Chris, Dori & Guinness

Joy of Love // Day 4

2011-02-04T11:00:00.002-09:00

What they wear ...

Am I the only girl who is a sucker for men in riding gear? Maybe it’s an Alaska thing… but I’m hard pressed to choose between how I’d rather see my honey – geared up to ride or looking GOOD for work. They have such a fun contrast – but I find both super sexy… :)

Joy of Love // Day 3

2011-02-03T10:43:00.001-09:00

Then & Now...

what I love about this photo is that I feel it sums up then & now for my hubby all in one shot. My baby is a motor head, and has been since the day we met. He's working on his snow machine (er, snow mobile for you non Alaskans...) in this pic, which I always joke is really his true love - but I love his wedding ring in this shot. He may love his sleds, but I know he loves me more!

Joy of Love // Day 2

2011-02-02T10:42:00.000-09:00

Day 2: How they look

I love the contrast of these two images - ready for bed and ready for work - but the expression he's giving me in both is just so him. He's definitely not wanting his picture taken in either, but he's being a fantastic sport about it . Just one reason why I love him!

Joy of Love // Photo Project!

2011-02-01T10:34:00.000-09:00

I am participating in Willette Design's Joy of Love class during the month of February. This is a great exercise in photographing a person (or creature!) that you love each day with a different theme. Check out Willette Designs for more info on the project!

Plus, it's a great way to get back to updating my blog, which has been seriously at the bottom of my priority list. Sorry guys!

Day 1 - your love "doing" something. Here is my love doing chores, changing the oil in my car ;)

stay tuned this month for a new photo each day!

Photos!

2010-06-10T11:29:00.002-08:00

Since I haven't updated the blog with any fun images in awhile... here are a few to enjoy! A big thanks to Josh Hejl for his inspiration to go and shoot in the evenings of late. I drug Chris and Ryan out to the birchwood flats for some practice.

Since my tripod broke recently I decided to practice some of my Eddie Soloway techniques. I loved his workshop last summer - teaching us to see things in a different way. These are my "watercolor" abstracts. I love them! The idea is to capture emotion... And trust me, it's not as easy as it might seem ;)

And it never hurts to practice a little off camera flash... Guinness is a difficult subject, not only because he is a black dog but also because he won't sit still... but Chris stomped down on his leash and I got him to keep looking at me by just saying "cookie"...

And what's a photog expedition without beer?

New House!

2010-06-03T11:38:00.003-08:00

Alright - i know, you've all been waiting for news on the house front... We have not wanted to post anything before it was official - but we are pretty close to the finish line now! All of the inspections/appraisals/etc are done - there are a couple of minor required repairs that must be completed to meet code before the bank will let us close, but the contractor has been hired and should be finished this week! If all goes smoothly with the paperwork we should be homeowners (again) sometime around June 18-21!

Since we are not owners yet i don't have a lot of pics to share, but I grabbed these from google maps. If you want to look more closesly, check out the street view option - it's fantastic!

Flying!

2010-05-31T10:13:00.002-08:00

Saturday morning Chris and I got up early to sign papers on the new house (more to come on that!) and meet up with our friend Christy and her dad to go clamming. And by clamming I mean hopping in their 7 seater piper cherokee. It was awesome! We took off from Merrell Field in Anchorage and flew over the inlet to find the clams!

There were bears out everywhere! They must like clams too ;) These shots were actually really tricky - we were going about 150 mph, so fast shutter speed and pre-focusing were a must! Jim did a great job of flying us over and tilting so I could get the shot - perfect!

Here is the beach where we landed and dug our clams! There were a couple other planes out there, but mostly we had the place totally to ourselves! We only had about and hour and a half to dig because of the tides, but we filled our buckets!

Razor clams are not my favorite to eat, but they are fun to catch!

All in a morning's work...

Baby Ethan!

2010-04-02T12:25:00.002-08:00

Our godson -

Ethan Wayne Donahue, born March 30th at 2pm - 7 lbs 6 oz

Such a cutie! These photos are at 2 days old... check out Dori's blog in a few days for more photos!

Who's this guy?!

2010-03-30T15:41:00.002-08:00

Chris took a new position at Key recently, and as part of his move, he had to have pro-photo. So of course, he came to me ;) He didn't actually use this one, because he's smiling too much I think, he used a more serious version, but I thought it was awesome. So... blogging it!!

Baby Shower!

2010-03-07T16:50:00.003-09:00

Had a great time yesterday hosting Dellany's baby shower. Ethan is due in just 5 weeks!! Very excited for him to arrive.

I love the bump comparison with Betsy and Dellany - she is due just a few days before Dellany!

Winter is due just after Dellany - I had to make sure our driveway was extra safe so nobody went in to early labor slipping on the ice! (anyone that has parked in our drivway can relate...)

Helping Out!

2010-02-03T13:55:00.004-09:00

My friend Bryn Welcenbach has been serving in Macao, China as a missionary for about 2 years now. She is trying to raise support so that she can continue her work there, and needs to raise over $25,000 before June 15!

In an effort to help, http://enjoymittens.com/ has donated 50 pairs of their beautiful vintage wool mittens to Bryn. The mittens sell for $35 and every single dollar goes straight to helping Bryn!

If you are looking for a fun gift for a friend, or need some fun mittens yourself, this is great way to give something back! Contact me, or email Norma Jean: enjoy.etc@gmail.com

Or, if you would just like to help out (and don't need mittens), you can donate to Bryn directly: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=13540

New Years Eve!

2010-01-02T11:40:00.002-09:00

Had a great time up north this year, freezing our butts off at -20 degrees, but we snow machine'd back to a friends cabin right on a lake. It was great - plenty of fire works, lots of wood for bonfires and the wood stove (very important at -20!) and great friends - what more can you ask for?

More Night Winter Photos

2009-12-11T13:13:00.004-09:00

I love Christmas lights! The Anchorage town square is a total winter wonderland right now - the foggy weather has put a beautiful frost on all the trees, and the lights are so fun! Went downtown with my friend Renee Vanni last night and we practiced a little more night photography. As promised, here are a few more images!

Winter Frost

2009-12-10T13:21:00.003-09:00

It has been forever since I posted new photos! In the spirit of catching up before the holidays - here are a couple quick pics I took last night. I have been desperately wanting to play around with night photography, and of course, in Alaska you can only do that in the winter! And Chris gets a little concerned when I want to go out alone at night... So I only got about 15 minutes to play. But here is my first attempt. Hopefully more (and better) photos to follow soon!

B-Day in Seattle!

2009-11-17T13:52:00.004-09:00

Had an awesome time in Seattle for my b-day this year. Cristen drove up from Pullman and we had a great time running all over town!

