Creations From Everyday Life

The Hunt for Christmas Trees.

Every year... the day after Thanksgiving is the same story. We fight, and yell at each other, and swear we are never going to do it again!

Do what again?

Hunt for Christmas trees of course.

...except

This year was different.

We started out the same. The day was going down the toilet fast. And then something changed.

We had fun.

ALL OF US (even Jocelyn... [I'll explain later] ).

The snow was wonderful.

It was light and fluffy... yet packed well enough for the perfect snowball. Calvin learned the art of executing a proper snowball fight quickly. The picture above is one of my favorites. He definitely had his game face on!

My mom said that the picture above looked like he had a tear on his face. He didn't really. It was just melting snow.

Here is our Christmas tree, which looks so small standing [falling down] among it's relatives. It's huge where it currently stands, in our backyard (waiting for Jared to get home from hiking in Zion National Park.)

Snow Baby.

Katelyn preparing a snowball.

I must tell you. Walking around this place, was like walking around a mine field. The snow was fresh, and sill in the boughs of the trees! Because the temperature was warm (about 40 degrees), and it was sunny, the snow up above was melting fast. This meant, HUGE clumps of snow would randomly fall on our heads! I thought it was so much fun to snap this picture of us getting clobbered. I didn't get hit as bad as the girls... which is why I was still clicking away, instead of tucking my camera in my jacket!


And, for some reason... my underlining tool stuck on (what have I even underlined in this post)... so I am going to post this first half of my pictures now! I have more to post later!

Happy Thanksgiving.

I wonder how many blog posts with that exact same title will be going out through the United States today...

I just wanted to share some pictures of some pies I made today:

Then, Jared made fun of me for taking pictures of pies.

So I took a picture of him.

He said he was giving me "sexy eyes."

I say they are more like "scary eyes."

8th Anniversary.

Of marriage? It couldn't have been that long ago?

But it was. 8 of the longest and shortest years.

To celebrate, we went to Vegas with some friends to have all you can eat sushi.

Jared thought that he had to try the sea urchin again. He had a not so pleasant experience with it before... but couldn't nix it until he gave it a second go.

Here is what it looks like:

I hear it doesn't taste too bad... but the texture is what kills you. Slimy. Very slimy.

Here is Jared trying to swallow it without chucking:

He's not going to try it again.

But... the rest was yummy!

Then we drove to the strip. We passed the Flamingo... and HAD to take a picture of Donny and Marie plastered on the building so that my mom would be jealous  that we were there and she was not. I think Jared took a picture with his phone and sent it to her phone... but I'm not positive.

We went to the Wynn, so that we could watch their water show. The guy who build it I guess also built the Bellagio, Treasure Island, and this one... and his trademark is the water shows in the front of the hotels. The Wynn has a water show as well... but it is meant to be more exclusive. In order to see it, you have to be seated at an outdoor bar, with a one drink minimum.

Here is Merril and Jamie browsing the drink menu:

The menu had a 600 and something dollar GLASS of Scotch listed. We ordered 3 hot chocolates and a coke for $4.50 each. It was worth it, and I'm totally looking forward to doing it again.

What the regular view from our table looked like:

Cool wall of water, eh?

Then every 15 minutes or so, it transformed into some crazy, wacked out music video that would have been VERY interesting to watch if I had been on drugs, or really drunk.

It was very interesting without.

Blurry picture of Jared and I, and I love it.

Then... we went to the Bellagio.

The Paris across the street...

Fountains in syricnation to Viva Las Vegas.

The deserted streets of the strip. Signs of the economy. I wasn't complaining. Usually you see only a wall of people, smashed together on a Friday night. And it's terribly fustrating to navigate... so it was actually refreshing to be able to stop and take a picture!

Lessons in Kate Style.

Anyone who knows Kate, or regularly reads this blog... knows that my Kate has a very defining style. On this particular day (Friday), she decided that Tess needed a lesson in Kate Style.

Lesson 1: Snow hats are FABULOUS to wear... no matter the occasion.

