This silly camera...

For Christmas, Karli and I got a new Nikon D40x SLR (Well, it was mostly for me...). Let me start off by saying that I absolutely love it. I bring it everywhere, and we're planning vacations around cool places I can take pictures at.

On the other hand, I'm finding that it's a very difficult camera to use well. I mean, any yayhoo can put it on 'Auto' and start clicking away, but what's the point? I want to take the awesome photos with vibrant photos and lots of context. To get to that point, it takes some work in learning the ins and outs of the machine. In short, it's not easy to learn.

For about 5 weeks now I've been trying to post some pictures of the girls playing soccer. The problem is that it's indoor soccer and lighting indoors becomes a pretty big issue. Either my photos are blurry and bright or they're crisp and very dark. Ugh.

Well, this past week I think I may have figured it out. Now, as you can tell, the photos aren't perfect. Some of them are a little soft. But in the long run, they turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Kristen had the first game. She is a sparkplug out there, runs like crazy and is always in the action. This week, however, she knew I was taking photos, so I think she hammed it up pretty well. Have a look. She also gets to play with her cousin Hallie on the same team, so they have a lot of fun with that.

Katelyn had the next game. She is more of a finesse player and into 'lookin good.' Just look at how her hair bounces. Katelyn tried really hard not to look at the camera this week. And for the most part, she kept her eyes open. KK got to play most of the game and had a lot of great plays.

(As a side note, when I was designing pages for the Deseret News Sports section, I would always get frustrated when the photographers would bring me sports photos that didn't have the ball in it. I could not understand why it was so hard to take a picture that included the ball. Well, now you can see that it's not as easy as it looks.)

Saturday was a very hard day for me. You see, normally Karli does all the work on Saturday. I think this is a good arrangement.

Well, last Saturday Karli had 'Church work' to do all day, so I had to be the impromptu 'mom' for a Saturday. I had to shuffle kids around to soccer. I had to run errands with all the kids in the car. I had to go to the post office. I had to go to the bank. I then had to come home and make lunch, then I had to give baths Saturday night, fix dinner and put kids to bed.

Whew. I realized I needed to tell Karli how much I appreciate her great work a lot more often than I do. She works VERY hard, and I love her very much.

PATRIOTIC KK -- On Thursday night we got to go to Ridgeline Elementary School to watch a play performed by the Fifth Grade. Katelyn, along with 250 other fifth graders, was the star of the show, performing all kinds of patriotic songs and having a great time in the process. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Craner for showing up to support Katelyn!

DALLIN THE SPL-- Dallin troop had a court of honor on Saturday in which he got two merit badges (Orienteering and Rock Climbing). He was also presented with an award (a place setting for a campout) given to the scout that could answer the most questions out of Brother Jay Anderton's scout book. He then led everyone in attendance in a stunning rendition of his favorite scouting song "Pizza Hut." (If you haven't seen it, you're one of the few).

The meeting was then brought to a close with the announcement that Dallin will be the new Senior Patrol Leader for the next six months. For those of you that don't know of Scouting Terminology, it means that Dallin is now kind of a big deal. People know him.

Dallin isn't sure how to take this. He loves the praise and recognition that comes with it, but he also understands that Bro. Anderton is one of the few Scoutmasters that actually makes the boys lead. He tells the boys that he is in charge of safety and the boys are in charge of having fun. Bro. Anderton is extremely organized and holds the Senior Patrol Leader accountable for the general welfare and leadership of the troop. One thing is for sure, Dallin will work very hard during the next six months, and that's a good thing.

CINNAMON ROLLS -- Scott and Dawn Craner have a pretty cool tradition in their family. You see, Scott does a good job at making cinnamon rolls on Sunday for his family. Karli thinks that this is a tradition that we should start in our family, except that instead of Scott making them cinnamon rolls, I get to do it. Well, after years of asking, I finally did it today. I made a yummy batch of cinnamon rolls. She better not hope this happens every week.

POLL RESULTS -- The results are in, and 100 percent of those polled agree that Karli should contribute to this blog. Her comeback is that since I'm so funny and a good writer (Yeah, she's patronizing me) that people are really wanting me to write, not her. So we've agreed that she will take an editorial role in this blog and continue to stay in the background while I supply the writing. Not ideal, but it's a start.

WE LOVE OUR DUST-MAN -- We don't put too many photos of Dustin in this blog, but it doesn't mean he isn't a huge part of our family. He is a very busy little boy who is quite popular is Mrs. Melzer's kindergarten class -- how many birthday parties can one little boy get invited to. His reading is getting better by the day, and today I even let him drive home from Church.

The kid is also infatuated with sword play. I can only imagine the damage he'd do with a real blade!

Well, I think that covers it. Have a great week and feel free to leave a comment! It makes our day!

Pat and Karli