After a visit to the Comedy Underground we headed to an awesome Irish pub near Pioneer Square, Fado.

I love Michael's expression in this one - although it looks like he was edging Megs out of the pic!

Fall Photo

2009-10-02T10:26:00.001-08:00

Just a fun pic from this past weekend...

Seattle

2009-09-21T12:54:00.003-08:00

On our way back from Milwaukee/Minneapolis we stopped over in Seattle for a couple of days. Chris went off on a bike expedition with Joe, so I hung out with my awesome siblings for a couple days. Cristen even drove in from Pullman to surprise me, and we had a fab time!

I was a bit photo'd out from the wedding shoot, but i did manage to take a few on a quick trip to the park near Megan's place in Queen Anne...

View of the skyline from the park pier
Bandit gets around so good in his wheel chair!

He gets lots of attention everywhere we go - everyone thinks he is super cute and asks about the wheels. He loves it - he was literally romping in the grass - so cute!

Fall Day

2009-09-19T20:46:00.002-08:00

We are in full fall swing here in Ak - and it is gorgeous! We've had beautiful weather this weekend, and are trying to take advantage of our last little bit of summer... Chris and I headed out Saturday afternoon for a little hike. We took Guinness along, and he was quite a trooper! We had to cut it a little short because I we both thought he was going to die... short legs are not good for hiking! But he did good ;)

Normally, Guinness hates to be picked up, but he was so tired, he didn't even care...

We came right up on this chipmunk, and he didn't even care! Alvin was totally about the berries he was eating...

I love this last one - been playing with some of the ideas I learned at my workshop with Edie Soloway...

Minneapolis & Milwaukee

2009-09-17T20:09:00.007-08:00

For our friends Jess & Mark's wedding this past weekend, we flew in to Minneapolis and met up with KJ & Brian. We had a great time hanging out - here are a few snaps from out weekend with them ;)

This is the wine bar where we went for Jess & Mark's pre-wedding plunge drinks... Awesome wine, and the brunt of many a joke. Yes, we're all highschoolers at heart.

Self portrait ;)

KJ was my awesome assistant for our "Day After" wedding session with Jess & Mark. I could not have done it without her!

For pics from Jess & Mark's wedding, check my DSY Design Photography blog, or
fan me on facebook!

Fall is here...

2009-09-07T21:26:00.003-08:00

Spent my labor day holiday up at Eklutna lake with Sara and the girls, Barb, Dellany, and our pack of dogs... The weather was incredible this weekend, so we had a nice walk but boy are the leaves turning yellow! Summer is definitely winding down...

Photo Workshop

2009-08-02T16:28:00.004-08:00

I had the pleasure of taking a 2 1/2 day workshop with Eddie Soloway this weekend, who is a New Mexico photographer that came to Ak to jury an anual show the Alaska Photographic Center (APC) puts on. The workshop was called A Natural Eye, and Eddie tries to teach photographers to change their perspective and think about things in a different way when making pictures. It was very inspirational and fun, and we had a chance to go out in the woods and put things in to practice. Here are a couple of the images I made:

The idea is to convey a sense of emotion in your image, rather than just take a picture. I am really excited to continue practicing his techniques and see where it leads... the great thing about practicing with nature and landscape is that you have plenty of time to get the shot right. Makes practice a lot more fun ;)

Winner!

2009-07-22T16:44:00.003-08:00

I submitted some photos this year to the Bear Paw Festival Photo Contest. This is the first year they've had a contest like this for Bear Paw, and this is the very first time I've ever submitted a photo for any sort of contest... i figured Bear Paw is my home town, low key, low pressure, right? :)

Well, I didn't win any grand prizes, but I did take runner up in the People Category for this image:

This is Emily, taken last fall at Chris and Barb's house. I named the image Bubbles...

I unfortunately didn't even get to see the other entrants this year, as I was in Homer the whole time the Bear Paw was going on :( But I was still kind of excited. Supposedly the Eagle River Star is going to do an article and show the winning photos, so if I get a copy, I will post it!

July Homer Trip

2009-07-13T12:36:00.004-08:00

I am actually still in Homer while writing this post... Dellany and I decided to stay a week here and relax... The boys came down with us for the weekend and we did a little salmon fishing. The red run here at this time, so we planned the trip around that (sort of...) the weather was a little bit crazy - super dense, thick fog! Like pea soup - literally...

We thought the weather might deter other fishermen (and fisherwomen...) from being out and about Sunday, so we headed to our spot. We were prepared for a cold time of it, and it was not looking good... kind of spooky actually, but really beautiful...

Even this little seal didn't have any friends to hang out with, cause it was cold!

But when we turned the corner to the creek mouth, it was beautiful!! Dave opted to wait by the mouth and try some real fishing, while we headed up the creek to dip... You can see behind him is all the fog we just came through

And up the creek - SUN!! That's Joe & Dellany walking...

The tide was out super low, and it was so pretty! I thought this green stuff (seaweed? grass?) was just beautiful...

Not all of us had waders, so Joe carried Dellany to keep her dry. So sweet! And we finally made it to the waterfall where we caught our fishies! Gorgeous!! And we had the whole place to ourselves!

Then the dirty work started and I had to put the camera away... ;)

Rafting Kings River

2009-07-06T23:00:00.002-08:00

Headed up to Kings River for 4th of July weekend again this year, and my brother Michael was in town from Seattle. He and John and their friend Jared came prepared to raft the river. Chris was not quite so prepared. His $2 inner tube was just not up to the task... plus, the water was FREEZING!! But the weather was gorgeous, so it was great fun. Especially since I was on shore photographing (and staying dry...)

Chris is starting to realize that his tube isn't going to float...

Michael got a big splash of that freezing cold water... yeah, that is pretty much how cold it was

Sea-Weathered Series

2009-06-29T22:51:00.005-08:00

Had an awesome time Halibut fishing in Homer this past weekend. Tom & Carol came up from Arizona to visit and we had a great time hanging out and visiting with the Christy's.
I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but thought it would be fun to grab a few detail shots of some of the awesome sea weathered and related stuff around the cabin...

And a little wake shot...

Glen Alps

2009-06-24T15:41:00.005-08:00

I had been wanting to check out the new fence up at Glen Alps recently and since Chris has become a shuttle run fiend, he offered to come with and do a quick dog walk before riding his bike back down... Since I was getting ready for a portrait shoot, i brought my camera and made Guinness pose for a few pics. It was quite a trick to get him to stay on the bench... you have no idea... but the fence was super cool and I plan to use it in some future portrait sessions!

Uh, oh yeah... and the fence...

Scottie + Watermelon = True Love

2009-06-03T13:20:00.003-08:00

This past weekend we had a BBQ at the house. My sister Cristen was in town and we had a great time grilling and eating... and drinking... ;) I bought a giant watermelon from Costco and kept trying to get people to eat it. I guess Chris decided that since I was trying to push it, he would give Guinness an opportunity to eat some too.