*Note the gloves still attached to the hat, where I'm yet to remove the tags from purchase.

And now... the rest of the pictures.

In a previous post, I gave a "sneak peek," if you will, of a photo shoot I did with my brother and sister-in-law. They are always fun to take pictures of because they are amazingly photogenic!

Here are my faves.

Kidisms

We were at In-n-Out burger last week. After I retrieved our order, and came back to where my kids were... a lady turned to me and said,

"I just HAVE to tell you what your son said to me."

Me, dreading the worst muttered,

"What did he say?"

She said:

"He walked up to the table next to us and swung the chair into the table. Then he turned around, looked at me and said; "Was that you?""

----------------------------------------------------------

Katelyn last week as she came up to me holding out the bottom of the shirt she was wearing:

"Mom! I got liquid booger on my shirt!"

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This morning I found the underwater case to the digital camera on the carpet. I picked it up and yelled,

"WHO WAS PLAYING WITH THIS!?"

The girls both pointed to Calvin, whom I suspected anyway. I held up the camera, pointed it at Calvin and said,

"NO!"

Calvin looked at me and said,

"I'm not no...     I'm ME."

--------------------------------------------------------

While eating breakfast, Katelyn said,

"We are rich!"

Jocelyn said,

"Oh no we aren't!       [insert long pause here]        Do we live in a castle?"

More Photoshop fun...

Lighting Woes.

I hate EOS Lighting.

Two months ago I ordered 2 soft boxes and a back drop stand from them. I ordered them for use on October 31st. I ordered a month early, so that I would have my stuff on time. My credit card was charged on October 7th. After being on the phone several times inquring about my order and being promised I'd have it by October 31st... I FINALLY got it around November 7th, WAY AFTER I needed it!

Last week, a duplicate backdrop stand arrived.

Today.

November 17th.

Mr UPS knocks on my door... and it's another lighting kit from EOS Lighting. A duplicate of my previous order.

I just spent an hour on the phone trying to figure out what was going on.

Finally they admitted their mistake. They told me to keep half the kit, and to send the other half back with a prepaid shipping label they are sending me for my trouble.

That part is sweet. A free soft box fixture, stand, and light. But it sucks that it's been such a hassle. And I will never use them again because of it!

What the heck am I going to do with 3 softboxes, 2 backdrop stands and 1 roll of seamless paper?

Studio pictures anyone? LOL

Speaking of "studio pictures... here is one I took of Tess when the original kit came a couple of weeks ago:

I didn't edit it, OR resize it... so it is HUGE if you click on it! I just thought I'd share the picture I took experimenting with my new lights.

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! <----insert evil laughter here.

My Sis.

My middle sis, Carla, has been here for the last week. Tonight is her last night here before she hops on a plane bound for Florida. Right now, she is playing Candyland with the girls as a special treat before she leaves. I thought I'd take this opportunity to sit down and post some cool pictures I took of her on Thursday. I got a babysitter for the kids, and we sort of had a sisters afternoon out.

We went to Ancestors Square because we were going to get some sushi and spring rolls. But by the time we got there, the place was closed (between lunch and dinner hours)! So, instead of eating... we took in the views, and I forced her to pose for some pictures. She was shy about it... but decided I wasn't going to let up... and went with the flow!

... my favorite little alley way on the Blvd.

We stopped at "Twenty-Five Main" and bought yummy cupcakes.

Then she started eating MY cupcake without realizing it. Until... she took the first bite.

And then she was embarassed...

All I can say is... I wish I had her hair color!

Then, before we left... I stuck my camera on my tripod and took a picture of the two of us together. The solar flare bugs me... but the picture is perfect nonetheless. It's us.

Panoramic of St. George

Click on photo to view larger:

I was just messing around on Webb hill with my camera. I took several pictures of the view because my sister mentioned that she wished she could just take a picture of everything because there was so much to see. I took multiple photos using manual settings so that the colors would stay the same. Using photoshop, I merged the pictures to make one large panoramic. This view spans about 180 degrees, so you have to imagine it wrapping around (why it's curved).

