A few more keepers

We were supposed to take pictures of Ethan and Bella together, but Ethan was having too much fun with his cousins to really feel like taking pictures. I think some of these turned out well for a squirmy subject. He's looking a little GQ here. How adorable is he in his suit and tie. He really was very patient with us even though he didn't really want to be there he still stood by that tree for half an hour. What are you going to do though... he's only 3. It was hard to get one of Ethan where he wasn't moving. This is a little over exposed, but you can see more of his suit and I like the startled face he's making. It looks very old fashioned.

One more of the beautiful Bella. She loves her feet.

What a gorgeous family. Could they get any more photogenic?

The Jacksons

Kate and I along with Summer, Bella, Ethan, Tyler & Chase all headed over to the Reiff house to take some family pictures. The house is the perfect studio. Brenda has the house stocked with the best props not to mention goodies for taking family portraits. The outdoors was even perfect although I think Summer was a little worried that it wasn't finished enough for pictures, but I think they turned out great. I loved the color ones so I had to put them on as well, but the sepia are my favorites.

Here you can see one of the many Christmas decorations in the home. We had to take a Christmas picture while we were there. I love the tree behind them. The colors were great. The boys were fabulous while we were taking pictures, although they were a little tired and distracted by this point. I'll have to put in a progression of pictures of Ryan in these pictures. While everyone mostly had the same face plastered on, he was making faces through several (one asleep, one ubersmiling, and one half dead). It was really funny actually. Sometimes I don't catch it while I'm taking the pictures and get a good laugh out of going through them later.

Like I said before, the boys were super cooperative. They get cuter and cuter everyday and those missing teeth on Tyler are ADORABLE!! I can't get enough pictures of my neice and nephews.

Summer was a big help for the pictures of the whole family. She had really great ideas and she could get the boys to smile real smiles.

I think overall the day was a great photo success. I'm so lucky to have such photogenic people to take pictures. It makes my life a whole lot more fun and easier for that matter (less editing). Thanks for having such great kids Kate and Ryan, and Summer and Steve! Thanks Carl and Brenda for letting us use your house. It is SO beautiful! Next time we'll have to plan it better so we can be there when you're there!

Bella's photo shoot

Its been hit and miss taking pictures of this sweet little girl. We keep trying to make plans and the seem to keep falling through, but with the persistance of a mother watching her little ones grow up right before her eyes we finally caught a few pictures of this gorgeous baby. She was so happy to be naked! Summer is such a great mom, she could get Bella to smile on cue!

As you can see she has her token accessories on, pearls and flower headband. With our little makeshift studio we managed to take a few keepers. We had a velvet-like blanket, a couple of flood lights, a couple of reflectors (equipped with holders - Ryan thanks) and as many crazy expressions as we could come up with to keep Bella smiling.

Kate and I both had fun taking pictures, but she and I love the post processing results. It helps to have a good picture to go from, but with Photoshop anything seems possible.

Summer thanks for opportunity to take some pics and use my camera this weekend. Its been gathering a little dust lately. I also took some pictures of Kate and her family which I am still working on and will post probably tomorrow ( I forgot a disk at home).

Belated Halloween

Yes I know its WAY past Halloween and you may have seen some of these pictures elsewhere, but I thought I would put something new up on my blog. It was a really fun Halloween. BFBA, the office where I work, went all out decorating for a recruiting event. It is the first year that we've been allowed to dress up for work and well, of course some of us went a little overboard.

People were a little nervous to be around me. As you can see I looked a little agitated and like I might bite. The outfit wasn't too hard to throw together. The teeth and the makeup really made the costume. I had the dress from Highschool (wow been chubby forever :) There were a couple of people who were even scared....ooooooooh!

I think this picture was before lunch. I was starving and tired. Good thing it was a cloudy day!

I don't know how I can top this next year!

A minute at the park....

So Kate, Tyler, Chase & I spent Monday just "hanging" out much to Kate's chagrin (she'd rather be shopping at any point in time). We headed to A & W and got diet root beers, popcorn chicken, and cheese curds (don't ask) then headed to the park (no slides or swings). It's the same park dad & Kate took the boys to, to feed the ducks. The light was amazing... the boys weren't incredibly cooperative (as far as pics go), but they are so DARN photogenic its hard to suck at photographing them.

