More Photo Class Favorites

Digital Photography Class

I am in the middle of a digital photography class with a friend. It's once a week for a couple of hours down in Logan for 12 weeks. And I am learning so much about my camera and taking pictures. It's been fun and challenging. Sometimes I feel like I'm very successful and sometimes I really struggle with light, exposure, composition, and metering. I've learned, and continue to learn, about depth of field, blurring backgrounds, freezing and blurring motion, and shooting in manual mode instead of automatic! But I hope to be able to increase my abilities and take better picture of everyday life, the dogs, and our family. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

Little Buckaroo Rodeo 2013

The boys really wanted to ride in a rodeo this year. So we made one work. They both rode in the Little Buckaroo Rodeo in Grace. Crew really wanted to ride a calf this year. I will be honest, I was a little discouraging and not super supportive of this idea. But Rett was a good dad and said if he wanted to do it, we would let him. Drake stuck with the safer, slower, smaller, and lower to the ground sheep. They both did great. Especially considering I had them at Bear Lake in the hot sun with friends all day the day of the rodeo. They were sunburned and tired. But were good, tough cowboys. Crew really surprised us. He was third out of the 14 kids in his 4-8 year old age group. It's funny how the boys, especially Crew, are just cowboys. Of course we will support the boys in any worthy cause they want to pursue. But we have not pushed the cowboy thing. Crew however, is just plain old cowboy at heart. Such cute cowboys. And best of all, no one got hurt and they had fun!

Crew is 6

Crew turned 6 in April. It's hard to believe! And he finished up kindergarten last week! Right now he's really into basketball. So we had a basketball cake and took him to shoot hoops at the school. It was a fun evening with just the four of us. For his birthday he got a compound bow. He's loving shooting with his dad. Crew is our little social boy. He missed a whole week of school because of a bad flu bug. He cried every morning I told him he still couldn't go. I'm so excited for his teacher next year. He's nervous but will do great. She always turns her students into great readers. We are so glad Crew is part of our family and couldn't imagine life without him! Now we're ready to start our summer!

Funny Parenting Moments

Sometimes I can't help but laugh at little parenting moments. I honestly think that as a parent you have to have a sense of humor, and laugh at things that happen, or you will go completely crazy! The other day Rett and I couldn't stop laughing. Sometimes I think we're mean, and then I realize that it's ok to have a little laugh at your kiddos. Drake and Crew have both done this before. But we finally caught it on video. We were driving home from Grandpa Kip's house the other night. It was around bedtime, but the boys had some gum from Grandpa's house. They were sleepy. And this is hilarious to me! This video is of Drake. He is totally asleep, but is still chomping away on his gum! And of course you can hear Rett and I giggling in the background. And I had to hurry and turn off the video because Drake started to wake up and I didn't want him to think we were being mean and cause a problem. Oh the joy of parenting! These little moments make my day! So funny!

Grandma Shoemaker

My Great Grandma Shoemaker (Elizabeth Louise Davis Shoemaker, 18 April 1917 - 19 February 2013) was a beautiful, strong, hardworking, and independent woman. I was blessed to be able to have her around for so long during my life. She was very independent until recently in her life, when she moved in with my Grandpa and Grandma Stark. I was never able to spend a great deal of intimate time with Grandma Shoemaker, but I know that those who did were blessed by her smile and the time they spent with her. Here are some of the memories I have of Grandma Shoemaker. When we visited Grandma's house as kids, I remember clocks on her living room walls. There were so many of them. There were so many different kinds. And they were not always set at the same time, so ticks, dings, chimes, etc. went off at all different times. But I thought, as a child, it was amazing that she had so many clocks. Another thing I remember about Grandma was her crocheting. She was always crocheting something. And every time we went to visit she gave us a pair of crocheted slippers. At my house, when we watch a movie or hang out on the couch, everyone likes to have a blanket to wrap up in. Rett is known to love sheets and blankets that are very old, soft, and comfy. The blanket my Great Grandma Shoemaker made for me when I was a little girl is the house favorite. And the best part is, that all three of my rough and tough boys, fight over the PINK blanket! It's the coveted blanket around the house. They love it. I love it too. Spilled nail polish and all! It says "Jennifer's Pets" across the top, and then has nine different animals on it. I remember as kids, we all had a special blanket from Grandma. This past year or longer I worked on a family recipe book. It had wonderful recipes from our family. I was so grateful to get to know the wonderful women in my family a little better by some of their cherished recipes. We had a service for Grandma on Saturday, March 2nd, at the Sierra View Cemetery in Olivehurst, California. We made a quick trip of it. We drove Friday, and stayed in Sacramento, attended the service Saturday, and spent Sunday driving back home. After the graveside service we went to Grandma Shoemaker's house for food and visiting. It was so fun to be able to see so much of my moms family. At Grandma's graveside service I learned something else about her. I learned that she was a pioneer of recycling. That was an interesting and neat little tidbit. And I know I should be better at this. So I'm going to take Grandma's example and work on my recycling. Another story that I loved was that Grandma got her first job, and Grandpa wasn't so sure she should be working. After she got her first pay check, she bought him some tools, and he thought the job wasn't such a bad idea after that!

