Friends and Punkin' Chuckin'

“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?" asked Piglet. "Even longer," Pooh answered.
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

I am very blessed to have my friend Michelle as a friend. Side note...whenever I recall stories about friends, those sometimes mocking daughters of mine always harass me for prefacing their names with "my friend." For example...my friend Susie, my friend Michelle, my friend Debi, etc!

Every year "my friend" Michelle invites the whole family over for dinner to celebrate birthdays. Which is so dear of her because she always has a houseful to feed on Sunday evenings.

I asked for an action shot...so Erik picked up the nearest thing. I have no idea what he is pretending to pour into a steaming bowl of pasta.

Dinner is always fabulous and the table is set as if the Queen Mum herself were a guest of honor. Michelle uses her mother's beautiful dishes and touches of Autumn are scattered around in the decorations. I feel so spoiled!

After spending two years in Italy, Ben knows a thing or two about pasta...and pesto.

Grandma inspects them both!

Gabe...the happiest most delightful child...is morphing into a bigger version of himself right before our eyes.

Someday soon when he jumps on Dean...it will most likely leave a mark!

The conversation at both ends of the table is warm and lovely. We brought a quart of honey to share...and I love how immediately a butter knife was inserted into the golden amber liquid and passed around the dinner table.

As delightful as dinner is...the shenanigans following the meal seem to be the highlight. That's Miss Mary my Mary-godchild posing in the background. I need more posers at my house.

And Michelle's window display...I need one of those at my house too.

Let the shenanigans begin...

Given that it's been a few weeks since Halloween...the pumpkins are beginning to rot and age perfectly for tonight's activity.

I'm not sure what caused Michelle and Erik and the kids to dream up this annual Fall activity, but it is a testament to what great fun is always on tap in this household. Oozing, molding pumpkins are carefully carried upstairs where they are tossed one by one off the roof...

and splat on the driveway. If you've never heard a rotting pumpkin go splat...you should try it sometime. Amazing! The pumpkin carnage is then scooped up and washed away. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to be Michelle's neighbor? "Hey honey what's that noise outside." "Oh it's just the neighbors chucking rotten pumpkins from their roof again."

This one was a little too mushy to carry inside for the tossing.

Michelle's kids have a way of making anyone who visits feel warm, welcome,

and part of the family.

Michelle is the kind of mother every child wishes for. She tosses pumpkins from rooftops, plays like one of the kids, and makes delicious deserts all in a single bound! If I were a kid...I would stand in line to have her as a mother.

Gabe licking the dish pretty much sums up the evening. Good to the last drop! Thanks to my friend Michelle and her adorable family for an engaging and enchanting evening!

CM Photo Walk

Last weekend I met up with a group of local photographers to spend a couple of hours at dawn's early light freezing our toenails off...I mean taking photos. Seriously, I think it was 36 degrees when we started shooting. Photo walks can be challenging...forcing yourself to step out of your comfort zone both in meeting new people and new photography subjects.

We started at Ogden's Farmer's Market at the corner of Grant and 25th street. These are Cakes In a Cup...not Cupcakes!

Yummy fresh Garlic...not Garlick...my mother-in-law once told me that our last name is spelled with a "k" on the end as it takes the stink off.

The last of summer's bounty is piled up to display delicious colors.

Most of the photographers had never met each other. It seems I have tons more online photographer friends than I do local...I looked forward to meeting the local talent.

The shyest golden retriever I have ever met...he was so sweet.

Roosters in Ogden is a delicious place for dinner. I have been there many times and never noticed the amazing neon sign marking the entrance. And if you're into that kind of thing, they brew their own beer...including Polygamy Ale...this is Utah after all! Try one and you'll want another, and another, and another!

Playing with reflections and shadows and such with Joni.

I appreciated this abandoned building that was turned into a cool street-scape.

I felt like we should be singing a Beetles song for this photo...you know the iconic photograph on Abbey Road.

It's still early, so the stores were not open yet...I'm guessing Joni goes back for this bag she found while window shopping.

Friends in shadows...

A water fountain re-purposed...can you imagine the stories this water fountain holds!

