Fiero Concert

I had the pleasure of photographing Fiero over the weekend. The group came out to Riverside to perform at La Sierra University's Hole Memorial for a concert.  The group features Andrew Harrison on the soprano saxophone, Isaac Lopez on alto saxophone, Emma Reinhart on tenor saxophone, and John Hallberg on baritone saxophone. All four members are currently attending USC. I've heard Andrew play many times, however this was the first time I've heard his entire quartet perform. As a group they sound amazing, mixing classical and contemporary pieces to create a truly unique music experience. 

train rides and a birthday

A beautiful day for the beach. Sabbath morning our family boarded the train and road the rails to San Clemente. For a weekend in August, the beach was empty. Not that I minded...I prefer empty beaches...more room to spread out. The tide was high, and the water was refreshingly cool. Lucas enjoyed digging in the sand and wading in the water. He was so busy that he forgot about the yummy snacks packed away. At the end of the day, we were all ready to board our train and head home. I had hoped that Lucas would sleep on the way home, however there was too many interesting things to see outside of the windows. Thankfully, our train car was nearly empty and we avoided bothering other passengers. It was a great way to end the summer and spend my birthday.

Birthdays

With over 840 miles of coastline, California is home to some amazing beaches. For C's birthday, we headed down to Oceanside's Harbor Beach. It was a lovely day. The kiddos played in the sand, digging holes and creating castles. At first Lucas was hesitant about going near the water. He would cautiously walk towards the water, then suddenly run away as soon as the tide came in. Finally, at the end of the day he timidly put his toes in...a wide smile slowly spread across his face indicating that he finally got over the fear of the ocean water.  We ended the day with one tired and dirty baby boy. 

Our Trip to PSR

We celebrated my husband's first bar exam free weekend by heading up to Pine Springs Ranch. About one year ago, Pine Springs Ranch was forced to evacuate due to a wildfire. This would be our first visit after the fire and we were curious to see the changes. This place will always have a special spot in my heart. I was happy to see that with the winter and spring rain, many of the small shrubs and native plants were growing back. Its going to take years before the mountain is covered in pines again, but I did noticed that many small trees had been planted all around camp.

The weather was perfect...cloudy and cool...with an added bonus of rain off and on all day. I'm so thankful that at the last minute I grabbed jackets for Lucas and myself.....unfortunately I did forget Richard's jacket on the kitchen table. 

He was a trooper. 

 Lucas had a blast playing in the mud, jumping in water puddles and kicking pine cones. Camp is his new favorite place.  

One of the buildings that burned down was the fort. The new fort is much bigger, with high walls and stronger gates. In addition to being a place for night programs, the new fort has been designed as an outdoor sleeping area. On a hot summer's night, I could definitely see campers enjoying sleeping out under the stars.  

We ended the day with Saturday Night @ the Ranch where Richard rocked the house on his guitar! It was good to see him back on stage in his element singing about Herman the Pig.  :) 

Irvine Park

About a year and a half ago I was invited to join our church's playgroup. At that time in my life I didn't have any close mommy friends. I had plenty of support from family and childless friends, but I needed to be around other moms who were going through similar experiences.  I feel so blessed to have found such a great group of Moms. I'm not the type of person who easily makes new friends. Honestly, if I hadn't been directly invited I probably never would have worked up the courage to join the group. Even through our times together can be crazy, chasing around little ones I still come away feeling refreshed by the presence of the other moms. There is something truly invaluable about having a good group of mommy friends. In addition, I'm happy that my son has a safe place to make friends and learn how to be a friend. Motherhood comes with its ups and downs, and its nice to know that on Monday mornings I'm able to get together with friends and enjoy the day. 

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

After blazing through Words of Radiance, I'm left with wanting more. Unfortunately, the next book - Stones Unhallowed - won't be finished until Spring 2016. This book was hard to review.  There's so much in it, and so much I could talk about. Kaladin is now the captain of the royal guards. Jasnah's death leaves Shallan to make her own way to the Shattered Plains and Dalinar is desperately trying to hold the kingdom together. And on top of everything else the Assassin in White is back!

Each book in the Stormlight Archive focuses on one particular character. In Words of Radiance the narrative is focused around Shallan's story. I liked Shallan's character. I was impressed with her ability to take what little she knew about Lightweaving and Pattern, and be able to use both to her advantage. Shallan's back story was fascinating and yet painful to read. It explained a lot about her character, and how her life's experiences in the end helped shaped her lightweaving ability.

A special thanks goes to Andrew Harrison for introducing The Stormlight Archive to me.

a photo shoot

This evening I had the pleasure of doing a quick photo shoot for my brother-in-law. A few weeks ago he mentioned doing this shoot for his website. I of course jumped at the opportunity to practice using my camera. My goal for this shoot was to try and capture at least ten good images. I knew if I had at least ten decent pictures my brother-in-law would have something to work with. I'm always afraid to walk away from a photo shoot with nothing to show for all the work I put into it. And believe me...its happened. Thankfully, this evening's shoot was a success and I had a blast doing it.