Guinness loved it... needless to say, he didn't get a whole wedge, just a taste of the rind (gross!) but he was all over it. Yeah, we're bad pet owners...

Anniversary & Garden Projects

2009-05-22T15:07:00.005-08:00

So for our anniversary this year, Chris got me an awesome gift - a patio set!! I have been wanting one forever, and we never agree on what to get, so he surprised me and got exactly what I wanted!
Note the plywood leaning against the fence below... Guinness has been escaping recently because of the ground heaving and the fence popping up a bit. He found that he could squeeze himself under the gap if he really put his mind to it... So until the fence drops back down, his escape route is covered!

And now on to garden projects! I saw this online or something, about creating a mini-greehouse for your starters to help them get going. It has been working great for these Dahilas!

Guinness said he wanted to help with the yard work, but really, he just wanted to lounge around...

Most of you probably know I'm an ideas person. I'm always finding great ideas that I want to try, like the cute idea I found in a Magazine -but I'm no so good with actually making these ideas happen...

So I was really proud of myself for actually completeing this one! It had to be blogged ;)

First ride of the season

2009-05-18T13:27:00.004-08:00

Sunday was our first official ride of the season. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, sunny and with a light breeze (which helps keep you cool!) So we headed north to Sutton, one of my favorite "close by" places to ride...

In the truck on the drive. Guinness isn't a huge fan of getting his picture taken...

Self portraits with helmets... tricky...

Dori with the bikes

After the ride - totally dirty, sweaty and exhausted, but it was awesome!!

Raina

2009-05-11T12:04:00.005-08:00

So Sara and Tim finally got their little baby Beagle - Raina. She is a doll - so quiet and sleepy! Guinness loves her, and they seem to get along pretty well. Occasionally Guinness forgets she's still small and runs over her, but overall, they enjoy romping and playing. She is going to the boss of him though - I can tell...

Apparently, Guinness was also working on getting his drivers license this week. He was ready to drive us home from church yesterday - except that his legs are too short to reach the pedals...

Finn & Elli

2009-04-12T19:07:00.006-08:00

Yesterday I had a lot of fun doing some portraits of Finn and Elli. They were super cute in their Easter outfits - and Finn especially was a good sport! Elli is so good - she just sits and watches, and Finn sure loves his little sister! I love this first picture, Finn just wanted to be all over Elli, and all over was more like sitting on her, which Elli wasn't a huge fan of ;) But there are adorable, and I had a blast shooting them. So here are a few of my favorites!

Portrait Practice

2009-03-15T21:51:00.004-08:00

Had a fun time with Bern and Ang yesterday, checking out his new D90 - we're twins now! Between the two of us we managed to figure out a few of our camera settings, and Angie was a great sport modeling for us, she always looks great!

Bernie having a "bright idea..." yeah, I know, we're dorks

After all that shooting we ran in to Fletchers to warm up and get a bite to eat. It's so pretty in there! Very elegant...

Hatchers Ride Part 2 - a quick vid

2009-03-14T20:42:00.005-08:00

Hatchers Ride

2009-03-13T14:55:00.012-08:00

Yesterday I took a half day and Chris and I headed with Tim up to Hatchers to get in a little ride. This was my first time out this winter, and as I'm typing this I can't even tell you how sore my arms are! But it was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad we got to go! The weather was perfect, blue skies, and in the mid 30's up in the mountains.

Christian and Tim, taking a break near an old mining building

That's me! Christian encouraged me to try a little jumping. I didn't get real far off the ground, but it was my very first INTENTIONAL jump, so that was exciting ;)

And me again... riding the project sled

Christian doing some real jumping...

Only in Alaska...

2009-03-08T18:37:00.012-08:00

So yesterday (Saturday March 7) was the start of the Iditarod, the "last great race". Sara and I headed down to check it out. Since this is the first year in many years we can remember it being above zero for the start, there were LOTS of people that came out to watch the start, and everyone was decked out in their finest!

Fur hats are all the rage at Fur Rondy - people pull out their furs for the week of festivities, including the Iditarod start. If you don't have a fur hat, don't worry, you can buy one downtown during this week long event from street vendors!

And boy, oh boy, are there some sweet fur hats out there! Now these hats, you can't find from just any street vendor. These are the real deal...

This little girl scout was my favorite - so cute! She was selling cookies ;)

This guy was the best - a WHOLE WOLF!! Sara and I couldn't beleive our eyes. Everyone was taking this guys picture...

And of course, the doggies!

Applesauce

2009-02-22T15:30:00.003-09:00

So yesterday I decided to try making my own homeade applesauce. I had some when I was in Washington a week ish ago, and it was wonderful! I can't eat apples raw, but I love them, so this is a perfect way to get my apple supply! This was my first time canning anything other than fireweed jelly, so I decided to document the process. I should have starting taking photos sooner, like of the pretty organic gala apples I used, but oh well...

Ingredients:

Apples (approx 3 lbs)
Water
Cinnamon

The only "special" tool I used for this was my immersion blender. I love it - it makes things so much cleaner and easier to blend! But you can use a food processor or blender for your sauce.

Step 1. wash & peel apples. Remove cores/stems etc.

Step 2. Boil the apples in about 1" of water until soft (I added a cinnamon stick to the water for flava - just be sure to remove it before you blend!)

Step 3. Blend to desired consistency, which for me is very chunky. Add additional cinnamon to taste

Step 4. Jar it up! I had my prepared sterilized jars ready to go... be sure to wipe up any spills before putting the lids on.

Step 5. finally, Water bath! This sterilizes and ensures that you can store your cans safely. This is where I started photographing... Boil approx 15 minutes (depending on jar size and elevation)

The final product - yummy delicious homeade applesauce, no sugar added!

Guinness was a big help too...

Portland

2009-02-19T15:50:00.004-09:00

I didn't take a whole lot of photos on my recent trip - partly because I got sick as a dog a couple days in and didn't have the enegery to even get dressed, let alone drag my camera around with me... it's a bummer, but that's life... I still had a great time and the weekend before I got sick, I did take a few pics of the family...

Mike and his gf Megan, waiting outside the downtown Voodoo Doughnuts- the line was insane... and he hates having his picture taken...

Voodoo Doughnuts... the magic's in the hole... highly recommended. They also do weddings. Go figure...

Hair of the dog...

At one of the nicer restaurants that we visited for happy hour, they made these amazing flaming coffee's - the bartender was a pro, and it was great fun to watch him work.

Megs always looks like a model...

Cristen hurt Mike's back by jumping on him a few moments before this, so here she's returning the favor by giving him a piggy-back ride.

