kindra & marty's wedding- bountiful temple

this today..

more from this wedding later today! can't wait to share!

no rain, no rainbows

I wish all event planning revolved around the best light. dream.
this commercial just makes me happy.

twitterland

I've been so wordy lately...you might be thinking, less talk more rock! that's a guarantee on twitter. they actually cut me off when I get long winded.

follow along as I wonder.

jon & kate

I just feel sick about this whole thing.

sure I watched the show last night, and not because I wanted to feed off their misery, but because I honestly fell in love with their family after 2+yrs of watching their show. It's not the divorce that upsets me...although ending a marriage is completely horrific...it's the fact that it's being televised! that they are explaining themselves to me through my television. messed up.

I have no idea what is really going on with them, NO ONE does....so I have no idea what is best for them. but I do think it's sick and twisted to get ratings and make money from it. if they really wanted what was best for the kids I think they show should have ended at the first sign of undue stress on the family. kate says it wasn't the show that led to the demise....but i'm not so sure.

so sad. I just wish promises and commitments would always stay. why are firm, "unchanging" words said if they are going to change? I guess this whole thing brings up feelings from past heartache for me. sometimes because of my past I get nervous about the future. people have their free agency, and when you get married you put a lot of trust and faith in the other person...hopeful that they will use their free agency for the betterment of the relationship. this doesn't always happen, and I guess that just makes me sad. sometimes marriages should end, BUT only after very very hard work to save them. I guess I just wish people worked harder. nothing is worse than losing someone you love. nothing.

my heart goes out to the gosselins.

birth day

(photo from tristan's birth)

I came across a little birth documentary slide show I made a couple years ago...and thought I would share.

I assure you this slide show is "PG" rated. ANYONE can watch it. It doesn't showcase some of the most recent births I've photographed, but my new and shiny website will.

my beautiful, amazing, God send, sister in law, stephanie is pictured above. her and my brother have had me photograph 3 out their 4 children's births....so you will see a few photos of them and my lovely babies.

I kind of feel like every baby I photograph being born becomes one my "my" babies. one of my babies was the neice of the couple's wedding I just photographed in utah. she is 4 almost 5 now...I just see her and remember her first moments. her first breath. the look on her parents faces. being able to preserve those memories really means everything to me. nothing is better, nothing.

click here to watch the slideshow. (there is music so turn up or turn down according to your pref).

if you are interested in having my document a birth, please email me and I can shower you with details.

..very well might be my favorite thing to photograph.

love to my babies. xo.

papa, I love you.

dear father,

I love remembering how excited I was when you came home from business trips
I loved the doll bunk beds you brought home for me once
I loved playing shark with you in the pool. I honestly thought you were the strongest most fish like man in the world
I love the memory of you baptizing me in our indoor swimming pool. the smell of chlorine always brings me back
I loved going to NYC with you. I forgive you for not having film in the camera
I loved you buying me new pink reeboks when I kicked my shoe off in the middle of times square
I love the world of food you have shown me...chocolate souffles, bread pudding, oso buco
I loved sitting on your feet as you climbed the stairs at bedtime
I love the stories of potty training and how I would wait ALL day for you to help me. weird
I love when I was a baby and I would call you mommy and mom, mama. double weird
I loved being able to go on the road with you for work
I loved feeling like a seminar celebrity when you would call me up on stage
I love all your "dadisms" around the dinner table, "a thorn among roses..."
I loved watching alias, survivor, star trek the next generation and jeopardy with you
I loved how you told me if I ever made in on a reality tv show you would pay me $10,000 NOT to do it. offer still good?
I love your handwriting, with your european sevens and signature loops
I love the big white trucks/suv's you always drive
I love how much you loved the "jewel" cd when it came out
I love remembering how you had to call my boyfriends to tell them not to bring me home late anymore. so embarrassing!!
I love getting "upgraded" with you
I love you for teaching me how to "work the system"
I love being able to come to you when I really need help, knowing all you want to do is help me
I love how you are my biggest photography fan. you believe in me and that helps me believe in myself
I love making fun of you! you're our dad! it's too easy!..."fudge brownie, 7x7=49"
I love you for all the sacrifice you've made for our family
I love you for trying so hard
I love you for your confidence
I love you for serving such an honorable mission (even when it meant you had to miss my wedding)
I love you for being my dad

happy father's day! I'm so grateful for you.

and happy father's day to all of my other "dad's"...lloyd, hugh, grandpa porter, grandpa peter's, grandpa thurston, grandpa henriksen, grandpa smoot and matt smith.