Grandma Shoemaker

Grandpa & Grandma Shoemaker with children Dorothy, Francis, and Edna

Grandma Shoemaker and the Theresa Wheeler Sexton Family

Jennifer's Pets Blanket made by Grandma Shoemaker

Grandma Shoemaker's Raw Apple Cake Recipe

I "MUSTACHE" you a question!

For Valentines this year I wanted to take pictures of the boys with mustaches and send out Valentines Cards to Grandpas, Grandmas, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. The boys hated the idea. They thought it was super weird. I got out movies like Quigley Down Under to show them that cowboys have mustaches. They still thought it was a little crazy. And they didn't love the pictures with them. I think they turned out super cute! And I especially love their crazy face pictures! Needless to say, I got them done, but they were sent out a little late. 

But we do want our family and friends to know how much we love and appreciate them. We are so blessed to have so many great people in our lives who help us raise our children, who support us in our endeavors, and who make life a joy. We couldn't ask for happier boys, and that is thanks to so many great people in our lives.

Couple Time

Rett had Monday off this week but randomly the boys still had school on MLK. So I begged a friend to watch the boys before and after school and Rett and I headed up to the slopes. It was a lot of fun. Rett's way better than I am. So he took it slow for me and taught me a few things. It was a fun day date. I love alone time with Rett because it reminds me of how much fun we have together. We still have fun with the boys however at some point during the running kids around, cleaning house, making dinner, work, and all the other routine stuff you tend to forget to just enjoy. I'm always grateful to be reminded of the love we share. And the other bonus was that it was beautiful, clear, sunny, and warm!

Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy visited our house for the very first time last week! On Thursday while we were eating dinner Crew said his loose tooth was making it hard to eat. I wiggled it a little and thought it probably had a few more days. He walked into the bathroom and I figured he was just going to look at it in the mirror. He walked out a minute later and said "I pulled it out". He was so calm! I couldn't believe he just pulled it out himself! He said it was making it too hard to eat! So cute! And I can't believe our little Crew is already big enough to be losing teeth!

Snow Fun

We had a super cold spell. It's been down to -16 °F. That's cold! We've had to find fun things to do to pass the time. We got lift passes to Beaver Mountain in Logan. We went for the first time last Saturday and then again today. It was lots of fun. We stayed on the magic carpet or bunny hill most of the first day. Rett and I made runs up the mountain and lived to tell about it. Actually we did great for not going in over ten years. I had a little mishap getting off the lift but I didn't hurt myself. Crew's doing great. He thinks he knows it all, doesn't want our our help and wants to go alone. We didn't let him go up anything else the first day but once he figured out how to slow himself down better we took him up. He did great. Drake is a little more cautious so isn't quite ready for anything else but he's learning. It's so fun for the family. We'll have two little shredders before the end of the season.

 And this is what the boys like to do in our field behind the house. They like sledding behind the four wheeler even in the bitter cold!