Archive for August, 2007

missing link!

I realized a few days ago that we have failed to link from our personal blog to Rich’s professional blog (and vice versa)! So, we have corrected this problem by adding a new tab to our main menu at the top of our blogs. This way, all of you (who admire Rich’s photography as much as I do) can easily make your way back and forth to see what we have been up to personally and professionally! Also, you can subscribe to Rich’s Pro Blog if you’d like to receive an email when he posts something new!

Rich has done a few stunning sessions lately (posted on his Pro Blog), one for his older brother’s family and one for some good friends of ours, Kyle and Heidi Posey and their sweet baby. Take advantage of the new tabs (up above, next to “blog” and “archives”) and check the sessions out!

Stay posted for photos from our 3rd anniversary weekend in Highlands! And have a GREAT day, everyone! We love you!

congrats jeff and jackie!

Rich and I want to congratulate some special family members on their pregnancy! Jeff and Jackie are a great brother in law and sister in law, and we are so thankful for them! They celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary last month, and now it is time to celebrate with them as they expect their first baby!

This is a fun picture of them that Rich captured about a week ago, before any of us knew that they are expecting!

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I am excited that my pregnancy will overlap with Jackie’s for 3 months until Alana’s due date!

Jeff and Jackie, congratulations! We are so happy for you, and can’t wait to share in the joy (and sleeplessness) of raising children together! We will be praying for this precious little one!

three years already!

On Monday night, we had the privilege of having our friends Remi and Sara over for dinner and fellowship (and lots of baby talk!). Remi and Sara are missionaries in Israel, and a large part of what they do is to work for Muslim-Jewish reconciliation. Talk about an incredible, beautiful calling! We are blessed to be their home church body and to see them every once in a while as they visit the states.

The evening was spent chatting and laughing at baby Liel, who is VERY adorable and animated…and has definitely discovered her voice! She made a wider range of noises than I’ve ever heard a nine month old make! So fun!

Check out this precious face!

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And here we are with Remi and Sara after Liel had gone to bed…

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Remi and Sara, thanks so much for spending time with us, we had a great time and hope to see you again soon! You guys are in our thoughts and prayers as you serve God in Israel! What a work He is doing through you, and what a blessing you are to us!

Then, yesterday (Tuesday the 14th) was our 3 year wedding anniversary, and it was a bit anticlimactic because I woke up feeling horrible! I’d started to experience some weird (and severe) arm pain the night before, and it persisted throughout the night. It was so bad that I had to use my left arm to lift my right arm because it hurt too much to engage the muscles! Come morning, I stayed in bed while Rich got ready for work, and got me situated with a heating pad and some Tylenol (the only pain killer I can take while pregnant!).

I decided to call in sick (knowing that I wouldn’t be too productive at work without functionality of my right arm!) and call the chiropractor, thinking it was probably a pinched nerve in my shoulder that was causing the pain. I went in, and was told that it was my rotator cuff. Random. He gave me an adjustment, a brief traction massage, and some electrical stem, and told me to call in if I wasn’t feeling much better in a couple of days.

Then, because it was our anniversary, I drove (one-armed) to meet up with my honey for lunch. He was joining a group of friends and fellow photographers at Sushi Nabe. I struggled to eat my chicken teriyaki (I’m thinking about becoming ambidextrous) while having great conversation and meeting some new faces.

Thanks to Nathan for these great photos from our time together!

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My ever-expanding baby bump…though a little more difficult to see with the patterned top that I’m wearing…

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Rich and I had decided in the first year of our marriage that we didn’t want to start a tradition of buying gifts for each other on our anniversary, but that we both prefered just to get away together for a weekend. So, for our first anniversary (in pre-blogging days!) we went to the gorgeous Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. for the weekend. Last year, we went to Highlands, N.C. and we’ve decided to return again this year. We loved it, and are eager for another weekend to relax and enjoy the quaint and beautiful town. We will head out Friday after work and spend the weekend there, and return on Sunday evening (Rich’s birthday!!!). Stay posted for photos from Highlands!

Here are some photos I came across from our honeymoon three years ago! We took an eight day Royal Carribbean cruise and had the time of our lives.

Amazing that it’s already been three years!

Formal Background

Heather at Grand Cayman

In Cafe

In Front of Ship

Explorer of the Seas

Interior of Ship

On Staircase

Dinner Formal

Random August Happenings…

Wow. It’s been forever that I - Rich - have written a blog entry. I’ve been working more in the background as Heather’s (”the writer”) assistant. If anyone is wondering — yes, she is getting cuter everyday. She makes an amazing preggo but we all already knew that, right?

