really hard on my aunt and uncle not to have their grandkids next door.  I really wanted to translate the special relationship between Gram and Quinn on camera...and I think it turned out beautiful.