Kirsten! Too many candles on the cake, yikes!

We celebrated Kirsten's birthday yesterday and we had a classic, carrot cake with ice cream! Yep I'm a happy dude. I think the only reason you need the cake is to hold up the yummy frosting and it was no coincidence that the frosting was thick! But carrot cake is nice and moist so it was perfect. One thing that is a little different for Kirsten is that we can only celebrate for one day. In years past her birthday celebration dragged on for a week. Given the opportunity I would do the same for mine, but for Kirsten it was always a birth "week" rather than a birth "day" celebration. Now with graduate school starting and working, Kirsten only gets one day like most mere mortals.

The biggest decision might be how many candles to put on her cake in the future. Smoke detectors are very sensitive :)

Emearldgeal

I'm a Flickr and photography junkie. I admit it and further more I'm happy about it! Some people live on Facebook or send hundreds of text messages from their cell phone for their passion. Not me, it's Flickr all the way! You can visit anonymously and view pictures posted by others or you can make new friends and discover their secrets for creating awesome photographs. I have made some great friends as a result of posting photographs on Flickr and I have learned something from each one. I have introduced you to a few of my friends in the past and I wanted you to meet Niki.

Emeraldgeal is what she goes by on Flickr and she lives in New Brunswick, Canada. That is a long way from Utah! But her photographs and posts mirror the homey family oriented feelings that Utah offers to so many of us. Like many of my Flickr heroes, I've never met her in person but when you view someones photo's you get an intimate glimpse into who they are, and I could tell from Niki's pictures she was the kind of person I wanted as a friend and someone I could bother for tips and get ideas from to improve my photographic skill. She has an awesome resume as far as art and photography go, but she wants to be low key about that and I respect her feelings.

Here in Utah we are known for our neighborliness and how we watch out for one another, so it caught my attention when Niki posted some things about her neighbor Marg and her ongoing battle with cancer. Nicola's feelings for her neighbor really had an impact on me and her picture of her jumping next to Marg is a classic in my opinion. Those two have an obvious bond and it shows in the photograph.

I asked Niki if I could post some of her pictures that I have enjoyed over the past 6 months and she graciously gave me permission so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. When you get a minute visit her Flickr photostream. You can follow the link here to see some great photography. Thank you Niki and thanks to your husband Lou for letting you pursue your passion and share it with all of us :)

Go Garden Go

I can't believe it's August already! NFL pre-season football starts Sunday, average high temperatures are on the downhill slide, school is right around the corner and the garden is going crazy! At this point in the gardening process the weeding is easier because the vegetable plants are mature and naturally keeping weeds to a minimum. That makes everyone happy! I can actually count the pumpkins that are growing and the tomatoes are filling their cages. Corn is about 2 weeks away from getting picked and the beans are already canned and on the shelf. I wish I knew how to stagger the ripening of things but at this point I'm just happy to have so much growing. All I could think tonight was go garden go!!

Happy Birthday Calvino

IMG_6076, originally uploaded by rtsmithcpa.

Trying to get everyone together for a group shot proved impossible but at least the die-hards stayed until this awesome sunset. I'm a little sad that the whole neighborhood didn't turn out for Calvin's party because in my mind this is the glue that binds us all together. Taking a few minutes out of busy schedules to give of your time. That's what I believe is important. No gifts, no big scenes, just a little time and renewal of friendships. I saw how the eclectic group of kids played together running back and forth between parents and playgrounds while I stalked around with my camera trying to be invisible. I really like the socialization that exists with our neighborhood and yet I was a little sad that more weren't with us. There are so many friends and neighbors that I love and count as dear friends and yet it seems like they miss all of the great activities and I miss their company. Time is valuable and that's why it's such a special gift to share.

I'm positive Calvin was as happy as a pig in mud and Wyatt and Andrea had everything set up and organized like clock work. It made it one of those times that I will treasure. Maybe I feel that way because I've had so many flipping birthdays that in someways I see the sun going down on me, (yikes), or maybe I'm figuring out that nothing is more important than friends, family and loved ones and the best gift we can give is our time.

Thanks Andrea, and maybe Wyatt, for including us and all the others in Calvino's celebration! I hope all of you enjoyed the evening as much as I did :)

Emmett ! That you up there?

IMG_6061, originally uploaded by rtsmithcpa.

I try to hang out with my age group as much as possible which is roughly 2 - 4 year olds, so when my peep Calvin had his 3rd birthday party on the the 29th of July I couldn't wait to go. Andrea bought my favorite cake from Costco with more frosting than cake, and we got to watch Calvin open some presents. Awesome :)

I wanted to get some jump shots but Andrea politely said "screw you" so I rounded up a few of the usual suspects and managed to talk Ian Ferguson into tossing Emmett in the air. I don't imagine there are too many times in our life that we can get tossed like this since we all seem to grow beyond our parents strength to huck us straight up, so I get pretty excited to capture a shot like this.

Thanks Ian and Emmett, and thanks for the invite to Calvin's birthday party Andrea :)