happy time

First time sledding, a success. Nobody got hurt, and everybody had fun. Our little girl had a rough time off and on, but for the most part, had a blast with her brothers.

Temple Square

The LDS church does a spectacular job setting up lights in Salt Lake during the holiday season. It is something that is visited by so many people, all who leave, I believe just a bit more enriched then when they got there. I was able to take my kids there this year for the first time. It was a bit cold, but beautiful.

The frozen tree

I have been driving by this dang tree out by my parents house for 6 years now. Over the past few months I have noticed it more and more. Without sounding too dumb, that stinking tree really was asking to have its picture taken. Really it kept saying, hey, look at me, hey, come on now. This voice was even louder over the last couple of days, as the morning brought with it a great and beautiful frost. That frost just laid there, covering everything.It left beautiful white tips on all the branches, and over the grass. I finally decided to capture this tree. I turned. With the whole family in the car, I turned down a dirt road. Slipping and sliding in the mud trying to stay on the part that had not been driven on, with white covered weeds, and grass. About a quarter mile down the road, I finally got to it. And here it is.

Good morning, and Merry Christmas. God Bless.

Christmas times each year proves to be an interesting time of year for me. I try to put on a very bah humbug kind of persona, but without much success. Last year I was much better about making a card, and actually sending it out. This year, well, not so good. I did, however, finished making the card the other night. Along with that card, was my half hearted attempt at writing a family letter to share with the world the years events. I started it, then looked at it, then closed it, then looked at it again. All without knowing just what to say, and with a hope that my dear wife would take over and finish it. So I share today on this thing called a blog the wonders of a great Christmas Morning. Merry Christmas from the El Halta family. We hope that this great time of year finds each of our friends well. My family loves the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior, and to once again refocus our lives and attention on the testimonies we have in him, and the importance his birth, life, and death play in our lives. Mandy and I have worked hard to try to teach our kids about the love of our Father in Heaven, and in his giving to the world the greatest gift of his Holy Son. Merry Christmas. May this day bring more of the love of Christ to your homes.

a goal to share

How many times do we live in a place that has some special thing, that for some strange reason we never partake of? How many times have you moved from a place, and said, "I can't believe we lived that close to such and such, and never went there"? I know that I have. For the first two years that we lived in Southern Ut. we never took the time to go to Zion Park. My wife had never been there at all. We finally made amends for that mistake. But still I wonder why we have not gone to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon either. Really it is only a few hours away. Every place has special places to see, and things to do. How do we just get out and experience more things. Recently I did a photo shoot in a place that was new to me. I am very glad I did. Often we don't see that which is closest to us. We travel, we go someplace else to go and do and go and see cool things. But what about the things in our own backyard?

newest project

I just finished another antiqued temple picture. This time for a friend of mine. I think it turned our great. The best part is, it was easier the second time.

Just an example

This is just an example of the new projects I am working on. This is one of the one's that I liked, so I made the first one for my own home. It would work with any of the pictures that I have. I made mine 16x20 with the molded frame. So far I like how it looks, but like always working on making things even better each time.

More of the kid

Here he is trying to be like his big uncle, with the serious face and all.

and the others

Of course, once I started taking the oldest kids pictures, the other two wanted some of the action. They do a great job posing for dad. They help me get a lot of practice. Stinking cute I think.

Picture time

My oldest who is in kindergarten came home one day with the pamphlet from school about school pictures. I looked at the price, and of course thought, why in the world would I pay for pictures. I know that sounds a small bit arrogant, but heck, I like my pictures better then the company that comes to the schools.

And the Manti temple too

We made a fun little side trip on the way home the other day from visiting with family. It was only about an hour detour, but we needed some pictures of the Manti temple for some friends of ours.

A few more being worked on.

Here are a few more temple pictures that I have been working on. I think they are turning out pretty well. let me know what you think. Do you have a favorite?

Continuation from the one before

Here are two more...

Las Vegas Temple pictures

We went on a trip to Las Vegas to try to get some temple pictures. There have been several people who have said that they would like that one, so here you go.

Some more new photos. I love where we live

While my wife was doing the What Women Want expo, I had the kids. Two very long days of just me and the kids. On the first day we went for a drive up the mountain. It was great, the weather was interesting, with rain, snow, hail, and a wildfire to boot. The kids seemed to really like the trip. They were also very sympathetic as I lost one of my lens filters, and lens hood in the creek. I really did not feel like wading through the water to try to find them either.

two more

Colors of fall

The fall season is quickly going to pass us by. The thought of being too busy to enjoy the fall colors of Utah's beautiful canyons is quite saddening. I had to take at least one trip. I came home from work, gathered the kids, even though two of them were fast asleep on the couch for nap time, and loaded them in the car. Up we went. It was a pretty nice drive. We made it up to where the snow started, got out, made a few snowballs to throw, and loaded back in the car for the return trip. It was beautiful and much needed.

Antiquing pictures

I have been working for a while trying to figure out how to do the antiquing type of temple photos that you see around Christmas time. This week I had to try to figure it out for my wife. She is in charge of a Super Saturday craft activity. It has been a process of trial and error, but I think I have gotten it done pretty well. I like what I got.

Senior picture business card

I thought it would be good, plus some friends encouraged me, to make a business card specific to Seniors. here is what I have so far. I like it.

Business card

I have been trying to put together a business card for some time now. It has been an evolving thing. This is what I have now.

