The War on the Rez 2008

We decided to take a few days and escape our regularly scheduled lives.  We hopped in the car (masterfully packed using my excellent Tetras skills...) and drove up to Bellingham, Washington for a few days.  We got to spend time with my brother, Owen and his wife Melinda and also my sister Sariah, her husband Randy and their beautiful daughter Cora.  And of course, my parents, Owen and Janet.    It was wonderful and much too short!

We were privy to the most awesome fireworks display I have EVER seen.  My uncle Mike and aunt Cynthia came up for the day and evening, bringing some really cool fireworks and then my parent's neighbors (two brothers) had a dueling fireworks display that went on for hours.  I am not talking about little ground flowers or fountains, I am talking about mortars that shoot into the sky and light up the world like Baghdad.  It was seriously amazing.  

This is a picture of my dad up on the balcony of the studio shooting one of his guns (blanks, of course) to add to the festive BOOMS.

We had an impromptu spoon carving event.  It started with Melinda and Owen looking around some shops in Fairhaven (an older and kind of kitchy area of Bellingham).  They went into a shop called Artwood.  They had some hand carved spoons for sale but wanted an arm and a leg for them.  Owen suggested that they could just carve their own spoons and so they came back to the house and the spoon carving extravaganza began.  Everyone wanted in on the action.  Here is a photo of Randy and Melinda working on spoons.  I will have to take a photo of the spoon my dad for me.  It's a bowl of soup spoon.  Ben made a really cool spork.  Have spork, will travel!

We got to spend some time with our wonderful friends, David & Rachel and their little brood of rascals - Isaac, Millie and Aaron.  That was a blast and we were sorry to leave them and also not to be able to spend more time with them.  Here is a picture of Millie, Uly, Gar and Isaac in the water at Mukilteo beach.  We ate at Ivar's, right next to the ferry and then walked over to the beach and let the kids play. 

We went to Boulevard Park for a neat event called Paddle to Lummi.  American Indian tribes all over the coast paddle their canoes to the park and have a celebration.  It was really fun to hear some stories and see dancing.  Then afterwards we went to a local ice creamery called Mallards and partook of delicious ice cream.  I had a two scoop cone with lavender and lime.  It was delicious, as usual.

We took the boys down to the Lummi Island Ferry dock and went fishing for a little while.  They are still too young for that kind of thing but they had a lot of fun anyway.  Ben was sad that he didn't get to really go fishing but we just were out of time.  We need to plan a day where he can really go fishing and catch "real" fish next time we are up there.  Unfortunately crabbing was closed in Whatcom County so we couldn't throw in our pot either.

I had a great time taking a ton of photos.  I went to burn disk copies for everyone before we left, but I took way too many photos so I am going to burn copies on DVDs and mail them.

  

All in all we had a blast and are looking forward to seeing Grandmamom and Grandad Walker again in September, in Moab, at the Walker Reunion.

Welcome to the family...

We are (or I should really say Uly is) the proud owner of an African Dwarf Frog.  It's pretty darn adorable.

We went to the Orem Summerfest carnival last weekend - or was it the weekend before???  Anyway, Uly got to play a game where he tossed balls into cups.  You know the one.  If he got a ball into a cup, the prize was a frog.  He didn't make any of the balls into the cups but the girl who ran the game must have thought he was adorable because she gave him one anyway.  What a nice girl!  She made his night.  He forgot all about the rides and only had eyes for his little froggy.

On our way back to the car, we asked Uly what he wanted to name the frog.  Uly randomly pulled a word out of his head - Arnolkardis.  So that is our frog's name.  Arnolkardis.  Or is it Arnolcardis?  How do you verify the spelling of a word that comes from the mind of a 4 year old?

Welcome to our family, Arnolkardis!

Here is a picture to show how adorable he is:

Here is a picture to show how very small he is.  This is a normal sized fish bowl.  You know the kind...  You may recognize this fish bowl it was previously seen in another post earlier this year about Uly getting fish for his birthday.  And then how I killed them.  He still tells people, "My mom killed my fish."  Anyway back to Arnolkardis... He's teensy weensy.  Do you see him on the bottom left corner/side of the bowl?