80's par-tay

2009-01-25T17:31:00.003-09:00

Saturay night we had a great time heading to the Kulis National Guard Cabin Fever Reliever party. Uncle Bernie brought all of us, and the theme was 70's and 80's - it was a blast! We had a lot of fun finding our costumes and of course, checking out all the great outfits that people came up with. So - here are a few fun pics of all of us!

Ice Sculptures

2009-01-11T20:50:00.002-09:00

This weekend Sara and I headed downtown to check out an exhibit in Anchorage called project Freeze. But apparently, since it has literally been freezing they didn't have their stuff done - or if they did, we just really didn't get it!! So instead we headed to the town square to check out the ice sculptures that were done for the 50th anniversary of Alaska's statehood!

Freezing cold sunsets...

2008-12-31T19:36:00.002-09:00

So its has been frickin freezing here for the last week or so - below zero every day. It sucks. BUT it gives us some pretty incredible sunsets. So Sara and I took advantage of some spectacular views and snapped a couple pics along the Seward highway this evening. Gorgeous! You have to run back to the truck to warm up after about 5 minutes, but it was worth it!

Yeah, it's cold out there...

A few Christmas Pics

2008-12-31T11:09:00.002-09:00

All my siblings came to Alaska for Christmas this year, and we had a great time heading to Alyeska resort in Girdwood for a couple days. It was great to do something a little different, even though I don't ski or snowboard anymore (I gave it up a few years ago, when I just decided I suck at it). Chris went snowmachining (or snow-mobiling for you non Alaskans) during the day, and all in all, it was a great time!

Megs and John pose with mom at Alyeska, before taking of to go boardThey are just SO excited to snow board!! (Never mind it was totally FREEZING cold outside...)

And to Guinness, the best gift of all, is the wrapping paper. He got a little pissed that I kept tying ribbons around his collar, but the paper made up for it...

Guinness does his famous "king of the mountain" pose with Cristen, smiling for the camera

Guinness loves to be the center of attention...

Dot and Chris

2008-12-27T12:21:00.005-09:00

Thought everyone would like to see a couple of Dot and Chris' Christmas photos! It was FREEZING outside, and really foggy downtown, but we had a little fun anyway ;)

New Camera

2008-12-16T14:22:00.003-09:00

Ok, I know I haven't updated in awhile - all the Christmas preparation is a lot of work!! So, my apologies - Renee! - for not getting any new posts up in awhile. I promise lots of fun new pictures soon, as I experiment with my new camera, a Nikon D90. It also takes HD video, so Chris is excited about that... expect some snow machine vids soon!

But for now, I was playing with it last night and captured Guinness surfing the web. I checked the history - scottiesgonewild.com - I think it's time we had "the talk..."

Doggie Stories

2008-11-20T17:27:00.005-09:00

Surfing the web today I came across several blogs detailing the exploits of pet scotties, and I had to laugh. There is definitely something "special" about scottish terriers. And by special, yes, I mean "special". In fact, one of Guinness' nick names is short bus... Chris and I are always entertained by Guinness' antics, and I in the spirit of the fun blogs I found today, I thought I would share some of my favorite stories...

Guinness and the Moose...

For all of his life, Guinness has hated moose. When they come near our yard, he sounds the alarm, running his route along the fence barking frantically and trying to scare them away. He has even barked at moose statues in much the same manner - not able to tell the difference. But up until recently, he was never face to face with a live moose. On a recent trip to Costco, I headed out to the garage, with Guinnes (not on a leash, cause we're just hopping in the car). I hit the button to open the garage door, and come around to let Guinness in the car. But as soon as the garage door was open a bout a foot and a half he was gone. What I was not aware of was that there were not one, but two young moose hanging out in the street near our house. But Guinness knew. I had to wait for the garage door to finish opening before I could run after him, but as it did the picture before me would have been funny if I hadn't been so frantic. Here is this tiny little black dog CHASING a moose up the street, nipping at its heels. The moose didn't know what to make of this little thing biting at it, and fortunately just decided to run. I went running down the driveway yelling for Guinnes to come - even though I had little hope of his actually obeying... But - miracle of miracles, as the moose when running by me, Guinness actually did stop and came to me! The moose kept going, and I caught my pups and man-handled him in to the car. I guess God knew I didn't want to visit the pet ER that day...

Favorite Toys
Like many dogs, Guinness' favorite toys all make noise (or have a treat inside...) and like most dogs, his main purpose in chewing on any toy is the find the source of the noise and destroy it. Recently, he received a laughing dracula toy from a friend, which he loved. I cannot tell you how that silly dracula laugh sound gets stuck in my head. I'll be folding laundry, making dinner, whatever and out of the blue, "whah, hah, hah, hah...." and it's over and over and over... I think I understand why parents don't appreciate noise making toys for children...

Puppy-tude

Guinness has attitude. Or pupi-tude as I like to call it. I've never met a dog that can stare you down the way he can. Those little brown eyes speak volumes. While cute and cuddly when you have food he would like to sample, the minute you try to pick him up or cuddle him you get "the look" and the head turn. As a little gentlemen he finds it's extremely offensive to be scooped up into someones arms and held. That is for children, and he is a little man! He will crane his neck as far away from you as he can while you hold him, and look to other people for help. And the second you let him go, he's gone...

Going for a Ride

Like most dogs Guinness loves to ride in the car (although he prefers Chris' truck - more roomy) but he also likes to go for rides on your back. I really have no idea how he learned to do this, but he's done it since he was a pup. And he especially likes to do it to Bernie... go figure. If you are laying on the ground, on your stomach, watching tv, surfing on the laptop, whatever, Guinness will hop on your back and stand there. He then fully expects you to take him for a "ride" around the room. You crawl around on all fours and he stands at attention on your back steering the ship, in his mind. I'm sure the dog whisperer would tell me that it's bad behavior because he's trying to dominate, but it is pretty awesome to watch.

Ok, that's enough stories for now. Hope you enjoy the antics of our scottie!

Why we love Scotties...

2008-11-06T12:00:00.002-09:00

Saw this today -

Nov. 6: Political reporter Jon Decker was just about to pet Barney, the White House dog, when the Scottish Terrier bit him, resulting in a visit to the White House doctor. MSNBC's David Shuster reports.

I have always thought that Barney and Miss Beasley were super cute scotties - and yes, they have that trademark scotty attitude. I could totally see Guinness doing the same thing!

Youth Costume Party 2008

2008-10-29T15:52:00.004-08:00

Last Friday we had our Youth group costume party. While about half the kids decided to come "as themselves" (lame!) we did have a few exceptions...

This year's winner, and reigning champion was Osama Bin Laden. He got serious props for wearing that beard almost the entire night, it looked pretty itchy...