I asked Kate if she wanted any pics of her and the boys and since the light was SO good we took advantage (even though Kate wasn't sure her hair was up to par ... looks great to me). If you notice in the bottom left hand corner, you'll see a couple of sodas... I kinda of like them. Looks like it wasn't set up (which it was).

I have a tendency to shoot into the sun... which makes the pictures really hazy, but I like the effect and if you don't well, don't tell me. I love how Tyler and Chase both look in these pics, gazing out to the water. They look so thoughtful... There was a bird out in the water that was just standing there and it mesmerized the boys. They couldn't understand why it would just stand there ( I couldn't either come to think of it... if it didn't move every once in awhile I would have thought it was a statue).


Alright, has anyone seen Tyler? This kid can not be him... he's too grown up! The more I hang out with that kid the more I love him. He's awesome and SO smart! I was talking to him awhile back about a toy he got from McDonald's (Wizard of Oz doll). It had eyelashes so he was sure it was girl "cause only girls have long eyelashes" my counter was "you have really long lashes and so do your dad and Chase...longer than mine or your mommies" he thought about it for a minute and said "then the doll must be a boy because only boys have long lashes..." Sounds logical to me!


That was a really fun day! I love hanging out with Kate and the boys (its always a highlight of my week)... even if we do go shopping once in awhile ;-)

I have to give credit where credit is due... Kate you have MAD editing skills and beautiful boys both of which make these pictures great! Thanks!

Sprint Down Memory Lane

15 years ago...

I actually was a senior (Kate, hehe). Here's a shy kid's story... so I decided to try out for Madrigals, the elete choir at Shasta High, at 17... if any one remembers me when I was a teen I was really REALLY shy, ie I had to think of things to say to the cashier at 7-11 when I was buying a soda before entering the store... hehe. Anyway the tryouts were pretty difficult (for me), you had to prepare a solo and sing it! I think I stunned my parents by going out for it! Even more surprising I made the choir!! The most surprising thing of all was that I accepted an invitation to sing at a stake conference. My parents were probably thinking "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" because that was so out of character. The music programs at Shasta gave me a lot of confidence that I could do whatever I set out to do. I would have never tried out for any choir had my parents not pushed me into it on the advice of one Peggy Grimmius. She heard me singing around the campfire and told them they had better get me into something! The opportunites that singing has afforded me include but are not limited to: a trip to Japan, a trip to Europe, traveling around the state, singing at BYU, which included concerts for the prophet a couple of times, being involved in a national honor choir, etc. The pic below is from the trip to Europe. Ah Paris!

10 years ago...

I was just coming home from my mission to Florida Tampa/Orlando spanish speaking. Another shocker for my parents was my decision to head out on a mission. Although feeling pretty good at my abilities as a singer, I was no where close to going up to strangers and telling them my feelings in another language. Ha! I'm sure my trainor on the mission thought I was so strange. I made her do all the talking although I could speak spanish better (she went out as an english speaking missionary and was changed after she got there to spanish speaking, can you imagine?).

I came home to a fairly empty house, although the airport was CRAZY full of family, my immediate family were all out on missions. Steve had left in the summer for Peru and Kate had left days before I got home to the MTC for her mission to Argentina! It was 3 years before I saw Kate and a little more than that for Steve! We were all out on missions for like 10 days! Poor mom and dad!

I came home a few days before Christmas and I remember I was FREEZING! After the warm weather (warm... what am I saying, more like roasting hot) of Florida the cool winters in California had me shivering. I remember staying in the bathroom after a hot shower taking in the warm humid air. I never EVER took my coat off that winter!

5 years or so ago...

I moved from my favorite city, Redding, to Sacramento! I stayed with my parents at first, down in Elk Grove and attended junior college CRC where I picked up more musical techniques and info, studied and spoke spanish (I even worked in the language lab... got paid I mean), and learned how to use an SLR camera. I took pretty much every fun class I could think of, not taking me any closer the goal of graduation, but definitely keeping me busy and enjoying it as I went. I started on in the admin department at BFBA (where I currently work) to earn some extra dough. Who knew I would stick it out here so long!?

