Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!

So the weather threw a wrench in our New Year's Eve concert tonight, but we didn't sit around the house.

We had a fun last day of the year!  I mean really fun, listen to how many times Steph says, "WHOOOO!".

ALSO...look at KIA's FACE!  She loves the snow.


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Shoot The Moon.

In case you slept through the lunar eclipse last night...I stayed up for you!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Danny & Stephanie...


He dropped her on the ice, and then for one split second we thought he was falling through the ice.

BUT we got great images on a perfect winter day.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christmas Gift Buying.

The year was 1997 or 1998, Steph and I were celebrating one of our first Christmases together.  I don't recall what we did that year for Christmas, I probably worked over Christmas and Steph probably went to Huron to be with family...I was working in TV at the time and spent every holiday on the air.

My gift buying for Christmas has never really been a strong suit...it is something that is handed down from a father to a son, I think.  I also think Penny would agree with me that Bob isn't the world's greatest at this annual challenge for a man.  So back to the late 90's...Steph was playing a lot of volleyball at the time and I always noticed that she was the only one on the floor that didn't wear those really big knee pads...sooo that is something every woman wants for Christmas, right?  She also used to steal my baseball hats all the time and when a girl wears you hat, they change the size and get make up on the brow.  It's kind of pain, right?

So I walked out of Scheel's with a pair of insulated Russel sweatpants, a set of volleyball knee pads and a Minnesota Gophers hat.  I ROCKED, RIGHT?

Let's just say, she was a bit disappointed...not that I didn't put some thought into it, but she has never worn knee pads while playing volleyball, and a hat?  The sweats got worn, a lot.  1 out of 3 isn't bad, but I have never lived down the volleyball knee pads.

Right now as I sit in my hotel in Montana, I have all of her shopping done, the gifts are lying on the bed...and my goal this year was to make her forget about that first Christmas.  I bought everything except one thing at totally "Montana" stores, stuff you won't find anywhere else.  Some of it handcrafted...that is the end of my hints, so after Christmas ask Steph how I did this year, I think I have erased the "Ghost's of Christmas Past"!

By the way those volleyball knee pads came in handy when she was doing all the tile work in our house...I knew they would come in handy.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Friday, December 03, 2010

Sometimes I Don't Photograph People.

Many of you know I have a side business off our photography business called "HIS Signature".  It is an outlet for my artwork photography.  For most of my life I took pictures just for my own enjoyment, until the day someone told me they would pay good money for some of the work I had done.

That started with the famous Snow Barn picture and now had taken a life of it's own.  Today I am home with the 2 younglings as Steph and one of her girlfriends took off for MLPS.  I caught a glimpse of a blue jay outside and I grabbed my camera to get a shot and the bird never really gave me the opportunity to get a great shot, so I just started snapping off photos.

I was once told you are drawn to photograph things you love...that's why we all have pictures kids, family, vacations, our motorcycles, etc. pasted all over our homes, offices and computer desktops.

Well, I love my drums and today I photographed them...artistically.  If you want to look at the pictures they are HERE...just click on this text...I know of about 2 loyal readers that are also drummers that will follow this link.  For the rest of you I owe you the 45 seconds of life you took to read this post.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Auction Blessings...

My Alma Matter the great James Valley Christian High School held their annual benefit auction on Saturday and Monday night.  Monday night is traditionally a pretty late night as they don't stop selling until the last item is gone...which is usually early Tuesday morning.

Steph and I donated a few things from LakeHaus Productions and we really enjoy seeing them sell so we hung around until the last item was sold...which meant the kids had a long night.  Grandma Penny took Maxim home around so he could hit his bed time as he had school today.  But Kolby and Brecken were there and awake for the whole night.  When we were getting ready to pay our bill and leave for the night the line at the check out was pretty long, and we had a little wait time.  So we kind of let the kids do what they wanted within reason.

Earlier in the night Steph was bidding on the cutest pink Radio Flyer trike...but it was one of those items that gets expensive in a hurry.  So she dropped out and it went to Keith and Tanya, who are our relatives so it was a good thing.  But while waiting to check out Keith came up to Stephanie and gave us the trike.  He actually bought it for his granddaughter, but then he made up an excuse to give it to Kolby.

What do you say to that kind of generosity?  It was one of those blessings that kind of defines this community.  Keith said it was payment for the handful of times I mowed his lake house lot...I guess that means I have to mow it next year too...to help pay off the trike!

