Chris Says: Check out the Prokudin-Gorskii Collection

If you have been following our blog you are probably aware I am working on a masters in library science.  This semester I am taking a digital libraries course and have been introduced to the Prokudin-Gorskii digital photograph collection maintained by the Library of Congress.  This collection is unique for two reasons.  First, the photographer traveled the vast expanse of the Russian empire and photographing people, landscapes, architecture, and just about everything else.  Second, these photos were taken prior to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, before Russia was ravaged by two wars, and the photos are in color.  Here are some of my favorites from the collection.  I have not been through all of the collection because there are over two thousand photos in the collection, all of which are made available online through the Library of Congress.

Click here to view the entire collection 
Click here for the collection's mainpage

Here are some photos from the collection.

Russian Peasant Girls

Author Leo Tolstoy

Turkmen Camel Driver

The Emir of Bukhara

What $2600 worth of medicine looks like

We have been trying for a couple of years to have a baby.  We have been with a fertility doctor for about a year, and nothing has worked.  The doctor has told us that my time is ticking a little faster than most women's time ticks.  So, my wonderful parents said that they would help pay for us to do in vitro fertilization.  We are paying for the medicine, and they are paying for the actual procedure.  Today, we got our IVF medicine in the mail!  Hooray!  Here is a video of me opening it:

Why? Because we can!

We had a great fun-filled weekend!  We went to the Brian Regan show at Abravanel Hall, which was very good, and very funny. 

Sometimes, you need to laugh a little!
On our way to the show, we saw a sign that said that the Jazz were playing the Sacramento Kings tonight.  We thought, "Hmm, that sounds cool.  If we went, we could see the Jazz and we could see Jimmer play basketball."
So, after the show, we got tickets to the game.

Our theme of the weekend is "Things we can do because we don't have any kids."

Carter's homecoming

Carter was able to give his homecoming talk on January 1st.  He did a great job, and lots of friends and family came to support him.  It was a great time had by all.

 Uncle Lynn dropped by unexpectedly!

Happy New Year!

We were home in Idaho Falls for the New Year.  Maria had a great idea from growing up--the idea was--let's all take off our shoes and run around the house in the snow!  There wasn't much snow, but she and the boys did it anyway.  We celebrated the New Year in style with our family!

A trip to Lehi

We sort of feel like our Christmas vacation was divided into three segments: one at home, one at the cabin, and one in Lehi.  Our sister-in-law, Katie, was told that she had to be on strict bed rest while trying to have their 4th child (which, thankfully, is working).  Since Colby and Maria came from Virginia, they really wanted to be able to see Taylor and Katie and their kids, so we took a trip to get the whole family together.  Unfortunately, Casey was not able to come because of his basketball practice.  It was fun to play with the kids and spend time with family!

 Colby and Max

 Maria and Charlie

 Grandpa and Charlie with the iPad

 The kids saying goodbye

 Mom, Anna, me and Chris

 Carter and Anna

Colby and Max loving the legos

Merry Christmas!

After Carter came home, we had a great Christmas with many fun festivities!  We went to the cabin for a little while (in between Casey's basketball practices) and played on snowmobiles with our family.  Here are some pictures of the fun:

 Casey the basketball player making a foul shot

Choosing the perfect Christmas tree on snowmobiles--what a great tradition!

 Opening the Christmas jammies

After church, we put our jammies back on to come and unwrap presents!

 With our new digital camcorder

Merry Christmas!