pool, prayers & homecomings...

well a pool day it wasn't but it did get
to 85 here in minneapolis!
i came prepared to get in the pool, it
just kept looking like rain so it took the
need away.

anne & i sat and watched amanda instead.






amanda waited patiently for her friend, maija, to
come over after lunch to get in with her...



we needed to be back at church by 2 for ben's
ceremony so we packed it in around 1:30 and headed
to westwood.

there, we were met by ben's dad, greg...his wife stacey
and their two children andrew and abbey along with a
couple of cousins.
it was really cool to see so many 9th graders involved
in nearly a 1 year program on sunday nights to learn
more about God, Jesus, the Trinity...all of it!
the room was packed. they all received a new tniv
bible to commemorate the completion.

abbey just loves her big brother ben!



we all placed hands on our 9th graders while brian
seuter (pastor of student ministries) lead us in prayer



here's brian!



ben's brother, andrew and his dad goofing around!



did i mention that abbey really loves her brother! :)




gary pulled in the driveway around 6:30 last night.
pooped...lots of laundry and glad to be home.
his trip was really terrific, they had a great time!
his shoulder held up through all 4 rounds of golf
and he played really well.

i head to anne & pete's tomorrow for the rest of the week.
i'll blog from there....

(marissa's senior portrait order comes in today
as does more wallets for megan bailey)

get wet!

well after a lovely afternoon with my brother,
tim and his wife, laurie golfing, i opted
to head to my sister's where it was just
she, her two daughters, my other sister in law
nicki and j....scott ran over (9 miles!!).
but the only one in the pool was amanda.
and of course, as 6 year olds do, she was pouting.
i went over and asked her "what's the matter amanda?"
"no one will come in the pool with me!" she said.
and i said, "no one?" and right then and there
i jumped in the pool! no suit, just what i had
on golfing. that got her smiling! the pool was perfect!
i swam around in my clothes with her for about 45 min.
then anne procured me some dry clothes!

my other niece, g, came over with her friend molly
and we all got in. then the older girls left and the
adults had an impromptu bbq and a couple of beers
and sat around the table solving all the worlds
problems. it was a bit like out of the show
"brothers and sisters"...fun.

ben is being "confirmed" (sort of) this afternoon.
he partook in a program at westwood called "the upper
room" and i'm proud of him, i'm looking forward to it.

going to pick up anne and amanda for church.
just the 3 of us today~ emily is doing a 4 mile walk
this morning for the march of dimes....
(she called it "marching for dimes"..cute!)

another pool day.
gary returns this evening.
i begin to prepare to stay at anne & pete's (tuesday)
for the week with the girls...can't wait!
turning the air on today....85+. nice!

give thanks & praise Him today!

another minnesota miracle family

yesterday i had the privilege to once again
meet a family dealing with childhood cancer.

becky and i left plenty early due to the fact
that friday afternoon traffic heading in that direction
is particularly nasty!

this family was just full of life!
i dont' have permission yet to post their names
but i can share the images...

here's becky with "N"...


here's the whole family....



here's the family with becky, ron & karen...



all the siblings were anxious to get to the pool!



the airport hilton in bloomington is just simply the best in
the business! they cater to every need of the family.
everything is comped including tickets to underwaterworld
and gifts in the room and all the orange balloons!

shawn anderson is the "go to" guy and makes certain that
everyone and everything is ready for the families arrival!

the reason this is possible is largely due to the new years
eve event held here at the hilton. it's an amazing party
where nothing is left out! it caters to families with
children so there is a ton for the kids to do too.
raffles, silent auctions, dinner, dance, games, movies
you name it, it's here. if you need more information
and or would like to donate auction items or volunteer
click here and check it all out!


well, i'm off to golf with tim & laurie...wish me luck!

cheryl haggard...

last night i went down to abbott northwestern
hospital in minneapolis to attend a training
session by the nursing staff there and meet
cheryl haggard of "now i lay me down to sleep".
the need for this organization was created out of
necessity as cheryl's son, maddox, died in 2005.
this is remembrance photography and the organization
has soared to over 1000 photographers world wide
(mostly the u.s.).