Near the end, our "pimp" wanted to make sure I got a picture of him choking Osama...

An 80's diva and one of our "I came as myself" kiddos

And the whole group - I was Sara Palin (in the middle) Although I didn't have my McCain '08 pin, just ran out of time...

I made some pretty sweet decorations - I should have taken more pictures of them, but here is the only one I found...

Ta-Da!

2008-10-26T22:24:00.004-08:00

Ok - so here are some after pictures finally! We still have a little bit of touch up work to finish - like putting up the veneer on the back of the cabinet, as you can see!

The new sink... and the second faucet (we had the first one all hooked up, ready to go, and it was a leaker!)

Closeup of the counters - so you can see the color/texture

Overview of the whole kitchen!

Original Kitchen

2008-10-22T17:55:00.004-08:00

So i dug out the original pics from when I bought the house 4 years ago for a little comparison... it's amazing to look back!

This is the view from the living room in to the dining room - notice the carpet in the dining room? And note that lighting fixture - yeah, that's right. Pizza Hut called, they wanted it back.

Looking from the kitchen to the dining room - notice the wall!!

Get a glimpse of the hot linoleum an awesome fruit wall paper border... Yipes!

You can just barely see the little globe light over the sink... it was brass - with frosted "flowered" glass. Again. Yipes!

and the stove - wedged right up against the wall...

Remodel - In Progress!

2008-10-21T15:39:00.003-08:00

So for anyone who has been to my house in the last, oh, 2 years - you may know we have a kitchen remodel in progress! Well my friends - the wait is almost over... And I couldn't wait to share it via blogger!

Our new counter tops and breakfast bar should be installed by the time I get home this evening - and needless to say, I am SO excited! Stay tuned, because I'm sure everyone else is just as excited as I am... I'm sure...

Here are some "before" pictures from a couple days ago - although I will have to dig up some of the "original" before pictures to compare later... back when there was a wall dividing the two rooms and carpet in the dining room... yikes!

Pulling off the backsplash to do the final touch up-painting

And a partial "after" of our new fridge! Gotta love that freezer on the bottom...

Fall Photo Shoot

2008-10-15T10:47:00.003-08:00

Thankfully - before the snow flew, we had a chance to get some pics taken with my good friend Renee Vanni (check her out - she is an amazing photographer!)

Chris always looks like a model in his pictures... how does he do that??

Thanks Renee - you are the best, we always have a great time photographing with you!!

Ladies Retreat

2008-10-08T10:58:00.005-08:00

Had a wonderful and relaxing weekend hanging out at Laverne Griffin camp outside Wasilla with the ladies from church. I brought my mom along and we had a great time playing games, chatting, doing crafts and being rejuvinated. The weather a bit chilly - but it was still lovely.

Line up for the group photo!
Mom was making Christmas gift tags - expect to see these in a couple months!
I love playing games - especially with a bunch of ladies. The laughter never ends!
The lake was just beautiful in the mornings - a little fog, and there was a big group of swans, but to far away to see in the picture...
Everybody made a hand print and all weekend we went around and wrote little notes to each other on your hand. It was so fun to go back after and see what people wrote to you!

Happy B-day Jeff!

2008-09-28T09:27:00.003-08:00

Had a fun time hanging out with Chrissy, Jeff & Carsten yesterday - and it was Jeff's 47th b-day!! Thanks for sharing your old-school photos with us Jeff - and you'd better put those under lock and key, or you really may find a slideshow appearing sometime... ;)

Photog Adventure - Part 1

2008-09-16T10:28:00.004-08:00

Bernie, Sara and I decided to go on our first photog adventure this weekend, and made Angie come along to be our model! She was a great sport, as we went in search of fall colors north of Chugiak. More to come, but here are a couple favorites that I had time to grab...

What a great helper...

2008-09-08T13:06:00.003-08:00

Had an engagement photo session yesterday - and we headed down to McHugh creek off the Seward Highway to capture some of the lovely fall colors that are starting to come out - but as I was looking at the weather, it definitely had a high chance of pouring down rain! And, anyone that has taken a picture before knows - you can't hold an umbrella and photograph at the same time.
So - my trusty assistant offered to come along and help out. He was great - he carried my bag of stuff/props, plus my stepladder - and would hold lenses for me when I needed to change them out. Luckily, it didn't rain, but he was still a great help. I couldn't resist posting this picture of him :)

Reed Lakes

2008-08-30T23:08:00.004-08:00

Went on a fabulous hike today with Sara and Chris. We headed up to Hatchers Pass and hiked up to Reed Lakes. It was a perfect day - sunny and warm with just a slight breeze. I haven't hiked up there in at least 12 years, and it was so much prettier than I remember! In fact, i think it is one of the prettiest places in the world! The pictures really cannot do it justice - but it's better than nothing ;)

Elli Marie Courtney

2008-08-28T15:18:00.003-08:00

Elli Marie was born at 4:44 8/27/08 - weighing in at 9lbs 5oz. She topped her big brother! She has a full head of dark hair and so far, looks just like her mommy!

Only one person at a time was allowed in the nursery with Phil, so I had to capture Finn's first peek at his new sister through the door. He didn't quite know what to make of her!

He started warming up to her with mom in the picture

Finn may not be too sure about Elli, but he sure loves her pacifier! Isn't he precious? :)

Homer Girls Weekend

2008-08-24T21:58:00.002-08:00

Had a wonderful trip to Homer this weekend with some girlfriends, Renee, Gayla and Sandi. We had a great time of relaxing, shopping, and eating and drinking, oh and taking photographs!

Had dinner at Wasabi's, a fun little Asian-fusion restaurant out on East End Road. The drinks were beautiful, and so was the food (It also tasted pretty great too!)

Congrats Corey!

2008-08-11T10:42:00.004-08:00

Just a quick post to congratulate our family friend Corey Cogdell who took a Bronze medal in yesterday's trapshooting event in Bejing. Corey is truly an amazing athlete - you can read all about Corey and her win at the following links:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=703/bio/index.html
or watch her shoot courtesy of nbc!
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=SHOH-BJ-SD28-081108-145503

An afternoon with the girls...

2008-07-29T22:55:00.005-08:00

Got to spend Sunday afternoon with the girls out at Chris and Barb's house - we had a great time, and they were good sports letting me photograph them all afternoon!

They wore Christian out, running around the yard. He was definitely ready for his Sunday afternoon nap after that!

I love this pic of Emily - so much attitude!!

More from Homer

2008-07-21T23:02:00.005-08:00

Just a few more fun pics from the Homer wedding - cause I've been going through a few of them. Nothing of the bride and groom though, they get first peek and since they are still on their honeymoon, you'll just have to wait!