Pictures from today (Wednesday)

Lots of pictures with us holding cameras...

Jocelyn's missing because she was still in school.

The Sheriff had to come along to keep Calvin company.

Tess had her first dirt eating experience.

We went to a duck pond. I think we are going to go back when we have some bread.

The ducks/geese were jumping into the water because of THIS coming their way:

In-N-Out burger.

Yummy.

We went to Sand Hollow State Park, and had a wonderful sunset to watch.

Then, the moon came up!

Then we goofed around... taking pictures of pictures.

And then the sunset/moonrise turned into this:

Showing her the sights.

My little sis Carla is here for the week, and we've been going around to see the sights. In this picture, we were up on the red hill in St. George looking over the city. We left the kids in the car (since they were in a bad mood) while we took some photos. The picture above is of her... taking a picture from the overlook.

Drum roll please...

Meet my assistant Kate...

The winner of a free session & 25 cards:

Beka!

Now, I find this hilarious because Beka wrote an insanely long post to... umm... help her chances. I wanted it to be fair (haha) so I trimmed the post down. This way it was the same size as everyone else.

And she still won!

Maybe this is the pick-me-up you needed gal!

...and I thought I would offer the 2nd name drawn a free 8x10, just for the heck of it:

So, Katie... e-mail me if you are interested!

Last Day

...to add a comment to this post to win a free session, for photos like these:

And the 25  free cards ain't bad either...

Mixed Drinks

I've had a lot of people ask for the drink recipes that were at my party on Friday. For that reason, I've decided to just post the recipe cards I made in photoshop for my "bartenders" to use. To save them to your computer, just right click and save. They are saved as 4x6, so you can just print them out onto that size paper if you'd like.

The Sour Apple, and Cranberry Mix spoken of refer to Rose's Cocktail Infusions. The Traditional, and Mango Mojito Mix is also by Rose's. For anyone living in St. George, you can find most ingredients at Wal-Mart, except for the Rose's Cocktail Infusions Cranberry Mix... which can be found at Harmon's.

A Very Merry Birthday To Me...

Yesterday was my birthday party. My actual birthday was a while ago... but we didn't get a chance to have a PAR-TAY until last night.

Thank you, thank you, thank you BEKA for grabbing my camera and taking a billion awesome pictures of the evening. I took some, but because I was in the middle of everything, I wouldn't have documented it as well as she did!

Here's the story. Straight out of my camera, resized, non watermarked, un-edited (because I don't feel like sitting here editing MY pictures when I have 100+ pictures of my BIL and SIL to edit), and 95% by Beka.

Photos #1, 2, 3, 4, 19, 20, 22, 23 by me. The rest by Beka.

These are our 16 year old bartenders. Don't worry... nothing was alcoholic. We paid them $20 to mix drinks, and they made a killing in tips. Someone (I won't say who) dropped in a $20!

Ever wonder what 20+ people in my living room looked like? And for anyone wondering what happened to the furniture... it's outside on the patio. Looking at this picture makes me realize... I have a LOT of awesome friends!

A drink sitting on an end-table in our "outdoor living room" lit only by candlelight.

I lied. I edited this ONE picture by turning it to black and white. The colors were funky. I blame bad tungsten living room lighting.

What everyone wants to know....

What did I get for my birthday.

(Anyone who wasn't at the party anyway...)

Here is a comic strip to explain.

And when I say comic strip... I want to emphasize the word COMIC, because it was humorous!

Jared displaying the gift:




Me looking at Jared & thinking... "Nice wrapping."




Jared throwing the gift at me, practically smashing me AND my child. Just kidding... the box was REALLY light.




Here is Megan trying to rescue Tess.




I needed a knife, all the while thinking, "It can't be THAT good... the box weighs like 3 ounces..."




Me thinking: A box with packing peanuts, and a piece of paper. Either he waited until the last second and ordered something on-line and it didn't have time to get here.... OR IT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT COULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN HERE BECAUSE IT IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER!!!!!




Reading....




