Parkin's Peak

This year we were lucky enough to be invited to spend New Year's Eve and Day up at Glade and Lynn's cabin. The cabin is part of a gated community that really likes to celebrate. Every year they stack up a ton of wood and light up a huge bonfire that lasts for hours. It was a lot of fun to see. Glade, Lynn, and I went to check it out while Emily stayed at the cabin with Kyle and the girls.

The next day the rest of the crew came up. We had a lot of fun snowmobiling, tubing, playing games, chatting, and watching the Running Utes kick Alabama's trash.

On the way home Jason's keys were locked in his Nissan with the engine running. It was a long ordeal but we eventually got through it. Todd and I were lucky enough to spend a good while in eight below weather waiting for the locksmith to come and save the day.

I had some fun with my camera and took a few fun pictures. Todd and I experimented with a HDR picture. HDR stands for high dynamic range. It is a method of capturing a more vivid picture by combining three or more pictures taken of the same image at different exposure levels. The first picture below shows my very first attempt.

This is Ashlyn back at home and happy to be in her own bed.

The girls enjoying the new carpet in the basement.

Christmas Day

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Maddie got her Sleeping Beauty dress just like she asked for. Ashlyn received a Tinkerbell dress with wings. The girls were so excited. As Ashlyn was opening up her dress, I asked her what she got. She enthusiastically replied "a rag!" She was even happier when she realized it was a dress.

The girls also got some bubble wrap to pop. What kid wouldn't want that? The girls also received a few movies to add to their collection.

Emily was not spared. She also had a gift she was very excited to receive. She had the most excited face of all. She got a fancy mandoline from Costco. Too bad the thing did not work so good. Costco does have a great return policy and refunded our purchase even though we had opened and used it.

Christmas Party with Santa

Every Christmas season the Silotti family gets together to celebrate. We have a breakfast potluck and the kids under 12 get to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they want for Christmas.

Maddie this year was all for it, but Ashlyn remained a little hesitant. I guess we will see what happens next year.

Ashlyn waiting for her breakfast.

Even though Ashlyn was terrified to sit on Santa's lap, she was still polite enough to thank him for the gift he brought her.

Maddie is telling Santa about the Sleeping Beauty Dress she wants for Christmas

This is a picture of the girls before church a few weeks ago.

Jason and Natalie's Wedding

Jason and Natalie were married on December 13th. As we were getting up in the morning in preparation for the day, Jason called me in a panic about not being able to get a video he had been preparing to work. He asked for help. There was little I could help him do over the phone and asked him to bring his laptop with him. After the ceremony and a few pictures I grabbed the laptop from his car, ran to Taco Bell for a quick snack (I do have priorities), and then home to see what I could do.

Long story short, I was able to copy Jason's file over to my computer and get it working so he had his video to play at the reception.

Another great thing about the day was that I was able to bring my new camera with me. For graduation, Emily and I decided that it would be appropriate to purchase a nice camera for us to be able to take some decent looking pictures with. We bought a Nikon D60 from Costco the day before Thanksgiving and I had to wait until I graduated to use it. How nice of Jason to get married the very next day and give me a wonderful opportunity to use the camera.

I did not take many pictures of the day but here are a few. The pictures have been reduced in quality as to save space. Unfortunately I did not get any good shots of the bride and the groom.

Emily and her Grandma Harker.

Hilary.

Amy being her creative and crafty self.

Jason with a Top Hat.

Grandpa Parkin dancing with Ashlyn.

Maddie giving her famous scowl.

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.