Sepia Tone Lovin'

May your days be Merry and Bright!

2010-12-22T21:29:00.003-10:00

How do we delight in Christmas cheer here in Hawaii? Well why not play at the beach? Nothing brings me more joy than watching my little Ezra brighten as he plays and learns. Here we are burying his feet in the sand. Each time, he would allow me to bury his feet, then kick them out from under the sand, and laugh and laugh. What a little joy. He is just overflowing with happiness all the time!

We then played in the waves, Chris, Katie, Grandma, and Liam in the water, and Ezra and I on the sand. We are having a delightful time, making family memories here all together. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Scrapbook customized with Smilebox

My son is amazing!

2010-10-17T13:38:00.003-10:00

Ezra loves to mimick everything we do. When I fold laundry, he picks up clothes, shakes them out, and piles them. He loves to have his own bowl and spoon to stir in the kitchen while I am cooking, and the other day, he started doing sit ups with me on his own little towel on the floor. In this video he demostrates his door knocking and opening skills.

First Steps

Ezra is starting to try out walking with assistance! He has already improved his balance a lot since this video was taken last week. We are so proud of him!

More Peekaboo

Uncle Chris can really get Ezra giggling. Here they are at the diner table playing more peekaboo.

Leading the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and his own shadow.

Ezra loves to lead music, and loves his shadow or reflection. He could seriously do this for hours!

My little virtuoso

Ezra is the most amazing 19 mo musician I have ever seen. Here he is playing the uke, while I finger chords and sing.

Ezra Standing Up!

2010-09-18T14:06:00.003-10:00

Ezra has had some very exciting developments these last couple weeks. Among the most exciting is his pulling to stand! Here is a video of one of the first times he stood up in his crib! He is also pulling his knees under himself to combat crawl (one step closer to crawling!). And he is now signing about 20 signs in addition to his 6 spoken words.

He says: Ball Dada Mama Kiddie Dog Boo

He Signs: Dada Mama Grandpa Grandma Chris hi and bye Boat Eat Dog Kiddie Bird Fish Pray Love You Music More Up Hat Hair No all done milk thank you shoes

He has even started combining signs, like up Dada, or More music! We will have to see if we can get video of him signing for you! This litle boy is such a joy!!!

--=ghh/

Time flies when your having fun!

2010-08-30T17:35:00.004-10:00

We must be having a lot of fun, because the time is sure flying! We are having a ball in our new ohana style living home, Ezra is learning new things every day, and life is joyful. Here is a slideshow of our recent activities.

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-18T23:10:00.003-10:00

Its a great day to love someone! And Ezra loves everyone, so he decided to share his box of chocolates and his rose. And his itchy little cherubum too! Hope you enjoy the pics.

Is January over already?

2010-02-07T13:41:00.001-10:00

Alright well, there goes January! And what a fun month it was. We went to the zoo with April and Edison. We enjoyed a vist from Grandma Marcia! Ezra got his first hair cut. We played in the pool. Went on a date to the Cheesecake Factory (one of our most favorites! Thanks for the gift Jared!) Fell in love with the Kahuku Grill. and Liam worked super hard as usual at work and school. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Christmas Eve on the Beach

2010-01-16T11:23:00.001-10:00

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We are here! We are here! We are here!

2010-01-10T13:06:00.005-10:00

So the bad people at Go Daddy deleted our blog, and our website because we owed them like 8 bucks. Bummer. But don't worry Ezra fans! We will use this blog for now to get back in business. What have we been up to? So much!

We had a lovely break and enjoyed Ezra's first Christmas thoroughly! He got some delightful toys from his loving family! Our most treasured is the wooden cricket xylophone handcrafted by Great-Grandpa Clay! It has mallets for antenae, and its legs move up and down when rolled along on his wheels. What a master woodworker he is, as evidenced by the photos. We hear that it takes more time and expertice to make a children's toy, than it does an entire house full of furniture. Thank you so much Grandpa and Grandma!
Ezra also loves his musical car keys and Big Hungry Bear Book from Grandma and Grandpa Cornelison. He takes them in the car on our trips. He also enjoyed his Christmas Lullaby's. He gets a huge smile on his face when we put him on the scooter from Aunt Jaque. And he shakes his shoulders to the music when he plays his drums from Grandma and Papa Jacobs. Our dear neighbors also gave him a baby MP3 player, which he loves! Thank you so much everyone for your generous gifts to Ezra (and his Mom and Dad too!).
Liam has determined that Christmas is for parents, not kids. I think he is right. We loved watching Ezra crinkle paper, smile, and play with all his new toys. Liam felt very Fatherly as he anxiously assembled and added batteries to various items for Ezra to play with.

We also had a lovely thanksgiving, going back, with Katie and Thomas and Pat and Annie and Family. Good food, and good times.

Halloween was spent at various trunk or treats where Ezra learned to Grab candies, and drop them in his bag. We all got so excited when he did this that he got overwhelmed and began to cry! Sweet Boy! We also went to Bishop Museums Treat Street with April and Nate and little Edison!

And life in general? Crazy! Liam is working very hard at both work and school! He is beginning his last semester towards his Masters, which is supposed to be even crazier than the one before (I can't imagine! I hardly ever saw him!) We are training for the Great Aloha run, an 8 mile race that I entered us in for Liams Birthday Present. Some Present huh?! Not sure what I was thinking.

Our 2010 goals?
-Better Budgeting
-Healthier Lifestyles
-More time on the Beach!
-More Compasion

We are still adding to the list, but this sums it up pretty well. Perhaps I should add blogging? Haha.

Well, now I have rambled and rambled making you all read a very long post. So I will end it here, and give you what you really want...Ezra pictures! So much love to you all! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

New Blog

2009-05-31T08:52:00.003-10:00

Hey everyone! Guess what?! We have a new blog! Check us out at blog.shoeboxofphotographs.com for our most up to date posts. Don't forget to update your links and bookmarks! Love you all!

