He truly is my Father’s Grandson. Looking at the photos are all you need as evidence. The hair, hairlines, noses, chins - all similar and familiar. No words need to be said other than- He is his Grandpa’s Grandson.

As a little boy, he would share in my father’s joy of cooking. He wanted to cook “like Grandpa”. He would call his Grandpa on the phone and ask him for his crepe recipe. His little hands wrote as his Grandpa gave him the steps. I remember many a time helping him make the crepes for us. A special treat that to this day is a special memory for a grown man. Grandpa’s crepes…the effort of creating the batter the night before because that is what “Grandpa says we have to do to make it”. I can see us in our San Diego kitchen making that batter the night before so we could have that special breakfast the next morning.

Last year my mother passed that pan on to her grandson. She wanted him to have that pan knowing full well that it held a lot of heartfelt memories for her grandson. On a warm summer morning as we all sat around the kitchen, the grandson took us all back to that special memory as we watched him make those crepes. He is his Grandfather’s Grandson.

My father passed away almost 5 years ago. I think that he would be thrilled to know that his special crepe pan is in the hands of his grandson who to this day shares his love and the challenge of recreating his grandfather’s crepes. As his grandson gets ready to welcome his own child into this world, I cannot help but wonder if he will pass on this tradition and pan to his own children. Somehow, I think he will.

My Father as a young man

His Grandson

A Grandson and his Grandpa’s Crepe pan

Years ago, my siblings and I decided to forgo all the gift giving that comes with Christmas. We could only spend $20 and it had to be on an ornament. This meant each year, we would be adding three new ornaments to our Christmas tree. This simple tradition has brought wonderful memories to me as I decorate my tree each year. My oldest son has started the tradition with us as well. He has been married for three years and they want to have special ornaments that bring special memories as they decorate their tree together each year.

The past few years, we have all bought ornaments from the same place. While, as luck would have it, none of us have bought the same ornament. Each year, for me, the hunt for that special ornament begins the day after Christmas where my dollar goes a little bit further because many of these ornaments go on sale! Each year, Vicki and I, shop together via long distance and discuss what ones we like. It reminds me of the times, when we were younger. Who doesn’t remember that fall day when the big Sears  toy catalogue would arrive? Who didn’t spend hours going page by page looking at every item and making a list? Funny- my kids did the same thing when they were younger every time the Toys R Us catalogue would arrive. I can still hear them saying ” I want this and this and this…”

If my brother or sisters happen to be reading this- This year, I didn’t shop at the same as all of you! I went somewhere different!

But this morning, I found this ornament in the Sundance Catalog and I think it would be JUST PERFECT FOR ME!

5/5/10 - Update- The Brownie camera ornament went on sale and I snapped it right up with a few extras in case I decide to do a giveaway during the Christmas season! The photo below is MINE!

Growing up they fought like cats and dogs. Chases that led to an emergency room visit for one and others that ended with a statement from their Mom with “Who started the fire?” Boys will be boys and brothers will always be brothers. No matter the distance, no matter the day, they remain brothers.

Their life paths are traveled in different states but their life’s passion is exactly the same. They still tease each other while they talk of plans for a vacation of adventure, whether it will be chasing storms or a trip to Alaska. They are each others best friends. When one needs the other, they are there. One is easy going and the other is trying to go easy. One is married while the other  is moving on from a troubled relationship. They help each other more than they know. They are all I have ever hoped for. I am so very proud of them.

Spent the weekend out in middle America. I snapped this with my point & shoot Nikon. I am enjoying not lugging around my big ole D300 every where I go. Bring it into to Lightroom, add a preset or two with some creative cropping and you would never know I shot this through the truck window! We paid a visit to Tanner’s Orchard and picked up apple cider donuts, fresh cider and a few bags of apples. A great fall weekend and even better seeing with a great son!

