Sweet babe

This is Amber and she is such a sweet little filly. She was with our 4H group at the fair this year. This is how we all felt by the end of the week. We were all completely tuckered out!

We all had such a great time at the Benton Franklin County Fair! My kids learned so much and gained so much more confidence in their riding abilities. I have to give it to them. They were up at the crack of dawn every day for a week and we practically lived at the fair grounds. We stayed up late and knew that the alarm clock was going to be ringing very early the next morning. There was very little complaining and they were always willing to give a helping hand no matter how tired they were. Their efforts paid off and our 4H club got first place in Herdsmanship out of all the small clubs.

I thought I would share a few of my favorites shots from the week.

Thomas and Tipper bonded quite a bit in the weeks leading up the fair. By the end of the fair they were stuck at the hip! So fun to watch! Maggie was a great helper and she worked her tail off even though she wasn't able to show our horse yet. Kaitlyn was willing to work with the younger two and teach them what she knew. I love my kids!

Waiting....

I have been at a loss for words since the sudden passing of our sweet little husky, Sierra. My heart still aches when I think of her, which is a daily. I miss her sweet little face and how she adored our children. Her beautiful spirit was always so happy and eager to please her "people". My children keep telling me how unfair it was to lose her so soon. She was only 5 years old and I have to agree - it was totally unfair. We lost her to salmon poisoning which apparently is a very rare event. It only seems to happen in the Pacific Northwest. Dogs can get this from ingesting any part of a wild fish that is infected with a parasite called Nanophyetus Salmoncola. Usually this parasite itself is harmless but the danger occurs when the parasite itself is infected with a rickettsail organism called Neorickettsia helintheocalt. This microorganism is what causes the salmon poisoning. Dogs appear to be the only species that is susceptible to getting the salmon poisoning (i.e. cats, raccoons and bears don't get it even though they eat raw fish). Often times the treatment of administering an antibiotic and a de wormer can save a dog's life but sadly in our case it wasn't enough. We tried everything possible to save her. We lost her within a week of taking her to a lake in northern Idaho.

Our family has had a really hard time dealing with the loss of such a wonderful dog. But I do know that we will always carry her in our hearts. She blessed our lives with so much affection and the joy of her spirit. I find myself listening for her. Our house seems so quiet and empty with out her.

A fascinating thing has been happening in the days since we lost her. We have seen a multitude of dragonflies where ever we go. They will come and fly up to our windows and hover there. They jet around the back yard while we sit out on the deck. The other day my son told me that one was following me as we walked outside. I have been doing some research on dragonflies and what some cultures think they symbolize. In essence they represent the brevity of life and how we must live life to the fullest - making each moment special. The dragonfly lives a very short life but it knows how to life life to the fullest with the time it has been given. I believe that our little Sierra lived her short life to the fullest!

The picture above is one that I took of Sierra a few years ago. It is a familiar scene at our house. She ALWAYS waited for the kids to get off the bus every afternoon. Like clockwork she would go over to the window and sit and wait. She knew that her "kids" were going to be home soon. Sierra would greet them with so much love as they walked through the door. I had titled this image "Waiting..." It has always been one of my favorite photos in my collection It truly represents her essence. I will cherish it always. I know in my heart that Sierra is waiting for us until we see her again. We love and miss you little girl ... until we see you again someday.

Precious Moments

I usually don't have pictures of myself here on my blog but my husband was kind enough to take a picture of our daughter with me after we had spent an afternoon picking out flowers at the local gardening store. The above picture was the was result that had been inspired by a friend and coworker of mine who had given me this awesome wrought iron planter. Maggie was so excited and she had a bunch of ideas about what kind of flowers she wanted to plant. She had spent an afternoon looking through a gardening book that we had sitting in our bookshelf gathering dust, literally. It was so fun to watch her meander through the aisles at the store and decide what she thought would "go together". She was seriously inspired by what she had seen in the gardening book. So cute!

While we were at the store she encouraged me to buy a lavender plant of my very own. Whenever I see a lavender plant I always have to stop and smell it, touch the leaves and go on and on about how good it smells especially when it is in full bloom. So I think she thought I should have my very own lavender plant goodness right here at home! I followed her advice and we now have a lavender plant! Honestly, I hope I don't kill it (she would be so disappointed).

She could barely contain her excitement as we drove home. Maggie was chattering on and on about how she thought the flowers would look when we were done planting them. This day will be added to memory bank of precious times spent with my children. I highly recommend spending some quality one on one time with your kids doing something that brings them such joy and satisfaction. Their joy can be contagious!

Maggie dutifully waters the plants every day and I have taught her about "deadheading" and for those of you who don't know what that is, no, it has nothing to do with the Grateful Dead! She gave me the strangest look when I told her what we were going to do. I taught her how to identify the blooms that needed to picked off in order to help the plant convert more of its energy in to growing new blooms. She looks forward to "deadheading" now!

We had a fantastic afternoon spent together gardening. I hope it is something that we can continue to do together; that is until she is a teenager and thinks of something better to do. Ha! I will enjoy these precious moments together while I can!

