simple like fruit photo

I was just messing around the other day with a new lens, a cool bowl (from Taos), some blueberries and a chalkboard that I made (I know...very random and weird) and this is what I came up with.  I wish I could get it to upload to a different part of my blogspot layout!...like just above the picture of me in the photo booth.  But I can't figure it out...so here it sits with a blog post all of it's own.  Hmmm...well, Happy Thursday!

Snow!

It's finally snowing a bit along the front range! ...(Not this much though. These pictures were taken the week before Christmas.)

 Like mother, like daughter...

New Year's Eve - Pitkin Style!

We spent the New Year weekend in Pitkin, Colorado...our family's very special gathering place where my parents have a cabin and both my mom's brother and sister have a cabin.  It's a place where 3 generations (I think there's about 28 of us now) gather at least a couple of times per year.  It keeps us all close in an otherwise spread-out world...and for this I will always be grateful.

Happy New Year to you!  I hope wonderful things are on the horizon for you in 2012!

We started the weekend out right by having a 50's party at my parents cabin - complete will all the relatives in town.  My mom made a 50's-style dinner of sloppy joe's and mac and cheese.  One of my aunts brought over a 3-bean salad and a marshmallow salad.  My other aunt brought over a cake that my grandmother used to make...yummy!!  What 50's dinner would be complete without some Coke in some original-like Coke bottles?  One of the good things about Pitkin, CO is that you can chill your drinks outside in the snow.

After dinner my dad set up a movie screen and projector and we watched movies from my parent's 1950's childhood...so much fun!!

 Before heading to Gunnison for some New Year's Eve ice skating, I talked my twin girls in to exploring the streets of Pitkin for some late afternoon photography.  It couldn't be any easier to find photography inspiration in this beautiful place!  Below, Holly is holding a dog that she opened at our annual Chinese gift exchange the night before.

I spotted this old, old phone booth on the side of one of Pitkin's streets last summer and have always thought I'd like to stick one of my kids in front of it for a photograph!  Thank you, Lauren, for (once again) putting up with your mother's photography antics! 

We ran in to my cousin, Kelsey, walking her two dogs and had to snap a photo of her, too!

 

Cheers!

Baby Claire

Is there anything better than waking up on New Year's Day morning in a cabin in the mountains?  Probably not.  Unless it is to do this and then trudge through snow to a neighboring cabin to take photos of an adorable little girl named Claire (who, I happen to be related to, as well)!  Thank you, Kathy and Alex, for allowing me the priviledge!  These are probably my favorite shots from the time we spent together.  I hope you enjoy them!

 

Twin Cherry Lollipop Cupcakes

These two little ones just had a birthday!  They are my twin girls and they turned 7 in December.  Having a twin birthday 11 days before Christmas is a good way for a mom to nearly lose her mind...

The day before their birthday I was searching through T.J. Maxx for fun stuff and came upon the cutest package of Twin Cherry Mini Pops!  I had to find a use for them!  Since I have twins, anything "twin" is so cool to me!  Sometimes I find two Cheerios stuck together in my cereal bowl...every now and then I'll find two yolks in one egg...that sort of thing!  Well, I immediately thought I could use them for our twin birthday!  I had intentions of making chocolate cupcakes, but that idea went by the wayside while I was cranking out all sorts of Christmas errands the week before school got out!  So I went to Walmart and ordered chocolate cupcakes with white icing - no decoration on them!  At home I shook some chocolate sprinkles on them and added the cute twin cherries.  I love how they turned out!

 

Click on this link to the Vermont Country Store to find these adorable lollipops!  And that reminds me, I need to order some more (I don't think I can rely on my local T.J. Maxx to always carry them)!  They might be cute in summertime draped over the top of a glass of lemonade!