a year of happy

running free

"A's" favorite activity
is parkour or free running.

Have you heard of it?

This is the Wikipedia definition:

Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment. It is a non-competitive, physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, as if moving in an emergency situation.

Skills such as jumping and climbing, or the more specific parkour moves are employed. The object of parkour is to get from one place to another using only the human body and the objects in the environment. The obstacles can be anything in one's environment, but parkour is often seen practiced in urban areas because of the many suitable public structures available such as buildings and rails.

The term freerunning is sometimes used interchangeably with parkour. While superficially similar, freerunning places more emphasis on the aesthetics of movement and finding creative ways to overcome obstacles than on efficiency and simplicity.

"A" and his friends
love to practice their
free running skills.

They're getting strong by
doing handstands
every day during their lunch hour.





They like to go to Discovery Park
which has lots of wooden obstacles
they can run and jump over.

They also go to a gym
that has pads
where they can practice
without getting hurt.
(That makes their mothers happy!)

And they each have their
own signature trick.

"A's" is a side flip.
We decided to try to get some
action shots of his moves.











Pretty cool, don't you think?!

someday

Last year, I took my son
to a new doctor's office
down in Provo.

On the walls hung
the most amazing paintings.
They were huge
and just filled up the space
with their beauty.
I couldn't take my eyes off them.





Finally I went to ask
the girls at the desk
if they knew
anything about the artist.
I decided I really wanted one
of these paintings for my home.

It took a bit of tracking down,
but I finally found out
that the artist is local
and his name is Christopher Young.

And I discovered
that a painting I had
fallen in love with years ago
was also by this same artist.





I haven't yet been able to
get one of these paintings for my home--
but someday, someday,
I hope to have a huge
40" x 60" painting
hanging front and center.
Wouldn't that be wonderful?!

Visit Christopher Young Art
and view all of his beautiful paintings--
then I'd love it if you'd come back
and tell me what is your favorite!

My favorites are his landscapes
and scenes from Italy in Gallery 1.
Be sure to look at
"Venetian Boats" and
"Duomo, Firenze."

I wish you could see them
in all their full size glory--
the computer screen
just can't do them justice!

playing with water for team up thursday

UPDATE:


This week I've joined up
with a Flickr photography group
called Team Up Thursday.

Every Thursday,
members of this group
post a photo based on a theme.

Here's what's fun about it.
Everybody is teamed up
with somebody else, 
and the two of them
pair their photos together
and then post them in a diptych.

This is my first week
and my partner is
Arizaphale from Australia.

Arizaphale blogs at
"Now Where Did I Put
My Flaming Sword?"
Her blog is so much fun--
she makes me laugh
every time I read it.

Arizaphale in Australia
is 17 hours ahead of me
over here in Utah.
So my Thursday
is basically her Friday.
And when she's awake,
I'm asleep....it could
get really confusing!

This week our theme is Water.


And here's our Water Diptych:





Click on it to see it full size.



You can see all of the group's photos
on the Team Up Thursday Flickr page.
And if you'd like to join in the fun,
it's not too late.
Visit Megan at Mental Inventory
and she'll get you set up!

___________________________________

At first,
I couldn't think of a good way 
to photograph water.

I took this shot.





It was fine, but boring.
I wanted to try to see
water in a different way.

So I put food coloring in it.




It still wasn't quite
what I was looking for.

So I thought I might
play it safe and I
started hunting
through my archives.

I found photos
from our vacation at Bear Lake,



 


and camping trips to the Uintahs,






and a trip to the Northwest.







They all have water.

Then "J" came over --
and told me,
"You've got to take a new photo.
You can do it!"

So we started brainstorming.

And we had so much fun
finding beautiful ways
to see water through a camera lens.












Thanks for your help "J"!
I'm learning so much
about photography from you!

three great links to make you smile

Link #1

On Saturday,
I received a package in the mail.
How often does that happen?!
Not often for me.

This package was from a new friend--
Sherry from Everyday Possibilities.

Sherry makes the most beautiful
mixed media paper goods
and collaged altered art.

Her shop is called Bella Rennie
and as it says on her site,
her art is "sometimes whimsical,
sometimes serious and
always with an eye to grace and beauty."

Take a look at what she sent to me.





This whimsical gift card--
wouldn't it be cute in a frame?

And this lovely bookmark.
I'll use it everyday!

Thanks, Sherry!
Be sure to visit her blog
and her shop.
You don't want to miss it!


________________________________


Link #2

The other day I discovered
a new photography blog
that I really like.