Save the Princess!!!

2009-03-29T17:47:00.002-10:00

If you haven't seen this, you need to. It brings me happy "slaying the rocking-chair dragon" thoughts.

Click and Enjoy!

Welcoming Ezra William Kai!

2009-03-19T09:17:00.003-10:00

Our sweet little bundle suprised us with his arrival on Febuary 24th at 5:26 am. He was 6 lbs 5 oz and 19 and 1/3 inches long. His favorite actvities are looking cute and eating, but he is also really good at sleeping (which makes mom and dad very happy!) We so much appreciate everyones prayers and faith in Ezra's behalf. He was born with several congenital heart defects for which he will likely undergo surgery in 2 or 3 months. We are however, happy to report that Ezra is doing very well and seems to get better everyday. We have truly seen the hand of God in our lives and know that he has truly blessed us.

Ezra means Heaven's Light. We have certainly felt the added measure of light which he has brought into our home. He has a very sweet temperment and spirit about him and we are so greatful for the blessing he is to our home, and the eternal perspective that he has brought us. Thank you again to everyone for your love and support especially to Ezra's Grandparents for all of your service.

A few Maternity Pics

2009-02-02T16:39:00.002-10:00

Hi Everyone! Sorry it has been so long! I am trying to do about a million and one things before the baby arrives, and I'm keeping Liam hoppin too.

We had a great holiday, on which I will have to up-date you all (of course many of our readers were enjoying the holidays with us!) but for now I just wanted to do a quick post so that I could check blogging off of the list of things to do.

Here are some belly shots Liam took the other day. Baby Boy is due in less than 5 weeks! Can you believe it! If someone wants to make the time pass slower, it would be greatly appreciated. I can't wait to meet our baby, but I want to have the world all ready for him before he arrives. Wish me luck. Love you all!

Happy day

2008-12-17T10:04:00.001-10:00

Fun in Washington!

2008-12-16T14:33:00.002-10:00

We had so much fun with my family in Washington! Liam and my Dad worked like crazy, but still managed to fit in lots of family time! We went to a fun corn maze and pumpkin patch, at which Darek won a giant prize pumpkin. It was an awesome place for the kids, with farm animals, an activity barn, and a free corn maze with slides and fun stuff.

We also celebrated Jaque's birthday and took the kids trick or treating. We went to the Jackson's family Halloween party too, which was lots of fun. Liam was Prince Charming, and I was the Princess, and Baby was a little prince...we made fun t-shirts. We also had Glinda (Morgan) Dorothy (Adrienne) Scarecrow (James) The Wicked Witch of the West (Jenn) Harry Potter (Mason), a lovely Ghost (Jaque), and the Phantom and Christine (my parents). It was a blast.

Before we left we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas too! It was a great trip! We can't wait to spend more family time this Holiday Season!

Smile

2008-12-08T10:50:00.000-10:00

:)

:)

Jim and Dawn

2008-12-08T10:19:00.002-10:00

Rehearsal

Getting Ready

Formal Photographs

Ceremony

Reception

Baby's First Cloth Diaper!

2008-11-20T12:04:00.003-10:00

Here are some pics of our sons first cloth diaper! Liam was kind enough to make me a replica of our son (by stuffing one of his outfits, and adding kitchen towels for legs) so that I could try it on him. Liam also helped by wiggling the legs while I proceded to change the baby. I hope real baby legs are more durable, because the towels kept falling off!
Isn't it so cute! This one is his swim diaper, because it is covered in a little ocean scene of sea turtles, searhorses, and fishies! Liam can't wait to take him swimming at the pool and start teaching him how to surf...Haha.
I can't wait to put it on the real baby! (Until he poops in it that is, my excitment my wane a little at that point). I could not have done this without the help and supplies of my friend Dawn who has helped me so much to get started in my cloth diapering adventure! Thanks so much!
I also had some other sewing fun yesterday. I patched a pair of stained maternity shorts that were attacked by black ink (devastating story, glad that this is the happy ending), shortened the sleeves on one maternity shirt, and took two in. I love altering clothes. It feels so great to buy something for a buck and make it look like 20 bucks!

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-11-19T11:54:00.004-10:00

Our Christmas Tree is up! Liam and I had so much fun decorating our Christmas Tree! I love Christmas and have been know for being a bit ahead of the game when it comes to decorating, and Christmas music, and gift making...and pretty much anything else that goes with Christmas fun. So this little beauty went up the day after we got back from Washington (Nov. 6th) and we have really been enjoying it! Its just the right size for our little house.

Fully Customizable Christmas Cards for Order!

2008-11-11T15:47:00.006-10:00

Please see my fully customizable Christmas Card examples below. I can use any photos, any wording, and any colors. Also, if you don't see a design here you like, I can create one just for you. The cards are only $12.50 for 10 and they come with envelopes! They will ship straight to your home, ready for addressing and sending out! How easy is that! Its a great way to simplify your holiday season, and show your loved ones you care. To order, just e-mail me at jessica@shoeboxofphotographs.com
with the card number, your photo choices, and anything you would like customized. Thanks so much and Happy Holidays!
View Cards in Post Below

Fully Customizable Christmas Cards for Order!

2008-11-08T18:28:00.005-10:00

Congratulations Katie and Thomas!

2008-11-08T18:22:00.002-10:00

Hangin Out

2008-10-15T11:42:00.002-10:00

We hung out with Katie and Thomas on Friday and opened an exciting Fall Package from Mom! It had so many fun things! Candles, a pumpkin ice tray, cute fall hot pads and towels which now adorn my kitchen, October Rachel Ray, and my favorite, a pumpkin bib for the baby! We love fall entertaining. Thanks so much Mom!

