I spent a gorgeous fall day photographing Dierks Bentley and his wife and baby. I couldn't have asked for a better recipe for success...wonderful people, a beautiful piece of land in the country, and a pizza eaten out of the box from the bed of a pick up truck.The Bentleys just announced to the world that they are expecting their second child by sending one of my pictures toPeople.com.  I can't wait to watch their family grow--Congratulations Bentleys!

  For quite awhile now the girls have begged me to get a new dog.  Each time they asked, the wall the death of our old dogs built up crumbled a bit. When I finally logged on to the rescue sites, I was overwhelmed by how many animals out there needed help.  I would look at a few and fall in love with each one.  Confused and sad I would log off, not ready to make a decision yet.  I finally decided to slyly poll the family and see what each person wanted if we did ever get another dog.  Armed with my crazy long list of personality traits, I logged on once again to see what I could find.  The list was so quirky that as I started checking off each request, I watched the millions quickly change to thousands, and then thousands dwindle  to hundreds.  As I plugged in the last crazy request, there was just one dog left... Ruby.Companionship, joy, love and safety are what Ruby found in our home.She stays in my computer chair all day as I work on image after image.  Keeping me company in a house that otherwise would be silent. When the girls arrive home from school, Elly and Ruby take off running.  In reality running is a speed much too slow for the two of them.  Whether it is a race around the house or a sprint through the yard, I couldn't possibly declare a winner. By the time they have lapped each other over and ...

 Through the sound of the steady beating rain drops, I was sure I could hear a chainsaw.   When I went outside to investigate, I saw him there in his bright yellow slicker.  My friend Anthony from Uganda. He was removing the old trees in our yard that were on our very long list of "things we would hopefully be able to get to someday".  When I asked why, his answer was simple. "I knew you wanted these down, and I knew an old couple that needed fire wood for heat.  The two seemed to go together. These are the ways of a village."  Instant tears, and an instant reminder that though our world seems big and way too busy, it is just a village, and I hope more of us can act like villagers. 

my favorite shoe.  if you look closely you can see the heel it is loved and worn {a bit like me}