A Family Wedding

Bruce's sister married a really great guy a bit ago:

 He's a farmer and we all really like him. They were married on a cold Autumn day, but it was a fun family occasion and everyone was happy.

 Yes, he's wearing a kilt. It's kind of "the thing" in my SIL's family.

There were lots of cute nieces and grand-nieces at the wedding.

 And the new Brigham City temple was beautiful.

 Their reception had an Autumn/Burlap theme. Really cute.

 One of my talented nieces decorated the wedding cake and some cute cupcakes- pretty amazing!

 We wish the best for the happy couple!

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Harvest Pillows

I'm really loving the slip-covered pillows I have on my porch chair. I paired the pillow we made at our sister's weekend with some fall fabric, burlap and twine for this look:

The Girl From Spain

I feel like I've bombarded you with barn pictures lately. Sorry, but I have just one more Autumn shoot to show you. This one is just as cute as the others, I think.

This is C and she is an exchange student from Spain. She is living with Kari during the school year and she wanted to make a photo book to send to her parents for Christmas.

She's been with us from August and to be honest, her English was a little sketchy when she arrived. She's learned a lot since then and we had no problems communicating.

 In fact, she was really comfortable and interacted with the horse so naturally. I didn't have to coach her much at all. Where I would usually take 6 or 7 shots, with C I only needed one or two. :)

 Oh, and did I mention she's beautiful?

 We probably started this shoot a little late in the day but with daylight savings, every day is short, right?

 Had to take pictures with the old Ford. Even the dogs wanted to get into the act.

 By the time we were done there was No. Light. Left. What a fun shoot this was! We took a few more pictures during the first snowstorm of the year, but I'll save those for another day.

The Legoland Hotel

If you have kids or grandkids of a certain age, (say, 4-12) here's a great vacation idea for you. Legoland. Besides the park with it's displays, rides, waterpark and aquarium, there's a new hotel and it's pretty amazing. And everything is made out of Legos!

We toured the hotel when we were in California a few weeks ago. There is a Lego pit in the lobby to keep the kids occupied while you check in. It keeps grown ups occupied too.

Behind the front desk is an entire wall covered with Lego figures. This is just a small sample:

A Lego dragon looms over the entrance:

And there's even a Lego bellman.

There are Legos everywhere. In the restaurant:

By the pool- hi, Baywatch Lego lady!

And outside:

 

Look at this cute little stable scene!

Check out these rooms- the parents sleep here:

And the kids sleep here!

Look at the bathrooms!

These are the adventure-themed rooms. They also have pirate rooms and castle rooms. Fun, right?

This hotel was built about 20 years too late for my family, but maybe your is just the right age! I think you should go.

Disneyland Without My Camera

I was in California last week, with a big crew from Bruce's company. Shannon was there too, which was fun- well, you remember my post about the whole LAX thing, right? Anyway, I drove down a few days after they flew and got to spend the day with them at Disneyland.

One wrinkle in the plan: Bruce didn't want me to take my camera into the park. One of the new work people had been diligently taking photos with her phone and he didn't want her to feel bad. So I left my camera behind. Big mistake. One I won't be repeating.

The one day that the Disney reps take us to lunch at Club 33, and I don't have my camera. (We did our best with Bruce's phone.)

Club 33 is a private VIP club above the Pirates ride in Disneyland. Walt Disney's idea of an exclusive lounge and restaurant, it's officially still a "secret" in the park. There is a 14-year waiting list to pay $10,000 to join the club and that doesn't include the yearly dues, which are $3,000-$6000 a year. If you are a member, you can will your membership to your descendants. Exclusive? Yes.

The food was delicious (the dessert buffet had these mini hot chocolate cups with the most decadent cocoa!), Disney artifacts were everywhere, it was just a cool experience.

Then when we got back to our rooms at the end of a long Disney day, strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce were waiting for us. :)

 Barbara, will you enter Disneyland without your camera again? No, no I will not.

Another Shoot At The Barn

Boy, have I been busy lately- and this blog has suffered. Hopefully I can get things organized and post more often. Here's a shoot I did almost 2 weeks ago with a girl at the barn and her horse.

Isn't she pretty? All of the girls at the barn are pretty.

Her horse is huge and they do really well at the shows. I donated this shoot for the silent auction at the Halloween benefit. I would have been mortified if no one had bid on it!

As with most of the girls, I've know this one since she started riding. She's a bit shy naturally and usually turns away from my camera when I'm trying to get those candid shots. I told her before the shoot that she had to be good and smile- and she did.

 I thought this was a pretty shot.

 She requested the obligitory "horse eating while I sit looking cute in front of the barn" shot. They all seem to want that one.

 And we seem to end up in front of the classic Ford. I love the old Ford.

 Now this is the smile I love!

 Is there such a thing as too much sun flare?

 It was a fun shoot- and I have another at the barn today!