Putting our bonus room to work...

So we have this huge bonus room upstairs and never really knew what we should use it for. This last week we decided to go ahead and turn it into a photo studio. So with a very small budget and various trips to Home Depot and JoAnn's Fabrics we came up with our own studio. I made the backdrop out of 2" PVC pipes and made it so that each background is on it's separate roll which we just pop off to change when we want. Shirley suggested we try JoAnn's for fabrics to see if they had anything on clearance - and by golly we lucked out. They had numerous rolls of vinyl material on sale for $1 a yard. We got 4 different kinds including white and black - and spent a grand total of $16. In the end our new studio cost us about $80 to set up from start to finish. We plan on using it to shoot cute pictures of the girls as well as pictures which I can sell on stock photo websites. Here is one of the first pictures we took using the studio - Shirley actually took this one of Katelyn.

Katelyn cuts her hair...

Saturday morning Shirley and I were outside working on our garage sale, and Katelyn was inside getting ready for the day. Well she was having a hard time getting some knots out and decided that it would be best to just cut her hair. So she took scissors to her front bangs and cut them down to the base. It was tragic... But fortunately she didn't cut too much and so now we just fold her hair to the left to cover the cut area. Oh Katelyn - never a boring moment.

Funny story this morning...

So this morning Shirley was saying how tired she was since the Elin hardly slept last night and how grateful she was that she was finally sleeping. It was about 8am. She had plans that she would sleep in for awhile so that she could do some work around the house. Well Anabelle asked if she could watch Barney on TV so as Shirley put the video in to play - what she didn't realize is that the speakers upstairs were turned to LOUD, and as Barney came on - it filled the whole house with his music. By the time she was able to turn it down, both Elin and Katelyn were awake. What I thought was really quite funny was when Katelyn came downstairs she was all grumpy and when I asked what's wrong her response was, "Someone woke me up to Barney music!"

Now that has got to be worse then getting up on the wrong side of the bed....

Catching up...

Sorry it has taken a week or so to post - life was busy... First off, thanks Shawn for leaving some comments - the girls loved to hear from you.

So Elin has officially started taking her first steps walking. Her record so far is 4 steps. It is so cute when she walks because she puts her arms out (I suppose for balance) and moves her foot ever so gently. We are guessing that within the next week she will be taking more steps with even more confidence.

Katelyn has "graduated" from Kindergarten. Although she has a few classes left her school held a graduation and musical - which was super cute. Katelyn actually had a speaking role in the production (they chose 3 from her class).

Mother's Day B-Fast in Bed

For Mother's Day Katelyn, Anabelle and I decided to make Shirley breakfast in bed. They both were so adorable when I went in their room to wake them up - they jumped out of bed with the same enthusiasm as if it was Christmas morning. While preparing the food Katelyn spilled a bowl of 16 eggs - which of course was delightful to clean up but otherwise it was lots of fun cooking with them. They were both so excited to help.

When we walked into the room to give Mommy the food both girls were smiles ear to ear. If you look close in the picture of all four you will see the typical Elin morning face. Every morning she wakes up with this beautiful morning smile...

Memorable morning for sure...

Photo of Katelyn

Here is a cute picture of Katelyn I shot at night.

Katelyn - Dad's Mini Me....

So the other day, Katelyn tells me she is like a little Mini Me (referring to her love of computers and graphic design). Well last night while out talking with the neighbors I heard two stories that made me laugh. One neighbor told me she was on the computer making a sign for her daughters upcoming birthday party, and Katelyn - when she noticed what she was doing - came up and said - "Hey graphic design - I love graphic design - do you want me to do it for you." A second neighbor chimed in and said when Katelyn was over at her house doing some homework (usually the neighborhood kids gather together after school at someones house and do homework together) Katelyn wrote her 7's with a line going through it. It is the same way I write 7's and is used commonly in Europe and Brazil. Well Katelyn, only knows that I write my 7's like that, and I suppose learned it from me. However when the neighbor asked about it she said, "Oh, that is how graphic designers write their 7's."

That little girl is too funn!

Katelyn learning to Type...

Katelyn has a new hobby that she enjoys doing on the computer - using Microsoft Word. She has discovered how to use the program to change fonts, colors and tonight make shapes. So now instead of playing games on the internet she enjoys typing new words and playing with the program. Tonight while I was working on some customers projects, she came in and sat down next to me and said - referring to her using the computer to design pages - "Daddy, I am a mini you!" I thought that was so cute. She then grabbed one of the fliers I had created for a customer in the past and asked how I did certain parts of it. It sure will be fun to see her grow up because she truly has a keen sense of design and many artistic talents. Soon I am going to start teaching her how to use Photoshop so that she can really expand her creative mind!

Visit to the temple..

Saturday (Apr. 28, 2007) morning we took the girls to the temple. It was a nice break from the kitchen cleanin', laundry foldin', computer typin', backyard landscapin' daily life. The girls discovered strawberries growing amongst the flowers and of course dove right in to grab some. Of course they were the best strawberries ever! We had a great time there!

Shirley and the girls!


Anabelle picking strawberries!

(note Mesa Temple in background)

New Neighborhood

Although we are very happy with our new house - the best part about it was a feature that did not come as an upgrade - in fact it is priceless - and that is all of our neighbors. We really lucked out in our new neighborhood, because it is the kind of street that I always dreamed of raising a family on. Almost every day when I come home from work, I see all the neighborhood children playing together, as well as other parents gathered together in the front yards on lawn chairs discussing the day's news.

One of the features that the children find most fun is the large inflatable, water slide which our front neighbors purchased. About twice a week, the children have their own waterpark to splash around in - and in Arizona it is much needed.

Jumping for the Camera

So the other day the girls start jumping off the barstools for fun. Well I only intensified the fun when I took out the camera. Suddenly it was who could jump higher and farther. I think Katelyn stole the show with this shot.