first the nurses addressed the group with helpful
advise and then answered questions from the group.
making certain that we understood what an
important role we play in the healing process of
these grieving families. (this is raquel)



then cheryl got up to speak. she was overwhelmed
by the size of the group representing minnesota
and began to cry. it's only been a couple of years
since maddox died and already this organization,
as i stated before, has grown to over 1000 volunteer
photographers world wide and is growing!



here's cheryl. i got a chance to give her a
big hug after the presentation.



this is a young organization and has already
captured interest locally. so much so that as
the founders see the need for growth such as
a director (a paid position), whcc (white house
custom colour) has agreed to pay the salary for
that position when it is filled! amazing!
i am so proud to be associated with whcc!
they are growing and doing great things!
please visit now i lay me down to sleep
and see all the magnificent things that they
are accomplishing!

i saw several of my PUG people there last night
as well as some TCPPA people. a great cause
to get behind. the nurses at abbott are amazing!

today, i will meet becky chepokas again as
we head to the hilton for another minnesota miracle
cancer family weekend. nathan walz is his name.
he's 17. his check in is a little later today due
to some procedures that he needs to have done.
i'll pass on any information
that i can regarding his condition tomorrow along
with a few photos.

gary called last night. they are having a terrific
time and the golf ain't bad either! :)

i'm hoping to connect with my brother and laurie
again this weekend to do a little golfing myself.


if you know of anyone that could use the services
of now i lay me down to sleep...please make mention
of this magnificent organization.
they won't regret it!

now i lay me down to sleep...

today, or rather tonight, i will have the
privilege of meeting cheryl haggard, co-founder
of "now i lay me down to sleep".
i'm attending a training session at abbott in
minneapolis this evening and cheryl will be there.
she lost her son maddux shortly after he was born
and called upon a photographer to come and take
some photos of him and a foundation was born.
i'll be bringing my camera.
so that means that i need to get my lens back from
kindra today.

i'm currently working on my sister's vacation album.
i'm organizing images and transferring them from my
lap top to my G5 desktop. fun stuff!
it makes me feel happy and good to look at all these
great times we had while in mexico.
far cry from how i will feel tonight.

i have several involvements with my photography
outside of weddings and portraiture. i give much
of my time and talents to organizations and foundations
that i hold near and dear and after watching
"idol gives back" i may have more.
i want to go to africa and bring back a 1/2 a dozen
kids...don't you? wasn't it moving?!
some people feel that american idol is just trying to
pat themselves on the back...i think that they have
realized what an impact they have on society and why
not use that to better the world. i, for "one", think it's awesome.

i do what i can on a local level, but this gives me
the opportunity to do something on a global level.
sometimes it's just easier to give money than it is to give time.
i'm sure that dean and lois are down in arizona thinking..
"what? you're going to africa?!"
no....not yet anyway. i'll wait for gary to get back.
someone has to watch the cats, right?! :)

gary called this morning. all is well and of course,
it's gorgeous there. they have a 9~something t-time
and then they plan to hit the pool. his shoulder feels
good, it's his back that is bothering him now.
must be from carrying all the guilt! :)

golf widow...

once again i find myself coming in 2nd to golf.
not that i mind really, i mean i certainly have
my hobbies and freedom to pursue them as well which
for that i am very grateful.
gary is going to the inn at eagle mountain
in scottsdale. it's a golf resort near fountain hills.
pretty nice, huh! this is the same group of guys he
went to bandon dunes with last spring in portland, oregon.

we broke the tradition of pizza the night before travel
and headed on down to "el loro", our little mexico away
from mexico. such authentic mexican that even the hispanic
folks eat there! they have mariachi's every sunday night!
but for you gringos...they've just added budweiser!

loaned a couple of my 2.8 lenses to kindra so that she
could see the difference in how they capture more light
than the ones that she has. she was photographing a
friend's baby boy yesterday and is getting more and more
handy with the camera...sorry mike...looks like i may
have created a monster! this will put all the stamping
and scrap~booking on the back burner and propel you into
the poor house...it can get pretty expensive! :)
i'm hoping that she will shoot me a photo soon so i can
see how she did yesterday and i'll pass it on to you.

spring has really sprung around here. gary mowed the lawn
yesterday (that's twice this season for anyone counting!)
it smelled so awesome...the fresh cut grass! that's right
up there with the new car smell for me...oh, and fresh
chocolate chip cookies! :)
everything is greening up and looking fabulous.
we certainly wait a long time for this every year...
and oddly, we stay here..hmmmmm.

