my grandmother's funeral....

my grandmother, cora gardner jensen, passed away thursday, october 15. she was 86 years old. fortunately, our family grew up not to far from her and my grandfather. we saw them quite regularly. she was a very talented lady. she loved (and i mean loved!) the dodgers, loved to play bridge, and loved to do needlepoint. she was amazing at needlepoint. she could crochet or knit anything. she made beautiful blankets and pillows for my children as well as for me and my siblings. she really had quite an interesting life. she didn't share many of her life experiences with us when we were younger. but about 8 years ago, she rode with me up to my sister in law's baby shower. the drive was long, so i took the opportunity to pick her brain and learn as much as i could about her and her family. she grew up in delta, utah. she talked about her experiences with the japanese internment camp. (i really wish i had a tape recorder going at this point.) she talked about how she met my grandfather, what his family was like, and what their life was like together. the stories were fascinating and i wish i had been able to write it all down rather than drive. i will always be grateful for that time i had with her. i really felt like i got to "know" her. i had a greater understanding of her struggles, and my respect for her grew immensely.

i wish i had pictures handy of her with me and my kids. i know i had some that were taken digitally, but i am having trouble accessing my external hard drive where they would be stored:( all other pictures are from film, and i don't have a scanner:(

here are a few pictures from the funeral. the first picture is of her children. the second is a picture of all her grandchildren. this is the first time i think that all 12 grand kids have been together. it was great to see all my cousins. i hope we can work on getting together more often.

the oldest grand kid is my brother chad at 39 and the youngest is mallory at 20.

hopefully, this post gives each of us a renewed desire to spend quality time with our family and friends, and to be the very best person that we can be:)

what???a wedding, for me???

i never thought i would actually photograph a wedding.....but here i am shooting away! these are just some shots prior to the wedding ceremony. unfortunately, we were not given as much time as i had hoped to shoot. because the bride and groom did much of the work for the wedding themselves, they ended up with little time for anything else.

this first shot was taken just a few minutes after the groom saw his bride all dressed for the first time. i just love her expression here:)

isn't she just beautiful???

i love this shot! this is where the groom unexpectedly pinched the bride's butt! isn't her look priceless??!!

and here i just love how sweet and innocent she is looking at him!

these candy apples are sooo beautiful! i think the bride (by herself i think) made about 200 of these! she made one for each guest, and were on each plate. i will have to dig up that picture too! the tables and the decor were absolutely stunning! they all did a fabulous job!

here's the bride bouquet. i was bummed that she didn't have it with her for the pictures prior to the wedding. it is so pretty!

i wish i would of borrowed a macro lens for the last two shots. the wedding rings are kinda hidden in them. you need a macro to pull this off just right....

a special thanks to janell for all her help! she was with me for this part of the shoot. she has a great eye for detail:) couldn't have done it without her!

and a special thanks to my husband who was with me the rest of the shoot. he was my flash guy! followed me around so dutifully!

and thanks ashlee for your great words of wisdom and guidance! i never could of pulled this off without you!

perhaps i might get some of the ceremony/reception pics posted later....

p.s. i hate what blogger does to my photos....but i am just too lazy to third party upload!

another wonderful family!

how cute is this family??? i can hardly stand it! they are so easy to shoot. and the eyes just kill me, ohh, how i love their eyes! they were fun and relaxed and it soo shows!

this is one of my daughter's good friends, total cutie!

the older girls are a riot! spend some time with them and i promise you nothing but laughter!

this is my son's piano teacher. he is absolutely amazing on the piano, so incredibly gifted! this is his last year at home...so mom and dad really wanted some family pictures!

have a great weekend!