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Location: Kalona, Iowa, United States

Husband and Wife wedding and lifestyle photographers based in Iowa.

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    31 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #9

    Jackson and I played some checkers last night. He's only six, but he's still all like "oh dad,
    you don't want to go there. I can jump you like this..."

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    30 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #8

    In case you're new to the blog and wondering why all the "Photo of the Day" stuff, I'm doing a two week project of only taking photos with my iPhone. It's been a challenge but it's also been fun.

    This was the view from the back yard last night. I loved how the light broke through the trees.  Not sure I'm a fan of this filter on the iPhone, but it's something different, and sometimes that's good.

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    29 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #7

    This photo comes from our garden.

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    Great Video

    I'll have my Photo of the Day on here a bit later this afternoon, but just wanted to show you this sweet video if you haven't seen it before. This one's for all you creatives out there. Hopefully it inspires you to do something out of the box today!

    28 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #6

    The photo of the day comes from our basement where the last of our winter decorations still hang. We're pretty redneck when it comes to taking decorations down.

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    27 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #5

    Here's one last parting shot from our little mini-vacation. We had a great time splashing around and frolicking with the kids in the pools and waterparks.  Probably the best part of vacation is seeing how excited our kids get when they get to do something out of the ordinary.

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    26 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #4

    Sorry, this one wasn't from the iPhone, but I thought you should see just how seriously I take the bumper cars, okay? Jodi caught me in action looking to give some little kid a bad case of whiplash. What you can't see in this image is Alana sitting next to me hanging on for dear life. :)

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    25 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #3

    Photo of the Day resumes from the swimming pool at our hotel near Wisconsin Dells.

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    24 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #2

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    23 March 2010

    Photo of the Day #1

    I took this image in our backyard. I'm not sure what else to say about it other than that these weeds were like 12ft tall.  

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    22 March 2010

    A Case of the Monday's :: Part 7

    Hey good people! Sorry I missed a week there, I'm back with a vengeance now. Who's up for another installment of Case of the Mondays?!

    1. I saw this product, Vibram Five Fingers, mentioned on a friend's Facebook page the other day. What do you think: gross? or clever?

    2. We've had Spring Fever around our house the last week or two, as I would assume many of you have also had. The trees are starting to bud, and the yard gets a little greener every day. But, with Springtime comes the runny noses and we've had our share of it. Seems to get only one of us at a time, which means that for a solid month, one of us is blowing our nose every few minutes.

    3. Update on my reading list: Well, I started off with a bang, and it sort of slowed down a little. I finally finished the "E-myth" a few nights ago, and now I'm into a book by Seth Godin, called "Tribes" that my pastor gave me yesterday.

    4. Photo of the Day. I'm starting a new personal project tomorrow, called Photo of the Day. I will be pushing myself to take one photo every day, for two weeks, only with my iPhone. I'll put them on the blog here so keep checking in.

    5. Broccoli has to be one of the worst smelling foods of all time.

    6. Jodi's aunt/uncle and cousin live in Haiti providing clean water wells for villages, and were blessed to survive the earthquake two months ago. They spoke at a local church last night about their experiences and the vast array of needs that still abound. Their goal when they return this week is to drill wells in the tent cities that have sprung up all over Port Au Prince, to provide much needed fresh water for the people living there, and to help people who lost their businesses rebuild, and get back on their feet again. If you'd like to help, please contact their organization Water For Life.

    7. Health Care Reform. That's all the further I can talk about that subject without getting angry. I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it. Speaking of Haiti, lets send them our government so we can get a new one.

    8. Seriously.

    9. My top 5 favorite TV shows, since you were wondering. Jodi and I do not have TV (unless we carry the business TV downstairs), so we watch our favorite shows on Hulu.com the day after.

    1. "The Office" - This one is tough to beat, although the last 2 episodes since the birth of Jim and Pam's baby haven't been quite as good.

    2. "Shark Tank" - I'm intrigued by everything business these days, and this show is inspiring. I initially wondered why these billionaires aren't giving $10,000 to someone with a dream! What is it to them... a dollar to normal people? I'd give someone a dollar if it gave them a chance to realize a dream. But the thing is, these guys didn't get to be billionaires by tossing away chunks of money, even if it's small chunks. They are smart. That is why they are rich. I don't really care about the inventions, I just like to hear the questions the investors ask.

