Photosynth Test

This is a new beta software by microsoft called Photosynth. I took 50 pictures on a tripod of our showroom and then just uploaded to their free site. Its pretty darn cool!

Finally Getting Around to an Update

This is supposed to be a slower time of year for me, but I feel like things have been non-stop! So I'm finally taking a few minutes to post some pictures from the past month.

Riley REALLY wants to go outside

Learning to play the piano

I got Riley out of the bath and set him down with his towel. I turned around and he was gone. I found him in the living room with the cereal from the kichen table enjoying the scenery out the back door.

He's full of surprises. I still don't know how he got up in there!

Riley likes to hide under the tablecloths in our showroom

This past weekend we went with my dad, Steven & Hannah to Glenn Beck's The Christmas Sweater show in Salt Lake.

Anyway, there's our update! Thanks!

Fall Fun

We've been lucky enough to have some great weather through October and Riley has had so much fun playing outside in the leaves. He has taken a liking to playing with rocks and I have to keep a close eye so he doesn't put them in his mouth. Finally I decided to let him taste the stupid rock and then he would realize that they are icky and stop trying to eat them. The plan backfired. I guess he likes the taste of dirt cause he'd rather lick rocks than eat normal food.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
Benson took Riley to his first trick-or-treating on the 4-wheeler. Boy, we're getting lazy. Riley couldn't believe people were just giving him candy and tried to eat each piece as it was put in his bucket.

He wasn't a really big fan of his horse. It just seemed to get in his way as he tried to get to the candy bowl.

Giddy-Up Cowboy!

Deconstruction

I think it started when we all of the sudden started getting the DIY (do it yourself) network on satellite. Suddenly you start believing you can tackle any home improvement project, that it will only take 1 hour from start to finish, and it will look like it was done by a professional designer. So this past weekend I decided it was a good time to paint the family room and tear out some walls. No big deal right? Well, Benson is actually quite handy and things are going pretty smoothly. Here are the pictures of what it looked like before and after the demo. Hopefully it will all be finished this weekend and I'll post the finished project.

I've Learned From You...

Okay...My AMAZING mom is at the half-way point in her battle against the big bad cancer, and the next 6 weeks is going to be alot harder than the first (which is almost impossible to imagine). Its more than a little discouraging for her to think about what's ahead and she's been praying for strength in whatever ways it may come. So my inspirational thought is a line I heard from a song the other day and it immediately made me think of her.
" I've learned from you that STRENGTH IS SOMETHING YOU CHOOSE."
Just think about it for a minute.
The strength to fight the emotional battle when the physical one is taking all you have, the strength to see things from an eternal perspective, the strength to keep smiling despite all the reasons to cry, the strength to believe that it is all for a reason. I am amazed and inspired by strength that my mom continually shows in the face of all the overwhelming trials. I am so blessed to have her as a mother and a friend and I am so grateful that, despite the total crapiness of the whole chemo thing, we will have many more years together because of it.
I love you, Mom.

First and Last Political Post

Okay...I've purposefully stayed away from talking about politics on my blog. Honestly, I'm depressed about the two canidates that this country's voters have put up for nomination and the future of this country in either of their hands. So when I got this email last week I had to cheer...I want a canidate who thinks like this:

Bill Cosby says:
I HAVE DECIDED TO BECOME A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE.

HERE IS MY PLATFORM:

(1) 'Press 1 for English' is immediately banned. English is the official language; speak it or wait at the border until you can.

(2) We will immediately go into a two year isolationist posture to straighten out the country's attitude. NO imports, no exports.
We will use the WalMart policy, 'If we ain't got it, you don't need it.'

(3) When imports are allowed, there will be a 100% import tax on it.

(4) All retired military personnel will be required to man one of our many observation towers on the southern border. (six month tour) They will be under strict orders not to fire on SOUTHBOUND aliens.

(5) Social security will immediately return to its original state. If you didn't put nuttin in, you ain't gettin nuttin out. The president nor any other politician will not be able to touch it.

(6) Welfare - Checks will be handed out on Fridays at the end of the 40 hour school week and the successful completion of urinalysis and a passing grade.

(7) Professional Athletes --Steroids - The FIRST time you check positive you're banned for life.

(8) Crime - We will adopt the Turkish method, the first time you steal, you lose your right hand. There is no more life sentences. If convicted, you will be put to death by the same method you chose for your victim; gun, knife, strangulation, etc.

(9) One export will be allowed; Wheat, The world needs to eat. A bushel of wheat will be the exact price of a barrel of oil.

(10) All foreign aid using American taxpayer money wil l immediately cease, and the saved money will pay off the national debt and ultimately lower taxes. When disasters occur around the world, we'll ask the American people if they want to donate to a disaster fund, and each citizen can make the decision whether it's a worthy cause.

(11) The Pledge of Allegiance will be said every day at school and every day in Congress.

(12) The National Anthem will be played at all appropriate ceremonies, sporting events, outings, etc.

Sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes but a vote for me will get you better than what you have, and better than what you're gonna get. Thanks for listening, and remember to write in my name on the ballot in November. Bill Cosby
God Bless America !!!!!!!!!!!

My New Toy!