I've gone through a slew of roommates in the last five years! Most are married and have kids now! Which is why I have opted for a non-LDS roommate. She is very respectful, but I don't think she is going to run off with any guy she has been dating for a couple of months and get married, like some of my other roommates. I've met some FANTASTIC people through all my adventures in housing! and of course the occasional Pig Pen wannabe... I've learned SO much about myself and I've really learned some amazing things from my roommates/friends.

Also around five years ago I became an Aunt Jenna! As you may have gathered from previous posts, I'm in LOVE with my nephews and now my beautiful niece! I had the priveledge of being there for the birth of my nephew (no better birth control)! Kate was such a nervous wreck. She couldn't relax and was constantly listening for that fast fluttering heart beat! When Tyler finally made his appearance, it was like he'd been part of the family forever. He is such a beautiful loving boy! I love hanging out with him and I hope he will always want to hang out with his Aunt Jenna! Its GREAT being an aunt, all the love, hardly any work!

A little less than 5 months ago...

I was able to meet the newest addition to the Fink Family tree! Baby Bella! It's SO different than with the boys! She's still so young that I don't know what to make of her yet, but I love love LOVE holding that little heater! She is SO soft and cuddly, when she's asleep, she's pretty wiggly when she's awake, but I think she starting to get to know her Aunt Jenna. Good thing Kate's an Aunt this time! She's got to have an that'll take her shopping!

5 things on my to do list for tomorrow...

1. Exercise - it's Saturday and its fast becoming a tradition to run the American River trail and go to breakfast at Denny's with Kate, Mom and Dad.

2. Clean up - my bedroom looks like a tornado passed through, well rather, sat there for a day or two to reak havoc in my room and then moved on. Who could the tornado be?

3. Read the end of the Lovely Bones. I keep getting distracted. Really it is a good book that I've been reading for too long!

4. Make sure my nephews get enough sugar. What else are aunts for!

5. Weights - my trainor has been on me for not doing more strength training.

5 things people don't know about me...

1. I never sleep with the covers over my feet... even in winter! They also dangle off the end of the bed... on purpose. I think it was because I used to be affraid of having my feet hang over the edge and be uncovered... I couldn't let the monsters under the bed win and I've been sleeping like that since.

2. I can say good morning/day in probably 15 languages... what good that does I don't know, I can at least be polite in the morning in all those countries! Guten morgan! Ohiogozimas! Bon jour! Bon Journo! Buenos Dias! Not actual spelling!

3. I LOVE comedy! If they could edit out all the crude humor I would be at comedy shows 24/7! No better remedy than a good laugh, even on your own!

4. The outdoors is my favorite place to be. I, unfortunately, am too lazy to get out there as much as I would like, but there is nothing better than the smell of fresh air.

5. I'm affraid of swimming in the ocean. I don't like swimming where something might eat me, call me crazy.

5 bad habits....

1. Lazy... I have SO many things I want to accomplish it makes me too tired to do any of them!

2. Foodie...this goes with out saying, if you like to eat, it will eventually show up in your dress sizes!

3. Opinionated... this could go up in the things people might not know about me, because I may not tell you what I think, but I definitely have an opinion about it.

4. Don't work enough at work... hehe... I'm doing this post at work... whoops!

5. Bad at cell phones - I don't call people back... I answer the phone SO much at work that it puts me off answering any phones at any other time... plus I HATE talking on the phone... much better to talk in person. So, if you've been the victim of my unreturned phonecalls, drop by, I'll definitely talk to you then, well maybe.

5 places I've lived...

1. Provo, UT

2. Kissimmee, FL

3. Redding, CA

4. Elk Grove, CA

5. Sacramento, CA

Tag people... No.

Chels you ROCK!

So, I don't like posting ANY pictures of myself and thankfully I usually have an excuse not to (I'm the one taking the pictures), but I couldn't help myself with the pictures Chels took! I am impressed! I usually think I look alright when I leave the house after checking the mirror, but it doesn't translate into good pictures. It's been 10 years since I've really liked a photo of me, so thanks again Chelsea!

And here's a goofy one for good measure!

