Amber.
One of Jared's best friends.
Wanted to do some fun single photo layouts and Amber's recent photos are so fun that she is letting me use some to catch up on my designer work.
Isn't she beautiful?

Trendy Chick by AmyLeigh Fennell

Elle and Nick

I did this last night for Elle to put in her gift album to Nick.
I just love these photos and brings back such good memories.
It was the only time the 3 of us were alone of our party of 26 in Mexico.
Wasn't real sure what was going on with these 2 but I thought I should snag some pictures just in case - so, capturing these were a bit awkard but I am glad I did.
Over 3 months later they are still together.
Credits here

Today I am heading over to Nick's mom to dice and chop in prep for his grad party on Sunday.
Elle and Jessie are going to put together a story board.
Nick graduates tonight so Elle will be going.

No sun yet. Cool. Cloudy.
Where did summer go?

First Day

of
Summer Vacation!
which I love. Kids first day off today.
Going to try and blog everyday of summer so once it speeds by I can go back and see what we actually did. Here in Minnesota we have to cram in so many activities that summer goes by way too fast and by August the mojo starts slowing down.
It started out way hectic yesterday.
I picked up Elle at the high school and Jared and 6 of his friends from the middle school. And we head to the grocery store? Am I nuts? Ya! But I had to go - it was the chain grocery store's dollar days which happen once every 3 months and no way am I missing the good deals. Grocery store was nuts. No carts available so had to walk out to the parking lot to grab one. DD and I made a good team but I didn't keep my eye on my middle schoolers. Check out lines were long and all the kids had gathered with me and I ran into a Mexico friend so got to chat away while all but my DS & DD got kicked out. LOL
Home for golf league. Surprisingly the sun came out as did the humidity - can you say a bit hot in jeans and golf shoes. Round started out OK, went way downhill and then I totally rocked it the last few holes.
Susan and I took my cart over to Kris's where they were having drinks in the gazebo with Joel and his girlfriend - good laughs and chatter. Eventually I loaded them all on my golf cart and brought them to the Haven where one of my young friends wanted to chat about "buying a shack."
Most of Jared's friends were gone but a few were still there. Nick was over. Ian and Nate stayed over.
Woke up today and as forecasted it was overcast. Elle and I really wanted to garage sale but she had a student council meeting, 10- 3, ugh! The boys slept in, hung out and Kendra came over to be with them.
Eventually all those kids left and Elle went to hang out at Jessie's with Jordan - Nick and Jerry made it there, too, at some point. She really wanted to spend the night but we got a crazy day tomorrow and heck, Jessie is her BF's sister.
Thunderstorms have been rolling in and out most of the evening.
Sitting here today it felt like summer with the ominous feeling of a big storm.

down by the docks

I wanted to get a ton of pictures this Memorial Day weekend.
The weather was so-so but on Sunday we had blue sunny skies and temps in the 80's which made for a lot of happy campers - me included.
I believe I met my goal and ended up with a ton of pictures.

(Shoot, I wanted to include a photo from starting out but I don't have a grasp on my new network so will save that for later.)

We went on a walk to one of my favorite photo shoot locations.
Here is one of them - already scrapped.

down by the docks.
jared and cristy.

A Mother's Love by Scrap Orchard designers and Sticks and Stones by Ziggle Designs.

Kris and I

Another vacation photo of my friend and I in the Yucatan Jungle about ready to Zip Line.
I am going to frame this for her because we both agreed that it was a pretty decent picture of the two of us. I know for me, its a real blue moon to get a decent photo.
And this brings back good memories of our adventure into the jungle - it may look like we are drinking something strong there but it was only water. It was very hot and they worked us...walking and biking...and this was all in the beginning.
Stay tuned for my Memorial Day photography challenge coming soon.
Brand new kit, Coca Bell, from the very talented ScrapShana.
Coca Bell

Cool, rainy weekend.

Man, I miss these days!

Hanging at the pool or in this case, playing at the pool.
Photos are from our vacation this past Feb.

I had visions of being at the pool this past weekend as the pool was opening this weekend at our campground. Not. Too cold.
We went down to our campground to open it up for the season.
Saturday morning was cool but in the early afternoon it started to drizzle and then the rains came and came - didn't stop. Ugh!
I am so waiting for summer - feels like it will never get here.

AmyLeigh Design's kit Big Sister

ScrapOrchard.com is having a "So You Think You Can Design" contest and the submissions are coming in and look great. This is Queen Pameladah's entry, Shore Leave.
You can still get your designs in - deadline is Wed., May 7th.
Info is here
If nothing else, check out the site for all the freebies!