Ogden has a rich railroad history as it is the closest sizable city to The Golden Spike location at Promontory Point, where the first Transcontinental Railroad was joined in 1869.

The city was known as a major passenger railroad junction because it was located on major east-west and north-south routes.

The Ogden Chamber of Commerce used to have a slogan years ago "You can't get anywhere without coming to Ogden." Growing up near here and later moving away...I find that difficult to believe now.

But it was a fun place to spend a couple of hours. I look forward to meeting with these talented photographers again someday soon! And next time you are considering stepping out of your comfort zone...just do it!

Shootin' Raw in Utaw

Internet critics are plentiful...including those claiming that technology in general is diminishing society's communication skills. While it seems to be that way, in this instance I would have to disagree.

Most of these beautiful women I met in Karen Russell's online Photographer's Workshop a couple of years ago.

We have remained close friends ever since. We keep up with each other all over the country using Skype, Facebook, Emails and text messaging.

Whenever class members find themselves visiting another state, on-line photographer friends are the first people they look up.

Gettin' Raw in Utaw (a meetup of some of this group of friends) has been in the planning stages for over a year. You may or may not understand our humor in the usage of the word "raw" and "Utaw." You should have seen the looks we got running around downtown SLC.

I came up with the plan to reserve our condo in Park City for this week in June and invited the photographers to join me.

I love these girls...I love their families...I love their dogs...I love their talents and abilities and I love that I can count on them for love and friendship whenever I need them. Who would imagine that you could gain such a connection with basically "pen pals."

Admittedly...having recently returned from Italy, I wasn't sure what Utah would have to offer as far as sight-seeing and photographic wonders. We don't exactly have Rome's Coliseum here.

But I was able to find a beautiful thing or two for us to photograph

and be photographed in.

These girls have a way of finding random things to shoot pictures of as well.

We planned this weekend to coincide with the Super Moon...thinking we would get AWESOME shots. We sort of epic failed on the moon shots. It took forever for the moon to rise over Park City...this was as good as I got...bleak I know! However, I am resolved to try again.

Because no Utah visit would be complete without adequate time spent in the mountains, I took them hiking to Stewart Falls at Sundance Ski Resort.

Where we saw beautiful plants and scenery

and Search and Rescue didn't even have to bring us off the mountain. Although I don't actually see Marilou in this picture...I know she made it off the mountain.

But perhaps my favorite moment was shooting at The Great Salt Lake as the sun was setting.

Photographers crave the light that only happens at this golden hour.

And we didn't have any time to waste as that golden sunlight was sinking faster than we were shooting.

Beautiful girls at a beautiful time of day, we thoroughly enjoyed taking photos of one another. See I told you Marilou made it off the mountain, here she is!

Photographers like Joni are always willing to pose and smile on demand.

Aurora taught us how to use off-camera lighting in conjunction with the light from the setting sun

to create stunning images like this one of Nicole that Aurora captured. Gorgeous...stunning...exquisite...oh and the light is pretty good too!

Kelly's sunglasses were the source of many awesome reflection shots all week. This group of photographers are so willing to share and help each other grow. I learned so much from ALL of them.

And it was very nice of that couple to plan a romantic moment for us to capture as the sun was bidding farewell.

We spent some time in downtown Park City.

Park City is an old mining town with quite a history, but we seemed to forget all the history and navigate to our favorite food spot Vinto's. Previously in SLC, we had eaten at Vinto's. So nice you must eat there twice! When you decide to dine at Vinto's try the Ortaggio Verde Pizza. Destined to delight with asparagus, fresh peas, zucchini, leek, scallion, lemon ricotta and fontina cheese. Stop it...it's amazing!

Characters themselves...Jules, Nicole and Aurora had fun meeting a moose

as Kelly found something else with character.

You never know what will stop us in our tracks begging to be photographed...

like Park City's famous Shoe Park.

Girls, girls, girls...

I love them dearly.

And I'm so thankful for their place in my life. 

And I'm very thankful we found a thing or two worth photographing.

I wonder where we will be "gettin raw" on our next adventure? Stay tuned...we might be coming to a city near you.