Brownie Couch Heaven

So, in Oregon, Chelsea took us all around to the sites of Portland. Little did we know that the city excursion would include a little piece of heaven. After seeing store after store of sales and no tax we stopped off at a favorite shop of Chelsea's named Restoration Hardware (should be restoration "soft"ware). From the outside of the store it looked like a Pottery Barn, Ethan Allen, or any such store, but as we wound our way through the store, Chelsea had her focus pinned on a large brown leather couch. I believe she told us that this couch could change your life. She was NOT exaggerating! I was a little sceptical at first, it's just a couch and I've sat in plenty comfy couches, but as Kate and I leaned back into the couch the first thing to come to mind was WOW! Its hard to describe the AWESOMENESS of this couch. Its like your muscles are getting a hug all over your body! Everything was just right! I could have sat there all day. I would still be sitting there if I had my way! We sat there at least 20-30min unitl a sales rep had to subtlely tell us to take turns with the other customers. If money grew on trees and I could have anything I wanted, the top of the list, which used to consist of grander expenditures like trips to Europe, etc. has been replaced by this supple understated heavenly couch. Aptly nicknamed the "brownie couch" by Chelsea and family, no doubt for its color and shape, is not disimilar in the comfort that little bit of chocolate heaven provides your mouth, but for your WHOLE body! Now the bar is set and the search is on for a couch as deliciously comfortable yet not so out of reach economically! Thanks again Chels!

Which Jane Austen Character are You?

Take the Quiz here!

Bella's Blessing

The dress Bella is wearing was worn by my grandpa Yeager when he was christened and by Kate, Shelley and I. It is nearly a hundred years old. Bella looked like a porcelain doll with her pink cheeks, blue eyes, ribbon and pearls.

Her mom, Summer, was a little worried she would be washed out by so much white and added a little tint to her cheeks. She's such a beautiful baby, although a little difficult to photograph becuase she is always tasting the air with her tongue or searching the room for new things with wide eyes that its hard to catch her relaxed. There were so many people there at the blessing luncheon that she just couldn't stop looking around (probably for mommy).

Such photogenic families! It was good to see everyone again! Doesn't seem like that long ago that Steve and Summer got married ( 11 months I think)!

Grandma Reiff (Brenda) and her daughters have had an assembly line going for little/big flowers, bows, bracelets, etc. for Bella! She is definitely not going to be mistaken for a boy! She has already had several fashion shows, although mommy says she will NOT be a model when she grows up! Good to get those priorities straight early! Education is much more important than looks! Looks are just a bonus!

I don't think Bella could have looked any more precious! She gets more and more beautiful everyday! She fell asleep on me after the luncheon and it didn't matter that she was a little heater or that my arms were falling asleep! I couldn't let go of that cuddly soft sweet baby! Congratulations Steve and Summer! That was a great blessing and really happy event!

Oregon

I took a few pictures of Kate's and my trip to Oregon, but mostly just on the way there. It was SO much fun there that I didn't even think to take out my camera and snap some pics of my GORGEOUS , not to mention INTELIGENTE, cousins and their beautiful families! Thank you Chelsea & Mike, Peggy and Doug, and Jade for making our trip to Oregon memorable!

As we were driving to Oregon (why are the speed limits so low in OR?) the sun was setting and I had to pull out my camera. Good thing we had stopped to fill up!

As we passed Medford, OR we entered a thick fog of smoke. We had to turn off the air in the car the smoke was so dense. We never saw any fires, but the smoke had an amazing effect on the sunset. I unfortunately couldn't capture exactly what I saw, but here's an image that comes close.

Kate and Chels took some people pictures while we were there. Hopefully some of them work out since I didn't take any. It really was an enjoyable trip. I must have eaten my weight in blueberries while I was there, not to mention picking enough to last me 'til next year. It definitely would be a trip I would make again!

Remember when?

Alright Kate, I thought this was a good idea... hopefully I'm memorable enough :-)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Aunt Jenna

No one can love being an aunt as much as I do. Seriously, its the best job on the planet. I get to hang out, be buddy buddy with my nephews and they LOVE me! I was putting the kids to bed the other day and Kate has this great routine of having the kids give everyone a hug and a kiss before they go off to sleep (awesome, except for when they are sick... and even if they're not sick... they are little hotels for all sorts of flu bugs), I was up giving Tyler a kiss and told him I loved him, I'm sure I've said it before, but I must have been especially fun that day because right away he says "I love you more than a circle Aunt Jenna," Hello, how awesome is that!

