Urban SLC and the Green Cushion Caper

Saturday, I met up with some of the Utah Peas for an urban shoot in downtown Salt Lake. Jami brought her daughter, and Randa brought her whole family. We went to a marvelous, fun spot that is fabulously grungy. It was a bit cold, which didn't make our young subjects too happy, but I still managed to get a few good shots.

Towards the end we headed to another spot behind Derek's office. I had a few props in the back of the Suburban that I wanted to use, and I was parked over there. When I pulled out my beautiful ugly green chair, I was alarmed to see its cushion was missing. I couldn't figure out how that could be. I had used the chair on Thursday when I met with Janae to do some shots in Magna. I decided maybe the cushion had fallen out somehow when Janae's brother-in-law carried the chair to my Suburban after the shoot. I e-mailed Janae about it, and today she went back to the spot in Magna. Lo and behold, she FOUND IT!! I am so excited! I thought it was gone for good. Thanks, Janae!! WHEW!!!

Anyway, here are some of my shots from Saturday.








Here's our self-portrait in the parking garage mirror. :)

Tag, I'm It!

My blog friend Pat has tagged me for the '4th picture in the 4th folder' tag. So, here's mine. This is my friend Brianne. I did a couple of photo sessions with her several months ago. Isnt' she cute?

My folder system is a little weird...but this is the 4th picture in the 4th folder of the 4th month of this year...

A lot of people I know have already been tagged, but let's see...I'll tag Kate A., Rachel A., Tracy W. and Mindy E. :)

Jonny and Rachel

Here's my nephew Jonathan and his cute family... (You're cute, too, Jonathan!) Maddy is really beginning to enjoy smiling for the camera, which makes it so much fun to take her picture! Jan came along and blew bubbles, made silly faces and funny noises. I told her she's really good at that. Maybe she can become my full-time assistant. :)

Tag-Along

My friend Janae invited me along today to a photo shoot she was doing with her sister-in-law and her family.

It was fun to see you again, Janae! At the end, Janae and I posed for the camera. I can't wait to see those pictures! She put her memory card in her sister-in-law's camera and had her take a few of us...and our cameras.

Here are some of my faves of this cute family!

Thankful Tree

For the past several years, we've had a family tradition of making a Thankful Tree. Back when we lived in Arizona, Derek went on a business trip one fall to the East Coast. He came back with a beautiful fall leaf for me because he knew how much I missed the fall colors. The leaves are beautiful in Utah in the fall.....in Arizona...not so much. I pressed the leaf and later when we began the Thankful Tree tradition, I decided to use that leaf as a pattern for our leaves. I traced around the real leaf, photocopied it, and Voila! Our Thankful Tree came into being.

Here's the way it works. I make a bunch of copies of the leaves and draw a tree trunk with the words "We Are Thankful For..."on a poster board. At a Family Home Evening in November, we sit down and take turns naming things we're grateful for. We write one thing on each leaf. When we're done, we tape all the leaves on the tree and put it on display until after Thanksgiving. It's a visual reminder of some of our blessings...big and small.

Our kids were very young when we started this tradition. That first Thankful Tree had things like "Legos" (Nate), "My White Blankie" (Parker) and "Disposable Diapers" (Me).

Here are a few shots of the 2008 edition of the the making of the Evans Family Thankful Tree.

Bountiful Boulevard

Derek, Alex and I took a Sunday walk yesterday down Bountiful Boulevard. It was the perfect time of day to get some photos. I was totally loving the warm light! Wow! I wish it was always this warm and beautiful in November.

Some of the last fall foliage along Bountiful Boulevard.

Alex taking a break on the sidewalk while I stop to take some pictures.

These dandelions seem a little out of place in the fall. Usually they're most abundant in the spring.

Derek and Alex crunching through the fallen leaves.

The people who live here are getting ready for Christmas!

We saw several deer on our walk. This one was happy to pose for me!

My handsome boy giving me a happy smile!

The beautiful Bountiful Temple bathed in warm evening light.

Alex...or is that ET? Turn on your heart light!

Derek is whistling to get a deer's attention.

....And the sun sets over Bountiful after a beautiful fall day.

November Sky

Today was the big day of the 6th grade rocket launch. Mallory and Derek had some quality father-daughter time last weekend when he helped her build her rocket. Who knew accountants could also be rocket scientists? Today was a perfect day for a launch..blue skies, very little wind and not too cold.

Mallory's rocket had a successful launch, the parachute deployed and she was able to retrieve it. Some of her classmates weren't quite as lucky.