So to finish the story, Brecken hopped on the trike and started to pedal around the gymnasium, and then Kolby jumped on the back, they must have made about 5 laps around the building...getting laughs and a few, "who's naughty kids are those?" along the way.

They were alseep before Steph got a mile away from school.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Getting Caught Speeding...AGAIN!

If you are a subscriber to the Huron Daily Planet you might have seen my name in the paper for something besides a quote while doing my job at the electricity factory.  It seems that going 75 in a 65 gets you a little donation to the local highway fund.

I was due, it had been almost 8 years.

Now to the "again" portion of the story.  On Saturday the family was packed into the Expedition and of course we were a bit late for an event, so I might have been going a bit fast for the posted limit.  When out of the backseat this voice says..."ahhhhh, dad!!!".

"Yes, Maxim?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember what, Maxim?"

"What happened on the way to school that morning..."

(At this point I know I am busted by my son, which is way worse than any officer of the law...but I want to see what he has to say.)

"What do you mean, Maxim?"

"SPEEDING!"

"Well how fast am I going right now?"

"I can see the 80 number...."

Technically it was 75 again, but from where he was sitting it looked like 80, and might have been when the whole conversation started.  So Steph had a good laugh and I slowed down.  Really it was like having my dad in the backseat telling me to slow down.

That boy has such a pure heart...it makes us proud that Steph did such a good job raising him...and I.

(Sorry I took so long in between posts, Teri!  After my first speeding ticket Steph took away my computer privileges!)  :)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

This Is For Aunt Gloria

It seems that my last post brought some nostalgia out of my readers, so I was put on a quest to find a song that my mom and my aunt sang for me last night.

All I knew is it was a song about kissing a boy named Fred in the backseat of a car.  Mind you I knew it was from the 60's so it was a song they knew as kids...but it was a little creepy hearing your mom and aunt singing about kissing a boy in the backseat of a car...I guess that was my early birthday present.

Well I found the song, described as a "novelty song" in it's day.  It's a fun little ditty about Fred in the backseat with 7 girls. 

NOTE TO KOLBY: if you ever listen to filthy music like this you are grounded until you are 28!

I couldn't embed it into the blog so you have to click below.

Click Here.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Una Ka-boom-a-lunka....

The randomness of my mind just took me back to a song in my childhood I couldn't remember really how it went, I just thought it was a cool song.  Good thing Mr. YouTube remembered it.

I was riding in our old red Chevy with my mom...this song came on the radio, the windows were down, and we were driving by the Dairy Queen on the west side of the fairgrounds.  I think we were both belting out the chorus.  Una Ka-boom-a-lunka...I'm just a bird in the sky!

I was a little surprised when I found out tonight that a weird looking half-pirate/half lumberjack sang the song, and it was worded differently than I thought.



Thursday, November 11, 2010

Snuggle Time

Since Kolby is too young for most things that happen at church on Wednesdays I try to take her on a "daddy date" when I am available.  For the first time in a while we had "date night" last night.  Which just meant that she and I went home earlier than the rest of the fam.

We read 4 books, colored, played the drums, swung from the ring ropes in the basement and then wrestled.  She was tired and we went up to the couch to chill for a bit and then she fell asleep in my arms.  I have done this tv/couch/kid sleep time with my 2 smelly boys and it isn't a special than with your daughter.

Now to the funny part.  Sometime early in the morning Kolby woke up crying so Steph brought her into our bed...when I woke up at 6 AM there she was all cuddled up by my face.  Steph was already up working on LHP stuff so I turned on SportsCenter and held her tight.  In the process I fell back to sleep and when my alarm went off at 6:30 Kolby was still there with her face looking the other way and I snuggled back in for a little more snuggle time...then the dog that had taken Kolby's place in bed while I was sleeping licked me on the cheek.

Oh well, the dog needs a little love too.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Weekend Forecast

MLPS...MOA...WOA...REI...800-Hockey store...I'm sure I'll make Steph and the kids hit my favorite music/drum store and a photography store too.

If you knew where we are going by the first 4 acronyms you probably lived in Minneapolis at some point...or you go there way too often.
Truth be told we are going to make good on a promise to Maxim.  He has worked his tail off to keep his reading skills where they should be.  All summer he would put down what he was doing to work on his reading.

