Engagement Portraits

Had lots of fun photographing Bern & Ang for their engagement photos. We started out EARLY on Saturday (they were good sports) to catch the morning light - down near Birchwood Airport. Just as we were getting started we were attacked by bees! Ok, they weren't really attacking, but they were chasing us around and being very rude. We have no idea where they were coming from - bees don't build hives in the mud do they??

Here Angie is clenching here fists and closing her eyes hoping the bee will go away...

And here is Bern doing the "robot" running away from the bees.

And here is one of the bees buzzing around - circled in red and blown up so you can see him :)

It's hard to pose when you're worried about getting stung, but we did get some great shots. Sorry though, you don't get to see them here ;) I figured I'd let them decide what they want published...

8 Random Things

Ok, Gretchen "tagged" me to post 8 random things about myself. These are little on the neurotic side (cause I'm apparently crazy!) but they should be entertaining at least...

1. I sing to my dog. Chris is constantly rolling his eyes at the crazy/weird lyrics I make up to sing to him. An example would be "Puppa, I like it when you call me big puppa. Wave your paws in the air, if you think you're a player, Puppa" Sung in the voice of Will Ferrell as Robert Gullay from an SNL sketch, although it was Poppa... The rest of the songs are rather nonsensical however. I sometimes sing him the "God loves a terrier" song if any of you remember that from Best in Show.

2. I can't stand having heavy things over my legs. I don't know if it's a flight instinct, and I'm afraid I won't be able to run away or something, but if people put their legs over mine, I freak out. I have to move them. Chris does this sometimes just to make me mad.

3. I can't sleep in a bed with messed up blankets and sheets. Everything has to be smooth and sleek. If there is a rumple or if the sheets get pulled up to far, I have to remake the bed. Again, this upsets Chris because it usually happens right when he is trying to go to bed, and I make him get up so I can "fix the bed"

4. I love gummybears. I buy 6 pound bags from Costco that I keep at work for snacking on. Whenever I need something sweet, I grab a handful.

5. I hate talking to strangers on the phone. I don't even like ordering pizza over the phone. I always make someone else do it.

6. I'm allergic to onions. And no, it's just not an "allergy" because I don't like them. I loved them. So keep that in mind - if you invite me to dinner, onion free please!

7. I can't drink out of regular nalgene bottles. The hole is too big and I always spill all over myself.

8. I have blood-needle phobia. If someone even starts telling a story about surgery or injuries or something, I have to either leave the room, or pass out. I pass out when I haveto get shots, even TB tests make me pass out. I can't even change earrings without getting dizzy. (And no - my ears are not pierced)

So there are 8 random (and slightly out there) things about me!

Peterson Bay, Homer - Salmon Derby

We headed down to Homer again the weekend of Aug 18th - for the annual Peterson Bay Salmon Derby (yes, any type of salmon counts) It was slow going this year, only 2 salmon were caught! We at least we were on the winning boat...

Dellany holds up her winning fish - an 18.6lb King Salmon.

We headed out Sunday at 7am for high tide, and it was gorgeous! Cameras just can't pick up the subtlety of the colors we saw - it was breathtaking.

Chris, driving the boat - we all got a chance to drive while we were trolling - it was fun, and nobody crashed...
We always see a few otters when we're out - this guy was pretty cool, he was just hanging out near the beach while we floated by. So cute!

Dirt Biking at Kings River

While Dori was hiking Southfork, Christian and Chris were out biking at Kings River. Here are a couple shots Chris took from the top - what a view!

Hiking South Fork

Sara and I went on a great hike today back South Fork in Eagle River. The weather was perfect and we even brought Guinness. We weren't sure how he would do, but he was a total trooper! He is DOG tired this evening though and I bet will sleep the rest of the weekend - but he had lots of fun.

We picked some blue berries while we were there - they were everywhere! Perfectly ripe and really big for Alaskan wild blue berries...

Guinness was picking blue berries too. With his tongue...

If Guinness could talk, he would be saying in this picture, "Mom - put me down. Seriously..."

Hangin' at the beach

Chris, Guinness and I went out to Point Woronzof last week after work. It was a BEAUTIFUL evening - sunny and warm. Guinness was quite the little rock-climbing adventurer. For having such short legs, he sure can climb!
While it's not much of a "beach" it's about as close as we get - These rocks are where Chris proposed 3 years ago. Time sure flies!

A lovely Sunday

We had a beautiful Alaska summer day Sunday - hung out with the girls at Barbara and Chris' house while the boys went dirt biking.

Shantelle shows off a massive root she pulled from the ground - with her bare hands!

Emily loves Guinness. He is being a good boy here and letting her pet him. Of course, as soon as she stood up he ran away and hid under a car - but every now and then she was able to catch and cuddle him again...

I love my camera...