Katie also took lots of random and flattering pictures of us while we all sat around chatting. And, also on this post is my most recent pregnancy pose.

Some Tasty Fall Recipes

2008-10-15T10:16:00.003-10:00

My favorite recipes are the ones that take only a short amount of time, but make you look like an amazing chef! Here are a few favorites of late.

Yummy Pumpkin Dip: This is great with apples and cookies, on brownies and cakes, and my favorite...blend a little with vanilla ice cream and milk and you've got yourself one killer pumpkin milkshake!

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill until serving.

The Creamiest Coco: I don't even know if you can call this a recipe, but, its good! Make a packet of coco as directed using whole milk and a little cream instead of water. Add some cinnamon or other flavoring. Yum! Warning, this preparation method makes this more of a dessert than a drink.

Apple Cider Pork Chops (My Fav!): It is a now a mystery to me where on earth I got this recipe from (a pregnancy side effect no doubt). So Here is bassically what I remember doing.
Sear Pork chops in olive oil and salt and pepper until outsides are browned(this is an important step if you want juicy pork chops). Remove from pan. Saute 1/2 an onion and 3 ish stalks of celery in 2 T butter until tender. Add 2 T flour to make a roux and cook 1 min. Add some apple cider (3/4 cup?) and a cap full of vineagar. Return chops to pan and cook until to 175 degrees (15 min?). Salt and pepper to taste. We had it with mashed potatoes. Yum!

Apple Chedar Turkey Burgers From Rachel Ray. Combine Ground Turkey and Seasonings (green onion, parsley, grill seasoning, poultry seasoning,). Cook in skillet with a little olive oil. Add sliced apple and sharp cheddar to top and cook a little longer. Serve with condiments and sauce. Sauce: Combine 1/4 cranberry sauce with 2 T mustard. Yum!

Ratatoullie Wraps: This ones from Rachel Ray. Slice and Grill the following veggies in olive oil until tender: 2 eggplants, 1 large zucchini, 1 onion, 1 red pepper, 2 or 3 tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Wrap in grilled tortillas adding your favorite cheese. Yum!

Faster Than Delivery Pizza: This is so easy and so good! It really is faster than ordering a pizza. You can top it with anything! We used ragu pasta sauce, mozzerella cheese, fresh basil, and tomatoes. Ours was made and baked within 30 min!

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
DIRECTIONS
Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. Spread out on a large pizza pan. Top as desired.
Bake at 375 degrees C (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

Corn and Potato Chowder

I made this recipe up! Well sort of...I basically watered down your normal potato chowder(adding thickener) and added corn. Not my typical style, but when milk is $6 a gallon, style gets thrown out the window! And, the result? Delicious!

4 T Butter

4 T flour

1c Milk

1c Heavy Cream

2 c Water

2 chicken or veg. bullion cubes

5 ish large potatoes

16 oz frozen corn

salt and pepper to taste

Opt. Toppings

crumbled bacon

sliced green onion

sour cream

cheese!

Slice and boil potatoes until soft. Meanwhile In large pot melt butter. Add flour and cook 1 minute. Add cream and milk. Stir. Drain potatoes, mash slightly, and add to soup pot. Add 2 c water and 2 bullion cubes. Add frozen corn. Heat until hot. Salt and pepper to taste (it will need a lot!). Note: if your soup is thin, simply mix a Tablespoon or two of flour, with a little water, and whisk into soup to thicken it.

Top with goodies and enjoy with bread.

Good Times with the Fam!

2008-10-15T09:46:00.004-10:00

Here are a few videos from before we left Washington of playing with the family.

The Doomed Tale of my Fall Decorations

2008-10-15T08:45:00.003-10:00

Yep. Thats right. We ate our fall decorations...and you can too! This festive dish is a favorite that Liam remembers his Mom making during fall harvest time. You can make it in one medium sized sugar pumpkin or individual sized pie pumpkins. We enjoyed it both with the missionaries in our ward, and with Nathan and Tegan. Our Elder from Samoa thought it was...interesting...he had never eaten a pumpkin before. Then again, neither had Tegan. Perhaps eating your fall decorations isn't normal. We do know one thing, the pumpkins still decorating that shelf are shaking in their boots!

Thanks for the festive inspiration Mom! Here is the recipe:

2 cups cooked rice

2 bullion cubes

1 lb hamburger

160z package of country sausage

1 package frozen corn or green beans

2 cans cream of (insert your fav.) soup

1 cup cheese (whatever kind you like)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Cook the rice as directed adding bullion cubes. Meanwhile, brown hamburger and sausage in a pot and drain. Add rice and remaining ingredients and heat through. Meanwhile, microwave prepared pumpkin (remove goo) for 5 minutes. Place stuffing into pumpkin(s) and bake with top on till soft (about 30 min for little pumpkins and an hour for 1 big one).

This recipe has lots of creative freedom. Feel free to use any of your favorite veggies, cheeses, and seasonings for the stuffing. And, if you like, you can give your pumpkin a face by carving just the first layer. Hope you enjoy!

Disappearing Bed!

2008-10-03T19:31:00.004-10:00

In this video you'll notice our newly painted blue wall- I don't know if you've heard, but it's a boy! So of course we had to paint the nursery! But the paint drying is not all of the excitement awaiting you in the below video...

Be prepared for a spectacle to stun all your senses! Before your very eyes we'll now perform our final act presented without smoke, lights, or mirrors - no this is coming to you in one single unbroken shot. We won't cut away, you'll see what our live audience sees and their amazement will be your amazement. So click the video already!

General Relief Society Broadcast

2008-10-02T07:01:00.002-10:00

I have the amazing opportunity to be a part of a worldwide womens organization through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This organization provides meaningful service not only to its members, but to people throughout the world. On Saturday, we had a meeting where every member has the opportunity to listen to inspired talks given by the leaders called to direct the organization. I just wanted to share some of my favorite things that were said.

