little miss elle turned 1

ok so while i'm waiting for the sun to come out to finish a few more photos for my class...i'll throw a few pictures in from elle's birthday party. i know this is over a month late, but THANK YOU to all who came. i really can not believe she is so old! we almost celebrated in the bathroom just for fun... :)

for dessert - cookies and milk

for games - guess the amount of candy in the jars and guess elle's age (in months)

some of the guests... we were lucky to have grammy and papa and g and pompom in town

elle and her birthday cake...

elle and her birthday cake without the fondant elephants - much better :)

elle and the family

photography class assignment #3: IN

So this next assignment's theme was IN....i had a hard time deciding what to take a picture of so i just walked around the house taking random pics of anything. this first picture is funny because the sippy cup on the floor is not IN focus but the blanket in the background does seem to be IN focus. i didn't know i could do that! ha, ha...i need to practice!

and of course the next photo wins because it is a picture of an IN-n-out hat. works, right? I tried to keep the IN in focus, but i obviously got more of the palm trees :) This one was hard for me to find the good balance point. i think i had to make my shutter speed really fast for some reason. and the back ground is totally black. i really need to practice these INside photos some more!

iso400 f4.5 1/800

photography class assignment #2: NEW

Our second assignment for the photography class was NEW... sooooooo i decide to take pictures of the NEW additions to my bedroom.

Jane:

i know this picture isn't the greatest - i actually thought it would turn out really blurry, but since i'm still in learning mode, i thought i'd post it anyway.

Jane's books and friends:

again, i completely forgot to write down what settings i used. i need to remember next time!

i'm thinking since it was a cloudy/snowy day outside and my bedroom doesn't have the best light, I probably used something like this:

iso 800

f 5.6

1/something (?)

photography class assignment #1: OLD

(i know...shocking to see a post from the butlers... ha, ha. if anyone still reads this. )

So last christmas, I won a nice camera. (awesome, huh!?!) BUT i honestly have no idea how to work it -- so i decided to sign up for a free online photography class that a fabulous lady is teaching. As part of the class, we have assignments and today's theme: OLD. So here are my very first photographs:

DON'T JUDGE!

i don't remember any of the setting i used...still learning what they even do/mean!

i think something like:

iso 400 (or maybe 800)

f 5.6

1/60

hopefully i'll be learning a lot more over the next 30 days (and probably blogging a bit more too.)

christmas with the sorensens

christmas party at julie and dereks beau-ti-ful casa.

fun, fun night with a lot of people...including the ghost of christmas present apparently.

every family was in charge of a talent or song. christian spontaneously jumped up to provide ours. for a moment, i thought we might have a child prodigy. turns out he is just brave. and cute.

12 days. local kine. tutu runs this show, ya.

cody's talents are so envious.

so are kims'

42 chocolate covered almonds: $3

Christian's face as he ran up after winning: you know.

Christian's real guess: 42 hundred.

Jenny guessing for him: permissable.

live nativity

i haven't quite mastered the art of taking pictures using a "inside of a barn lighting,"

so in the words of our boys: " you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!"

blurry picture--a very-excited-to-see-lambs Jane

blurry jack. one of 5 chillin camels

some family in alpine hosted a live nativity at their home last weekend. i am sure you went because the line was 100s and 100s of people long. i thought they were waiting for the indiana jones ride at disney land. there were barn animals, bethlehem residents, singing "angels," roman soldiers, and a very reverent and sweet scene with the holy family.

if you know them...tell them thank you, thank you, thank you.

looking a lot like christmas

i just love our tree!

the advent countdown...it is conditional upon non naughtiness--we haven't had many treats this year...

our first batch of mistletoe...cool, huh?

our new guest under the mistletoe...jane loves loves loves her.

mahalo.

oh tanenbaum

whoever invented christmas trees was a genius! we love having one in our house--I wish I could leave it up all year without people judging me. I wish blogs had smells--for this post only.

who besides the grinch doesn't just love this moment i caught?

i love that boy.

we haven't quite mastered the art of ornament spacing. That is a 200 level course.

hi jack.

isn't jenny cute?

jack wants to decorate for 8 nights. (he has religion confusion.)

oh...a funny face shot? I thought you said gag yourself. silly me.

soon it will be christmas day...

surprise!

Back again.

Did you miss us?

the christmas lights at temple square.

not too crowded. not too cold.

the ladies...

p.s. haven't figured out the new camera yet--thats why the temple is floating in jenny's head (or maybe she is just that spiritual)

cold enough to stop for some hot choc. jackson is sporting his new shades...no comment.

jane wanted a picture by the pink trees. she is embracing the no-look. jenny is sporting the fabulous look.

jane sure stole this shot! (Marty!! If you got that you win 1000 points)

cheers!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to:http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? A healthy and happy year!

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? New pajamas, picture on the stairs, Santa time! :)

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? iPad :)

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? Focus on a study of Christ's life.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? A lot of trampoline games.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? Reading the Nativity story.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? Hawaii!!

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? Xbox accesories, Wii Lego Games, another Nintendo DS--two boys :)

So it begins. Jacks first day of school!

IMG00021.jpg

Christians new lightsaber.

Testing it out

happy easter

dying eggs

in themes the boys are obsessed with

easter table art

jane dies whenever she sees this picture...i have posted it as a solution to future meltdowns

fish and honeycomb :)

hope everyone had a great easter weekend.

fun fun

everybody is so nice to you when you have a baby...

people have come out of the woodwork to be helpful.

thank you, thank you.

we got this super cool gift from one of our neighbors:

she owns a company called totalclasscreative

she sells fabulous crafty, felty things

they are all adhesive-backed-easy-do-it-yourself projects

that i am happy to be on the receiving end of :)

i am impressed by people's good ideas. can you tell?

other than that...life moves on.

march was crazy.

The girl's name Elle \e(l)-le\ is a variant of Elaine (Greek), Elizabeth (Hebrew), and Helen(Greek)

the meaning of Elle is (among other things); God's promise; God is my oath;

to us-- her entrance and existence bring life to this meaning.

el--in Hebrew--is the part in Biblical names that means God--

we were particularly interested in the given names of some of history's prominent angels.

Michael

Gabriel

Raphael

the name of Israel has central significance as well

elle (or "L") reminds us of Elle's grammy, Lisa Elaine--(a variant of, and included letters)--

we want her to have the spiritual courage of her grammy--her passion for life, craving for adventure, memories and undying commitment to God and family

Patricia is her great-grandmother's name

Patricia means-- of noble birth.

we want her to have her great grandmother's perfect blend of tenderness and tenacity-- sensitivity, sacrifice and sass

both of her namesakes are bold, believing and beloved spiritual pioneers. Their lives and choices have changed the course of their family and are still causing ripples--we wish this for elle.

We fell in love with a lot of the significance of her name. We also think it is simple and elegant, some words "grammy" used to describe Jenny when she met her. It sounds cute coupled with Jane and darling on its own.

I wish everyone could feel what we felt the night elle was born. Picking her name was particularly difficult for us--the naming of a tender mercy. There is something special and everything miraculous about each baby's birth-- but particularly this one--for us.

special names for a special girl...