AND, happy father's day to the future father of my children, leo. just kidding... GRANT MITCHELL PORTER. you're going to be such a great peroxide and bleach dad. xxoo.

fancy phone

just picked up on of these bad boys today. white 32gb. no big deal.

as of right now I can't dial out from my old phone or new, but who needs to make calls! I have my own mini computer! (things in mini are the best, take rob and big's mini horse for example).

any favorite apps y'all can't live without? I need to get on the iphone train, and fast!

henriksen family shower

I have been wanting to post a THANK YOU to all my henriksen family for the fabulous shower they had for grant and I.

there happened to be the perfect sunday night to have it when we were in utah for work about a month before the wedding. I had mentioned we didn't want any gifts, BUT instead would love favorite recipes. It was a great idea if I do say so myself! we received tons of amazing recipes that I am dying to try.

so thoughtful and so personal. I love being able to see my cousins and aunts handwriting on certain recipes. I really am way into the "tradition" of food and it means so much to me to have everyone share a little of of their "tradition" with us.

check out grandma and grandpas photo on grandma's swiss cheese fondue recipe. I miss my grandpa.

aunt deanne and uncle bob's family invited us over before the shower for a delicious home cooked meal. It was SO delicious. roast and homemade rolls (see how happy I look holding the basket of rolls?). they were naughty and bought us some gifts even though I said not to. I love our cookie sheet with a cover! brilliant! with our parents serving serving as mission presidents in fort worth, it means so much to have our extended family take us in and help take care of us. It's weird not being to go "home" for sunday dinner. thanks wilde bunch. we love you!

the shower was an open house at grandma's and SO many people came. since we were having a more intimate wedding this shower was a way to celebrate with those not attending the wedding day festivities. we talked and bonded and grant did very well with my huge family....it can be kind of intense. my aunt amy and aunt peggy write poems for couples in our family when they get married. they read ours at the shower and usually have a hard time getting through it without crying. we love to cry in this family. (click on the poem to read).

how great is that! I love the part about mikaphone...and grant being a perfect child. pray our future kidlens take after their pop. thanks amy and peggy!!

I know we use to have this rule for this side of the family that when you say "thank you" at the shower it counts as a real thank you.....do we still that? can this count as my formal thank you for all of the amazing shower love? do you all know how much you mean to me?

I have been blessed with a truly phenomenal family. like all of us, I have had my ups and downs with life and they are there to cry with me when it's hard and cry with me when it's great, for that I feel truly blessed.

bigger images

I need to figure out a way to customize my blog so that I can show slightly bigger images. I DON'T want to have to use another site to make this happen....can't I just configure the image size through blogger?!

any suggestions? what has worked for everyone else?

I've tried this, found on friend heather's blog

While in your post, click on "edit Html". Then look for this set of code...it's the code for the picture you just uploaded.





Now delete this section of code--everything circled above. After deleting the indicated code, your html for your picture should look like this:





Now it's time to change the size of your photo. You can choose from s400, s576 or s640 depending on the look you want and the parameters of your blog. Try a few on for size and see what works best for you. See below picture for the section of code you'll want to change during this final step.





All in all this should take you about 30 seconds.

BUT it doesn't work for me! my code looks a little different. so I just tried changing the pixel size withing the HTML code, but it ends up making the image look icky.


help!

shoots raw

how beautiful is this camera?

when I go to the leica website I want every camera. this is a limited edition camera, so I have no idea whether it's even still available...but it got me thinking..

..aren't you suppose to give and receive gifts on the 1st day of summer?

husband, let's start summer right.

(sorry I know a few of my posts lately have been about "things" I need...OK! want. there is just so much goodness I want for my own! I've spent an hour on b&h photo today and amazon filling up my shopping carts. some of the items I really do NEED, I promise.)

once wed

tess and adam strike again!

their wedding is being shared today on once wed's amazing site. once wed also has a real weddings section that is featuring this lovely wedding.

thanks once wed! your site is beautiful! (can't wait to see the airstream wedding!)

...and thanks tess and company for planning such an inspirational wedding. when couples plan a wedding that is personal and meaningful, others are drawn to that thought and care. I just wish everyone could have tasted the chocolate and passion fruit cake. I probably think about that cake once a day.

miss olive

(photo taken by proud papa smith)

happy one week little miss scrumptious.

want this

seen here
buy here

charlie

remember this little dreamboat from hawaii with the smith's?

while in salt lake I shot some lifestyle family portraits for his family. wait till you see his brother! these two boys are really something. gorgeous for one, adorable, smart, silly, flirty...everything you would want from a little boy.

I terrorized the house with my photo making while whitney feed us all sorts of delicious food from liberty heights fresh (love this market), brownies, salsa, fruit. whit and brian, can we move in? not a joke.

we love our smith/cripe family. can't wait for you to see the rest of your images.