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Inspiration is an amazing thing. For a few months now I haven't been very inspired to take any pictures. As I have mentioned before I have been in a bit of a rut artistically. I have tried to be patient with myself and just wait for the motivation and the inspiration to occur. Earlier this week I decided to just grab my camera and go outside in the yard and take a look around. To my surprise my backyard is in full bloom! There are tulips, daffodils, hyacinth and there are even little tiny buds on my rose bushes. Isn't spring an amazing time? I am hoping if I just keep pushing myself to make the time to take a walk with my camera I will get my groove back. I am getting tired of waiting to have it happen spontaneously. Maybe that in and of itself is the answer. It is not waiting on the sidelines hoping something will happen but seizing the opportunities as they happen and even going out there and making the opportunities happen! The image above is a tulip that was happily growing by my front door. How many times had I walked right on by this?

One Friendship At A Time...

This blog post is going to be a bit different this time around. I am posting a link to a video that my husband Kendall made for COJ of some footage that he captured while on a mission trip to Honduras a few weeks ago. Those who are close to me know that I was lamenting that my husband was gone to Honduras for 10 days leaving me home to hold down the fort and tend to the kids...ALONE. I kept a running count down on facebook of how many days until he came home to us. Well, after viewing the raw footage that he captured while he was there I realized that it was well worth my being on my own for a few days.

Before he left I knew about the bare bones of this trip. I knew that he was going on this mission trip for work and that he was supposed to be capturing footage of the house they were building in La Masica and that they were going to be visiting a nursing home. Beyond that I wasn't exactly sure what he was going to be doing. I had heard several times at church about previous work that had been done during mission trips that our church has gone on. Deep down I could sense that this was going to be life changing experience for him. Little did I know how much it would end up touching me personally.

When he got home he had to log all of the footage that he captured. There were several times when I was watching the raw footage that I caught myself tearing up. I was deeply touched by the people and the faces that I was seeing. I wanted to know about them and who they were. I was captivated by the beautiful children and I was touched by the look of thanks in the eyes of the adults. Even now, even though I wasn't the one who went on the trip I find myself thinking of them on a daily basis.

When I watch the video it brings tears to my eyes and makes me want to be a better person. I want to look for ways that I can help others. It also makes me think about why I went into Anthropology in college. I finally decided on Anthropology because I found myself drawn to those types of classes. I loved learning about other cultures, their traditions and belief systems. Another interesting tidbit is that photography was something that was encouraged as a minor for Anthropology!

I want to thank my husband for sharing his experience with me. It has opened my eyes, my heart and my mind. I find myself thinking about how and where I can make difference whether it is in helping those people in Honduras or those here in our own community. My hope is that it will give you pause to stop and think about how fortunate we are to live where we do. How fortunate we are to have a roof over our heads, clean drinking water and an over abundance of food on a daily basis. Treating others with kindness can go a long way. I think we can help others...one friendship at a time!

Artistic Slump...

I am sure that every artist goes through times when they suffer from artistic melancholy. I would have to admit, that has been the case for me for past several months. For me personally, photography started out as way to express myself during a dark time in my life. I was dealing with the deaths of several of my close family members, my mother's diagnosis of cancer and all of the feelings of helplessness and sorrow that accompany times such as these. Photography became my outlet; a way to see the goodness and beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis. It became something that consumed my thoughts, in a good way. Looking back now, maybe it was an escape of sorts.

I was learning how to operate my camera, I was learning about the basic rules of photography, I was learning how to tell a story through an image! I guess it took my mind off of all the hard things I was dealing with in my personal life. It was a great distraction in a lot of ways. I have always tried to be a person that focuses on the positives; photography helped me to do just that. It gave me direction and passion.

Somehow in the past several months it seems that I have lost that passion. I see glimmers of it every now and again. But just as quickly as it came, it seems to fade away. When I put myself out there and shoot something I tend to focus on the flaws of the images I have captured.

I miss that passion that I used to have. I am not quite sure how to get that back. I read somewhere once that when an photographer captures an image he shows a little bit of himself. Well, if I could sum up how I feel right now, I think the image that would represent me is a tree, stark and barren in the winter months. Hopefully, this is just a time of hibernation for me. I am hoping that my Spring will come, my leaves will come back and I will burst forth with new passion and dedication to expressing my little view of the world.

Happy New Year!

Again, it has been far too long since my last post! The holidays were a whirlwind of activity in our household. It was a wonderful season spent with friends and family. One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is getting the holiday cards from those who are near and far. It is such a wonderful time of reconnecting and getting a glimpse into the lives of those we care about. It can make it seem like we don't live so far apart from each other after all. We are blessed to have friends who live all over the country and even have some who live overseas.

Now that the holidays are over and as we start a new year it is hard not to feel a little bit of let down after all of the hubbub of Thanksgiving and Christmas. January can tend to feel like a drab and dreary month after all of the color and festivities of the holidays ~ all the decorations have been put away and the anticipation is over. My understanding is the month of January can typically be a bit dreary and drab here in the Tri Cities weatherwise. As I recall, the month of January last year did fit that description but it was our first year here so I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, so far January is starting out in the typical fashion. I find myself longing for Spring already! I long for the bright lights and color that Spring will bring!

The picture above was taken in Wallowa, Oregon on a beautiful April morning in 2009. When I look at it, I see the promise of Spring. The sun will shine and the grass will be a vibrant green once again. I am already dreaming about the day that the first daffodil will make its appearance in our yard.

Although, if it decided to snow a couple of more times this winter I have some children who would be quite happy with that!