Prudhoe Bay

2008-07-19T22:44:00.002-08:00

Had my first opportunity to visit Prudhoe Bay in the summer time this week, and even got the chance to snap a few pics. The wildlife was fun, the caribou are everywhere! It was beautiful, and I was really impressed by how clean and pristine everything was. All the oil companies and their contractors are super careful - and they have done an impressive job of preserving the habitat.

Donahue Wedding Teaser

2008-07-14T18:09:00.004-08:00

Just a teaser of more fun photos to come from our fun "destination" wedding this past weekend. Destination Homer!!

Angie & Bern's Rehearsal Dinner

2008-06-30T12:00:00.004-08:00

We had such a fun time at Bern & Ang's BBQ rehearsal dinner - the whole crew was there, and the weather cooperated really well! Big Bern deep fried halibut and the Courtneys made amazing BBQ pork - to die for!! I got a lot of fun pics of all the kids running around - so these are a little old now, but I had to post a few up for everyone to see - enjoy!

Somehow Emme convinced Chad to squirt the whipped cream straight in to her mouth... Bridgette - you didn't hear that from me ;)

I love this picture of Levi - he is totally loving that angel food cake!

Catching up on posting...

2008-06-23T23:19:00.003-08:00

So my college roomate KJ and her husband Brian came to visit a couple weeks ago - and we had a fabulous time hanging out with them! They are great sports, willing to trek off on Alaskan adventures that we setup for them, including a Halibut fishing charter out of Homer. Chris and I went to help our friends Dellany and Joe who are getting married in Homer July 12 (woohoo!) do some work on the house while the fishing went down - but we had a good time, and as always, Alaska offers some incredible scenes...

KJ & Brian on the homer Spit

Joe and Dellany in the Homer boat harbor

This eagle was awesome - click on the images to blow them up, and you can see he's looking right at me!!

Salty is such a beautiful dog, and so great on the water! I love taking her portrait ;)

More to come - I'm still playing catch-up on all the great images I've taken this summer. I have some really nice sea otter shots coming up soon... We caught a couple of them snacking on crabs - and they let us get so close you could hear them crunching away! It was so cool...

Kale Wedding

2008-06-15T21:57:00.005-08:00

I know that I'm way behind on picture posting - I still haven't posted any from my 'bama wedding in May! But Bern and Ang were so kind in trusting me to do their wedding photography, I had to post up a few of my faves right away! I literally took over 1,000 pictures, so I've got my work cut out for me sorting through them all. But here's your sneek peak...

Visiting Bama

2008-06-04T12:10:00.004-08:00

Apologies to Katie - I know i have been slow to get some new pictures up, and there are still so many to sort through!
After the lovely wedding (pictures to come on that one shortly) in Mobile, we headed out Gulf Shores for a little beach time. Uncle Dave arranged a wonderful boat ride for all of us, and we had a really nice time just relaxing. There was a huge thunderstorm inland just before the ride, so we were all very thankful it cleared up on the coast and we were able to head out.

Cristen and Megan pose on the boat

Poppi, with his Bud Light in hand...

Barbara Ann and Katie, lounging on the deck

Megan picks up the essentials - beer!

Caught mom trying to take my picture - no way lady!

Aunt Bebe and Katie giving the camera a smile

I even caught Michael smiling too...

Hanging out in Dallas

2008-05-22T08:29:00.003-08:00

Traveling from Seattle to Birmingham we had a stopover in Dallas for a bit. Traveling takes it out of you, but we managed to find some fun...

Michael said I don't have permission to publish his photo on my blog. i told him to sue me...

Megan is totally enthralled in her magazine...

Too bad she's reading about The Hills!! Busted looking at L.C.

Wait a second, is that Michael reading the same mag now? He's a big fan of Audrina...

John's Senior Pics

2008-05-11T18:51:00.001-08:00

Took John out yesterday morning to try and get some "senior" pics. Yes, I know, we're running a little behind the curve... The weather was beautiful - but a bit too sunny... poor John kept saying "my eyes are burning!" and I kept saying - "you have to stop squinting!!" It was hard ;) But we a got a couple of fun shots, even though the shadows are pretty intense.

Snow Day!

2008-04-30T22:55:00.003-08:00

Friday, April 26, we had a huge snow storm! The weather had been so nice - warm, the snow was almost gone, and in a matter of 12 hours we had 16 inches of snow on our back porch. I'm not kidding. I got stuck in the parking lot at work...

But Guinness was really not happy about it. Here he is trying to come back in after going out - but we stopped him at the door. He went straight in to the tub to melt all the snow balls off...

Can't you just hear him, "please let me in guys..."

Whittier - Buckner Building

2008-04-28T23:36:00.005-08:00

Last weekend Sara and I took the new Suby down to Whittier to photograph the old Buckner Building Army barracks. We had a great time exploring the old building - it was a little icy getting in there, as the snow berms were over our heads! But once we got in, the views were amazing!

10 random facts

2008-04-24T13:06:00.003-08:00

Ok, Bridgette and Bern both tasked me with this, so here it is... 10 random facts about Dori:

1. I love scones. Any flavor, I love them all. I make them, buy them, gift them... They're the best invention with a cup of tea ever.

2. Building on number 1, I love tea. Forget the coffee. Give me a strong cup of black tea any day. No sugar, just a little half & half. And maybe a good scone...

3. I can't buy things that aren't on sale. I don't know what the problem is. If I find something I want, and it's not on sale, I go to ebay.

4. I hate talking on the phone. I won't even order a pizza on the phone. I make Chris do it. Someone told me once that she thought the reason I hated it was because I sound like a 10 year old on the phone. Awesome...

5. I'm terrified of needles. Well, any thing that involves blood, needles, etc. I pass out everytime I have to get a shot, even a TB test. Needless to say, I don't have any piercings or tattoos.

6. I love dogs. I think they're awesome. The fluffier the better - but I am allergic, so I have to wash my hands alot when I play with them...

7. I'm not very good at finishing things. I get really excited about new ideas and projects, and get about 1/2 way through things before I get distracted by the next cool new idea... My house if full of unfinished "great ideas". Chris just rolls his eyes when he finds out I'm going to JoAnn's.

8. I love Brittish period books (and movies made from the books). Jane Austen, Dickens, any of the Brontes, etc. I have to sneak them onto the netflix queue...

9. I would like to be a detective. I am always watching TRU (used to be Court) TV - for "the Real Detectives" and shows where they use forensics to catch criminals. Sometimes when I see fishy behavior I will try to memorize facts about the "scene" in case I need to testify later. I know, I'm a dork... But I'm also totally phobic of real blood, so I don't think it would have worked out.