well, enjoy your day and don't forget that may basket day
is just around the corner!

ron's 50th

yesterday was ron's 50th birthday.
which is funny because he doesn't act a day over 24!



i popped out and got some black balloons and an
"over the hill" balloon and made a sign that read
"ron grass is 50!" and stuck it in their yard.
he and cindy were in vegas this weekend and came back
yesterday afternoon. the mailman saw my sign and
wrote him a birthday note and a bunch of us went
over last night for cake.
jacquie and scott decorated the inside of the house
with streamers and stuff. good humor!

lots going on this week.
"now i lay me down to sleep" is holding a training session
at abbott on thursday with cheryl haggard, founder of "nilmdts".

another cancer family this friday at the hilton.

beginning to meet with senior students regarding portraits.

still watching for the mark III to come out (may)!!
it was in may's "popular photography" magazine.
everyone is anxious to get their hands on it.

next week i will spend quite a bit of time at my sister's
house as she and pete along with his company (rti) are taking
about 60 people to st. lucia for a week.
i've agreed to stay with the kids while they are gone.
i'll have opportunities to work too but i'll be staying
over night there with the kids. looking forward to it.
i did this back in august when they went to austrailia
for 11 days...fun.
this will be a little different in that they will have
school this go around.
i'll be blogging from chanhassen through the 6th.
then on the 6th i'll be at the twins/red socks game
for the miracles of mitch foundation. LOVE covering that
event with my pal jim werdin of access insurance.
they throw a big picnic and silent auction and then
do a live auction to throw out the first pitch!
it's a bunch of fun! contact the MOMF site or contact
me anytime about tickets.
more on that as it draws near.


makae it a great day!

music to my ears...

yesterday, after church, i was invited to take
in a music recital where all 3 of anne's kids
were participating.
emily and amanda played piano pieces and ben'
played his acoustic guitar and sang "elanor rigby"
complete with a subtle accent! it was really great!
ben's dad, greg, is quite an accomplished musician
so it only seems right that ben would have some
of that talent himself (his mom thinks she sounds
like celine dion...but she really doesn't. :)
sorry, anne, but you don't).
anyway, moving on it was really fun to hear all
that they had learned over the past year.


here's amanda...



and emily...



and ben...





afterwards i snuck a couple of shots at the piano...






and one with their piano teacher...



then over to the baker's for lunch and "planet earth"
on the discovery channel (soooo good)...nothing better to
do on a rainy day.
then i popped home and hung out with gary and the cats!

happy monday everyone!

98!

no, not the temperature....my golf score.
well, i know it's not great, but i beat my
last sunday's score by 4 strokes! i'll take it!
it was so windy! we all just kept laughing!
when they say there will be gusts up to 25 miles
an hour...at dahlgreen? it's more like 45!

tim, laurie, gary and i went out to dahlgreen
again (that's twice this week for me if anyoneis keeping track!) and so now i've officially
played more golf this week than i did all of
last year! i'm not ready for the tour or anything
but i'm having a good time and i'm learning to
play with my new pings. also notable is the fact
that i have played the same ball for both rounds!
nothin' out of bounds and not once in the water!

here's tim & laurie...



here's tim & laurie in the newly remodeled clubhouse
with owner, dave tessman...he wants me to shoot the
new interior for their website so i'll be out there
doing that soon.



ran into some friends at the turn...
this is gary with karen



and here's laurie with dan...




and tim with dan's wife, theresa...



12 tee...hefty right to left wind...an 8 iron. it's on!



same hole....gary's got some tree grief...saves for a par!



oh..by the way...i learned last night that yesterday
was scott & jacquie's 7th wedding anniversary!
bad friend. BAD FRIEND!!! happy anniversary you two!

oh, and another thing...ron doesn't think that we know...
but his wife, cindy, took him to vegas for his 50th birthday.
yea ron! we know...the jig is up guy, we know your 50!!!

alright one more thing...friday night, the springers
invited us over for a little neighborhood bon-fire...
here's some highlights....

hi molly!









here's a shot of g on a wallet with an offer
for all of her junior friends at minnetonka.
this offer goes for anyone seeking senior portraits!
just make mention that you saw it on my blog.



