Day at the Zoo 10-25-08

This past weekend I got to babysit my sister's kids. On Saturday we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo playing. Craig had a camp out trip so he didn’t come with us. It was just me, Kaylie, Courtney and their friend Mackenna. The kids were great. Their friend Mackenna made my day. When we were leaving she said she had so much fun and that her favorite part of the Zoo were all the pictures. I love that kid! Anyone who will let me be a crazy paparazzi (and enjoy it) is ok in my book.

On a side note, I over heard the Zoo keepers on the radio saying the Meerkats were attacking people. At the time I heard that, we had left that area so we didn’t see anything. I don’t know much about Meerkats, but they don’t look that dangerous… Who knows, maybe they had sharp pointy teeth like the bunny in Monty Python. :o) Here are some pictures from our little adventure:

Hollywood Trip

So for our 5 year anniversary Don and I went to Hollywood for 3 days. We went to Universal Studios for two days and toured Hollywood the rest of the time. It was so much fun. Here is a slide show of a few pictures from our trip. You will have to press play to view it.

Craig Hildebrand's Birthday

So this year was Craig's 12th birthday This was a special one for him since he received the Aaronic Priesthood in our church. The picture above is the whole family who to took part in this special ordinance. I think the bishop was overwhelmed with the amount of people...

Anyways after we left church we went to my sister's house and celebrated my nephew's birthday. Here are a few pictures from that:









Kaylie was doing her Popular song from Wicked. I love that song... Kaylie memorized all the words and put a dance to it. I have to say I memorized the words too. I know we are obsessed with that play.




Everyone playing in the pool.



Esther and I were messing around with the glow sticks in the pool. We sure know how to entertain ourselves!



And the last picture is everyone again. We are all just a bunch of goons...

The Daw Family

This past weekend was absolutely wonderful. I got to see lots of friends and family as well as shoot my first paid wedding in Orange County. That drive seemed like forever on the way back home. Needless to say I am exhausted after everyone left. I am still trying to recover! I am not as young as I used to be...

I will post some pictures from the weekend later this week, but for now here are a few pictures of my friends Esther, Jonathan and their baby Thorin. Their little son was born a few months ago and this is the first opportunity I had to take pictures of him. So here are a few favorites:

The Hardy Family - Ensign Article

So my Dad came across something interesting a couple weeks ago. There is an Ensign article about the Hardy family which is my Dad's side of the family. I remember as a child my Mom & Dad took my brother Dave and I to Louisiana to visit our "roots." That was one of the worse/best trips ever.

I think I was about 8 or 9 and my brother was about 12 or 13. We fought the whole way there. Which was the distance from Arizona to Louisiana. It was a VERY long car trip. I am still in shock that my parents didn't kill us. I vividly remember visiting Hardy Town which is literally a "blink and you will miss it" kind of town. We visited the house where the story in this article talks about Jane Holt Clark (who is my Great, Great, Great Aunt,) standing up to the mob and saying “I brought a good many of you into the world and I can take you out again just as easily if you dare to cross my doorstep.” She rocks! I can only imagine how scary it must have been to stand up to an angry mob like that. I also remember meeting my dear Great Grandfather for the very first time during that trip. He was such a wonderful man. He died last year and he was definitely one of the last of his kind. A true gentleman. I also remember meeting his wife who had to show Dave and I her toenail in a jar. We have that memory scarred into our minds... But she was a good woman too. I am glad to have had the opportunity to see where my Dad's side of the family came from and who they were. I think it is important to know your history. It makes you who you are and grateful for the things they sacrificed, which eventually blesses their future generations lives. A link to the article can be found below.

From Red Rock to Denham Springs
Carol Ann Wagley Burnham, “From Red Rock to Denham Springs,” Ensign, Apr 1983, 70

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=9dfe9c84f5d6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

David & Meagan's Wedding 8/15/08

So this past weekend was my brother Dave's wedding. Dave & Meagan were married on August 15th and the wedding turned out beautiful! I was a little worried about shooting the wedding since I was in the wedding, and I am so glad Meagan ended up hiring a photographer for at least the ceremony portion. There was no way I could have gotten it all. I am still editing all the pictures I took, but in the mean time here is a slide show of a few favorites.

Car Show

On Friday our ward hosted a car show. I am a huge fan of classic cars, so for me this was a real treat! Here are some of my favorite shots that evening. I have to say I loved all the cars but the 66' Corvette Stingray was absolutely stunning!





I adore this mustang... Cherry red is the perfect color for it too!



Here is the wonderful Miss Erin Basso who put this all together!

Aunt Kristi's Birthday - 7/27/08

So for Kristi's birthday we went to the Del Mar Race Tracks. "Where the turf meets the surf, down at old Del Mar... Take a train, take a plane, take a car..." Yeah, I pretty much had that song stuck in my head all week. But the horse races were a lot of fun and the weather was amazing! I think it was about 70 to 75 degrees there, perfect!

So I am not a person who understands horse racing, but I enjoyed watching it and taking pictures. "It is a place to see and be seen," as the quote goes. There is also so much history here. Here is a website about the Del Mar Race Tracks in case you are interested:

http://ezinearticles.com/?History-of-Del-Mar-Race-Track&id=1276278

That song I quoted earlier was written by Bing Crosby himself, who was co-founder to the race track. Here is a painting of the original owners:



The painting of the original owners can be found in this area. On the right side of the corridor there are paintings on the wall of the Del Mar fair and on the left side are paintings of the Del Mar Race Tracks. The people walking in this picture are Jon, Gina, and Mike. I think Don is behind me...



When you first walk into the race tracks there is a long line of palm trees and flags. It is kind of cool.



Below is where the horses are contained until the gates open and they run, and do they run! Very fast and powerful horses.





Here is a picture of the crowd behind us. When the horses got close to the finish line, the crowd went wild! The excitement in the air was electric.



Here is where we watched the race. The horses were not more than 10 feet away from us. Each race we would line up on that fence and watch. Those horses ran by fast! I was glad my camera had a fast shutter speed to catch it all. Six frames per second, go camera go!



I don't even think Frank noticed Don doing that! I guess he will when he looks at this picture.



And here is a picture of the birthday girl. Aunt Kristi is on the left and her daughter Kelly is on the right.



And last but not least, Don... If you click on the picture it will zoom in a little closer on the picture. Look at the reflection in Don's glasses, it is me! That was not on purpose, but I thought it was cool. I never get to be in pictures because I am usually the one taking the pictures. So I finally got to be in one!

Don's Birthday - 7/26/08

For Don's birthday we went to Fuddruckers. Man do I love their burgers! Thanks to all the friends and family who came to help celebrate Don's birthday. I know Don had a blast!



Here are some funny pictures I was able to catch of various people. The first two are of my niece Kaylie, the 3rd one is my brother in law Mike and the last one is my sister Marza and Grandma Krafft.









Here is my Father in law and brother in law playing with their iPhones. We have become quite the techno geek family.



I think Don is getting in trouble here with his Grandma!!! Just kidding. :o)

Jon's Birthday - 7/20/08

Here are some pictures of my brother in law's birthday. We went to Seau's Restaurant and ate some great food.



This is Jon and his best friend Nicole. She has been pretty much adopted into the family. We love her!



Here is the whole table:



Here is another funny pictures of Jon. I can always count on him to make a funny picture!