About Women in Jesus Christ's Time:
"Just as the Savior invited Mary and Martha of New Testament times3 to participate in His work, women of this dispensation have an official commission to participate in the Lord’s work."

On Examples of Faith :
"Early pioneer women were driven from homes and persecuted because of their faith. Others survived fires and floods. They crossed oceans and walked thousands of miles, tolerating dirt, illness, and near starvation to help build the Lord’s kingdom on the earth. Many of them buried husbands, children, parents, and siblings along the way. Why did they do this? They did it because the fire of their faith burned in their souls."

About The History of Temples:
The Lord has always asked His people to build temples. The Lord commanded Moses: “Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.”1 The portable tabernacle they built served as the central place of Israel’s worship during their pilgrimage to the promised land. Its pattern and structure were revealed by the Lord to Moses. It was to be the Lord’s holy house.
Later, King Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem using the finest building materials available.2
During His earthly ministry, the Lord regarded the temple as a sacred place and taught reverence for it. The Nephites also built temples to the Lord in the Americas. They were gathered around the temple when Christ appeared to them after His Resurrection.3
Soon after the Church was restored in this dispensation, the Lord commanded the Saints to build a temple... in response, the Saints built the Kirtland Temple at considerable sacrifice.

About the Greatest Happiness:
Let me first pose a question: What do you suppose is the greatest kind of happiness possible? For me, the answer to this question is, God’s happiness.
This leads to another question: What is our Heavenly Father’s happiness?
This may be impossible to answer because His ways are not our ways. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are [God’s] ways higher than [our] ways, and [His] thoughts [higher] than [our] thoughts.”1
Though we cannot understand “the meaning of all things,” we do “know that [God] loveth his children”2 because He has said, “Behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”3
Heavenly Father is able to accomplish these two great goals—the immortality and eternal life of man—because He is a God of creation and compassion. Creating and being compassionate are two objectives that contribute to our Heavenly Father’s perfect happiness. Creating and being compassionate are two activities that we as His spirit children can and should emulate...

We are Children of God:
...remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.
But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy.4 Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness.

On Compassion:
“When you find yourselves a little gloomy, look around you and find somebody that is in a worse plight than yourself; go to him and find out what the trouble is, then try to remove it with the wisdom which the Lord bestows upon you; and the first thing you know, your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated.”10

I was so uplifted and strengthened by this meeting. It added to my testimony that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that this gospel is the same one that was established by Him before the world began.

It also made me decide (the last quote particullarly) that the next time I am feeling bad for myself, and think I need a pedicure, that I will find someone more worthy of feeling bad for, and use that pedicure money to make their life a little better! Haha. My life is so blessed. I pray that yours may be also and leave you this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

You are all invited to watch this up-lifting meeting, and the General Conference meetings of the Church (This weekend Sat. and Sun. 10-12 and 12-2 Mountain Standard time) and can do so by following this link http://www.lds.org/move/index.html?type=conference&event=178&lang=english

It's a......

2008-10-01T18:51:00.006-10:00

Its official! We are having a little baby and we are absolutely thrilled! Baby is so excited to meet all of his extended family members and friends! Here is a little sneek preview of baby...click on either the slide show or the movie to find out baby's gender!

I'm so sorry that this is the first many of you are hearing about our bundle of joy! We have been a little behind on getting the word out. We love you all, and our baby is so excited to meet everyone! Due March 6th!

An Epiphnany about cars...and how to torture Katie and Thomas

2008-09-28T17:26:00.004-10:00

Many of you already may know that in an effort to save money, we have strictly been using the bus for the past month. It has been an adventure, with a few sprints to catch it as it pulls away, and lots of fun conversations while riding or waiting (and even a round of dots on the tablet while riding...can't do that in a car!)... but overall, I have found it to be almost as convenient as car travel, and FAR less expensive. The bus is almost always on time, and waiting is usually very short. Using google maps public transit feature, we have also been able to get detailed bus instructions to every place we have wanted to go. Liam and I especially like that we don't have to drive in crazy Waikiki traffic, we just sit and relax.

We do realize however, that there are certainly conveniences that car ownership brings especially after a baby arrives. So on Friday, Liam had a light bulb go off in his brain (or on?) and realized, that for much less than the price of owning a car, we can rent one every other weekend(we are thinking we will just do this once a month, with gas prices, we would probably drive any car about this much any way!). So we rented a truck, picked up all of our murphy bed stuff, a couch, some chairs, took a walmart and sams club trip and had a lot of fun! And...no car repairs, no insurance costs, much less worry about accident liability, always driving a brand new car, no breakdowns or up keep, it keeps us more conservative on gas and errand running...its just great!

So where do Katie and Thomas come in? Well, we dragged them along on all of these errands, and put them to work, on the pretense that we would then go on a crazy camping and kayaking adventure! Unfortunately, the errands took about 7 hours longer than we expected and we were all too exhausted for the fun part when we were done. But they were such a big help, and made the experience so much fun! Nevertheless, we are so sorry for tortureing you Katie and Thomas! We thank you for all your help, and will certainly find a way to make it up to you!

Welcome Fall!

2008-09-28T17:10:00.002-10:00

Why are there pumpkins hanging on my lanai? Thats right, its fall! Welcome Fall! Fall is my favorite season for homemaking... when it starts to get a chill in the air (in most places, but I don't miss it too much) and the family gathers inside for warmth and joy. Hearty stews, pumpkin and apple ladden everything and many other tasty recipes abound. Thoughts of Christmas giving, and Christ' Birth also seem at the front of my mind about now. I just love it.

So happy fall everyone! You can be sure to see more posts to come about fall recipes I've tried, activities we have done, and decorations I have put up. I hope you all enjoy this special season with your families. I can't wait until we add more special beings to ours, and in turn even greater reasons to celebrate.

