I am in constant awe by the beauty I find in these cold temperatures. The sunrises and sunsets are beyond incredible. The blue moon we had over the New Year holiday was spectacular. Snow clinging to the trees and the way it twinkles as the lights graze it. Red summer berries coated in frost holding tightly to the branches. Frost coated spider webs lend us a special view of the intricate and beautiful patterns such ugly little creature can create. Frost covered eyelashes. Fireworks on a clear night. It’s all beautiful to me!

I appreciate the quiet time the cold gives us, it allows us to hibernate together while we watch the daylight return. I like to use this time to show Lael the beautiful things that can easily go un-noticed. We try to bundle up and get out in the cold even if it’s just for a few minutes. It gives us a toughness that takes me back to my childhood.

This time of the year always gives me a fresh pair of eyes to view life and the world around me. Like a lot of people I tend to take the time to reflect on what’s working, what needs adjusting and how I approach the goals I set etc…I am working on some behind the scenes things that I’ll unveil as I see fit. In the meantime I’m enjoying my family, shooting some studio stuff and taking in the beautiful things our cold brings us. Take this time to enjoy the cold and all it brings.

Enjoy!

This photo was taken after a long walk at 30 below. Lael is one tough cookie, she didn’t make peep and ended up falling asleep in the sled while we were out.

This is one of my favorite birch trees at the cabin. The moon was crisp and round and though I didn’t capture that aspect I love the way the light is coming through!

My first truly successful fireworks shot!

This shot wasn’t taken in the cold, but the brilliant colors are reminicant of the sunrises and sunsets we are seeing almost every day. My little point and shoot isn’t doing the winter sunsets justice, so this is a stand-in.

This has been the funnest Christmas week I can remember! Each day was filled with fun and no stress! Here’s how our week went…Sunday we went to church and breakfast then we visited the Santa Claus House. Monday we had a big family dinner at my sister’s house. Tuesday we baked the forms for our gingerbread houses. Wednesday I had lunch with my girlfriends, shopped with my Dad and we had a big spaghetti feed and gingerbread house decorating contest between our five families. Thursday we visited the museum, had lunch with my Dad, went to mass, had drinks with the family and stayed up late watching a Christmas movie and wrapping gifts. Friday we had a fun relaxing day at home opening gifts, eating cinnamon rolls, talking to our out-of-town family and then we joined the family for a big party at my parents house. Saturday we slept in, drank tea, played with new toys then capped the evening with a huge sledding and pizza party at my aunt’s house. And finally on Sunday we had a lazy day at home watching football , then we completed the day with a visit from my parents and a nice dinner with them and my brother!

While I was at book club the week before Christmas Mike took Lael to her first movie to watch the Princess and the Toad and in the movie they say “that’s the bee’s knee’s” when things are neat…so all week Lael has been saying that when something is cool. When we went to visit Santa, the only thing Lael asked for is Peanut Butter and Santa was shocked! You can only imagine her surprise when she got peanut butter called ‘The Bee’s Knee’s Peanut Butter’! Who knew they made Bee’s Knee’s peanut butter?!  Santa, that’s who! Although she loved all her gifts she was most excited about her slippers from Santa – she forgot to ask him for them, but has been talking about getting some anytime she sees me in mine.

It’s been a fun filled week we are so blessed to have had. The following are some of the snapshots from the week. The quality isn’t great, but the memories are priceless! Enjoy!

It’s been a while since I dedicated a post to our girl. She’s my favorite subject and with the crazy schedule of life my images of her get filed in their special folders to be enjoyed at a later date. Every morning I wake early to get my work done while she snoozes quietly next to me. She doesn’t mind the clicks of the computer or that she’s snuggling next to the cold, hard laptop. Lael inspires my work and her patient manner in front of the lens helps me to better my craft. She is patient with me when I work and allows me to easily balance my time with her and my work. I watch her mimic me as she carries my old 35mm around to photograph her ‘clients’ – usually the dog. The workings of the old camera intrigue and challenge her – I often hear the timer buzzing and then an ‘I made it just in time’ comes out of her mouth. Recently she said ‘I’m your little photographer momma’ – I imagine there will be some incredible images coming out of this little one in the not so distant future. My heart is more full than I ever imagined possible because of our girl. Enjoy a few of the many images we’ve filed away.

