No Apricots for you

Here is a springtime picture for Val with apricot tree blossoms, complete with snow. This is why we will have no apricots this year. It got so cold for a couple nights after this snow.

springtime pictures

I started getting really excited about taking some springtime pictures when all the trees started blossoming. I got all these visions of grandeur. Nothing quite turns out the way you want. I got the overwhelming desire to take pictures last Friday, randomly, even though we hadn't planned anything in advance, and the sky was overcast and rainy (I argued it was a perfect day for pictures, if it didn't rain, because there wouldn't be any shadows). I talked Mike into being the photographer the moment he got home, and then called up my mom to see if she could talk anyone else into coming with us. Everybody that was home came. I'm sure no one else even wanted pictures, but they went along with it anyway! They are such good sports! I have the best family ever! It got pretty windy, and they don't look very springtime-ish because there are no flowers, there is no sunshine, and there is so much snow on the mountains, but they were a lot of fun to take!



This will be the album cover of our girl band! Yes, that is blue tape you see on my violin indicating where to put my fingers (why can't violins have frets?!?). I started lessons this semester.

We can't help but laugh at all the shenanigans going on!



He can do this face well because he is the youngest. Well practiced.

some video responses

To get bonus points during our scavenger hunt, you had to make a video (you'll have to look at the previous post to understand the hunt). I just had to post my favorite video responses.

a different kind of hunt

We did a picture scavenger hunt at the mall on Saturday. It was pretty funny. I gave everyone a list of things and they had to figure out where to find each thing so they could get a picture of it. And we only had thirty minutes! There were some pretty creative responses..here are just a few:

"A picture with a celebrity"


"a rainy day"

"with a flag"


"find a lucky cat"


"a picture trying on an article of clothing of your favorite color"

The prompt "take a picture of something that doesn't exist" got the best response! I saved these last three for last because they are my favorite!


I thought this one was quite clever! An empty display rack! Nothing there!

This picture could have won the whole game. It counted for three things: a picture with a celebrity, something that doesn't exist, and your favortite animal. I wonder if I should've given them bonus points for this, or made it against the rules! They saved themselves a lot of time by doing three at once!

conference weekend

Enjoying a game of Blokus after the Sunday sessions.


This project was completed during conference. You would not believe how this boy can knit!

My mom and I worked on removing a bunch of old pictures from those "magnetic page" albums. I don't know why they are called magnetic because in reality they are just plain sticky. And they destroy your photographs. I had been wanting to remove them for a long time, so I was glad when we finally had time to sit down and do it. I learned you could use floss or an acid-free sheet of paper to kind of "saw" through the adhesive. It worked out really well. It was fun to see how many of my mom's pictures (and, ultimately, experiences) have been really similar to some of my own. So I thought I would post an example:


Fashions may change over time but the need for a map picture at the MTC never goes out of style.

in the printing business

These are some pictures from March when the Artist was helping with some t-shirt printing. First you have to make the screen.


When that is completed you are ready to print the image on to a shirt. It's pretty tricky. You have to get the paint on evenly and quickly before it dries and clogs up the screen.


Here is another painting he did a while ago that is one of my favorites.

Eagles in Concert

A couple of weeks ago my parents went out to Missouri to see an Eagles concert. I guess the tour was going to have a SLC concert, but my dad was going to be flying out before then, so they made the trip clear out to Missouri. My mom got a lot of pictures at the concert, but we can't get them off her phone, so you have to be content with these cell phone pictures I took in the shop of the concert shirt. They also stopped at some historic church sites.