My Dad is Taking the Plunge

Over the years, many people have asked us "Who takes all of your gorgeous photos?". When we explained that we have a very talented photographer in the family (my dad), the next question was always "Do you think he would be willing to take our pictures?"

And then the answer has always been "No."

You see, my dad has always been a hobbiest when it comes to photography and in my opinion way too humble about his work. He has often felt like he couldn't charge someone because he was afraid they wouldn't like it, or they wouldn't turn out very well. Silly I know!

That is...until this year. After the umpteenth person told him that his photography skills are amazing and way too good to just be a hobby, he finally got the courage to do it professionally. (I don't know why courage was ever needed since it is so obvious the man has SKILLS!)

So here I am to tell you that if you are one of those persons whom had asked in the past about hiring my Dad and he turned you down, well, he will probably change his answer now. :) Check out his website - you won't be sorry. Not only does he take pristine portrait photography, but even better his landscape is awe-inspiring. http://www.ronsouthworth.com/

Go ahead...check him out, and leave him a comment on his guestbook. It would make his day I promise. And if you want awesome photos, contact him.

And by the way, here are just a few samples of his work over the years that he has done for our family in particular:

Dough! Er, Uh, I Mean Doh!

This is what happens when you think your awesome breadmaker is the 2 lb pan, not the 1.5 lb...so you go ahead and put, like, double the ingredients in.

The dough isn't even supposed to be near the peek-a-boo window at all.

After scraping dough from the top of the breadmaker and having to dig through it to find the handle to pull the pan out....it was by far the yummiest bread I've made from scratch yet. Er, uh, by "scratch" I mean I personally put the ingredients in and didn't use a box. :)

Preston REALLY dislikes Rice Cereal

A Little Preview

Well, we went and had Family Christmas portraits taken today at Alki Beach in Seattle - thanks to my talented photographer dad.

Since we want to save our favorites as a surprise for our e-Christmas card this year for everyone, we thought it would be fun to give you a little preview though with the ones that didn't exactly make the cut.

Enjoy!

I think this next one was a combination of being cold and confused.

It was hard to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time...one person looked great, but someone else was looking away. Preston is so cute in this one, but look who is not looking at the camera?

Next: Putting on some lipgloss. "Will how do my lips look?"

Okay, the next ones were seperate from our little family photo session.

Preston had his own private photo shoot with Grandpa. He got to sit on our piano bench in front of our Christmas tree and be cute. We are calling these his 6 month pictures because he will be 6 months old on Dec. 13th.

I have to say...um....I loved them ALL. I am a tad bit biased though. But these were a couple of my favorites...just classic Preston expressions.

I still need to Photoshop out the "Baby Gap" on his socks. We are not doing a commercial here.

And then if those weren't cute enough, check this guy out!

Pretty handsome eh?

I have to laugh at Will's shirt though. I told him that we were all wearing red and white for our Christmas pictures, and he brought all of these clothing possibilities to me to pick from for him. None of them which were red or white. So we went to his closet and found he only had one reddish shirt. This plaid one was it. He doesn't usually wear this shirt because we both think it makes him look like a backwoodsman or a logger or something. So the entire time we were getting ready in the bathroom before leaving, he was making up this logger song and was singing it in a deep voice. It went something like "I'm a logger man yes I am and I can sing bass....cuz I'm a logger man yes I am..."

So I laughed pretty hard, but I'm pleasantly surprised by the pictures. His shirt was actually perfect for these.

It's Recital Time!

I had my student recital last night, so that is one more down this week. Two concerts to go.

I wanted to make something creative and music-themed for the recital, and a friend of mine found this piano-shaped cake recipe for me. It was fun to put together!

And my wonderful Will:

Our little guy was my own personal audience as I practiced the piano.

The recital went off without a hitch. All of my students despite being incredibly nervous, performed super well. I was proud.

And then everyone mingled and ate dessert, and the kids showed off for each other on the piano. Ahhhh I remember doing that when I was 10 too.

This morning it was:

The End.