Personality Test

OK. So I'm a bit bored and decided to take an online personality test. There fun to take and I don't know how much of it is true but this one does seem to fit me fairly well.
Find out for yourself who you are here.

n ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends. You are also unconventional, irreverent, and unimpressed by authority and rules. Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives. You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller! In love, you are quite the charmer. And you are definitely willing to risk your heart. You often don't follow through with your flirting or professed feelings. And you do break a lot of hearts. At work, you are driven but not a workaholic. You just always seem to enjoy what you do. You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist. How you see yourself: compassionate, unselfish, and understanding When other people don't get you, they see you as: gushy, emotional, and unfocused

What's Your Personality Type?

First Freebie~!

I have a little freebie for you today!

Two bracket templates!
And if you like these head over to ScrapShana's blog
and find a whole bunch more and you will have yourself an entire album.
How cool is that. And what a neat Mother's Day gift.

The background can be used or cut off to make a bracket album.
And seeing this is my 1st freebie, let me know if you snag it.
And don't forget to grab the others.
Download here.

Bracket template and A Mother's Heart kit by ScrapShana

Still reading...

I am back. Computer up and crashed and burned a week ago Friday! Luckily it was still under warranty with the geek squad. Unluckily I hadn't backed up since I bought my EHD-back in early Dec. One of the reason I hadn't brought it in to fix the intermitten USB ports.
Well, fast forward a week and quite a few hundred dollars later, my old computer is with the geek squad. All of my pics, digi stuff and all the other stuff is safely backed up on my EHD. I have a new Dell computer with the Vista operating system. I swore I was going to hate this system but you know, there are a few things that just make computing easier so that isn't all bad.
And I am back up and scrapping again - little behind with my CT work but rolling again.

Jared, loves to read, and being on vacation, means all the more books to read. And just like our trip to Cabo and Cancun, he didn't bring enough books so I had him try my Jodi Picoult book, Plain Truth, which he loved. He is now a huge fan of hers. He has read the 10th Circle since we got home and once I find where I put My Sister's Keeper he will read that, too.

I gave him Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone, today, one of my all time favorites.

This page was done with Amy Leigh Fennell Designs kit and add on, Happy Day

Party Poolside

Ahhh, the memories of our vacation.
Hanging at the pool is always an all time favorite. It sure helps when ya got a group of fun people. Plus we met a lot of super fun people, too, including Gilligan and his wife, Laurie.

I really like this picture Kristy captured when we had to switch to the other side of the pool to get more sunshine. Quite a few from our group plus a bunch we met and we are all just a jabbering away - this particular photo just didn't work on the layout so saving it for another.

Everything is by April Staker.
Find it at her store here DigitalApeDesigns.com

Blossoms In Mexico

Who would have thought that my DD and our best friends' son would make a connection on vacation. Never was quite sure what was up but there sure was a lot of flirting and hanging out.
It was all good and they had a blast.
And they're pretty much inseparable since they got home.

Kit is by Chaos Lounge, Chaotic Spring

Is it really April 11th? It can't be....

April 11th and we have snow? I suppose we should be happy that it only ended up being a couple inches and not the 8" or so forecasted

but who ever heard of making a snowman in mid April.
Can't believe these 2 were up for just that.

Now how cute is this...boyfriend/girlfriend snowmen. lol

Please, tell me this isn't what it looks like. Can't be my daughter.

I see Elle embellished her snowman which didn't go unnoticed by Nick.

Cute but an awfully cold butt.

Definitely good weather for a snowball fight. They both aimed at me
but I was like I have the camera. Yikes.

So there you go, teens making snowmen.
And for those of you that don't have teens, the poses are
so typical of our teens these days.

Jared and Libby

Jared fell in love with my sister's dog, Libby, on Easter.
Libby is quite the unusual dog - a poodle English setter mix, I believe.
Jared was very amused with his scruffy appearance - to me, she is so funny looking, that it makes her so cute. Jared has offered to babysit her so we will see if that ever pans out.

April Staker's kit, Vintage Blues and her chipped alpha

Pretty Eyed. Pirate Smile.

I really like this self portrait of my DD from last fall.
The fun, edgy but yet so girlie kit from Kami/Ziggle Designs made it super fun to do.
You can find it here. Pirate Punk
And did you hear?
Today Kami and 3 other designers are having their Grand Opening of their new store.
ScrapOrchard
No foolin'
Check out the fun FreeBees they are having all week.

A dozen eggs

Last weekend the kids actually dyed Easter eggs.
This is Shana's Easter kit, Easter Eggstavaganza and Yin's template.
Shana was so kind to help me altered the template from a 12x24 to a 22x8.5, but something went awry and this is the wrong dimension.

Last day of March and it is snowing like crazy.
It almost seems like winter is never going to leave.
So ready for some hot sunshine spring like weather.

Kids are back in school after being home for 10 days.