This Past Week

2008-09-28T16:57:00.003-10:00

The past week has been pretty chill! And crazy too! Liam worked a lot! And Studied a lot! We had some yummy meals (Chicken Alfredo, and Bacon Cheeseburger Calzones were my favorites!) Thanks for my Rachel Ray Magazine Cornelisons!

On Wednesday, we had a Dr. appointment, in which we heard the Baby's heartbeat, and scheduled the gender revealing ultra-sound! (I tried so hard to talk the Dr. into giving me an ultrasound that day, but none of my tricks worked). Oct. 1st is the day, lets hope our baby isn't modest! I am starting to notice that I am pregnant. It's kinda fun, mostly I can just tell there is somethin in there! Baby is 4.5 inches long now and the size of an avocado! I love our baby. And so far, I've got a pretty good record as a Mom... no big fits thrown, not a single messy daiper, and our baby doesn't even cry! I think my idealism is paying off! Haha.

We also got Lowes cards in the mail to finish our Murphy Bed! Liam cashed in his Boeing rewards points (for His hardwork and great service.) He has been saving them up each time he is awarded, and now we will make a Murphy bed with them! Thanks for your hard work Honey!

On Saturday we randomly bumped into Katie and Thomas on the bus! I know, how crazy is that! So they came over for dinner and dessert (Liam made us ice cream with pinneapple and chocolate saltimbocca sauce!), and a swim. One of our favorite things to do is have crazy races in the pool (like swimming with no arms, or running on the bottom of the pool). Thanks for hanging out guys! You rock!

More updates to come. Take care everyone!

Advertising Input

2008-09-11T07:34:00.003-10:00

Hello Everyone! It is nice to be back bloggin! Liam and I are enjoying being back in the sunshine and in our little house (but we are missing all you Washingtonians!, and those of you that left us for the east coast! We miss our Californians too!)

I have lots to catch you up on, but today, I was hoping to get some input on my new advertising. I need a new sloggan...something that has to do with all the stages or seasons of life...as that is kind of the theme I am going for, following the family from birth to grandkids and beyond.

If anyone submits a sloggan that I choose, I will send you a secrect Prize! Haha! Add some incentive to send me good slogans! So, here are the adverts for your evaluation. Any and all constructive input is appreciated.

Oh, also, do you think I should include "Fine Art Portraiture" under Shoebox of Photographs?

My previous slogan was "Making memories a work of Art" and I do really like that one, it just doesn't go with the theme as well.

Alright, well, thanks to all of you ahead of time for your input, and also a big thank you to those who have participated in my model release program, you all look great!

East Coast Pictures

2008-06-22T21:00:00.001-10:00

I thought I would post some more pictures from our East coast trip since I never got many up. Hope everyone is well!

Long Beach Washington!

2008-06-01T19:44:00.002-10:00

This trip totally rocked! We loaded up our bicycles, consulted the clamming experts and took off as soon as Liam got home from his business trip. Everything worked out great! Our hotel was super cheap and we could ride our bikes right from the Lanai to the beach! Washington beaches typically have really hard packed sand, and so they are great for bike riding! Not to mention that long beach is the longest beach in America!

Clamming was so exciting! We stomped around on the sand until we would see a little clam hole, and then we stuck the clam gun down and pulled up a huge razor clam! (hopefully before the surf came rushing in to get us wet and cold). We heard it was a very bad year, so we didn't quite catch our limit but we sure had a blast.

We also rode the bikes on some very scenic trails (in the area where Lewis and Clark arrived at the west coast), and caught some beautiful light at the cape disapointment lighthouse (this may have been my favorite).

All in all, it was a beautiful and fabulous vacation! We had great weather and we loved getting out and riding our bikes all along the scenic Washington Coast! When we got home, we fried up our clams (so mild and sweet!) and made some really yummy clam chowder.

One Big Hunk!

2008-05-31T19:52:00.002-10:00

Here is some shots of my supper handsome husband I took the other day!

Photography!

2008-05-30T19:08:00.004-10:00

I am more immersed in my career than I have ever been and its great! We have spent the last few weeks calling every public school on Oahu (theres about 150) multiple times to contact the school picture day coordinators and let them know about our new business! For the most part it went pretty well! I really don't like telemarketing, but when its your own business and you are passionate about the product, its not so bad. And, just about everyone I talked to was really nice whether they were interested or not. (however, I know that deep down, everyone is really interested, they just may not know it yet!)

I have lots of sittings scheduled, and I am way excited about all of them! I also got some exciting new equipment including a new lense, a flash, a cool gear backpack, a stroboframe, and a reflector.

Here is a cute picture I took of Adrienne in a sitting today. Isn't she soo cute! Anyway, I am rambling. You can check out our new school pictures website, its up on our old one at www.shoeboxofphotographs.com

Love Everlasting

2008-05-29T20:15:00.002-10:00

Here is the (rough) opener to this years scrap book! I am way excited to use my friend Kristi's scrapbook kits. You can check them out at scrapmatters.com or at krisserscrap.blogspot .

Backyard Camp out

2008-05-29T19:35:00.002-10:00

So, the other night we kicked it old style in the back yard! Tin foil dinners, corn on the cob, and grasshopper s'mores were on the menu, and boy were they delicious! We blasted the country music, and sat around the fire and talked until dark! Oh, and by the way, fire roasted corn on the cob is amazing! (we also seasoned it with lime, parmasan cheese, and tony chacharies, so good!) Then to top it all off, Liam and I actually tented it that night! It rained like crazy, but we stayed dry and warm! (not that it would have mattered if we didn't, we were about a 2 min walk from a warm, dry bed, haha).

It's about Time!

