McCalls Pumpkin Patch!

It's our annual tradition to head over to McCall's Pumpkin Patch in Moriarty.  It is so beautiful on the other side of the Sandia mountains.  I love all the fall colors and the New Mexico landscape.  We have such a great time with my Mom each year out at the pumpkin patch.  This year, we actually rode the hay ride out to get a pumpkin.  We have never done that before.  The line always looked to long and our kids would rather play on all the rides.  So many things were the same this year and so many things were different.  I am so grateful for my amazing boys, husband, and parents.  What a beautiful time of year.  

And to reminisce for a moment:

2010

2011

 

2012

 

 2013

 

2014

 

2015

 

 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mother is truly my hero.  I love her with my whole entire heart. In the 34 years I have known her, she has never once stopped loving me.  I can be extremely difficult to get a long with at times and she pushes past my hard exterior to love me when I feel like I am so unworthy.  She is kind, caring, and more than a Mom to me, she is my friend.  Happy Birthday, Mom!!

BALLOONS!

It's a magical time of year here in Albuquerque.  I love Balloon Fiesta!  I had no idea how much I would love this week until we started creating our own traditions here.  We head out one morning during Balloon Fiesta and chase the balloons on our bikes.  It is so fun and as a bonus I get some pictures of my boys. 

Ode to School Pictures

As I have now taken school pictures for a school in Arizona, I understand the hard work that goes in to taking the pictures and editing them.  OH BOY! It was so hard.  I always buy my boys school pictures, but I have to say, they are always awful.  I am so glad my parents bought me a camera when I first started college so that I could learn to take beautiful pictures of my boys.  (Ok, this really isn't an ode).  Maybe some day, I will be hired to take their school pictures. 

School, soccer, therapy, gymnastics, piano... Oh,my!

We have been so active since school began. We do not have a single day off from life. Ha! I am teaching my boys to grab life by the horns and ride! (If only I had horses!) Soccer season has been challenging, to say the least. Stephen works on Saturdays so it is my job to get the boys to their games. The first games of the season were at the same time at different soccer fields! So intense. I am so grateful to have good friends who help me out. My parents even came in town last week for a quick visit and to help me on soccer Saturday's. 

Saturday mornings we have piano class at UNM. It has been intense. Sadly, it is a waste of our time. I was hoping the teacher would engage the children and light a fire of excitement while fostering a love of learning. She doesn't. I do most of the work myself. Next semester I plan to get them private piano lessons if I can afford it. 

I bribe my boys with doughnuts for our early mornings at UNM. 

Sunday Edward gave a talk in primary and did great. He was upset that he had to actually get up and talk but once he walked to the front he did just fine. Nolen even grabbed a hymn book and tried to sing along! 

Monday's Stephen and Edward ride dirt bikes together. It is such a special time to spend with Dad. Edward is getting better and better at keeping his balance. 

Nolen is back down to therapy only two times a week for now while we look for another therapist. He is doing so great and he really likes his new therapist, Jenn. Our lives are so full and I am so happy. We savor our down time and even a nice warm bath and a few snuggles mean the world to me. 

It's September so lets celebrate Fall!

 I asked these sweet little girls to be my models for my Fall ad.  They were amazing. We went to the Arroyo right behind my house and snapped a few pictures.  The mosquitoes were out in full force that evening.  These girls were troupers.  I am so grateful to have good friends in my life who are willing to help me out and help my business move forward. 

 The above picture was before post processing in Photoshop.  I would not have been able to bring out the colors with out the help of Damien and his "ask Damien" group. 

A million Thank you's!

These last two weeks have been a real whirlwind.  Making it to today took an army.  Last week, I had five photo shoots!  Three of the photo shoots were out of state.  I asked my Mom to drive here to New Mexico to watch my boys while I was out shooting for 3 days.  I would first like to thank my mother for taking off a few days from her very busy schedule to help me.  She is kind, selfless, and most of all, loving.  I am so grateful to have her in my life.

I had written her the boys schedule and left specific instructions.  I left my sweet boys in good hands. She followed everything to a T!  She didn't have a lot of down time but said she had a great time bonding with the boys.

Early Wednesday morning, 4 AM to be exact, I drove to the New Mexico/Arizona boarder to take school photos for a private school.  My photographer friend at http://www.photo.etherdox.com/ gave me some posing tips and let me borrow two of her stools.  Pam has so much knowledge and is such a great photographer.  It was such a great experience.  

After finishing around 4:00 in the afternoon, I drove to Kingman, Arizona.  I did two great photo shoots while in Kingman, but more importantly, I had a tutoring session with Heidi Baitinger at http://mysweetpeasphotography.com/

It was AMAZING! I learned so much and was able to capture this image. 

 

 Special thanks to Veronica Spencer for letting me borrow her children and cute dog for an impromptu session.

Heidi is so thoughtful and kind. She gave up her time and talents to help me.  I am forever grateful.  I know I have a long way to go, but knowing that I have friends and family who stand behind me will  help push me forward.   Starting my own business has been so scary! I feel inadequate all the time.  I hope, hope, hope I am getting better. 

After driving back to New Mexico Friday evening, I got ready for my fifth photo shoot of the week.  I finished taking all the pictures, then the real big job of editing over 3,000 photos!  It took me one week to get through all of them as I fumbled through photoshop.  I have been taking online classes through Damien Symonds at http://www.damiensymonds.com.au/ and I love everything I have learned.  He is truly a photoshop genius!!  I know I have so many things to learn but I have a great base knowledge of photoshop now thanks to Damien.

I edited all week!  I have very little down time during the week.  It was tough to fit it all in.

In the middle of editing, I received an email letting me know my balance at Bridges was nearing $5000.  I started www.jmbimage.com so that I could pay for Nolen's ABA therapy.  

After talking with a few friends, I decided to start a gofundme account for those that want to help but are either not in Arizona or New Mexico or do not want their picture's taken.  

These last two weeks have been tough.  I am so grateful to my friends, family, and my amazing husband for supporting me.  If I could just find the cure for autism! 

If you would like to help support Nolen please consider having your family pictures taken or visit his gofundme page at http://www.gofundme.com/cn3cju94  

Thank you!