Saying: "Are you kidding me?!!!!!!!!!??!!!!!!!"




Reading again (Megan reading to help me confirm what I just read).




Everyone else in the room watching me FREAK OUT!




Me: Freaking out.

What was I freaking out about?

This:

This was my cake.  At first I wondered if perhaps Jared thought I was turning two-hundred, twenty-three (plus 3 to grow on). Then I decided that it was his genius/geek way of saying 28. There is a 2 in the "tens" column, and in the "ones" column... we have 2+3+1+1+1= 8.... OR what us normal people would call... just plain Twenty-Eight.

Me blowing out the candles... and making sure not to have too much cleavage showing in the picture. But it's kind of dark, so I guess I didn't have to worry after all.

The two cutest people in attendance.

And of course I had to take an up-close of my Tess-er. <one of my many nicknames for the girl.

Now, all I have to do is PATIENTLY wait for Canon to start shipping those cameras!

Card Giveaway!

If you are viewing this post through Google Reader, you may want to click here, or this post may look funny ;)

Slowly but surely, I've been adding new services to my photography business. Most recently, I've stopped doing free sessions for portfolio building, and have added a la carte pricing (viewable on my website).

Today I'm adding custom cards. Depending on how much you want to spend, these can be folded cards, or postcard style. I currently only have templates for 5x7's, but will be adding different sizes soon (hopefully)!

Want free cards?

What you get:

• If you live in the St. George area, I am giving away a free session. That's $50 you can keep in your pocket for presents!
• 25 free postcard style cards. If you want to upgrade to folded cards, you only pay the difference. If you want more than 25 cards, you pay regular price for the additional cards.

What if you don't live in St. George?

• If you don't live in St. George, and still want to take advantage, I am still offering the 25 free cards. If you win, send me a photo you'd like to use, and I'll send the card to you! (continental U.S. only please).

What cards can I choose from?

Card1:

Card 2:

Card 3:

Card 4:

 

Card 5:

 
Card 6:

Card 7:

Card 8:

Card 9:

 

Card 10:

How do I win?

• Leave me a comment (on this post) between now and midnight on November 10th (you have 5 days)!
• On November 11th, I will print out all comments, cut them into strips, and have one of my little helpers pick a name.
• I will name the winner on by blog, and contact via e-mail.
• When filling out the contact form, make sure to fill in your e-mail info so that I can contact you!

Can you comment if you don't have a blog?

• Yes.
• Fill in the form and hit submit. If you don't have a URL, leave it blank! If you aren't able to submit a comment for some reason, it is probably because of some security feature on your computer. In that case, e-mail your comment to amymhummel@hotmail.com

Friends and family are free to participate.

Let the Halloween Pictures Commence.

Little talk.

Lots of pictures.

... and LOOK WHAT I FOUND! A SEED GROWING IN MY PUMPKIN!

One of the first doors of the evening (and I think the only picture with the 3 of them together).

Tess thoroughly enjoyed her evening.

One of the cool houses.

What happened EVERY TIME Jocelyn saw someone she knew on the street...

Another cool house. The kids were kind of freaked out by the ghost because there was a web cam, and someone inside the house had a microphone. So the ghost would "talk" to the kids. At about this time... the ghost said:
    "Hey... don't take my picture..."

I don't really remember what I was trying to accomplish, photography wise, here. I just thought it looked cool with him rushing by, with his glow stick.

Jocelyn and Katelyn loved this decoration, and wanted their picture with it. It danced and sang (Elvis songs, I think).

My pumpkin.

Calvin's pumpkin, carved by me.

Jocelyn's pumpkin, carved by Jocelyn.

Our "graveyard" in the front yard, complete with strobe lights and a fog machine.

And various phrases from Jocelyn's "conversation pumpkin."

C.U.T.E.

I just wanted to do a little blog updating today. And I really didn't feel like going through Halloween pictures. Instead, I did a little reminiscing through my photo archives... and pulled these up from September.

How can this be comfortable?

AND... does anyone want to buy a house?

$198,900 as of today.