More birthday stuff

I know Auntie is dying for some pictures of the cake and the party. So here are a few. So there, Aunt B. Here are some from the party that we had the other day over at the park.

A continued happy birthday

Just because I think these two pics are so dang cute. I was searching and searching and found the baby backpack picture. Pretty happy that I still had it hiding on an old drive somewhere. I still can't believe how big he is getting. His mom is making him a great star wars birthday cake for a fun party tomorrow. He has done great with his first week of school and that sports that backpack better then anybody I know. Always has.

Happy birthday little man

Well today marks the great day when my oldest son was born. what a blessing he has been to my life. Some days, okay, most days I am so amazed by how great of a kid he is. He has been a pleasure to have in our family.
Mature beyond his years
kind
Caring
Smart
Inquisitive
A great big brother
He really is a great kid, and does so much with a smile and a good attitude. And as much as my wife hates it, I absolutely love the times we get to just hang out and play lego games on the Wii. Some times I am amazed by how much he grows, and changes. Looking back at some of the pictures I have of him from when he was a little boy until now is a blast.
I love you little buddy, Thank you for being my first born in the wilderness.

Bridal pictures

I have been a pretty busy person lately. This last weekend my wife asked me to do bridal pictures for her sister who is getting married in a few weeks. I took her engagement photos a few weeks ago, and so it was now time for the bridals. I Have never done a bridal photo shoot. I must say I feel like they turned out pretty good. I know I was happy with them.



Here are a few more...



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A little bit of excitement

A few weeks ago I applied for a small local art grant supported by our local arts council. I thought I should apply, thinking that not many other people would apply. Like I said, it is small, only a couple of hundred dollars, but today, my family came to visit me at the office and my sweet little girl had this white letter in her hand. Sure enough I was selected as one of the winners. I won a partial grant. The Money is not important at all. Really it was the feeling of, in a small way, being accepted and validated in something that I love to do. I have to admit, I felt pretty good about it. Here are the pictures that I submitted as part of the application.

Camping trip

I was finally able to take the family camping. We have been trying to plan a small trip up the mountain, all summer, but have not been able to make it work. So this time we packed up, and we went. We have a great place that I just love going to that is only about 30 minutes from our house. I Thinks it is just beautiful, and pretty easy for family style camping. Okay, the truth is, there are bathrooms, and benches, and a nice fire pit. Little things like that make the wife a bit more happy. The boys love the spot that we go to, and had a blast. Of course it always helps when the aunties are with us. Here are just a few pictures of the lake just about a mile from where we spent the night. I believe it was while I was taking these pictures that some random bug decided to fly right into Mandy's ear, where it chose to stay, and buzz around. More pictures of that to come.

Some recent fun photo shoots.

I have been having quite a bit of fun this summer taking as many pictures as I can. I am going to be trying to update some more here in the next little bit. We have had a good time traveling around a bit. This last little bit are some pictures from around Cedar Breaks, and up around a great place called Yankee Meadow. There are some beautiful wildflowers all around the Cedar Breaks area.

More from Yellowstone trip

Just in case someone might have been worried, and I know you weren't, I did take some pictures of the family, and not just the mountains and bison. We did get to see a bunch of animals which I was pretty excited about. I had told my sister that this was the first time I had actually seen any animals. I know that sounds strange, but honestly, each of my trips there came up empty for the most part. This time was much better. The only bad part of the whole trip was my increased levels of lens envy. I am way overdue for an upgrade on my camera and equipment. Too bad for me, my lack of funds dictate that rather then desire. Overall the trip was great. Bringing Aunt Boo was tons of fun. The kids loved having her there. I think she had a good time too. I am not sure if the trip could have been any better except for maybe one more day to spend it Yellowstone. But ending it at Big Jud's was a perfect ending. I must admit, there was quite a few cool things about the trip. My son could not have been more excited about staying in a town with his same name. I wanted to take a picture of him in a hole just for the fun of it, but did not have the time to find a hole. I am hoping to make a repeat of the trip someday. AND YES, that is just a chipmunk that my kids are all excited about.

Been a while, did you miss me?

So that was an open question to good old blogosphere. I am really not sure just where to start. Blogging used to be my way of voicing frustration and sharing photos. To be honest. I have too many frustrations to vent here. But I do miss writing about them. So I start at the most recent, and then I will work my way backwards. I promised myself that I would take a couple of trips this summer while I had some time off. I planned a great trip up north to Idaho to visit an old college friend and his family. From there we headed up to Jackson Hole, then to Yellowstone. The Trip as a whole was great. Even though my wife does not like being in the car that long, she did great as did the kids. I had bought a pass to the national parks last year with the hope of getting my money's worth. So far that has happened. Just a few more trips to take down to Zions Park and maybe even one to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon will make me feel much better about the 80 bucks the pass cost. Overall this summer has been pretty good. the kids are getting bigger and bigger, and more and more little pains in the butt. Each of the has such a unique personality. But, more of that later.

Even more Sports

To go along with your theme of getting our oldest boy in as many sports as we can, not to see if he is some future super star, because obviously he still has some of my genetics, but to try and find something that he can be good at, and enjoy, and make friends doing.... we have signed him up for T-Ball. So far so good, with one game down, and the first practice rained out. he said that he really enjoyed the hitting part. To be honest so did I. The outfield part was a bit chaotic, which I guess is to be expected with a bunch of 5 and 6 year old kids. I think he did great, and really seemed to enjoy himself. He is already asking about the next game, so that is a good sign.