Tag Archives: Photography

Children, Family, General Conference, Photography, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Our General Conference Hike

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The week before General Conference I’m usually feeling really down and I know it’s just Satan trying to make me sad right before a really spiritual General Conference.

General Conference is always a breath of fresh air for me!

Dallin’s research lab was going on a hike on Saturday morning of General Conference. At first Dallin really didn’t want to go and miss conference but then we decided to take a radio up the canyon.

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It worked out great! We got to listen to conference and we got to participate in his lab hike. Here’s me with a little handheld radio we borrowed from our neighbors.

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Micah, who just turned 3, walked 2 miles by himself! I was impressed.

During the hike I was surprise to hear the language of Cantonese being broadcast on the radio!!! I got so excited. I grew up speaking Cantonese and I thought it was so cool that the first foreign language talk was in Cantonese by Elder Chi Hong Wong.

There were so many good talks during conference!!  I can’t wait to read all of them over the next six months.

Another great talk was by Elder Carlos A. Godoy, who spoke in Portuguese, called The Lord Has a Plan for Us. My husband speaks Portugues so it was one of his favorites too.

Elder Godoy asked us a question about our patriarchal blessings: “If we continue to live as we are living, will the promised blessings be fulfilled?”

He concluded by saying:

We are children of Almighty God. He is our Father, He loves us, and He has a plan for us. We are not here in this life just to waste our time, grow old, and die. God wants us to grow and achieve our potential.

In the words of President Thomas S. Monson: “Each of you, single or married, regardless of age, has the opportunity to learn and to grow. Expand your knowledge, both intellectual and spiritual, to the full stature of your divine potential”

This talk was very inspiring to me because I felt like I wasn’t living up to my full potential nor trying to achieve all the promised blessings in my patriarchal blessing.

The main reason why I don’t think I’m living up to my patriarchal blessing potential is because I have no idea where my patriarchal blessing is! I need to request a new copy!

What did you learn from General Conference?

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Architecture, Family Life, Photography, Temples, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Travel, Utah

Ogden Temple Re-Dedication #ogdentemple #ldstemple

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The Ogden Temple Re-Dedication is my fourth temple dedication I’ve attended since getting baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints only six and a half years ago. I guess it’s a great time to be a member of The Church because of the plethora of temples being built and the blessing of attending temple dedications!!!

Every time I attend a temple dedication, I just can’t be more grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!! I just want to shout to the world that “This church is true!!! I know it’s true!! It really is!! It’s amazing!!! Jesus lives and loves you!!”

The minute I walked into my church house, where the temple re-dedication was being broadcast live, I felt so much peace come into my heart. I felt like I was actually inside a temple! For those who don’t know, Sunday Church services was canceled today in our area for the Ogden Temple Re-dedication. All members of The Church over the age of eight could attend the dedication if they had a temple recommend.

I went to the first session. I had so many favorite quotes but I’ll resist to only sharing my FAVORITE.

President Monson said “God gave us memories, that we might have June roses in the December of our lives” (paraphrasing James Barrie, in Laurence J. Peter, comp., Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time [1977], 335) then he added “Temples provides roses in every season of our lives!”

It’s so true! Every time I’m struggling or have an unsettled heart. All I have to do is go to the temple and I can feel peace again.

At the end of the temple dedication they always sing the song “The Spirit of God”.  The first line of the song is The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!  My heart was burning with the love of God and I was filled with tears of joy. It’s been a while since I’ve felt so much of the Holy Ghost in one setting.

I think as my years add up in The Church. I get used to having the Holy Ghost with me all the time and take it for granted. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father providing me with this opportunity to feel the Holy Ghost in abundance. It reminded me of the excitement of being a new convert.

I know that Jesus Christ lives and we build temples so we can learn how to become more like Him.  Jesus Christ is the source of peace and happiness to this world. We need Him and He wants us to go to His temples so we can be with our families together forever!!

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Here are the pictures I took of the Ogden Temple at the open house at the beginning of September. Enjoy!!

That shinny light in the sky is the moon!!! 🙂

 

 

 

 

Photography, Temples, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Payson Utah Temple Underconstruction

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This is the Payson Utah LDS Temple. This temple was announced on January 25, 2010 by President Monson. Its estimated completion date is early 2015.

I took these pictures in the passenger seat while my husband was driving by last fall.

I can’t decide which one I like better. Can you help me decide? A or B?

So far on my facebook there are:

3 votes for A

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4 votes for B

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To see the rest of the drive by pictures see full gallery here.

Throwback Thursday

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: Family Pictures in Cottonwood Canyon

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Can you believe I have family pictures taken back in Sept 2012 that haven’t been sorted or edited or touched?

Well, cheers to the long journey that I have embarked on to rate, sort and edited my pictures. But guess what?! I have all my pictures files organized and backed up. This was a 6 month process!!! And… I only lost about 700 pictures during the process. I have over 100,000 personal pictures and 17,000 pictures I’ve taken for other people. It’s amazing how data adds up over time.

