Ashlyn's Second Birthday

On November 25th we celebrated Ashlyn's second birthday. Emily has noticed her take a big interest in dolls lately so we bought her a doll and a stroller to push it around it. We also got a variety of outfits for the doll so that Ashlyn could change her.


Several Months ago we purchased the straight to DVD movie "Tinkerbell." Ashlyn absolutely adores that movie and talks about it all of the time so Emily bought her a Tinkerbell Cake.


It was fun to meet with the family and have them wish Ashlyn a happy birthday.

Graduation

On December 12, 2008, I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Weber State University in Business Administration / Finance. It took me five semesters to achieve this goal after I decided to go back to school. My sweetheart Emily was a major support and I could not have done it without her. My parents, along with Glade and Lynn, did a fair amount of babysitting. I also have to thank the TV. I think it was my kids' favorite baby sitter of all. I couldn't have done it without you.

Holly Hall's Wedding

Emily's Aunt Sherry called and asked if I would be willing to take pictures of Holly and her groom on November 22, 2008 at the Bountiful Temple after they were wed. I was somewhat hesitant as I have had no real education or experience and I know how important weddings are. I told Sherry that if she promised to keep her expectations low, I would do it.

I spent the next few weeks learning everything I could about taking wedding pictures in an outdoor setting. I researched everything from library books to different internet sites. My sister Marci lent me her Nikon D60 to shoot the pictures with.

The day came and I did my best. Not every shot was a winner, but for my first wedding with a new camera, I think I did a pretty good job. Below are some of my favorites.

Things to come

I have had another busy week. Last Saturday I was given the opportunity to take pictures of Holli and her husband after their wedding at the Bountiful Temple. Tuesday I gave a presentation in school and later celebrated Ashlyn's second birthday. Emily purchased a Tinkerbell Cake and Ash just loved it. Thursday was of course Thanksgiving and it was a great day.

I intend to post pictures of Ash's birthday party when I find the camera and I also plan to post some of the pictures of Holly's wedding after she and Nate give me permission to do so. Check back soon.

I, like Amy, also took advantage of some black Friday sales though I missed out on the fabric. I bought an upconvert dvd player and Guitar Hero Aerosmith. I will probably take Guitar Hero back though.

A New Christmas List

Today, out of the blue, as we were getting ready for church, Maddie announced that for Christmas she wants a Sleeping Beauty dress and a light saber so that she can kill people. I had a good laugh after hearing her say that. She promptly told me that it was not nice to laugh. At times it amazes me at how attentive she is.

To my knowledge Maddie has not yet seen Star Wars, but has interacted with a few of her Jedi cousins during Halloween. I am not yet sure what Santa will bring Maddie, but I look forward to hearing more of her requests as time goes by.

Halloween

We had a good time on Halloween. The week was busy for me with school and all but it was nice to end it with a bit of fun. Emily had to work which was too bad. I took a few pictures of the kids though they were not too cooperative. Ashlyn sure made a good reaper though as evidenced through this photo.

Way too Busy

I am way too busy. Before Fall semester started, I was actually thinking that this semester should be pretty easy. I only have nine credit hours. Not too bad, right? Wrong! Two of my classes are killing me. I have both papers and presentations due every week. This does not include general homework or tests.

The study would be bad enough, but I am busy at home too. As most of you know, our basement flooded a few weeks ago. A lot has had to be be done so far to repair and there is still more to do. Emily and I decided we ought to get some painting and such done while the carpet is out. That has kept me busy.

The good news is that I did really well on my Investments test today. This particular test makes up 30 percent of my grade. I have been studying like crazy the last few days waking up at 5:30 and staying up late. My crazy teacher forgot to allow scratch paper to be made available to us during the computerized test. The testing center lady would not give in and give me paper, however, she eventually allowed me to write on the desk. I scored a 92 percent which, when compared to the class average in the 70's, is pretty good.

A funny thing happened at Weber State this week. As I was leaving class on Thursday I saw a lot of policemen around. I walked up to one and asked what was going on. He informed me that during the night somebody removed every toilet seat from every bathroom throughout the entire campus. I said "you have got to be kidding me. They stole all of them?" The policeman said "yep, and we have nothing to go on."