gerrick...nice to see you back at the blog.
hope you enjoyed your holiday


relax and praise Him today! :)

minnesota miracle...

had a terrific visit with gerri yesterday!
could not squeeze a lunch in so we are planning
another date soon!
she gave me a really great coffee mug...
it says "t.g.i.f. thank god i'm fabulous!"
thanks gerri! i love you!


altho' i had much to do yesterday, i managed to
get over to the airport hilton in bloomington
to cover a cancer family's arrival for the
weekend.

what an amazing assignment!
becky (mitch's mom) picked me up and we drove
to the hilton in friday afternoon rush hour
(in her convertable!).
got there early and sat for a moment solving
all the world's problems and then we saw
alexis walk in. we knew it was her because she
had her left arm in a cast (she had broken it just
the other day on her new roller blades!)
she's 11, darling and a brave soul!


here she is with her 3 sisters checking in...



going through all the loot in the room!



the first thing alexis wanted to do when she met
ron was give him a big hug!!!



becky with alexis...



back row is ron (mitch's grandpa), karen (the new executive
director) and becky (mitch's mom)




this is such a warm, wonderful foundation and
it brings so much joy to so many all year round.
please contact them if you would like to get
involved...you won't regret one second!
there is a link at the top of my blog.
have a great weekend!

happy birthday gerri!

today is my good friend gerri's 40th birthday!
welcome to the best decade, girl! you're gonna
love it!

gerri is coming over later this morning and i'm
going to foil and cut her hair and make a diva
out of her for her birthday and then we're going
to try to squeeze a lunch into the day before
she goes to her daugher kathryn's play at 3.
i kinda want to go along! i think i will.


jacquie and i are going to kick the crap out
of each other at jabz at 9:30 today! can't wait.
haven't seen her in about 3 weeks! shame on us.
she lives right next door for God's sake!!
busy, busy, busy we are and she travels a whole
lot so when she finally returns home it's
tough to hook up with friends when you have a
son & spouse to re-connect with!

hey! jenny sent me the photos she took while
we were in mexico...the dive ones...
i'll start with our instructor, alberto...he's from
italy...grrrrrrrr...



helping ben get into his gear....







this was our whole group...
ben, me, alberto, tony (jenny's son), the other
instructor (oddly i don't remember his name!) and matt,
jenny's husband



standing around in our wet suits & equipment.
it was sooooooo HOT!!!



on the boat ready to head out to "angelitas"!



we are now, scuba ben & scuba sue!
hmmmm, where's pete?? oh, he must be in a classroom
watching videos or studying to pass his certification!

pretty cool. thanks for taking all the photos jen!

we are planning a mass certification in anne & pete's
pool when it warms up. i'll keep you all posted on the
process.

hobie, hobie, hobie...

(i'm not going to write picture this anymore.
no real reason, i'm just not. it's the title of
my blog and i feel that's good enough, right?!)

so, that said...
hobie is going to get to go back to the vet.
i've been watching him like a hawk and he hasn't
pooed in 2 days. i've got a call in to megan up
at anderson lakes veterinarian.
hobie is on my lap with his paw on my arm so this
is tough typing...i asked him if he wants to go and
see dr. bey and he said yes. so i am going to take
him up there, dr. bye has an 11:30 today so I'm
just going to drop him off so they can work their
magic with him! poor thing.

gary is golfing with tim this afternoon (tough job
they have!). the 4 of us will golf on saturday am.
i cannot afford to fall in love with golf again
this will be a busy season for photography and i
don't know how much time I'll be able devote to it.
it's gary's passion! he has low round so far out at
dahlgreen....a 74 (with a bogie on 18)! yep, welcome
to my life this summer!

hey, i gotta go. pray for my boy and his bowels! :)

jacquie, see you tomorrow @ 9! can't wait!

oh, head to my web site, i've got a bunch of new
images up. mostly on milestones & children under "faces".

prayers for virginia tech

picture this...

a nation in mourning.
i watched quite a bit of the coverage
on the campus yesterday and the stories
that the students share are just
gut wrenching...it sounds like a movie.
pray for the those students, staff &
their families.

well, the wild pull off a victory last
night at the excel center in st. paul!
nearly a 5-1 game. they are off to
anaheim for game 5.

twins win last night 11-2 against seattle!