2008-03-30T07:09:00.002-10:00

Yes, we are finally posting to our blog (This one is for Brad and Kerri)! It seems like we have been doing so many things, we haven't even had the time to post about them. Lets see if I can get you up to date. We left Hawaii and basically went straight to Philly where we saw the Liberty Bell and lots of neat historical sites. Then we had a very lovely and romantic dinner at a fancy pants hole in the wall. It was 4 courses beginning with baby octopus appetizer, then a yummy salad, next was filet mignon, and finally to top it off, the yummiest gooiest chocolate cake ever! Liam says it was his favorite restaurant experience ever! Very quiet and romantic, by candlelight, great food, all four courses, and free (thanks to all of Liam's hard work at boeing). I really enjoyed it too.

Next day we went to D.C. and did just about everything there is to do there in a very short amount of time! We saw the white house, several of the Smithsonians (the hope diamond in the museum of natural history was my favorite), the Library of Congress (beautiful architectural design!), the capitol building, the lincoln memorial, the vietnam memorial, the washington monument, the met. museum of art (very cool!) and of course my favorite store Ross! (just to get warm, it was freezing!) That night, we drove back to Philly to stay in our hotel.

The next day, we left for Up-state New York to visit the Church History Sites. We enjoyed a trip to the Palmyra Temple, saw the two Smith homes, the Sacred Grove, and the Grandon Building. We also hiked up the Hill Cumorah and saw the memorial there. We were both impressed by what an ordinary place it was, and how God takes ordinary people and works with us to accomplish extaordinary things. For more information about the restoration of the true gospel, you can visit http://www.mormon.org/ . This pretty much concludes this trip, then we just drove back and hopped a plane home. For more long winded adventures, check back in a couple days, if you think you can endure (my apologies for the longness of this post!)

Kaaawa to Laie - by Kayak!!!

2008-01-13T20:00:00.000-10:00

That's right! On Saturday morning we set out to paddle our way through the eight miles of incredibly beautiful Windward coastline that span these two cities. It was incredible!

Smelling strongly of the distinctive coconut oil sported by the Coppertone kid, we set off on our adventure. We stoped at this incredible stretch of beach and resolved to build our dream house on the very spot.

Later we encountered several sea turtles - including this friendly fellow who swam right up and underneath our kayak.
We ate a picnic lunch on Hauula beach munching on carrot sticks, oranges, a very squished pear, cookies, and a fresh garden salad - enjoying V8 and aloha juices.

We finished our trek by paddling AROUND Laie point through solid overhead breakers - and were capsized only thrice! Then we pulled right up onto Temple beach, and sprawled out on the sand.

That evening we decided to head out to Kaena point for a beach bonfire with Brad, Kerri, baby Kaci, as well as Nate, Kim, and their kids Lili and Nate.

That made for some good times and good eats with the classic biscut wrapped hot dogs and grasshopper smores!

And then we slept - 'cause we were kinda tired.

Another Day at the Office

2008-01-10T12:15:00.000-10:00

Jessica thought to snap a shot of me hard at work out on our lanai this morning.

As you can see I've got my trusty surfboard at my side - just tempting and taunting me to go tackle those waves directly behind me.

But I managed to avoid the allure of surf, sea, and tropical breeze to get some work done, for at least a few hours - and then we went out to catch some killer waves. Its been so nice the last few days with the winds down - just down right glassy conditions.

New Artwork Portfolio!

2008-01-09T15:32:00.000-10:00

Jessica's Portfolio

Rope Swing!

2008-01-06T20:39:00.000-10:00

So Saturday we took a little detour on our way to retrieve Sister Katie from the Airport. Brad and Kerri found this supper cool hike right by the pali look-out. It led us through an amazing jungle and to this super sweet little waterfall with beautiful naturally terraced rocks. The most super sweet thing about it though was the rope swing that took you across the river… over the waterfall … and down a 15 foot plunge into a nice warm swimming hole (well that is nice and warm by January standards in most places). We loved it!

Crazy hubby was the first one to hop up and take the daring plunge! And boy was he in for a surprise when he got over the waterfalls edge and took a drop about 3 times longer than he was expecting! And what’s more is that it is only 10 minutes away from the airport, and only a 10 minute hike to this amazing little piece of paradise. We are continually amazed by the countless undiscovered beauties around us in this crazy beautiful place. We feel so blessed to be a part of it!

White Christmas!

2007-12-25T10:06:00.000-10:00

After an early morning Christmas with the Cornelisons, we hopped on a plane and returned to Seattle to be with the Jacobs. All the sisters with their families were here to open presents and enjoy each other's company. And to mark the occasion, Seattle had a rare snowfall! Gorgeous white flakes gently fell across the undisturbed landscape as Jessica and I rushed out barefoot to catch them all on our tongues! The perfect picture of winter serenity besides those two crazy kids spinning circles out there.

So after we got our bare toes good and tingly, we got all bundled up to take advantage of the photo-op. That's what you get when you marry a photographer.

But it made for some fun photos, and Jess was even able to convince the whole crew to step out for a few quick shots.

Cornelison's Christmas Eve!

2007-12-24T21:47:00.000-10:00

Thanks to a very generous gift from the Beck family, Jessica and I were able to catch a standby flight home to be with the Cornelison family for christmas eve and EARLY christmas morning!

We had a fabulous visit. Together we saw a community performance of Beauty and the Beast, we ate delicious food, we walked the local christmas light lane and sang carols and drank hot cocoa (not all at the same time), and most importantly we celebrated my bithday!

We also had the opportunity to join Grandma and Grandpa with all the fam for the traditional Christmas Eve party.

The dinner table had all the "must haves" of the holiday from spicy jalapeno stuffed green olives to Grandpa's famous punch. Grandma's candies were as scrumptious as ever, and combined with the sugar flowing from the pinata and the candy bar game, we'll all be soaring on a sucrose high for quite a while.