You would think that I was Mrs. Greenjeans this summer by this photo. Not at all… Just pure luck. Lots of rain and a wonderfully cool summer. The tomatoes were happy in their containers and the basil loved hanging out with them. I gave them all little pep talks every day about growing big and strong. Did I have success with everything I planted? No- I killed the Rosemary twice….

I thought it might be good to see what presets I used in this photo. Surprisingly I didn’t over preset it for a change. Is “over preset” a post production term?

Do you think he is telling me to stop taking photos of him? LIke that is actually going to happen. 

Lightroom aficionados you should RUN not walk over to Kevin Kubota’s site. He has a wonderful DVD about Lightroom RAW workflow and 90 presets are included.  The price is 99.00 and I think it is money well spent. I used the “Old is New again” preset on the photo below. 

Most of the ladies from the Me Ra Workshop know that I am a HUGE Lightroom fan-so you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that I am going to the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Live here in Chicago on July 20th. I cannot wait!

I had the privilege ( ok I begged ) of taking photos of Rich and Allaina’s twins. WOW- it was a lot of work. I studied other photographers to see what they were doing with poses. I looked at tips for keeping the babies warm. I kept a heating pad on low and those little girls slept most of the time. They were born 8 weeks premature. They spent 3 weeks in the hospital. They had been home just a week when these photos were taken. Everyone was adjusting to have not one but TWO newborns in the house. After spending several hours with them- I have no idea how they do it. I was exhausted by the time we were done. 

Two sets of tiny feet

A sweet sleepy smile

Sisterly love

The sweetest hug. They had to be touching each other.

Remember this beautiful mama? The twins have arrived and Sarah is a big sister! Her sisters, Allison and Megan were born about 5 weeks ago. I went out to visit her family last weekend and take some photos. She loves her sisters but they sure are taking up her Mommy and Daddy time. I wanted to make sure she had her own little photo shoot while I was there. She is quite the little poser and knows exactly how she would like her picture to be taken. We took turns requesting how the photo should be taken! Here a few from the session. Oh and I haven’t mentioned it lately but I LOVE LIGHTROOM!  I think I need to look for a new blog layout. I would like to be able to post bigger photos. Any suggestions out there?

Did I mention the twins were identical? By the end of day none of us knew who was who!

Quick note here for my fellow Lightroom addicts- Adobe is running several free seminars during April and May. You can find out more by following this link! I just watched the first one, which is going to be repeated in May, and it was very good and informative. The eseminar didn’t last more than hour and it was filled with good tips about importing and good practices. The next one I am scheduled for is about Lightroom and Photoshop. Take a look my friends, you won’t be disappointed. I PROMISE!

Ok-I didn’t really get lost in the way that most people get lost. I spent this morning looking for tips and tricks using Adobe Lightroom. I LOVE the internet! You can google just about anything and get, at the very least, 10 pages of answers to a simple search. I did a search for “Lightroom Tutorials”  and look at all the pages that came up. How crazy is that?  So as I am sitting here at my kitchen counter and waiting for our next SNOWSTORM, in April no less, I got lost looking at all the amazing sites that offer great tips and tricks for Lightroom. I know that many of the Me Ra Workshop ladies have seen the Lightroom way and are using it on a daily basis. Ladies-this post is for you! Check out these sites for great tips and tutorials.

Lightroom Killer Tips - One of the best in my opinion

The Lightroom Lab - yep - got lost in here

Lightroom Secrets - here too!

The Lightroom Queen - No this isn’t me- but it could be. I feel like the Lightroom Queen at times

The Lightroom Lab - spent quite a bit of time in here

Lightroom Forums - A great place for information and help with Lighroom issues.

Image-Space - Tips and a free e-book download

We are waiting for a storm today that is supposed to bring us 3-4 inches of snow. Here is a photo from LAST Sunday’s snow storm. Have I mentioned that I am really ready for winter to go away? Have I mentioned that I miss living in San Diego from December through April.

PS- I am not loving the upgrade of Wordpress to 2.7. I am having issues with the sizing of my photos. I may have to look for a new layout so I don’t have to compress the sizes. Any suggestions out there??