Did you know? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has billions of free genealogy records online? You can find them here on https://familysearch.org/. The records include pictures, birth certificates, death records and so much more!

To see the rest of these family pictures taken by my little brother click here or on the picture. These pictures were taken back in Sept 2012 in Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah.

Family Life, Photography, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

New SmugMug Site

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Hey!

So I’ve been a little non-existent here but it’s because:

1) My computer broke (self explanatory)

2) I was distracted into getting a new blog design (do you like it?)

3) I’ve also been working on my new SmugMug site with my photography stuff.

New Smug Mug

I went on a 1.5 week of computer fast and then the computer miraculously turned on again when my husband decided to fix it. IDK what happened. I did spay it out with a duster can but that’s about it.

It’s been really nice to disconnect for a while. I’ve spent more time with my kids and my apartment is clean! The dishes and laundry is done too. It’s amazing how much time I waste online.

So we’ve just been preparing for General Conference weekend. We are so excited for that.

Quentin started crawling three days ago!!

Micah has been learning his phonics…. like “oo’s” and “a’s”

Dallin is still working hard at grad school. He just recently submitted a science publication… congrats to him!

Me… I’ve just been focusing on working out, eating healthy, cleaning the house, and getting in a better scripture study… you know… being a mom. I’ve lost 6 pounds since January! 10 more pounds to go to be back at pre-pregnancy weight.

Dallin was sick this week. Now both of the kids have been sick and have been throwing up like crazy… yuck.

Anyways… thanks for reading my rambles.

I want to thank everyone who has ever let me take their picture. I’ve been able to organize my portfolio better with the new SmugMug platform. You should check out my new photography site and give me feedback!

Here’s a slide show of some of my favorite pictures I’ve taken over the last few years.

Stay tune and I’ll add more to my blog and new SmugMug Site! 🙂

Architecture, Photography, Temples, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Las Vegas Nevada Temple

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted picture on LDS temples.

This is the Las Vegas Nevada Temple. We stopped here on the way to San Diego back in October.

My husband is really good at going to the temple every week. I’ve been trying to go every other week but it is really a lot harder to go to the temple with little kids. It has worked out though for the most part. I get the the temple about twice a month. Even though I don’t always get to go with Dallin to the temple, the sisters in our ward are always arranging trips together to the temple. It’s nice to get away to have some “girls time” too.  This allows me to be able to get to know different sisters in our ward better by going to the temple with them.

I also notice that even though I can’t go to the temple as often, there is still an increased measure of the Spirit at home. Why? I think it’s because little babies bring with them a special spirit. Also, I think it’s because my husband has been so faithful in attending the temple. I also believe that new moms can be blessed to have the “spirit of the temple” at home through prayer, scripture study, and uplifting music.

I heard once that a mom would take 2 hours of her week to have “temple time” even though she couldn’t physically get the the temple because of distance and time. During that time she would study about the temple.

How do you find time to go to the temple? (Especially if you have little kids…)

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So far on our virtual temple tour we have been to these temples:

I have more temple pictures. It’ll probably take the rest of the year to edit them!

By the way! I finally joined Instagram. You can follow me here.

My LDS Temple boards on Pinterest is here.

Random Photography Ramble: Why do I like to do this star burst effect? Because it was about noon day when we arrived at the temple  and there was no clouds in the sky. I usually like to take pictures during sunrise or sunset with clouds to help defuse the light. Lunch time really isn’t the best time for lighting so I think the light “burst” adds to the picture instead of just having a plan blue sky. You can learn how to do the star effect here.

Children, Photography, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Happy Valentine’s Day 2014!

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DID YOU KNOW? It’s actually “Happy St. Valentine’s Day”? Even though it is unclear exactly who St. Valentine is. One legend I heard while we were in Ireland is that February 14 is the day St. Valentine died. The Dubliners believe he is burried somewhere in Dublin, Ireland. They believe he was killed because he was performing marriage ceremonies for soldiers and young couples even though marriage was not allowed at the time.

While St. Valentine’s Day doesn’t have any significant religious value or doctrine in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church does support dating after the age of 16 and marriage between one man and one women. After marriage we are to work hard to keep a healthy and happy marriage. Our stake president counseled the husbands to take their wives on a date every week.

Basically, we celebrate Valentine’s Day because of culture and not religion. 🙂

WHAT DOES OUR FAMILY DO FOR VALENTINE’S DAY? Dallin told me that his mom use to make him a big heart shaped cookie for breakfast. So I woke up at 5 AM this morning to make him that big cookie!