Okay, since some of you asked...Here's the top ten reasons I love my new
Canon PowerShot G91. Killer 3" LCD viewer screen ( I think its bigger than my parent's first TV!)
2. Compact size is easy to slip into my purse when I don't want to haul around the bulky SLR and lenses.
3. Dial ISO right on top for quick film speed changes without all the menus.
4. Face Detection and Image Stabilization software make quick shots really easy.
5. Option for adding a flash attachment.
6. Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery just plugs into the wall (no expensive AA battery changes)
7. Even though its a point-and-shoot, I can attach a wide angle or telephoto lens
8. Cool color settings like Vibrant, Sepia, and Black and White
9. 12.1 megapixels turn out some TIGHT pics!
10. I like shiny new things. :)

Photo Shoot

I bought a new camera and i wanted to practice with the different settings so Amy and her friend Erin agreed to come be models for me. We went downtown Idaho Falls and spent the morning just messing around but I got a few cool shots.

Ticket to Fun!

Its fair time again! We decided that tonight was going to be our only chance to get to this year's state fair so we packed up after work and headed out. We enjoyed to usual fair food (corn dogs and tiger ears!) and visited the many fun booths. Riley LOVED the petting zoo...but he DIDN'T love the carosel...benson took this cool pic

Labor Day Weekend

We went to Island Park on Friday night and spent Saturday just playing around in the dirt

Riley LOVES riding around in the ranger but both times we took him out he fell asleep :) The weekend forecast was calling for cold and rain so we came home on Saturday night.

Monday was spent indoors cleaning since it pretty much rained all day, but that evening we went to my parents for baby Samantha's blessing. Here is Grandma Jo and all her grandkids.

Riley always seems to find someone to play with

Cutie pie Samantha in her blessing dress

Family Pic

Another Summer Gone

Okay, I know I'm getting worse about keeping up on my blog but this summer has been REALLY busy! Finally things are looking like they might be slowing down at work and I can concentrate on my long list of "after summer" to do's. I'm posting some new pics but there doesn't seem to be anything important in my life besides Riley right now cause he's all I ever photograph. :)At the Smith Family Reunion in Albion this July, we didn't have any bathtubs so Ryan and Tess kindly let us borrow their "beer" (but only used for soda) tub. Riley thought it was pretty fun to bathe outside and it made for a classic photo.
Just happy as usual "helping" mom at work by clearing off all the shelves of merchandise and finding fun places to hide it.
I got a new camera and Riley was intently reading the direction booklet. I don't think he realizes I gave him the one in Spanish.

In A Hurry

Well...as in everything else, Riley seems to be in a hurry to get places. It took him about two weeks to get his balance down (as you can see in the video...which was taken almost a month ago) and now he is tearing through the house like a track star. I turn around for 2 seconds and he's gone! Its so much fun but MAN what a nonstop workout! :)

Time to Catch Up

So much has happened in the past month and I've been neglecting my blog in all the craziness. So here's an update on what we've been up to for the past few weeks.Riley loves playing outside on the new lawn. He explores everything he can get his hands into. Happy Birthday Riley!!!Opening presents was so much fun.

And Riley loved his birthday cake!
4th of July we BBQ'd at Grandma's
Riley played in his new wagonOn Saturday we went to Badger Creek for a staff reunion.
We hiked around, played by the creek, and visited old friends and classmates. Despite the heat and the mosquitoes, it was a fun day!

FINALLY!!!!

Since we bought our house a few years ago, there has been an endless list of projects that we've worked on to make it our own...but one that has been bugging me for too long is our front yard. When we bought the house the entire yard was covered in concrete. Benson jackhammered it out over two years ago and this is what our house has looked like since...Yuck. Can you say curb "un"appeal!! So I've whined and prodded and finally got my way. We put in some landscaping, Benson is building a wood porch up to the front door, and today we laid down fresh sod. I think the before and after pics say it all. I'm SO happy with the way things are looking and I can finally stop apologizing to the neighbors for the eye-sore that its been for the past 2 years!

Crack Me Up!

Okay...I know that I've already done a post with Riley's funny camera faces...but these pictures just had to be seen!

Cool Website for Readers

So I found this cool website where you can enter some of your favorite books and it will generate a list of books you might like to read next. This was a list it made for me, but if you like reading you should get on and check it out.

The What Should I Read Next? website suggests items you might like reading based on real readers' recommendations.
These were the results:

Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz

The Worthing Saga - Orson Scott Card

Pastwatch - Card Orson Scott

Peeps - Scott Westerfeld

Marked: A House of Night Novel - PC Cast, Kristin Cast

Masquerade - Melissa De La Cruz

The Integral Trees: And the Smoke Ring - Larry Niven

A Canticle for Liebowitz - Walter M. Jr. Miller

The Forever War - Joe Haldeman

More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon

First Words

Who knew it would be hard to pick out your babies first words? Its just that they make so many sounds that COULD be words, but they don't really seem to fit any particular pattern. Among all his nonsense sounds, we've had ma ma ma's and da da da's but not directed at either Benson or I, so its remained a mystery. But, I think we've finally come to a concensus on Riley's first offical word. Its DOG! When he is staying at Aunt Krischelle's he is fascinated by Ranger and Molly. He hears them scratching at the screen door and sure enough, he speed crawls to the door practically yelling "Daw! Daw! Daw!" Hannah keeps trying to convince me that I'm going to have to get one when he gets older but I'm not ready to be a pet owner yet. For now, the cousin's dogs will have to do.

Funny Faces

Riley loves to do silly things to make us laugh. Even though his expressions seem to be pained, these pictures are actually his attempt at smiling for the camera. He scrunches up his whole face and puckers his lips. We laugh so hard that it just makes him do it more. The pictures don't do it justice, but I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get any more of the those cute smiling pictures we used to get.