We took a couple quick trips while my in-laws were in town from Texas. Our first adventure led us WAY up north to Coldfoot, Wiseman and Adigan Pass. And what an adventure it was! The temperatures varied from 60 in Fairbanks to a windy 20 degrees in the pass. We saw caribou, sheep, moose, incredible rock formations, the ice jam on the Yukon and the treacherous and famous Adigan Pass the truckers brave on their way to Prudhoe Bay.  

We met a lovely family in Wiseman and stayed at their cozy bed and breakfast called the Arctic Getaway.  If you are ever headed up North look them up – the cabin is immaculate and has all the comforts of home and they’ll cook you an incredible breakfast to boot. Wiseman is beautiful, quiet and full of history and I am so happy I got to see it. 

Us girls were prepared to have dinner at the Coldfoot truck stop and were so surprised when we found out instead we’d be having a late night king crab feast at the cabin what a great Mother’s Day treat!

Just before our family went home we took a day trip to Denali and Cantwell. We have a piece of property in Cantwell that we feel incredibly blessed to have found. The last two shots were taken a couple minutes from our property on the Jack River. We feel ‘at home’ there and cannot wait to be able to build our cabin there. After playing in Cantwell for a couple hours we went 30 miles back into the park then out to dinner in Denali. We had an awesome day!

What a day we had…we woke up that morning and I told Lael we were going to find some puddles to play in and that we would go to the new tea shop to have tea together. Later that morning she grabbed my face and told me “you’re the best momma…we go to the tea shop together momma?”  It doesn’t matter what could have come up to change our course – with sweetness like that how could I even change our plans?!  So, we went to Fairbanks’ newest treasure Sipping Streams Tea Company to have tea and lunch, then we were off in search of puddles. 

If you haven’t visited Sipping Streams Tea Company  you’ve got to check it out!  It is in the little mall building by Gulliver’s Books on College Road and it is an absolutely adorable shop that features tasty handmade teas, amazing Hong Kong style steam buns, Chinese rice soup, Alaskan Fireweed Honey, homemade baked scones and muffins and many other delightful treats.  Jenny, the owner, would love to have you stop in and stay awile. Spread the word and give her new business a try, you will be pleased you stopped in.  Enjoy!

When I get fun new things for the studio it’s so great to have a built in little model!  Enjoy.

of mice and men often go awry…

So I had this plan to shoot some fun pics of Lael and me while testing out a new contraption for one of my lights. I did my make-up all fun and smokey, put on some heels and cute jeans, I set up the tripod, camera and lights, ran the trigger button up my pant leg to hide it and fired a couple shots of Lael playing with ‘her camera’. I checked the shots (there was backdrop and lights showing in the test shots so I was sure I had plenty of wiggle room). So it was go time, right?!  

So we get ready for the first shot I wanted…a fun shot of me in my jeans & heels with Lael peeking through my legs – I got it – sort of…

On to the next fun series…Since I spend so much time in the studio working in my chair with my little munchkin climbing all over me I thought I’d throw in the chair and get some fun shots to catch us the way we are most days…(minus the heels)

Well I’m not sure if there are little mice living in my house that know how to operate the camera and tripod, but that seems to be the only explanation for the shots we ended up with…They are so not what I was going for, but funny nonetheless. Look how fun these tie shots could have been! 

With every visit with my Dad I am reminded of all the little things that often go unnoticed all around us. For instance as we were watching this amazing sunrise he noticed the way the edges of the clouds were being blown smooth on the edges because of the nearly 100 mph gusts of wind happening 1000 feet above our heads. Or how he showed me how to distinguish wolverine tracks by watching for the marks its long hair leaves in the snow. Because of him I notice the sound of the birds when I walk through the woods and know to listen closely to hear the grouse beating their wings on the ground in the distance at the cabin. Life is full of so many little moments that make each day special and my Dad has done an incredible job of teaching us to enjoy them as they pass through our lives. He is down in Juneau and just knowing it will be months before we will see him again is heart breaking. Our family isn’t whole when one of the pieces is missing and it’s those little things we miss out on each day that makes the distance unbearable. 

As I shot the photos of the sunset I looked up and Lael had her head on his shoulder and he was pointing out at the sunrise and though I didn’t get that shot I had to capture them.  In watching him hold and talk to her I was brought back to a thousand memories of him showing me the little things all around us and I knew at that very moment he was sharing one of those little things with her. 

These guys are the best of buddies and it’s a blast watching them grow up together!