May Bo loves to receive and give valentine’s. Her favorite memory is making tin foil Valentine’s day boxes in elementary school. Every year, May Bo has taken Valentine’s Day pictures of Micah ever since he was born. You can see the other years here:

2012

2013

We will post the 2014 Valentine’s Day pictures of Micah and Quentin another day. Why? Because there is this little girl who always comes up to us in Sunday school almost every week. She always gives us a cute smile and we give her gold fish crackers. Every time May Bo saw her she wanted to take a picture of her. So finally we just invited her over to take Valentine’s Day pictures. It’s not everyday that May Bo can take pictures of cute little girls since we have 2 boys!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY

 

 

Family, Photography, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Pose Ideas for Husband and Wife Pictures

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Well January was kinda crazy. I was trying to get my life back together after the holidays. We went on vacation in October and November. Then Christmas came along and my birthday. I also spent all January trying to recover from being sick and my data disaster. Now it’s already mid February…  Crazy! Good news! My computer is cleaned. The laundry is finally caught up and my apartment looks decent. I feel like I can actually sit down and write a nice blog post cause my kids are taking naps. So here we go!

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My old roommate Catherine came into town and she wanted an updated family picture.

Catherine and Dalton said they didn’t want another picture in front of fall colors nor did they want her pictures to look like engagement pictures.  So this is what we came up with:

Theme: Urban

Location: 341 S. Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah – Alleyway Between Maxwell’s and Array Salon

Time: We did dusk/twilight but it didn’t really matter too much because this area is in between tall buildings that block the sun.

I wanted to point out how good they were at posing!!! They came up with a lot of creative husband and wife / couple poses.

So, I want to write a little more about Catherine. She was one of the seven girls I ended up rooming with during my first year of college. She is amazing! She has so many talents especially in writing and journalism. My favorite thing about Catherine is that she makes everyone feel genuinely loved.

Every guy loved Catherine and wanted to date her. She ended up waiting for Dalton while he was on his 2 year LDS mission. They got married in the Bountiful Utah Temple in December of 2011.

Catherine and Dalton have been married for a little over two years and it’s obvious that they are really happy.

So what’s their secret? Why are they so happy? How are they making their marriage work?

I asked her specifically about how has their decision of being married in a LDS temple has helped their marriage.

This is what Catherine said:

“Because we were married in the temple, we are able to connect every choice we make in our lives to our overall purpose and ultimate destiny. Our journey together is real. When we face trials and uncertainties in life, we can always find joy in knowing there is a purpose and a plan for us. The temple made us an eternal team, and we are always reminded of that when we go back to the temple. This encourages us to focus all of our attention on being the best supporter we can of our teammate’s goals and dreams.”

Child #1: Micah, Child #2: Quentin, Family, Family Life, Landscape, Photography

Family Pictures: Emigration Canyon, Utah

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I had a vision of having our family pictures taken on the top of a snowy mountain so we drove up Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City, Utah to take these pictures. I think they turned out OK for being impromptu! 🙂

Why is it called Emigration Canyon? Wikipedia says:

Emigration Canyon was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961. It is significant in Utah history as the original route used by pioneers entering Utah. It was part of the Hastings Cutoff route used by the Donner Party in 1846, and where the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. As Brigham Young looked over the canyon, he declared, “This is the right place. Drive on.” These words have become famous in Utah history. The event is commemorated with This Is The Place Heritage Park at the mouth of the canyon. Throughout Emigration Canyon, there are several historic markers designating camps, trail markers and milestone where the Mormon Pioneers passed while on their way to the Salt Lake Valley. One example of these milestones is called Lost Creek Camp.

We used my brother’s Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras.

Wide angle lens are great for landscape shots.

We took these with a tripod so that’s why my kids don’t always look at the camera. I’m going to create a device one day that will capture my kids attention while my camera is self timer on a tripod… lol!

Enjoy!

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Child #1: Micah, Child #2: Quentin, Children, Family Life, Photography

Taking a Break During Finals Week

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I graduated almost 1 year ago. Why in the world am I writing about finals week? Probably because I still feel so busy during finals week even though I no longer have school. I feel like haven’t had time to sit down this whole week. Winter semester always seems the most busiest because finals week ends up around the holidays. My husband is in graduate school and my brother is also college so “school” is still on my mind all the time. Dallin and I stayed up all night yesterday trying to get his paper done. I’m exhausted today… all I can get myself to do today is sit at the computer during my kid’s naps. I’ve also been making Christmas treats all week and today I just want to take a break!

Most of the time, sitting at the computer is relaxing for me. I love going through my computer and organizing my pictures. I have taken so many pictures since the baby! I am way behind sorting my pictures but all I do is take more pictures. During the Christmas devotional last week, President Monson said, “Christmas is a glorious season of the year. It is also a busy time for most of us. It is my hope and prayer that we may not become so caught up in the pressures of the season that we place our emphasis on the wrong things and miss the simple joys of commemorating the birth of the Holy One of Bethlehem.”

So I’m going to take it easy today and let myself sit down at the computer to do something relaxing for me. I recently discovered totally awesome natural lighting in my apartment… it’s almost like studio lighting. We have east facing windows and white curtains. During the morning when the sun is out, the white curtains provides almost perfect diffused lighting for indoor picture taking.

Thank you God for providing free lighting in my apartment shining strait onto our kitchen table! I was able to get a few pictures edited today but now my kids are awake.

What kind of things do you do when you take a break?