Below is proof that Ben is still the Ben we all know and love...  He had his first Utah game last night.  For a small group, I think he had a fun time.  I'm probably going to get in trouble for posting this... hehehe.

Fun Weekend

So we had a blast last weekend - in fact, we're pretty much having a blast every single day.  When Ben is out of work, it's always hard on the pocket book but extremely good in the family camaraderie department.  We love having Daddy home!

These are a few photos from last weekend; Art City Days parade, Orem Summerfest parade, and a Fathers' Day picnic.

Waiting for the Springville parade to start:

Waving to the parade people:

Gar picking up candy in the street:

Uly's hand with a piece of booty:

Mag's most recent trick.  He's excellent at clapping. 

Question:  How do you know he's the third kid?  

Answer:  When he starts licking soda off the ground, mom grabs the camera instead of picking up.

This is baby Olea, nicknamed Coke.  Not because of anything to do with these photos.  Really.  

Kristina, I have more of these.  Too many to email so I'll burn you a disk.

Hot Air Balloons

We live in this cute little town called Springville aka Art City.  Every year they celebrate their exhistance with a week long party.  There is a carnival, art shows of all kinds, parades, pancake breakfasts, concerts and a hot air balloon shindig.  

This morning I woke Uly and Gar up and got them dressed and out the door with a juice cup and a bagel in record time.  We went to the Springville Jr. High School and watched a whole bunch of hot air balloons set up, inflate and ascend into the heavens.  It was so much fun.  We really had a good time watching those balloons float off into the blue. 

We even got to go on a little ride ourselves.

Above is a photo of the inside of the balloon we got to ride in.  It didn't turn out very well but you can kind of see the flames.

The very first photo is of our favorite balloon.  It is in the shape of a pink pig.  We love that one!

We're looking forward to the parade and carnival tomorrow!  I'm also hoping I can squeeze in an art show and maybe a concert tonight.

Helping Dad on the Car

This post is just another way to share with you cute pictures of my kids.  No shame there, right?

Here are a few of Gar "helping" Ben work on the car.  He's just too cute.

Share and Share Alike

So Trena and Meghan's posts about music made me want to hear what you listen to.  Anyone want to share their favorite Pandora stations?  I want to hear your favorite station.  Send a share link to me at jessicastier@hotmail.com and then I will send one to you with my current fav station.

Deal?  Do it now...  :)

Am I addicted to posting?

This magnificent thing is Ben's delicious sandwich.  It was truly a work of art.

I just really like this photo.  It is overexposed and out of focus but I tried to salvage it by messing with some of the settings.  If you squint at it, it is a great photo...

Friendly Brothers.  Sitting on the balcony talking to the neighbor kids.
This is Gar.  Juice, Spongbob and his bike.

Model Uly.  Another photoshoot at the park.  I'm sure there will be many, many more.  We walked to the park and played here for a while today

So, since I've been thinking about Momshots.com 24/7. I have been posting on my family blog a whole lot more often than I used to.  I am trying to use my camera on a daily basis so I end up with a million photos of my kids.  What do you do with photos?  You share them.  This is me sharing...  :)

Cute Boys

Ben located the USB cable for my little camera and so I downloaded all the images.  It was holding like three months worth of images - so many that my card was full.  It was like having a time machine getting to look at all the pictures.

Here are a few adorable ones:

This is a shot of all the Stier boys except for Mag.  From left to right: Garland, Owen, Sam, Ulysses.  Sam and Owen are Ben's brother Chris's sons.  We were lucky to have them at our house for Owen's 4th birthday and for Easter.  It was really fun.  We love having them here.  We wish we didn't live so far away!!!

This is what Gar did for a while.  He refused to use the little toilet or the insert toilet seat.  He'd just stick his bum down into the bowl.  It was pretty cute.  He's pretty cute.