It was a special treat to have Great-grandma with us. The Christmas Party really encapsulates all of what is so memorable about the season when we all get together and make extra effort to show our families that we love them! And we'll treasure those moments together until we can all get together and do it again!

Call family Portraits

2007-12-15T21:33:00.000-10:00

After attending Brad's graduation we spent the afternoon with the Calls. We all enjoyed a delicious lunch at the famous Uncle Bobo's BBQ, and Jessica shot a Call family portrait session on Sunset beach.

Check out their pictures here.

Also made available for download by the Call family members by clicking the file folder:

Elder Ballard - BYU Hawaii Commencement

2007-12-15T11:29:00.000-10:00

We are currently attending BYU-Hawaii's December commencement ceremony, and Elder Ballard has just addressed us. With the help of our tablet pc and WWAN internet, I'm following up on the prompting and invitation he extended to us to "join the conversation."

Specifically, he opened my eyes to my personal online "sphere of influence" and asked us to use the new media to spread the message of the Restored gospel. He spoke of the marvel of the invention of the printing press and its associated bust of revolutionary knowledge & growth. He affirmed that in our day we can participate in a modern day revolution and use its power to spread the message for good.

His invitation is one that would have us generate, contribute to, and correct content that will help answer questions and influence others for good. I feel like there is more that I can do to spread the gospel message that has so blessed our lives, and would invite you to also lend your voice to enlist in the forces for good. We live in a marvelously connected time, and I think that if we'll enlist in the cause championed by Elder Ballard, the voices of many can be heard by those who might be seeking. And being so blessed by what we know - we need to find ever better ways to share.

Katie's Birthday!

2007-12-14T09:02:00.000-10:00

Happy Birthday to our Sis-star!

Jessica made a cute - and incredibly delicious cake to celebrate with the sis.

So we filled up on dessert, crammed into an aready filled car, and went out to dinner on our way to the airport! Both Katie and Thomas returned home for the holiday break, and sis reunited with the fam to further celebrate her 19th year on this sphere.

We heart our sister.

Crazy Dayz

2007-12-09T11:58:00.000-10:00

Yesterday was a crazy day.

So I woke up and said to Jessica - "Let's go hike stairway to heaven!"

She said - "OK," so we went!

Here we are hiking up to the stairs and getting kinda lost back in the lush vegetation. But we found the stairs, and made it part of the way up, before a security guard showed up. He had other plans - and a bright shiny shrill whistle - so we decided to comply and come back down. He was real nice, and showed us a better way back through the dense bamboo. He was even nice enough to tell us the hours he worked, and when might be a better time to endevor upon the hike.

But being busted, we returned home with only slightly sore muscles and were somewhat grateful to be spared the further beating of that rather tiring trail.

So we took an amazing nap, woke up and deep cleaned the house, and I took off with Chris for some last moments of day-light surfing.

The last couple of sessions out at Crouching Lion have been awesome. The winds have been down, and in the evening its been getting down right glassy out there. And with the head-high swell we've been getting its made for the prettiest little break I've ever surfed. I snagged a classic ride - one for the scrapbooks. And at the end of the evening took the last one in over the reef. But it was kinda shallow (as in only lots of exposed coral heads) and my back fin snagged the reef and I got gently tossed into the water and scored a few spines from our black spiny urchin friends in the foot. (See picture)

But, I braved on, and paddled in to shower and join Jessica as we went to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner round two - sponsered in part by Ted's Bakery and their $5 pie sale! We went to Brad and Kerri's and they had just pulled a beautifully cooked turkey out of the oven - seasoned with Jamaican Jerk! So we had our Jamaican Jerky Turkey, giant costco baked potatoes with cheese and bacon-bits (the real kind), stuffing, white corn, and pumkin haupia pie! Oh my.

Happy Electricity-less Day!

2007-12-05T11:28:00.000-10:00

So, our power went out Wednesday - from midnight to 9:00 pm!

We had a night of pretty wicked storming which left a fine mess all over the road as Jessica and I drove to teach Seminary at 5:30 that morning. Only to find that the power was out not only in Ka'a'awa, but at the chapel as well - and pretty much the rest of the island. Which left both Jessica and I jobless and rather free to spend our holiday in traditional electricity-less fashion.

So we called up Brad and Kerri - cooked up baked beans and smokies on our propane hiker's stove, surfed, and had an evening barbeque. At which barbeque Brad managed to down 4 burgers - 1 full pound pre-cooked weight. Well done!

We had so much fun we figured we should knock down some trees more often.

Surfing out at Bunker's with the Call's

Kaneohe Christmas Parade

2007-12-01T11:15:00.000-10:00

We woke up early to make our way down to celebrate with the rest of the windward side of the island at the "Peace on Earth" Kaneohe Christmas Parade. It was fun. They had the floats, marching bands, no-name government officials and city counselmembers, and Jessica's favorite - lots of horses. She would have naturally fit in well with the "angels" on horseback dressed in long flowy white dresses.

We watched while sipping a shared Egg Nog milkshake from Jack in the Box. Nothing but the finest. We cheered for the kids who played, marched, sang, and did tae kwan do. And Jessica was even able to snag some goodies from one of Santa's Elves.

All together it made for a fine kick off of our December month.

Our Anniversary!

2007-11-25T09:56:00.000-10:00

To celebrate our anniversary this year we decided to take a vacation from our vacations!
So we hooked up our home theater, bought tons of goodies, and layed around all weekend!

We did actually manage to get dressed and venture out for a delicious dinner at the Cheesecake Factory! It was amazing! We ate until we couldn't move, and brought home an entire Godiva chocolate cheesecake. Such decadence.

Afterwards we walked around the Waikiki strip enjoying the holiay sights, sounds, smells, and shopping!

So here we are all dressed and dandy ready for our evening out in Waikiki.