This post is going to be random because it’s just what we’ve done and taken pictures of lately. First off, we have officially joined the “Fellowship of the Flagella”. It’s a great fun club that our dear (and sometimes quirky but so extraordinarily handsome it’s scary) friend Tim Blackiston dreamt up. If you’re pregnant and you know Tim, it’s only a matter of time before you get a call and this loaner t-shirt. :)

Here are the simple rules: Wear shirt in public. Take pictures. Wash, dry, and pass shirt on. That’s it! I only got one reaction (from a cashier at Panera) and saw some wandering eyes trying hard to figure out what my shirt said. It was fun!

Eating at a Mexican Restaurant in the mall:

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Walking in the food court:

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As to be expected, Alana has forced both of us to gradually organize our lives in the great expectation of her arrival. We thought that we could get away just adding “nursery” to the list of functions for our “office/library/studio/scrapbooking” room.

Well, plans change.

Alana is kicking everyone out so she can get her own room. She’s quite demanding and she’s not even born yet! Actually, I just couldn’t imagine working on the computer in the same room that my daughter was trying to sleep… and wanting attention. So, we had to get everything out. The biggest challenge was what to do with the computer, so we got a GREAT deal on a computer armoire at Staples and put it in our dining room.

With the move we decided to completely clean our nasty keyboard we inherited from my office after newer keyboards were purchased. I call the following pictures “nekkid keyboard”. It’s amazing what can accumulate under the keys but now it looks like a brand new keyboard! It’s amazing what Antibacterial Clorox Wipes and some elbow grease will accomplish!

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Tonight I saw Heather barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. So I had to take pics of it, of course! Hehehe! Please girls, don’t write e-mails…

Barefoot:

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Preggo:

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In the kitchen cooking:

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We also spent time with my good buddy Jeff and his wonderful wife Amber. They came over and played some card games with us. We had a blast but totally forgot to take pictures!

But I leave the best for last…

Last night, we went over to my client-turned-good-friends home - the Bergtholds. I hadn’t seen little Levi since the time I did his photoshoot in February. He’s grown so much!

We had a blast hanging out this sweet family! We had a great meal but that was just the beginning. We came over to watch “Treasure Planet” and Lyssa and Laini had worked so hard to create a movie theater experience for us including:

Free advertising for my business!!! (YesWhoo!) That’s their little brother “Levi” on my business card!

Note to self: DO NOT tell people over the course of dinner that my childhood name was “Ricky”. :) It might show up later to haunt me!

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Name of the Theater with reviews:

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And a concession stand with menu:

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They gave us some change in a plastic bag that we could use to pay for the movie, popcorn, and candy! They have GREAT prices here! 10 cents for a movie ticket! Can’t beat it!

Here are Lyssa and Laini at their concession stand…I see some entrepreneurial ventures in their future!

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Here is Heather getting her ticket and some snacks for the movie:

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Here is Heather’s ticket that included a number for a drawing for some free candy. Scott won. I was so close!

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Right before the movie started, the girls did announcements to tell everyone to turn off their cell phones and showed us where the exits were. Yes, the exit doors had homemade exit signs on them! They then sung the song “Sisters” from the movie “White Christmas”. They did an amazing job!

We had an amazing time with them and can’t wait to see them again! We are always HIGHLY impressed with the Bergtholds! We truly love being with them and can’t wait to do it again!

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Surprisingly enough, that’s Scotts normal smile. ;)

Attractive Peaceful Child of the Wise Leader

Meet…. Alana Mackenzie Smith!!!

(It’s hard to see her well in these pictures, and I wish we had some better ones, but with my placenta where it is, we haven’t ever gotten really good, clear pictures of Alana. So sad! Well, we will have plenty of pictures of her once she is born, and we will be sure to share them with you!)

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Alana means “Attractive, Peaceful”

Mackenzie means “Child of the Wise Leader”

Both Alana and Mackenzie are Irish names, which is so fitting since I have always had a love for the country…inspired by my “Granny Bear” who passed away a couple of years ago. Rich and I love the sound of Irish names, and we loved the meanings of both of these names. The fact that they are both Irish is coincidental, as we did not begin by looking through lists of Irish names or anything…we just settled on our favorites, loved the meanings, and then loved the way they sounded when paired together.

Alana Mackenzie.

I also loved the meaning of Mackenzie because one of the most attractive qualities of my wonderful husband is his wisdom. It was one of the first characteristics that attracted me to him, and so it has special meaning for me. In addition, and most importantly, we are praying that she will become the daughter of God…the ULTIMATE WISE LEADER!

Should she live up to her name, this child will be an attractive peaceful child of the wise leader :)