This one is more proof of just how cute Gar is.  He's all snugly with a blanket (knitted by Auntie Olea as a present to baby Gar) and a juice cup.  To this boy, this the image of true happiness.

The Birth of Momshots

This is a bit anticlimactic but I wanted to share with you a little project I am currently working on.  It is a blog that focuses on learning how to take better photographs of my kids - or as I call them Momshots.   

This is just the very beginnings of the site so when you view it imagine a great bit "Under Construction" sign in flashing letters at the top of the page. We have plans to make it into a really cool place in the future.  Right now it is just a pretty low key blog.  We will be making changes often until we get it right.  My cousin, Kristina and I will be working on it and developing the blog and site as we learn how to take better photos of our kids.  We will share Momshots, tips for getting better photographs, tips for post processing, tips for all kinds of things photography related.  In the future, we will have interviews of professional photographers and pick their brain on how to get great pictures of our kids.  Those are just a few of the ideas that you will see on Momshots.com.

So I just wanted to put this out there.  There will be many, many changes to the site over time but in the mean-time, this is my new baby.

Also, If you would be so kind as to put a link to it on your blog, that would be really cool.  

Happy Birthday!

Uncle Dwight's 60th birthday celebration was on Sunday afternoon.  While they were at church we all hid in the backyard.  When they came home we jumped out and surprised him with a birthday party.  The weather was hot and beautiful.  It was a really nice and fun afternoon.

Happy Birthday to you!
Yummmm!!!  
This is my Aunt Pam and Uncle Dwight.  They sure are a cute couple, aren't they?

I've got to have it...

I just discovered a company called Tay Lighting. They make these lamps using a layering process of fiberglass and hand painting. I also read that they use fabric and laser cutting to create their designs. Wouldn't one of of these pendant lights look great over my future dining table in my future house? I think so...
Or how about a set of these on my future bookcase in my future living room?

The Camera Question...

You may have noticed my recent photos. Brace yourself because there will be many, many more. I'm on a huge photographic binge right now. I'm trying to learn how to use a "real" camera and at the same time trying to learn composition and all the other challenges that make a snapshot art instead of just a snapshot.

I have two cameras, but the images you've seen recently are from a Nikon D100. It is a digital SLR and in 2002 it was the awesomest (I am aware that this is not a real word) camera around. It is now 2008 and after going to a class at my local camera shop on how to use an SLR, I realize that it still is a totally awesome camera.



Ben got it when he worked at Bizee Boys. He used it to take product shots of items such as the Abenergizer.
He has lovingly handed it over to me. He even refers to it as "my" camera (as in Jessica's camera, not Ben's... Did that confuse?).

The other camera I have is a great little point and shoot called a Nikon Coolpix 3500. However it's been dropped a few times and doesn't have a lens cover thingy anymore. It's really more like Uly's camera. He has used it more than I have recently. He takes some amazing photographs with it. I really like to give him the camera and see what he sees. However, the current problem with this camera is that I don't have any way to get the images off of it. Long ago I lost the USB cable. Supposedly it is in one of our bins of cables, but that's more like a black hole. I had a card reader on my computer but it recently just stopped working. It was from Circuit City. Maybe that's why they went out of business... So, until I get a new card reader, I can only remove images from the SLR and that's more fun for me to use right now anyway. So that's what you get.

So that's the longish short version of the camera story.

Uly & Gar at the park...

I can't get Gar to sit still for any length of time. So these are all action shots. I love the one of him running.

Frst Tooth

Happy Mothers' Day! I have wonderful mothers in my life. I have a great mom who has set a really good example for me. I also have a great mother in law. I have it made!!! I love you both.

Also, today is the day that Magnuses first tooth broke through the skin. He is growing up. I can't stop it.

Boy Pictures...

Nothing really to update, I just wanted to show you all some new photos of The Boys.

Uly the Pengquin

Here is a photo from our ward's primary carnival. Uly is a pretty cute penguin. I sure love that boy!!!

Our Song of the Day

The boys and I are singing this song today. It makes us want to get out and run around in our great big beautiful world.

Who Lives in a Pinapple Under the Sea?