Sweet as an Orange

Tess loves to eat oranges but she likes to just bite right in rather than having me peel the orange. She's a funny little kid! Anyway, I decided to try to take some pictures while she ate this morning, but Tess is much more difficult to take pictures of than Ava is. Most of my pics of Tess were out of focus, but here are a few that turned out.

Pictures That I Took

I decided to use Luke's camera and take a few pictures of Ava this afternoon. Here are some that I took.

Downtown

On Saturday we spent the afternoon in downtown Salt Lake City. Luke was taking some pictures with his film camera for his black and white class. Phil took us into the arena before the game and it was awesome to get a tour of the place when it was so empty. We walked down on the floor and took pictures. Then we rode the elevator to the top floor and looked down over the city. We braved the January cold and the girls had fun getting out of the house on a field trip!

Ava pretending to be a future Jazz announcer.

We stopped by Temple Square and walked through the visitors center and then heard the organist practicing in the Tabernacle.

Young Victoria

I just saw another movie that I absolutely loved! Watching Young Victoria made me want to go back to England again. I really didn't know a lot about Queen Victoria before seeing the movie but now I'm completely enthralled with her life and love story. The movie was so well done! I can't wait till it comes to video and I can watch it again!

The Weather

I totally recommend this new movie. We rented it from Redbox and it was hilarious! Ava enjoyed and I really enjoyed it too! It's very colorful and really brightens up a dreary January afternoon.

Ava's Art

Ava drew this picture in her primary class last Sunday. She told her teacher that it was a picture of her dad, Luke. I love the head placed on top of insanely tall and skinny legs!

Ava colored this picture of Santa Claus today and I really like how colorful he is. I thought it was creative how she colored his beard in multi-colored sections.

Warning

This post is for all my neighbors and friends out there. It is a warning to be on alert. Someone tried to get in our house last night. It was about 10:30 and I was in the kitchen cleaning up and talking to Luke. It was really quiet in our house because the girls were sleeping and there wasn't any TV on or anything. Suddenly we heard our front screen open. It's very squeaky and loud and impossible to open quietly. We walked into the front room, expecting to hear a knock or something on the door. Next we saw the door handle being jiggled and it was obvious that someone on the other side was trying to get in. Luckily we had the door dead bolted. Luke yelled out "hey" and the jiggling immediately stopped. We looked through the peephole but we couldn't see anyone because our front porch light is burned out. I tried to peek out the windows but I didn't see anyone or hear any voices. This morning when I woke up I noticed that our back gate was open. It looks like someone may have tried both the front door and the back door. I'm keeping all my doors locked and doubled checked on the locks on my windows too. This is a warning to everybody to be careful. I'm worried there could be someone out there up to no good.

Looking at our Options

Hi Everyone,

There's been some interest in the Christ pictures Luke took and we're debating about selling them or not. We want to be sure about the ethics of the whole situation. Anyway, I'm going to look into Desert Book and Luke's going to talk to one of his professors. We'll get back to you soon.

A Testimony in a Picture

These are some of my favorite pictures Luke has ever taken because it represents his testimony in a photograph. Luke and I are not always ones to share our feelings or bear testimony all the time but we both do know that our Savior is Jesus Christ and we feel his love and guidance in our lives.

I'm not good with words. Neither is Luke. He can let his pictures talk for him. I generally let my music speak for me.

This scripture sums it up well: "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." 2 Nephi 25:26

I know to look to the Savior always as my source of strength and inspiration. If we keep him central in our lives I know we will find eternal joy and happiness.

Over the Holidays

Over the Christmas holidays we spent a day on campus at BYU. We went to the bookstore and then went bowling in the basement of the WILK (Wilkinson Center). We also walked through the MOA (Museum of Art) and saw some of Luke's art on display in the HFAC (Harris Fine Arts Center).

My Mom and Brian were visiting us so they also came along on our BYU excursion.

I made Luke stand in front of his pictures while I took a picture of them. He didn't want to and he felt foolish but I wanted to document it for the blog and any disbelievers out there. You can do anything you set your mind to. Who would have guessed that Luke would be an artist?

Two of Luke's art pieces from fall semester were chosen for display in the HFAC. What a great honor!

Up To No Good

Tess got into the towel drawer and had some fun. I have a hard time keeping up with that girl! Luke took these pics with his iphone so thats why they are a little bit grainy and lower quality.

Date Night at Abravenal Hall

Luke took me out for a surprise date night to the Symphony last weekend! There was a piano soloist playing Beethoven's second concerto and he even wrote his own cadenza, which I was really impressed by. Most artists today just play what's written instead of improvising their own cadenza. Anyway, we had a great night and Luke took a few pics with his iphone to document the date.

Art Prerequisites

When Luke got accepted into the photography program at BYU he first had to take a semester of art prerequisites. These pictures are some of the art he created in those classes from Fall 2009 semester. Luke enjoyed the art classes but is glad that he doesn't have to take any more and he can now focus just on photography. This semester he is in a black and white film photography class, and he'll most likely be displaying some of his work from that class on his blog. I look forward to having tons of great pictures to hang up in my house!

Ava's First Day of Primary

Last Sunday was Ava's first day as a Sunbeam in Primary! She did really well and loved it! Because I'm the music chorister Ava did try to come up and stand by me a couple times, but I just told her to go sit down with her class. I can't believe how grown up she is already!

New Years Eve

We had a great time dancing the night away at Mac and Mary's New Years Eve party. Luke has a ton of pictures on his blog, but I thought I'd just put one of Ava on here. Check out his blog for some great dancing shots!