The Night Glow

The highlight of the weekend was taking the kids to see the "Night Glow" in Prosser. We got there before 6pm so we could get a good spot and sat around until dark. The first balloon to go up was a giant Coke bottle shaped balloon, but it was too tall for the small breeze. It started to lean toward the stands and it was really funny to hear the crowd. Some kind of "aahhhhhhh" is the best I can describe it. Some people put their hands up..... as if the balloon tamers were going to lose control. It was funny.

Once the coke bottle was taken down, 3 others went up. They were normal shaped balloons. While we waited, we listened to 'Bram Brata' - a really cool percussion band. Once the balloons were up, the stadium lights went out and the music started. The balloons fired at will and lit up the faces of the crowd. It was amazing to see. I wish I had a better zoom lens to catch the 'ooohhs' and 'aahs' from people. I was down with the photographers snapping away, Larry tells me the boys were almost hopping out of their seats with excitement. I'm glad we took the chance and went. Last year, I heard it was too windy and they canceled at the last minute. I guess it's a gamble to attend every year, but I will probably be adding this event to my annual "must go" list.

Here are a couple of the best photos, they aren't perfect because there was a little breeze. However, you get the idea...







Early yesterday morning, I went out to Prosser again to get some more shots. I heard there were about 24 balloons on Friday and 28 on Saturday. There were more people on Saturday, but I chose to shoot from the bridge for most of it so I could get a variety. I'm glad I did, it was fantastic. Here are a few of my Saturday favorites....

Prosser Balloon Festival

Some people from the local photo club met in the Walmart parking lot at 5:30am and we headed to Prosser to see the balloons launch as the sun was coming up. We were fortunate enough to be allowed onto someone's property overlooking the river and bridge where a winning shot was taken from there last year. The highlight for me was when a balloon came up really close to let us get shots of it as the fire lit up inside. They are doing this all weekend, I am toying with the idea of going up again tomorrow night to see them glow in the dark.



This next one is of the bridge in Prosser. While we were waiting for the sun to come up, I took a few shots of it to create an HDR image.

Dirt Cake

My mom had me make a little video for her website so I'll share it here as well. It's just a short video on how we make dirt cake. The recipe can be found here.

Last memory

My brother would be 24 today if he were still alive and I'm sure we'd be having dirt cake with him to celebrate. My mom came over with some ingredients today and I made dirt cake anyway, we'll have some later tonight with my parents. I don't think the boys will be fooled by it's appearance, we tell them every year that it's real dirt from the garden with real worms and they still eat it. If you want our recipe, it is here at this link.

I was thinking about the last summer I had with my brother (summer of 1998) and how we spent a little time together before I went back to college. I used to work for a grocery store and there was a company picnic at the local park. I invited Jared to come along with me, at first he didn't want to. He just wanted to sit home and be bored. However, I had a clever plan that involved his best friend, our dog and some roller blades. He eventually agreed to come and we enjoyed a few hours at the park. This was the last picture I ever took of him, he's the one on the right.....



My brother loved the dog, her name was bandit. My family had her from a puppy and until the day she died, she was very old. I can't remember when she died exactly, but I was married with at least one of the kids. So that's pretty old considering we got her in the early 90's.



If there was one thing Jared really enjoyed, it was my dad's 4-wheeler. He would ride that thing up and down the street and into the sagebrush across the street. He gave the Japanese exchange students a ride when we had them for 2 weeks, that was a lot of fun to watch.

The perfect therapy

I once photographed my sister-in-law's newborn baby more than a year ago when I needed some therapy. It's emotionally difficult to do work for NILMDTS.org so now when I need it most (after having 2 angels within a 2 week period of time), I am rescued again. A newborn baby, just 10 days old is the newest addition to my extended family. It was so nice to just play with my camera, nothing serious.... just fun. So here are my favorites, she's a doll!





And because I love this next shot, I had to make a little card.....

Angels and Soccer

Friday the 11th was full of emotion for the boys as they learned more about what happened 8 years ago that day. As if it couldn't be any sadder, I got a call from the hospital asking if I could serve a family who lost their baby. Their baby was born 14 weeks premature and was too weak to fight for her life. This precious little angel had such small hands and feet, just looking at her made my heart ache. I went in around 11pm and spent an hour with them. Despite the fresh tears and overall feeling in the room, the nurses were wonderful assistants to me. They understand how important this work is to these families.



