A Scrap of Life

I've been wanting to take Karen Russel's "Snapshots of a Good Life" photography class for a very long time. I have been on the wait list for the class for about a year and half, but it never worked out because the class was always full or the timing didn't work (natural-light photography class in Oregon in January... I don't think so!). Well this year it worked out perfectly and I was finally able to enroll. My hope with the class was to learn more technical aspects... mainly getting my camera off of the preset settings (auto, portrait, landscape, sports, etc.) and taking control of my photos by going manual. I also really wanted to start taking better photos from the get go, so that I could spend less time editing. The class started a few weeks ago and I think it's heading me in the direction I want to go. Each week we have mountains of pages to print off and read (about 70 each week for the last few weeks). We talked about equipment (which has now got me...

Both Tristan and Carissa had their school music programs a few weeks ago. This was Tristan's last program at Sauvie Island, as he moves on to Middle School next year. He played the part of a frog and also played a mean recorder. ;) He did a fabulous job! Carissa's 4th grade music program was fabulous. She played the White Bird of Hope and was just adorable. Here she is amongst the rest of her brightly colored flock. :)

Carissa has been asking for an American Girl doll for years... and I literally mean years. But with a $100 price tag, it just wasn't something we were willing to provide for her. We did tell her that she could save her money for an American Girl if she wanted her. Little did we know that she'd do just that. She has been saving money for months and months. She has saved her grade money and money that she received at Christmas and her birthday. She hasn't spent a dime since she started saving and has saved $65. Grandma heard how well she'd done to save money and decided to put in the rest to make Carissa's dream come true. As soon as we got home we ordered her doll and last week she arrived. So, meet Ella: Ella is a "My American Girl" doll, meant to look like Carissa. She chose a doll with the same eye color, same hair color and length and the same skin color. As soon as she arrived Carissa squealed with delight and tore open the box. Since then Ella has bee...

Our last stop on Saturday was to Deception Pass. We stopped just before the bridge and got out for a closer look. It was beautiful! It was a gorgeous day and the view was fabulous. The kids loved it and walked part of the bridge. I stayed on solid ground... being up on that bridge with the wind blowing wasn't thrilling me so I let Mom take them instead. It was a great pitstop and allowed Jimmy & Virginia to get a nap in for the kiddos. :) Oh, and Jimmy finally had a chance to email me the pictures of our group from the tulip festival. This was his favorite... without him in it: Though I did request the picture of all of us in it, even though it wasn't his favorite (maybe because he's butt is sticking out, though I look funny too so I shouldn't talk. LOL). Shortly after these pictures I got pretty sick. Then Randal got sick. That ended our weekend.

More pictures and the full story to come. Right now, this is for Mom...

Our second stop on Saturday was the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. We went to the "Tulip Town" site and ventured out into their fields. The first thing I noticed was that it was different than the tulip fields I usually go to. I missed the colorful windmill amongst the fields and the benches and tractors they have scattered throughout. Im the beginning I also missed being able to walk in the rows of tulips. Tulip Town has signs everywhere asking you not to walk the roads. I thought I would miss that... I mean, you can't walk the fields? Only the edges? But in the end I loved it because it allowed me to get photos like these... See? All those tulips and not a single person wandering the fields in the background. And since we went on a busy Saturday, you can imagine how difficult these would have been to get at our regular tulip field. We did, in fact, go with family on this excursion. We even accosted some random stranger and asked them to take a photo of all 8 of us. Tho...

Last weekend my Mom, my kids and myself went up to Washington to see my brother and his family. They have just been restationed in Washington and Jimmy is soon-to-be deployed. We made the most of the 3-week window between when they arrived in Washington and when he gets deployed and made a trip up there. It was a long drive, but it was worth it. First off, my newphews are STINKING ADORABLE! My kids had a great time playing with Randal and were constantly trying to get Alden to come sit with them. We came in on Friday and spent the evening hanging out with them. On Saturday we headed up to Mount Erie to see the view. It was beautiful! I took lots of pictures of the kids up on the mountain, where they climbed the rocks and trees and looked at the beautiful view. My favorite picture from the spot... Tristan, Carissa, Chase and Randal overlooking the Sound.