Welcome home, Carter

Carter came home from his mission to Carlsbad, California on December 20th.  It was so much fun to see him!  I got done with work on the 16th, and Chris did not finish until the 21st, so he sent me on the shuttle to see my brother.  We love having him home--it adds a spice to our lives that we forgot disappeared when he left!

 So Mom and Dad and I went to the party store to get balloons.  I had the idea of purchasing Tweedledee and Tweedledum, just as a joke.  They thought it was a brilliant idea.  We think we are so funny!

 Grandma and Grandpa anxiously awaiting his arrival

 Greeting Casey

 Hi, Grandma!

 Hello, Mom!

Happy Birthday to us!

 Our birthdays were rather low-key this year, which is just fine!  Here are some pictures of us with our presents.  We just went out to dinner together for both birthdays, which was great!

 I got  new lens for my very cool camera.  I used it tonight at Max's birthday, and I really like it!

New Orleans

I went to New Orleans for a NAGC conference.  I learned a lot about gifted children, and their needs, and had a lot of fun too.  Here are some pictures of the festivities!

So picturesque!  Being here made me feel like I was in France!

Bad news--Bourbon Street on a Friday night

World War II museum--so cool!

The oldest street car in the United States--on St. Charles Street

A statue of Robert E. Lee

Houses that I might move to in New Orleans--too bad they are all over a million dollars!

A diner in New Orleans--great!

A favorite seafood restaurant

A plaque explaining that there was a slave auction there

A Blacksmith shop in New Orleans--very old--owned by Lafitte

Fall break in the San Diego sun!

During our fall break, we went to San Diego to visit my cousin and my friend from college.  They live by each other, which is fun.  We had a great time playing with them, but, unfortunately, only took one picture!  Lame!  So here we are by the San Diego temple!  Great fun was had by all!

I love fall!

I love fall because you can go up to Sundance and take pictures like this . . . if you have the new tripod that we just bought!  So cool!

More camera experiments

This morning, I met my photography class at the Provo Canyon for some picture taking fun.  We met early in the morning for lighting reasons.  It was good, and I learned a lot about photography.  Here are some of the pictures:

Fall means football

We got free tickets to the BYU-Utah game from our doctor.  He asked if we wanted to go, and of course, the answer is yes.  Even though we lost miserably, it was a lot of fun to go.  We drove to the University Mall and ate at Five Guys, then caught the bus to the game so we wouldn't have to search for parking.

Camera experiments

I got a digital SLR camera for Christmas this year.  I feel like I am still learning how to use it, so I signed up for a class at UVU on beginning photography.  I will probably never be a photographer, but here are some of my attempts.  These pictures are of different shutter speeds.  I am still learning.

The first water one is my favorite.  The cars are kind of cool.  What do you think?