#59-Feb. 28th

Cole and his mystery bumps, bruises, and scratches.  This kid can manage to fall asleep and wake up with new marks and we have no idea how he got them.  That is how the new scratch on the forehead appeared. 

#58-Feb. 27th

Kati in a Monet. 

My new art history is letting us do a weekly assignment with a twist.  We have to recreate our vision of the art work of the time we are learning about.  This week we are studying Realism and Impressionalism.  Since Claude Monet is a favorite painter of mine I tried to create an image that would have some of the tributes of his work. He was known for his bright colors and quick brush strokes.  I merged three images to create this image.

#57-Feb. 26th

Back to reality~we are home.  My dad left back to Montana on the train.  We have so much to try to get done over the weekend after our week long trip, but it was SO worth it.  We found out that we should know about Dan’s possible assignment by the beginning of April, still praying…

#56-Feb. 25th

Another photo for Cole…

And a happy birthday to my sister-in-law Toni!

#55-Feb. 24th

I had to take a photo of this one for Cole.  He is just infatuated with Nascar right now. 

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Cheryl!

#54-Feb. 23rd

After we got out of the trade show today we decided to hit the strip.  We have never been as far as the Stratosphere and figured it was time to check it out. I was shocked at how empty and old the place looked compared to other places on the strip.  The casino seemed just tiny in comparison to the MGM.  

#53-Feb. 22nd

Spent the day at the trade show and it was AWESOME!!!  I got the new Wacum tablet I have been wanting for a great deal.  Also we got to see tons of little quick how to presentations.  Then we went to the Lion King at Mandalay Bay after dinner.  This is on the strip on the way back to the hotel.

#52-Feb. 21st

Went back to the Harley Cafe for dinner.  It was delicious.  Dan picked up the new shirt that he wanted while we where there too.  

#51-Feb. 20th

This is the incredible moving platforms that circle the Harley Davidson Cafe.  Went in there to check out the bikes.  

#50-Feb. 19th

This is also looking out of our hotel room window.  We have been having a blast.  The classes have been great-Dane Sanders, Jerry Ghionis, Craig Heidemann, Jason Aten, and Tim Meyer so far.  Get to spend time with friends tomorrow after the classes are over.  Can’t wait since we haven’t seen them since last year when we were here.

#49-Feb. 18th

I am in VEGAS!  Yeah!!! Dan and I have a suite booked at the MGM for the week while I am here attending the Wedding and Portrait Photographer Convention (WPPI.)  This is from our window in the hotel, overlooking the strip.

#48-Feb. 17th

Yeah, class is over. At least the two that I am in now.  Next ones start tomorrow.  Here is my final flower image from the assignments.

#47-Feb. 16th

More of the lovely dead flowers…

#46-Feb. 15th

Trent is 16!!!!

It is so hard to believe my oldest turned 16 today!  This is his favorite past time, online-usually Facebook, and listening to his music on I-Tunes.

#45-Feb. 14th

This is kind of dark for Valentine’s Day, but it is a series of died and dying flowers that I am working on.

#44-Feb 13th

This is a texturized image I created for class.

#43-Feb. 12th

I have spent the day working on homework for finals and working a Girl Scout cookie booth with Kati this afternoon.  This is a series of images that I merged together for today’s assignment.

#42-Feb. 11th

On the bottom right hand side is the 4 foot tall cable box that you can just see the top of.  The roof in the back is a one story house.  Kati had a blast with her two closest friends climbing and sledding on the snow hills.  Kati is on the far left in the pink and green jacket.

#41-Feb. 10th

Dan had to attend the annual awards banquet this evening so he had to get dressed up in his Mess Dress uniform.  I don’t get to see him in it often, so I had to shoot a quick pic.

#40-Feb. 9th

Today I was suppose to be able to get outside to shoot.  The weather was suppose to finally start to warm up with a high of 28.  Needless to say the high at about 2pm (when I was free to shoot) was only 12 degrees and it was snowing.  So shoot inside once again I did!  This week we are working on HDR images.  I just love them.  This wasn’t what I had planned but it will have to do until I get warmer  and drier weather. 

#39-Feb. 8th

I have been keeping quite busy with my school work.  My finals week starts Wednesday and I have a lot of projects to try to get done a little early if possible.  I need to work ahead to avoid having as much work to do while I am in Vegas with Dan.  :)  This is a droopy flower I got from the flower shop on base.  Their flowers are horrible and usually die within a day or less!  That is actually why I got them this time because it is for a floral photo assignment with flowers as they die.  See there is good in having a cruddy floral shop! 

#38-Feb. 7th

Are you a list maker? I definitely am.  I have list for what I need to do, shopping, upcoming events, school projects, photo ideas, and much much more.  I have them in my purse, on my desk, sticky-noted to my computer, on my fridge, just about anywhere you can find a list for something I am working on.  Usually my lists are a reassurance to me.  They help me stay organized with my overly busy work schedule.  They help me to make sure I don’t forget something.

Today I found out about a list I am not thrilled about.  We were informed that Dan is number eight on a list of people being sent to Afghanistan for a year.  The guy who is number five is in the process of trying to get out of his duty.  We aren’t quite sure what this means for our family yet.  We have a lot of questions and are getting very few answers.

Things we do know-the last guy to get one of these TDYs had about two weeks notice before he was suppose to be leaving.  That could happen to Dan but not until after May because he has to have been on station for at least one year.  If he gets sent we will not be PCSing out of Minot.  That means he would go for a year and then get sent back to here.  He has the option of choosing a tour and then he could pick the date he wants to leave and even possibly the job he will have while there.  If he does this though, and a more important job comes up they could still make him change, but not  before that May date.  We are also looking at me and the kids going back to Montana during the year Dan is gone.

Needless to say this has brought an entirely new world of possible changes and challenges for our family that the ever changing military has never had a lack of anyway. 

#37-Feb. 6th

This is a typical snow mound that are all over in Minot and on the base.  They are just the plowed snow from roads and parking lots.  The kids love them.  Blake and his friends have been creating tunnels and forts in one behind a friends house.  It will be such a mucky mess when it all eventually starts to melt! 

{Dan was willing to stand in the photo to see how high they are behind him.} 

#36-Feb. 5th

It’s Girl Scout cookie time.  Kati and two of her good friends spent two hours at a cookie booth at the base Shoppette.  They sold over 100 boxes of cookies in that time!  Yeah for hard working girls!

#35-Feb. 4th

This week we are working with photo merge in Photoshop.  I had fun creating a variety of blending images for the assignment.

#34-Feb. 3rd

This is quickly becoming the week of photos of Cole!  Today he got all bundled up to walk over to his friends Peter’s house to play.  He was being so silly about getting all his gear on.

#33-Feb. 2nd

Haircut day for the boys in the family.  Of course, Blake and Trent were uncooperative with letting me take a photo of them, but Cole is always willing to ham it up for the camera.

#32-Feb. 1st

Preschool day for Cole again today.  He loves Tuesdays because of it.  Today they learned about bugs and his snack was an apple “ladybug” and a marshmallow “ant”.  He wasn’t happy to wait on eating them while I snapped a quick photo.