My New Sis-in-Law

On November 8th, my brother-in-law Andy married Denise in Frederick, MD. We are SO excited to have her in our family. I have boat loads of pictures of course, but here are a few teasers.

BOSC Napa Photo Shoot

Back on November 15th I went on a photoshoot with my Beale Air Force Base Photography Club to Napa, CA. We were lucky enough to have a gorgeous young newly engaged couple go with us and model for us. Most of the BOSC folks had cool new lighting equipment that we all eagerly tried out. Our favorite was the Pocket Wizard, and that is how I was able to capture this last shot at dusk in the vines. What a trip. Great learning experience for us all, and a great time to boot !

Riding the Polar Express

My friend Melissa Munno and I took the kids to ride the Polar Express in Sacramento on Dec 7th. They re-enact all the best parts of the movie on the train and the kids LOVED it. It was lot of fun. The waiters even tapped danced to "hot chocolate" down the aisles and passed out hot chocolate and cookies for all. The train slowly approached the North Pole and all the children ran to look out the windows on one side of the train where they found Santa waving to them and a MILLION lights all around him as far as you could see in either direction. When we left the North Pole to return home, Santa boarded the train and gave each of the children a bell if they just "BELIEVED".

I shot this tonight from my front porch. Jupiter and Venus are converging next to the moon (Venus is the brightest). Tomorrow night they will be completely converged. We will not see this again until 2012.

Samantha

This was a photo I took of a little 3 month old in Dallas on Halloween weekend in my sister's backyard. What a precious baby ! She was SO good. She barely fussed for 3 hours while I was taking pictures of her and her 2 year old brother.

Partial Family Photos from Andy & Denise's Wedding

Jason, Ailis, and I were in Andy & Denise’s wedding Nov 8, 2008. These photos were taken in Baker Park in Maryland just after the ceremony. I don't want to post any photos of the bride and groom until they've had a chance to see them first, just to be fair. But there are some great ones.

Bed Bugs

This is how I found Ailis & Liam last night in our bed AFTER they had already been put to bed in their own room. I went to check on them and found them together in our room. So adorable!

 

Happy Kiddos

So sweet !

Mealtime Fun

Playin' with my footsies at mealtime !

Fall in the California Foothills

I took a trip with my friend Melissa and a few of her friends to the Apple Hill region of California last Saturday, in El Dorado County. The colors were phenomenal. We ate freshly baked warm apple donuts, drank the pure apple cider, did a little shopping, listened to bluegrass music, and had a great time. Of course the trip would not have been complete without sampling some of the wine from one of the many wineries in the area, Lava Cap Winery.

Declan, 8 1/2 months

Declan, 8 1/2 months.  Poor kiddo, he was sick when I took this.   But it’s a cute photo anyway.

Liam's Preschool Trip to Bishop's Farm Pumpkin Patch

Liam's Preschool took a trip to the Bishop's Farm Pumpkin Patch this week.

Beale Air Force Base Family Pre-Deployment Day

This was a day that Beale Air Force Base had for families to show them what the pre-deployment process is like for our troops that deploy downrange. The kids had a great time getting the fake Anthrax shot, watching a military briefing about desert snakes and bugs, sitting in the U2 ejection seat, tasting the tube-food that the U2 pilots eat when they are in their "space-suits", checking out the Globalhawk, learning CPR, rock-climbing, and pugil stick fighting.