Camping Out

2007-11-24T09:14:00.000-10:00

We wanted to go camping - but Jessica kinda also wanted to not miss some of the great deals. So we compromised. And we went camping at Best Buy!

It was a lot of fun - we camped out with all our gear in the parking lot, ran around shopping in our pajamas, and we came home with an awesome home theater projector. Just in time for the big UH game! Go Warriors!

Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T22:49:00.000-10:00

What a memorable Thanksgiving we had!
Jessica cooked up a storm beginning Wednesday night and made some delicious fixings for our feast!

Brad and I went down to Kailua early Thursday morning to retrieve our turkey which had been cooking all night in an imu (underground stove - dig a hole in the sand, line with banna leaves, stick in hot rocks, cover with leaves, cook it up!)

We were hosted at Brad and Kerri's and were joined by Katie and Thomas, as well as Brad's sister Haley and cousin Gina with their dudes in tow.

After a rousing round of Thanksgiving pictionary, we feasted on our favorite sofa Suzy. Following dinner we retired to the TVA courtyard for a frenzied marshmellow fight. And ofcourse after getting sugar coated, we had to close out the afternoon with a castle-beach surf session to get us good and cleaned off.

From whence Jessica and I took off to go camping! But that is another post.

Dolphins!

2007-11-20T23:34:00.000-10:00

This was unreal - absolutely incredible.

New Galleries

2007-11-20T23:30:00.000-10:00

Check out the newly posted galleries featuring Jessica's work on our webpage:

http://www.shoeboxofphotographs.com/

Clam-Sucking Daterfaces

2007-10-26T23:25:00.000-10:00

We stole away on another romantic escapade this evening...venturing an entire 100 yards from our front door!

Jessica was at her moon photographizing again - this time from the beach out infront of our home. We then walked back across the street to the Crouching Lion. We enjoyed the most amazing game of darts I've ever undertaken, followed by the most amazing bucket of clams I've even eaten, only to be topped by a competitive game of billards - which was altogether un-amazing because I lost.

However - the clams were really quite spectacular. And with Jessica's employee discount the entire evening, games, clams, drinks, tip and all were under $10. Which just made it all the more a delicious date.

30% More Moon . . . Limited time only

2007-10-26T23:04:00.000-10:00

With the romance of a larger, brighter moon - we've been out enjoying many a moonlit evening the past three nights just Jessica, her camera, and I.

Our designated location Wednesday and Thursday was shooting from Kualoa out over the water towards the small off shore island known as Chinaman's hat. She captured a few interesting images of the moonlit sea with some long exposures.

Friday evening she shot from our beach.

They're all the more remarkable when you take into account the fact that it is night and pitch dark out while these are taken besides the bright glow of the moon.

The moon is at its biggest and brightest of the year tonight - so take someone you love by the hand, drag them out to a dark corner somewhere, and take a whole bunch of pictures!

If you want to read more about the moon - follow this link, Apparently it is supposed to be 14% larger and 30% brighter! http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=7255788

Library Lovin'

2007-10-26T21:20:00.000-10:00

We went on a date Wednesday night.

You might wonder . . . what could two lovers do on such a mid-week eve. Well, it just so happens that we wondered the same. And we decided to go to the library!

So we are now the proud possessors of brand-sparkling new library cards!

Jessica was very excited to find the extensive craft and cooking section - as is evinced in the expression captured in this completely candid photo.

And then, we went out for ice cream! But kinda ended up getting chinese food instead. It just smelled so good.

In what has now become one of my favorite date pictures of all time, I managed to capture the view from my side of the chopsticks as Jessica and I were chatting.

Such was our crazy night of library lovin'.

Fertility Pumpkin!

2007-10-26T21:14:00.000-10:00

As I sat enjoying the beauty of our carved pumpkin this evening, I had a thought, and a quick search produced the desired resolution...

And yes, if you were wondering as was I, it is true that upon googling 'fertility pumpkin' in google's blogsearch - yours truly is the FIRST result.

So everyone who has been crawling the internet in search of fertile pumpkins, has inevitably found our entry.

Now that's a marvel.

Try it out - http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=fertility+pumpkin
However, after this entry gets posted, the search might instead find this entry. We'll just have to see.

Our Family Portrait

2007-10-21T13:56:00.001-10:00

Aptly named the fertility pumpkin - this masterpiece of jack-o-lantern carving came into creation last night.

Here's the how and why . . .

At our Halloween party, Brad and Kerri carved their pumpkin with a stick figure mommy, daddy, and baby. Not wanting to be left out - Liam suggested that we should carve our family portrait . . . and after a few minutes of collective brainstorming, this design was submitted by Jessica - and received unanimous consent!

And so this winky little fella will grace our front porch this season, properly representing our growing family and the hope of things to come!

First year to Eternity

2007-10-21T13:25:00.000-10:00

Marriage...is what brings us together...today!

2007-10-21T13:18:00.001-10:00

A few mason-jar memories of those happy moments - preserved for posterity, and proud parents alike.

Cornelison Family

2007-10-21T12:34:00.000-10:00

While visiting for Jared's return - Jessica took these family photos, and managed to be in them too! Pretty impressive. And what a good looking crew!

This first shot was taken in our back yard - after an exciting day of yummy mexican food - with real mexicans! And don't forget about our return-missionary shopping spree - check out those snappy sweaters!

This second shot was taken at Woodward Park, before we successfully undertook the pumpkin patch corn maze - in a Cornelison celebration tradition for pop's birthday.

The latest craze

2007-10-21T11:24:00.000-10:00

We've succumbed.

While we're obviously not the first to embrace a craze - our lives certainly aren't lacking any craziness.

And now that we have our own blog - we can't help but feel a little trendier, a little hipper, and perhaps even a little crazier.

Hoorah for the latest craze. Hoorah for our blog.