10. I'm all out of random facts... So 9 will have to do!

Spencer Glacier

2008-04-23T22:31:00.006-08:00

We spent Saturday afternoon grilling out at Spencer Glacier, just south of Portage. We rode up with Joe and Dellany, and Cory and his wife Sara. We had perfect weather - and a great time just relaxing in the Alaskan outdoors...

The glacier was incredibly blue. Lots of glaciers just look blue from a distance, but up close, this cave was like walking in to giant saphires! It was amazing...

Spring Riding

2008-04-18T12:03:00.003-08:00

Chris went riding yesterday and had this cool shot that he did a little photoshop work too. It looks great, so I thought I'd share ;)

Skookum Glacier

2008-03-23T11:06:00.004-08:00

This past week, Dori had to opportunity to go on a team building snow machine trip with coworkers. It was a 3 hour trip to skookum glacier (not to far from Girdwood) and it was beautiful! The weather was perfect, 3 feet of fresh snow the night before, and about 35 degrees out in the sun. plus - an incredible glacier! This is Alaska...

North Slope trip

2008-03-13T14:45:00.004-08:00

Got the opportunity to head up north to Prudhoe Bay this week. While it's still very much winter there, it was beautiful weather, and I had a great trip. These are pics from my phone camera, so the quality is not so great, but it still made some pretty decent pics...

This is the STP (Seawater Treatment Plant) facility. It's awesome. It's a big barge that was shipped over from Korea, and then sunk on the coast of the artic ocean. It's enormous - as you can see by the ladder there. The bottom of the ladder has a big cage around it - to prevent polar bears from getting in there.

Sunset from the BOC (Base Operations Camp) - on the west side of the field. This is taken through a window, so it's a bit fuzzy...

The Artic Ocean... really. it's just covered with snow, so it looks like just another flat snow field...

Sun rise from the East side of operations. Everyone just leaves their trucks running all the time...

View from STP back towards the West Dock - where apparently, there is lots of activity in the summer months...

Finn's First Birthday

2008-03-02T14:28:00.005-09:00

Gretchen and Phil had a cowboy themed party for Finn's first birthday - and he had a great time eating cake, chili, and opening his presents...

Carsten in his coyboy hat

Finn LOVES cake

Bern notices that his t-shirt matches the plates...

Finn got his very own cell phone

Ang and Bern pose for someone elses camera...

Finn shreds his wrapping paper

Update on the best Scottie in the world...

2008-02-08T21:47:00.001-09:00

Since we haven't posted in awhile, here is an update on our little pups. Christian said we should just call this "Scottie blog" ...

Like most dogs, Guinness finds great pleasure not just in chewing on his toys, but destroying them. And lucky for us, his favorite toys are things like olds socks and gloves. Here he is last week, having a grand time pulling the stuffing out of an old pair of snow gloves...

And also as usual, he tends to get the stuffing caught in his beard and walks around like that for awhile, until we grab it.

And here he is pouting after I took the demolished glove and threw it away

Welcome Home Bernie!!

2008-01-22T08:37:00.001-09:00

A great big welcome home to our cousin Bernie - who returned from Qatar yesterday. Kathe made a huge spagetti dinner, and we all hung and and just enjoyed having Bernie home.

Finn loves his uncle Bernie

Gretch made a yummy peanut butter pie - and really wanted to show us how good it was...
Even Sophie was jumping for joy to see Bernie! or at least, sleeping for joy...

New Year's Eve

2008-01-02T21:51:00.001-09:00

Playing with my new Christmas present from Barbara and Chris - my lensbaby!

Champagne with a fresh blackberry - gotta have the garnish!

Joe and Dellany welcome the new year

Sara takes a break from shooting her new NIKON DSLR to toast with us

Christmas Eve

2007-12-25T20:58:00.000-09:00

Spent Christmas Eve at Oma's house - and had the traditional night of carols, Christmas stories, and of course, the gift exchange...

Levi is so photogenic! He must get lots of practice from his dad always snapping his pics...

Little Bernie even made a special appearance - love the Christmas outfit B

Edith tries to read the Christmas story without any glasses. Love you Edi! ;)

Chrissy gives her best Christmas seduction pose. Hot mama!

Oma poses with her great and grandchildren - she always takes a fabulous picture!

Emme and posse

Merry Christmas from Guinness

2007-12-22T12:09:00.001-09:00

Cristen, Megan and Michael sent a nice Christmas package to us here in Ak, and sent a lovely little Christmas outfit for Guinness. I tied it on and it fits perfectly! Although Chris is not a fan of dressing up the dog, I think it's very festive!

Here he's giving me the evil eye - "get this thing off me..."

and now - maybe it's not so bad. I think I'll take a nap...

Bisbee

2007-12-21T10:32:00.001-09:00

Just blogging a few more photos from our Az. trip. We spent a day in Bisbee, which is where my dad lived when his dad was stationed at Fort Huachuca. He was pretty little then, but I always remember him telling the story of how he and his friend started a brush fire in some tumbleweed that almost burned down a few homes. Like I said - he was little, not even in school yet, but still - scary!!

So here are a couple fun pics of old-town in Bisbee.

Gretchen's B-Day

2007-11-26T14:41:00.001-09:00

Sunday Bernie and Kathe had everyone over to the Kale home to celebrate Gretchen's 28th birthday. We had a yummy ice cream cake and everyone enjoyed catching up after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T10:10:00.001-09:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Tom and Carol's in Sierra Vista, Az. Uncle Dirk and Aunt Edith came over from Sonoita to join us and we enjoyed the beautiful weather by eating our turkey on the patio. The food was all wonderful, and we had a great time visiting.

Tom carves the organic turkey (it was yummy!)

Edith and Dirk relax on the patio

Chris knows the best part of the meal - dessert! And don't forget the extra whip...

Cowboy Dirk and Chris enjoy the last of the evening sun after the big meal

Is that Christian washing dishing? Yes - he and Tom did the cleaning up. Good job boys ;)

After dinner, Christian and Tom got the chiminea going - they had quite the fire (as you can see from the flames shooting out the top)

Christian and Barb enjoying the fire

Dinner with Dirk and Edith

2007-11-23T12:39:00.001-09:00

We went over to Dirk and Edith's for dinner one night while in Arizona - and it was great! Edith made us yummy Dijon Chicken and we had a great time relaxing, and playing with Liezel (thier min pin).

Leizel especially enjoyed playing with Chris. While she make look vicious in these pictures, Chris assured us that she was just gumming his hands - not biting.

Naco, Az

2007-11-19T20:13:00.001-09:00

Visiting Tom & Carol in Arizona - along with Chris and Barbara. Today we headed to Bisbee, but on the way stopped in Naco, a border town along the way. It was really cool - there were old abandoned Army baracks here (we were only on the U.S. side) and they were pretty run down, but made for some fun pictures...

