birthday, business, and park

We had a great weekend. It was Jeff's 30th birthday on Saturday and we "celebrated" with a good home-made lunch, a relaxing nap, and a trip to Albany for Home Depot and Costco. With a testy 2 year-old and a tiny baby, eating out isn't very fun, so Jeff wanted to eat at home. He said, "You cook better than any restaurant anyway. Why would we eat out?" I'll take that kind of praise any day and made him country ham, mashed potatoes, gravy and acorn squash.
Sunday was the perfect crisp Fall day. I took pictures for a family and Emma and Jeff played on the new Dallas City Park play equipment. The family I photographed are old friends. My former youth pastor, Jim and his wife Penny, moved in 1995 from Dallas to Olympia, WA and then to Alaska. They recently moved back to this area. Penny has been keeping up with some of the former youth groupers on our blogs (me, Andrea and Jessi). It was a lot of fun to take pictures of their family all grown up.
My business has been busy the last month and I am loving it. I wish every day was photo-ready, but the fantastic weather won't last. Great photography takes more than creativity. I am learning a lot about my camera and how to get more than one person to look good at once. Also good light is important, especially since I don't have an additional flash. The process is fun for me, so hopefully I can stay busy all year.
Emma like me "working" at the park too and would still be at the park if we had not pulled her away to go home. She had such a blast and never left the 5-12 year-old play equipment. She climbed right up the rock wall, and went down the tall slides again and again.