It's called
Dream Tomorrow, Live Today,
Cherish Yesterday,
and the photographer is
Bob Towery.

I'm really taken
with his amazing photos,
but I also like
how he writes about
what he did to get
his great results.

This is the first photo I saw.
You should take a look--
it blew me away!

Here's another one...
but don't take my word for it.
Check it out.
I think you'll like it too!


________________________________


Link #3

And finally,
this link is a video
from my 17 year old son.
If you like chain reactions,
you've got to see this!




______________________________

Do you have any great links
to share with the
rest of us today?
Please do in the comments!

what's in the attic?

Ever since I was a teenager,
I've wished for an attic
full of old things.

Not "old" like the junk
that's stuffed in boxes
in my storage room.

I mean really old.

Like antique clothing and furniture,
and old photographs,
and long forgotten love letters.

I remember when I first
got on this kick,
my mom and I went to visit
my elderly great aunt,
who lived in the house
where my mom grew up.

We slept in a little upstairs bedroom,
where there were lots of
cupboards and closets
and secret places.

I started snooping,
and that made my mom
really nervous.
But I kept at it.
Who knew what I might find?

And find something I did.

Tucked way back
in a closet on the highest shelf
was a box.
it was about the size
of a large shoe box,
and on the lid it said,
"Memories of Hazel."

Hazel was my mom's mother,
and she had died when
my mom was thirteen.

Inside the box, we found
letters written by her sons
during the second World War,
notes and cards from little daughters,
and all sorts of memories
from days long gone.

THIS was a treasure.

You just never know
what you'll find
in a good attic!

____________________

The other day
I went for a walk
through The Avenues
of Salt Lake City
and took a few photos
of some attics
I wish I could visit.

Aren't they curious?

Click on the photos
to see them up close.










Wouldn't it be fun
to go on a treasure hunt
in one of these attics?!









Have you ever found a treasure
when you've been
searching through
something old?

Hosted by Cecily and ???

if i had one wish

.

If I had one wish today,

I'd wish I was here.
.




Hiking on these lava rocks.....






To get to this bay....






To snorkel in these
crystal clear waters.






Oh,
and I'd wish
I had under-water photos,
so you could see
the hundreds of tropical fish
dancing among the coral reefs,

with me....






Yup.
If I had one wish,
that's where I'd be!





Hangin' Loose at La Perouse!




.
If you had
one wish
today,
what would it be?

'a' is for artister

One day when 'A' was about three,
he was sitting at the kitchen table
drawing a picture.

He sat back
and looked at his picture,
and said,
"I think
I'm gonna be
an artister!"

I've never forgotten it.

And I've quietly watched
as 'A' has drawn his pictures,
and filled his sketchbooks
and his portfolio
(and notepads and scratch paper
and t-shirts and even the walls!)
with beautiful art.

I have boxes
of his creations.




 

I caught him in action
the other day.
Here's a peek at his latest drawing.

 

We found out today
that one of 'A's pieces
has been selected
to be shown in the
38th Annual Utah All-State
High School Art Show.
His was one of 313 pieces chosen
out of 936 entries
from all the high schools
across the state.

Someday soon I'll show you more.

Because I think
all those years ago,
when he said,
"I think I'm gonna
be an artister,"
he was right!

summer. flowers. green.

.



.
Sisters' trip.
Summer.
Butchart Gardens.
.





Flowers.
Fantastic flowers.

.

Fun.
So much fun.
.

.

Colors.
Oh the colors.

.

 

.

Green.
Remember green?

.

.

Sisters' trip.
Summer.
Green.
Flowers.

.
.

.

Again sometime?

.

one winter morning

Early Saturday morning,
D was out shoveling the walks.
He called in to me.
"Grab your camera!"

So I slipped on some shoes
with my leopard print pajamas,
grabbed a coat,
and ran outside.

When I saw it, I said,
"I need to get in the car for this."

I thought I would just drive up the hill
so I could get a better view.

An hour and a half later,
with my shoes soaked through,
and still in my leopard print pajamas,
I finally got home.

It was one of those snow days
that there really are
no words to describe.

You just have to see it.

.

.

  

__________________

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monkey business

D got some terrific
photos of the monkeys
when we went to
Tikal in Guatemala.

I've never seen
monkeys
anywhere except in a zoo.

You could see the monkeys
high up in the trees,
swinging from branch to branch.
The one above was laying on a limb,
and it looked like he was watching us.

It was amazing!

 

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