It's just so fun to hang out with those boys. Today we were pretending to be bugs splatting against a couch cushion, who else could you do that with? I got two giggly boys throwing themselves at the cushion (which is hilarious), but the funniest part is when I do the splatting, they think that is the bees knees and of course I keep doing it until my face is red because I cannot let that laughter stop (its the curse of children's laughter, you are required to keep it going as long as possible, I'm not sure what the consequences might be if it stops, but you have to keep it going).

Kate's also got Chase doing this really adorable thing. He is such a loveable cuddly little guy and he will sit in your lap or snuggle into your side just because, but if you catch him at the right moment he will give you a kiss just because you ask him to. Kate was saying her cheek was hurting and Chase will ask "why?" and she answers "I don't know, but will you kiss it better?" of course he does and keeps doing it until she "feels" better. I thought I would try this out today, Chase first gave me a couple kisses and then he takes my face in his hands gives it a good look and says you have an owie (a zit) and he trys to kiss it away, if only.

As you can see I LOVE my nephews probably as much or more than they love me, but they make me laugh and they melt my heart.

I've been tagged! Yeah!

So I've been tagged to list a few things I love, like and wish I were doing right now. Hope you enjoy.

Jobs I've had:

1. Round Table delivery - gotta love the $1 tips!

2. Photographer - part-time

3. Language Lab at CRC - that was fun

4. Admin at BFBA- most days its fun (wish it paid a little more ;-)

Movies I could watch over and over again(this was a hard one):

1. Pride & Prejudice

2. P.S. I Love You

3. Because I Said So

4. Bend It Like Beckham

Places I've lived:

1. Provo, UT

2. Kissimmee, FL

3. Redding, CA

4. Sacramento, CA

Favorite TV Shows:

1. NCIS

2. Medium

3. CSI - the original series

4. Biggest Loser

5. recently - Last Comic Standing & Paula's Kitchen (there's nothing on)

Favorite Foods:

1. Pretty much anything Mexican

2. Pizza - homemade or Round Table

3. Fresh french bread with soft cheese

4. Greek salad with Gyro meat... hummus & fresh pita bread.... yum!

Favorite websites:

1. Family and Friends' Blogs

2. Hotmail

3. iTunes Store

4. ? like to surf... don't have favs

Places I'd rather be:

1. Europe

2. The coast

3. Getting a pedicure/manicure/facial/massage

4. Hanging out with family

Music I love to listen to (this could be a long list):

1. Weepies & Imogen Heap

2. Veruca Salt

3. Weezer

4. right now Alanis Morisettes' & Coldplay's new albums - good!

5. Muse

6. Metric

I added this last category instead of tagging anyone. I'd love to learn more about a number of different bloggers, so if you'd like to use this ... be my guest :-)

Contrast

Mandy Moore Concert. I know a bit cheesy, but it was a folk album (just released last year) which has some catchy tunes on it. It was fun because it was concert to about 75 people. The stage was only 5 feet away and it was free (the only thing I've ever won from radio). If you haven't heard heard any of the music from her newest cd, you should check out "Swept Away."
This is from a concert I was able to attend. It was cool because they let us take recordings and photos, the only restriction was no flash, which I am usually keen to drop, but the light was less than optimal. Thus the less than sharp pictures. I was playing around with contrast, I love to create extremes between light and dark. I enjoyed the concert, but playing around with photos has to be more fun.

Bella

I had to post another picture of Bella. Oh and correct a little of the information I posted earlier about her arrival. She apparently got here even earlier than I mentioned. She was here at least an hour before that. The delivery was quite an event. Steve and Summer barely made it to the hospital, but it was the wrong hospital and Steve barely had time to park the car before she arrive. Summer said they were at the hospital around 15 minutes and Bella was born. She couldn't wait to see her mom and dad. Too bad for Summer though, she didn't have time for any drugs.