There was a recent article in the Sierra Vista Herald, sent to us by Tom and Carol, so I thought I'd provide a link - gives a little history about the place: Camp Naco

Cocktail Party

2007-11-11T21:32:00.002-09:00

Saturday night we hosted a cocktail party - because "nobody has cocktail parties anymore!" It was a lot fun, even though we had WAY to much food - and probably a few to many cocktails as well... but everyone got dressed up and the favorite drink of the night was definitely the "Stiletto" - a twist on a Manhattan with muddled oranges and cherries. Yum!

Chris hard at work, prepping for the party...

Garnish

Brushetta -one of about 5 trays... Thanks to Sara for all her help on these

Gretch and Phil

Dori and Renee

Chris after a few cocktails...

Hair Cut

2007-10-31T16:57:00.001-08:00

Today, Halloween, Guinness got his winter hair cut. He hates going to the groomers, but he was really getting pretty shaggy.

The real miracle though, when I went to pick him up, I asked if he had bitten anyone (only half joking - I'm so afraid he is going to do that one day) and they said no - he was really well behaved. I thought - huuh, that's funny. Guinness is never really well behaved... So I paid the girl and she went to get Guinness. She brought him back with a toy and a couple greenies - gifts from the groomer, who said that Guinness was the best Scottie she'd ever groomed! Wonders never cease... They also put a cute little pumpkin bandana on him. I guess he got a costume for Halloween after all...

Before - so shaggy you can barely see his eyes

After - I think he's saying "Why'd you do this to me?!"
The new toy - a squeeky star

Youth Halloween Party

2007-10-29T11:14:00.000-08:00

Friday the 26th we had our youth group Halloween party. It was a big hit. I made all sorts of treats for the kids, including Tacos - which are apparently the new pizza.
We had a costume contest, and "Jimi Hendrix" was our winner. Sam got really into it, and painted his whole face, neck and hands. Luckily when I saw him again Sunday it had all washed off...

Dani (on the right) won second place for her costume. you can't see in the picture, but she even had wings!
The caramel apples were also a big hit, although a bit messy to eat...

And we played the mummy toilet paper game. For some reason the kids all started with wrapping their mummy's faces...
I love this spooky halloween like photo - Dave isn't really this pale, I just spookified the pic in photoshop.

1st Snow - October 7th

2007-10-07T17:17:00.001-08:00

I don't think we set any records - but it sure feels like an early snow... Woke this morning to about 1/2 inch of fresh powder! It's pretty, and really not that cold out, so it's nice. Chris got 2 calls on his sled today too - coincidence? I think not...

Guinnes loves the snow - he likes to eat it, and rub his face in it, and roll around in it... He was putting on quite the show for us today, running around in the snow. He loves winter. If we all had thick fur coats like him, we'd probably love it more too... Although when I first got up to let him out this morning, he growled at the window- I guess he didn't recognize what it was until he got out there in it.

Fall Colors

2007-10-03T14:08:00.002-08:00

It's fall in Alaska - and when it's not raining, it's really quite pretty. Of course, it's a short season here, so we have to enjoy it. The snow will be here so soon... It's already creeping down the mountains! But here are a few shots I took of some of our lovely colors. I love the bright yellow against the blue sky!

September Retreat

2007-10-01T21:43:00.002-08:00

Sara and I went on a great retreat this past weekend. The camp was a few miles north of Wasilla, on Beverly Lake. The leaves were all brilliant yellow - and it was a beautiful day Saturday. We paddle-boated around the lake, and had a wonderful time relaxing and hanging out with other ladies from our church.

Labor Day Weekend - Kings River

2007-09-10T11:33:00.001-08:00

For Labor Day weekend Dori's sisters and brother were in town from Seattle. We did a camping trip up at Kings River, and Heather Yates came along and we all stayed in her sweet camper! It was so nice to have a warm place to sleep - even if it was a little crowded. We made John sleep on the floor...

Dori's mom came up for the day on Sunday and brought Guinness. It was perfect weather - sunny and beautiful!

Heather brought her 4-wheeler and we brought the dirt bikes. Everybody got a chance to get out there and ride!

Guinness was to scared to cross the water - so Chris carried him. He will only go up to his tummy - and since his legs are only 4 inches long, he doesn't get very far... But you can see the calmer water here by our campsite. The "rock" bar in the middle of the river slowed it down, and there were actually salmon pooling up in this area. They were well past their prime, but you could actually see them swimming around!

The only bad part about our camping trip was the "neighbors". There was a large party not really close to us, but they had several kids in the 10-12 age range that they apparently kept sending over to our campsite area to get our of their hair. The kids decided that they wanted to fish in the waters right in front of our camp (yes, it was calmer and that's where the fish were). So they crossed over to the rock bar you can see in the pic above, and were fishing, literally right towards us. They were casting their hooks right towards us! Now in Alaska, there are times when fishermen are shoulder to shoulder, and you know and expect that. However, Kings River is not one of those places. And, these kids were not fishing, they were snagging. Which is illegal. They also didn't know how to get their hooks out, so after mutilating the fish and killing about 50% they would throw the bodies back in the river.
At one point one of the kids decided he wanted to come fish on the other side of the bank - and he came over and stood in the middle of our campsite!! It was beyond ridiculous - and because Heather had her dog there, a golden retreiver, I went over and told him he could absolutely not fish in there, because I was pretty sure he was going to end up hooking the dog, who was very curious about this stranger in our midst. Some people camping across the river from us were watching them and started video taping them (people get pretty pissed about illegal fishing in this state) so Heather went over to inform the parents that their kids were snagging and that people were video taping them - and the dads just waved her away and said they didn't care!!

After the kids tired of fishing, they decided to ride 4-wheelers around - and again, our campsite looked like the ideal place apparently. So they kept riding around our camp. Very annoying, because the wheelers are loud and they stir up a lot of dust. The final straw came when one of them went up a little hill - again, in the middle of our campsite- and sprayed rocks all over Heather's truck. She kinda lost it at that point. Chris yelled at the kid to stop, and come back (he had ridden away) and the kid stopped, looked back, heard us yelling at him to come back, and rode away. At this point, there was one adult over at their campsite who heard the commotion and came over. Luckily there wasn't any damage to the truck and he told us he would not let the kids ride near us anymore.

Moral of the story - parents, don't let your kids ruin camping trips for others, just because you don't feel like supervising them.

Engagement Portraits

2007-08-28T15:54:00.002-08:00

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

2007-08-21T12:57:00.001-08:00

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

2007-08-20T09:50:00.001-08:00

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

2007-08-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

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

2007-08-11T21:26:00.001-08:00

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

2007-07-26T16:44:00.001-08:00

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

2007-07-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

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...