today i will not attend my network group
meeting. i made an executive decision last
week to resign from the group.
i'd been thinking about it for some time
and the time had come to back out.
i feel that my time and money cold be better
spent. growing my photography business is
very important and i really didn't see any
movement in the group. i gave it nearly a
year and i feel that in that amount of time
i could make a decision based solely on the #'s.
i'll miss it and the members.

enjoy the sunshine today!

mix up...

picture this...
i got all turned around this weekend.
we took the cats outside on sunday not saturday!
i must have missed a blog in there somewhere???
i hadn't posted sunday's yet and then i wrote monday's
at the bottom of it...weird...sorry.
getting older is fun!
no matter...

monday actually hit 76 degrees! nice!
no golf just some good old fashioned spring cleaning.
felt great to open windows and let the stale winter
air out! the cats, of course, went craZy getting up
in the windows checking out all the birds.

got some new foot joys for my next golf outting
(it was time for some replacements) and there were
some of anne's favorite flip flops there so i got
her a couple pair and ran 'em out to her house
for her 1 month anniversary of not smoking!!
way to go anne!
she put 'em right on! we went out back and sat by
the pool (which she had opened monday). it was just
gorgeous out! ben sat there with us and did his
homework (borrowed my sunglasses..it was bright!),
amanda practiced her cartwheels and we tried
collectively to get her new kite in the air...it has
too much tail i think, no go. not enough wind either!
but we told amanda to just keep running! tee hee!
bad aunt, BAD AUNT!

monday nights are MY sunday night... i leave mondays
alone to catch up and run errands ( & drop off
flip flops!) so tuesdays are then my monday...get it?
right now, i don't really care because it is really
beginning to get nice out...tulips on their way...

okay, don't hate me...i actually watched "the bachelor"
last night....sick. our dish wouldn't change channels
on the deck and i had a cat on my lap and didn't
want to move...wow, some really intelligent programing!
oh, and you probably watch csi miami...hypocrite!

hope you got your taxes in on monday!

got your message yesterday jacquie...call when you can.

hey, nice segway...

picture this...
have you ever had the opportunity to ride
on a segway?
well...gary, my sister anne & i did on saturday!

milo, a guy we know out at dalgreen in chaska,
owns one. he has an artificial leg and loves to
hunt, golf and take his dog for a walks but it's
always been a challenge to do all 3 so he invested
in a segway and he just happened to be there on
saturday. gary was golfing and my sister anne
& i hopped in pete's porcshe and ran out there for
steve tessmans's 50th birthday celebration
where milo gave us an impromptu demonstration...i insisted!
gary hopped on first...(i brought my camera along
for steve's party)





then i handed anne my camera so i could go for a spin...




then it was anne's turn (milo wanted to swap demos
and take's pete's car for a spin....ahhhhh, no).






here's milo with gary..



it was the strangest thing i'd ever ridden on.
ya just lean forward to go and then lean back on your heels
to stop. then there is this deal on the left handle
bar that you either turn right & left to turn...so fun!
he paid about 6 grand for this one, it was a year old
and a demo...saved a couple thousand. why not!
simply can't justify a $7K toy...on a camera, yes.
thanks milo!


sunday, back to dahlgreen to play my inaugural round of '07.
met tim & laurie out there for an 11:30 tee-time.
gary did really great! saturday he bogied the last hole
for a 74! sunday, he over swung and felt something pop
and his left hand began to tingle so he quit after 9.
smart move (rotator surgery last november).
tim, laurie and i played on and my total (keep in mind that
i played 2 & 1/2 rounds last year and the last few years
only played a few times........102! not great i know, but
i was also using gary's last years ping G2's so...
i was okay with the round.
what do you think gerrick??? not bad, right!?


(oh, and by the way, dahlgreen just dumped a bunch
of money into remodeling the clubhouse, putting gps on their
all new, electrical fleet of golf carts and so much more!
it's really great! nice job guys!)

last night we took the cats out for their inaugural tour
of the outdoors. katie was a little more adventurous.



hobie (the million $ boy) prefers safety of being near
the door. i think cuz he knows there's food behind it!




going to be 70 today!!!!!
don't forget that today is tax day!

everyone join me in congratulating my sister today
on her 1 month of no smoking!! GREAT JOB ANNE!! i love you!