Beautiful Babes

Ellary and Jessie are our serious tanners of the group.
We always find them early in the day on their loungers oiled up.
These are favorite photos of mine with the matching color swim suits and the crisp blue of the pool. This was a favorite spot for our group to hang - right by the swim up bar, the buffet, and the grill. Fairly quiet when these were taken because it was before 10:00 am but things always livened up a lot throughout the day.

Kit is Pastel Bloom by ScrapShana at GoDigitalScrapbooking.com

Puppy Love?

Elle, Nick and Pixie, the puppy. We babysat Brad and Joanna's new Pekinese's, who is 3 months old. Elle wants a puppy in the worst of ways so thought it would be fun to have one around for the weekend. And Pixie is super cute. Not sure how our cat, Punkin, felt about her but they managed OK. We should get Pixie again as Brad and Joanna go on a ton of fishing trips. Elle is already wanting to go out and buy her clothes.

Kit is Sweet Pea by April Staker
Alpha is Sweet Cream by April Staker.
Both found in her store, DigiApeDesigns.com

Look who is having a birthday...

Yep - April Staker.
Big savings at her store to help her celebrate!
Digiapedesigns.com

Here is a layout with one of her newest kits, Sweet Pea.

Senior Frogs

The kids when they went into Playa Del Carmen with Brenda and Nancy.
Love these pictures but I wish I knew more about photo editing. Ugh.
Might have to play with this some more.
Sunday is picture sharing party for our group so need to get copying files.
Happy Weekend.

Kit is by Sara Ellis and Danielle Engebretson, Spring It On. Find it at either Gotta Pixel or Digital Freebies.

Gringo Dave's

Another 2 pager done for our Riviera Maya vacation album.
13 of us went to dinner at a fun little cafe ran by Dave with free margaritas that were way yummy. Jeff and I both had the steak and lobster for 20.00 and it was pretty good. Lobster was very good, Mexican style, but not near enough. And with free margarita our tab was 40.00. Was happy with that because the Cancun area is nothing but spendy.
3 years ago a beer outside of the airport was 2.00 - they are now 6.00.
Beers on the transfer bus used to be 1.00 and are now 3.00.
So, it has become very spendy. So it was nice to eat out under the stars and get a good value, good food and good company.

Kit is Tuscan Romance by April Staker at DigiApeDesigns.com

Zip Line

My first Caribbean layout from our 2008 Maya Rivieria.

Nature Walk kit by Scrap Shana
Notepaper Alpha by Misty Cato

Trip Photos

These are the photos from our trip - last day. So sad to be leaving
this wonderful paradise.
These are the photos I want to scrap next - still looking for the right kit.
Also want to use the layout for Gotta Pixels new
March Madness challenge.
Don't know what happened with my camera as these photos are so washed out.
Ugh!
Check back and see what I create and see if I can fix the photos.

M.O.R.P.

My sweet baby Elle all dressed up. She loved this so much even
though she was going to her first big dance solo.

Nick, being a senior, didn't want to go to M.O.R.P. but picked her up early and they met everyone at the bowling alley. It definitely looks like something more than the magic of the Caribbean.

And this photo worked well for ChrissyW's template challenge at DigitalCandy.ca.
Tammy Kat's kit, Be Still My Heart also at DigitalCandy.ca

He's a Puzzle

Just finished these layouts today.
Idea came to me when looking at whats been going
on with my DD and a conversation
we had on the weekend.
Kit is by Kami of Ziggle Designs
15 Across, 42 Down
at DigitalCandy.ca

Shift Happens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U

Interesting video. What do you think?

Birthday Girl

~ Diana ~
Diana on our birthday outing a few weeks back.
Haven't taken a lot of pictures the last few weeks except for basketball shots.
Wish I could find a photo of the day site.

Amusement

How do we amuse ourselves in the bitter cold days of winter?

We take pictures.
Lots and lots of pictures.
And are amused for awhile.

Winter in the City

Headed into the city for some shopping and photo opportunities
around the lake. The only problem was it was bitterly cold
with the temperature around 24 but the wind chill made it feel
more like zero. Brrr. But what fun it was to snap these. We
laughed a ton. Can't wait to go back once it warms up.

Playing basketball?

First time bringing my camera to a game this season.
Not a bad gym for taking pictures as the bleachers were real close to the court and I didn't need my big lens which is good
but my shots were horrible. :(
Elle had a fantastic game and played almost the whole game :)
So we are going to review these pictures to see if we can see areas for improvement on your game.

It might help if you opened your eyes while playing.

Do you think it would be easier to play if you pulled your shorts up?

This is good, you are not being double teamed.

Tiptoeing through the tulips?

Are you looking at the refs? If so, I'd be giving them a dirty look, too, because they really allowed for a way too aggressive game.

Just having a little fun with Elle.
She really did great against a super aggressive team - actually her team really made a great effort and it wasn't a blow out like it could have been.