On a lighter note, Jared had his first soccer game on Saturday. It was a nice way to lift my spirits watching him play. He was the only kid laughing while he was playing. It really was just a game to him. He tried hard, but he had so much fun despite his team losing (but not before one of his teammates scored a goal). I wish I had brought my camera, but will this coming weekend for the next game.

The kids learn about 9/11/01

My kids have a hundred questions about the horrors that took place on 9/11/01. We watched a commemorative DVD about it and discussed what happened. I still get teary eyed when I see the footage. About 10 minutes into the show, David got up and asked if I could turn it off because it was "just too sad." So I did. We talked about it some more and then I walked into the other room. The next thing I know, Jared is giving David some demonstrations on how it happened using a toy airplane and my air purifier. Now they are playing fireman versus terrorist... only neither one wants to play the terrorist so they are both fireman and the invisible guy gets to be the terrorist.

On a more serious note, I've had my flag up all week (starting with Labor Day weekend) and have decided to pick a random person who died in the attacks on 9/11 to learn about and remember today. The boys asked me if any children died and I remembered that there was so after doing some searching, I found Juliane Valentine McCourt. She was 4 years old when she boarded American Airlines Flight 117. Her plane was hijacked and it struck the south tower. Her family has created an education fund for children and this website, it is a wonderful way to honor their sweet daughter.

9-9-09

I have nothing in particular to post about, but thought it would be interesting to post on today's date. The only thing special about today is the pattern of numbers which won't happen again for 92 years.

Here's a video that made me laugh today from Britain's Got Talent.


This is especially funny when you're familiar with Lord of the Dance's Michael Flatley....

First day of school

I know this is a week late, but I'm playing catch up. Jared and David started school one week ago today. It was a rough start because the bus driver completely missed their bus stop and they were a half hour late for school. However, they came home excited and had lots to tell me.

Later on while Jared was at soccer practice, David sat and talked to me about school. He said he didn't like 1st grade and would prefer to just skip to 2nd grade where it's "funner." I told him that he should discuss this with his teacher and ask if he could just take the test to go to 2nd grade. He was willing to give 1st grade another try. On Wednesday, David came running up to me with the most excited look on his face. He practically screamed, "My teacher said I could take the test in just nine months!!! Then I can go into 2nd grade!!!" I could just feel his excitement and I gave him a high-five. He was on cloud nine for the rest of the evening.

Here is a picture of the boys on their first day of school......

Our camping trip last weekend

I've finally been able to play with a few of the photos from our camping trip last weekend. We arrived at the campsite on Thursday evening and the boys were too excited to sleep. They also woke up early, we went for a hike at the South Falls and within minutes of hitting the trail, we saw four deer! One of them was a little one, the kids called it a Bambi. Some of my most prized photos include close encounters with wildlife. The boys sure enjoyed watching the deer graze on the hillside.





We saw 6 of the 10 waterfalls at Silverfalls State Park and more on the way home off the old historic highway (which includes Multinomah Falls). The Upper North Falls was my favorite of all of them. I got my camera all set up to take a shot then Jared went and sat in the middle of my view. At first I wanted to tell him to move out of the shot. I'm glad I didn't react without thinking because this turns out to be one of my favorite shots from the whole weekend. I wish David would have been in the mood to sit by his brother because it would have been 110% sweeter.



The kids explored a bat cave and it stank really bad, sometimes I think boys have no sense of smell.


Some other random shots....









This giant tree reminded me of the old redwoods in California. My parents and I took hikes every morning around the campground.


On one of our hikes, my dad pointed this out.... he calls it "a change of heart"


This bridge looked too romantic to pass up, I set up my camera so my dad could take this shot.

Angel Jayden

Last weekend I was camping at Silverfalls with my family and parents, it was a lot of fun and I have tons of pictures to go through. I finished the last round of senior pictures that I did for a local boy and will eventually get to the camping trip.

Early this week, I was contacted by a mother who gave birth to twins (a boy and girl) almost 4 weeks ago. The little boy has a fatal diagnosis and did not have much time left. I made an appointment to visit the next day and do a portrait session for them. I met Jayden and his sister in their home, they were so precious and sweet. Jayden only had hours left when I spent time with him. At times during the session, I thought he was slipping away. I felt so heartbroken for the family, it was really hard to look at the photos when I put them up on my computer - probably the hardest it has ever been. Jayden did pass away later on that evening, I can't imagine what they must be feeling right now.

Here are a few of my best images.....