    3. "LOST" - Someone tell me what the sam hill is going on here. This show has been one of my favorites for the past couple of years, but now everyone on the show is annoying in their own special way. Just get it over with already.

    4. "Undercover Boss" - Again, another cool business show, but it's "feel-good" in every way. Almost makes me cry every time, kinda like Extreme Home Makeover.

    5. "The Marriage Ref" - Some married couples have issues that just need to be resolved on national television by people who will make fun of them.

    * Honorable Mention
    6. "Flashforward" - I'm not sure why it's suddenly cool to have the main characters whisper their lines, but apparently it is. Same with LOST. So I've been using this technique around the house just to help me be more dramatic. It hasn't been working very well. Also, the word "Flashforward" is used way too much in the show.

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    There you go. Two lists for the price of one. See you tomorrow with the Photo of the Day!

    11 March 2010

    Alana :: I'm 4!

    It was kind of funny.

    We started out planning to photograph all three of our kids last week, but Jackson and Stella fell asleep! So, Alana got all the attention instead! :) She just turned four years old, the end of February, and received a warm, loving gift from her brother... a hair cut! So, it's good to have some new photos of her with her short hair. The only problem is, now she has to wear dresses or skirts all the time to avoid being called a boy. In fact just today, someone said, referring to Alana: "Ooooh, he has such beautiful eyes!"

    She's our little actress, dancer, artist, and chef. She has always had a very sensitive heart, although she knows exactly when and how loud to whine to make herself heard. She says she "only has a few hugs and kisses every day", so if you're not lucky enough to get one of them today, you'll have to try again tomorrow. She loves dresses, the color purple, and can't sleep without her animals or a nightlight. She still sucks her thumb with her index finger up her nose as she has her whole life. She loves cereal, cookies and whatever food or drink is on daddy's desk at any given moment. She is an excellent singer, storyteller and can hold her own in an argument with her older brother. She's innocent and guilty at the same time, and it's wonderful!

    She's our middle child, our second gift from the Father... and we love her like mad!















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    08 March 2010

    Grace :: Newborn

    I'm a proud uncle again!

    My brother, Greg, and his wife, Monica, were here this week visiting us, and introducing us to their 6 week young bundle of joy named Grace! She's a little sweetheart, with great big blue eyes that take everything in. There is a video on my phone of me and Grace. Apparently, when I rocked her to sleep I also rocked myself to sleep. I woke up to find Jodi, Greg and Monica in close proximity trying to figure out how to extract little Gracie from my arms without waking either of us. Yeah... that didn't happen. :)

    You think your heart is about as full as it can be, and along comes a new little one, and you just squeeze them in, and make room. :)











    We always enjoy the time we get to have with family, since we live so far apart, and this week was no exception. One of the highlights of my week was working with Greg to create an Easter video for his church. He's a pastor at Harvest Community Church in Marietta, PA, and wanted something modern and real life to give a little spark to the Easter service this year. So, we got up before the sun two days in a row, and shot in a cemetery as the sun was coming up. I'm not posting the video on here because, without the accompanying sermon, it has holes and might not make 100% sense, but if you're interested in seeing it anyway, send me a message on Facebook, or email us and I'll link you to it.

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    04 March 2010

    Chelsey +Keaton :: Love

    We were blessed to meet up with Chelsey + Keaton last week for their Engagement session! It got us out of our house and back into photographing again. It's been a while since we went outside! Of all the adjectives I could use to describe the session today, "warm" would not be one of them! It was pretty cold, but Chelsey + Keaton were great! We worked with them by the house they are soon moving into, and their sweet little cabin, which sits right by the river. One of the things they mentioned they do together is snowmobiling, so we finished the session with a few scenes with their sleds.

    Chelsey + Keaton, we had fun hanging out with you guys!

















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    02 March 2010

    Myli :: Kids

    Myli is an adorable little lady! I never get tired of her big eyes and cute little pigtails! This session should have been blogged a long time ago, but I guess better late than never. :)




    •••••

    We have some family in from out of town, so I don't know if I'll get much posted this week. My brother and I are shooting a short film for his church, and that's taking our energy at this point. Have a great week... see you Monday!

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