Went out to Kincaid park last night - it was a beautiful evening! My camera is so much fun...

Wii

Friday was Chris' 26th Birthday. And for his birthday he got...

A Nintendo Wii!

We are hooked. We've been bowling, playing tennis, and golf. It's the most fun gaming system ever! And it's great with a crowd. Very interactive.

Homer Weekend

Right after returning from our out-of-state trip, we promptly headed down to Homer for a weekend getaway. We went with our friends Joe & Dellany and stayed at Dellany's dad's place in Peterson Bay. Dave and his wife Caryl are wonderful hosts (amazing cooks!) and are both retired art teachers. Caryl let Dellany and Dori do a little bit of glass work - making drink stirrers and other objects to be fused out of scrap glass. It was great fun!

We spent Saturday afternoon kayaking out in the bay and it was a perfect day for it!

Dellany and Joe in the kayaksChris rode the waterbike, which was a good thing, because after we paddled all the way around, I was pretty tired, and I made him tow me back to the dock ;)
I just thought these buoys were cool. It's an oyster farm in the middle of the bay! The view from the cabin - and one of Caryl's ceramic pieces

Guinness and Salty had a good time running around playing. Here they are near the end of the weekend - pooped!

The best and most exciting news from the trip though, was that Joe proposed to Dellany and she said yes! He hid a message in a bottle and took her for a walk on the beach. She had no idea, and was delighted. Of course, it was our job to keep Dellany distracted and help Joe plant the bottle, so we were equally delighted to be part of such a special event. Congrats to them!

And finally... Seattle!

We didn't get alot of time for exploring in Seattle but we did make it out on the town and had some interesting experiences!

Mike really didn't want to be photographed, but I did get a cute shot of him with Cristen. In this picture we are at a great little bar called The Apartment. After leaving this place, we were heading back to the car when we came upon a guy passed out on the street corner. We called for an ambulance of course and stayed with him until they came. He was not responsive to our attempts to rouse him - and his finger was pretty messed up and bloody. When the paramedics arrived they took over and he sort of told them he had been mugged (although he still had his wallet) we are pretty sure he just had WAY too much to drink and passed out while trying to walk wherever. Yeah, that's embarassing!

Megan had to work one of the nights we were there, so we went and visited her at Zach's Burgers, where she was our server. Smile Megs!

I have no idea what is going on in this picture. It looks like Jess may be stabbing Megan, and Mark is giving the camera his evil pirate eye.

On a sadder note, when we went kayaking on Lake Union, my sister Cristen lost her camera in the water. It just slipped right out of her pocket! While the pictures that were already on there were saved, the camera of course, is no longer operational. So we have no pictures from our kayak trip, as Chris convinced me that i should leave the SLR on shore...

Vancouver

The next stop on our vacation was Vancouver, B.C. Dori's sisters, Cristen & Megan joined us and we took the train from Seattle, which was a fun experience. The scenery along the way was incredible! It basically just hugs the coast all the way north. We even saw bald eagles flying around in one of the coastal towns in Canada.

View of Vancouver from Granville Island. They had the best public market there - wonderful produce and beautiful jewlery, pottery and art by local craftsman. Megan, Cristen & Chris get up close and personal with the Indians in Capalano
Cristen & Jess pose on the Capalano Suspension Bridge about 30 minutes north of downtown Vancouver
On the other side of the suspension bridge is a rainforest. We explored that, and here Chris, Cristen & Megan are posing for the camera. I think this pose was inspired by Derek Zoolander... Is that Blue Steel or La Tigra?
We took the "AquaBus" water taxi from downtown Vancouver to Granville Island. It was awesome!
We all agreed the Aquabus was the best public transportation we've ever been on.

Portland

"Summer Vacation" was great fun this year. We flew to Seattle and met up with Jess & Mark - Dori's college buddy & her SO. That's right Mark, you're an SO ;)

We drove down and spent the first weekend in Portland. The weather was incredible!

Here is Chris looking over the Wilamette River (I think) that runs through Portland. It was the Rose Festival the weekend we were there and people were out and about everywhere!

We visited a few of the Oregon wineries in the Wilamette Valley - sampled some really great wines and saw some beautiful landscape...



Here we are at the Lange Winery with our friends Steve, Mark, Jess & Afton. Afton and Steve just moved to Portland and graciously let us crash at their adorable place.

Then we finished off the day with a drive to the Oregon coast (Tillamook area) It was beautiful!

You can't see it too well in this small pic - but the tide was out and there were these wonderful little air bubble patterns in the sand from whatever creature was buried beneath...

Moving to a blog...

It's about time - I know... I just can't keep up with the website so we are moving to the blog format.

So this way you can all post comments and we can keep everyone updated with what's happening in our world. Stay tuned!

Mommy and son. Hey, it's as close as we're gonna be for awhile ;)