We promised him a trip to LegoLand at the Mall of America if he stayed diligent.  He did.  We are following up on our end of the deal.  He hasn't been there since he was 1 week old!  He has seen pictures. 

The worst thing is...I got on the MOA website and it shows that LegoLand is under a renovation.  He was heartbroke.  There is a store open, but it's not the same.  We will have to go after Christmas sometime too.

Maxim is a very hard working kid and this will be a weekend all about FUN...MAXIM-STYLE.  Legos, Star Wars and the Waterpark of America.  His favorite things.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Maxim Called The Shot

After a busy weekend of LakeHaus Productions work, Sunday afternoon was one to enjoy with the boys...well, the boy, as Brecken took a long overdue nap.  Since playing football with at least teams of 2 vs. 2 is way more fun than 1 vs. 1 Maxim and I decided to forgo our usual football game with Steph and Brecken on Sunday afternoon for a little pheasant hunt.

My pheasant hunting has been lacking this year, due to a busy LHP schedule and an injured English Pointer.  Lilly was working like a rockstar on my first pheasant hunt of the year, and 45 minutes later I was headed to the vet to get her stitched up. 

So on our hunt on Sunday, I decided to leave Lilly in the kennel and take my 16 year old blind and deaf German Shorthair Pointer (kind of like if Brett Farve were a pointing dog) across the road to hunt the public ground on the NE corner of the lake.  I have not seen as many people hunting it and we heard birds so I knew we should get at least one out of the walk.

We got geared up and headed across the road to go "look for bad guys".  Maxim took along his fake side by side shotgun that Grandpa Roger bought him and it was a good tool for me to teach him firearm safety.  So we started hunting.  Basically we just followed Annie's lead.  Then it happened, she locked down on a bird and pointed rock solid.  The nose still works.  A hen got nervous and flushed out, then the rooster came out...it flew to our right and Maxim said, "aren't you gonna shoot it dad?"  One shot, one dead bird.

He carried it the rest of the day in his hunting vest...and proceeded talked about Star Wars The Clone Wars the rest of the 2 hours we were out.  So we pretended we were Clone Troopers on planet Dakota looking for bad guys.

Last funny part of the night...about a half mile from home another dog joined us.  Lilly broke through the kennel fence and must have heard me using the whistle to control Annie and found us.  She didn't look too hurt.

So we had a bird to clean and a kennel fence to fix when we got home.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Goosing It.

A couple of photos from our fun goose hunt. I know pheasant hunting in South Dakota is king right now, but the geese are a blast. (pun intended)

We thought we were not going to see a goose and then about 20 minutes before we had to stop shooting, the first group came in, then the 2nd group...and by the time we were limited it was only about 15 minutes after we had started shooting on the first group.

My father-in-law and his buddy from Ohio are the guys in the middle and Joe on the left is my buddy from work, I have to call him "Guide Joe" now.

Mike and Roger might be the only 2 out of state hunters to leave South Dakota and brag about the waterfowl hunting as opposed to the pheasant hunting.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Give Me 7 Minutes

As a person who has produced videos for a living, this one is pretty amazing.

Remember it is one shot through the entire thing.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Ninjas.

There was a day when my cousins and I spent a lot of money buying "ninja-type" throwing stars out of martial arts magazines, and making nunchucks out of broken hockey sticks and old dog chains.

We would train to be ninjas, pretending to be able to jump amazing distances, and wield swords like the guys we saw in the movies.  Ninjas rocked back in 1980-something, and they still do today.

Steph bought the boys the 1984 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and now our boys love to play ninja-time.  With Halloween costumes in the aisles of stores our kids end up getting a couple for the year.  Heck, we really don't even go trick-or-treating, they buy the suits to play dress up all year long.

This year they both got ninja suits, and it was a big "secret".  On Monday night, we got home from hockey and Maxim and Brecken wanted to quickly get in the house, I knew why.  So I wasted some time in the garage and then went inside the NINJA'S LAIR. 

The boys had Steph tied up in Kolby's room, and when I got in and turned on the lights they proceeded to beat me with plastic swords.  Brecken needs to learn to let up a bit when he is going to make contact with me.  He smacked me in the arm and IT HURT.  So I went down and they proceeded to jump on me and punch me until I said I was sorry and gave up.

So if you come to our house and the lights are off, enter with the knowledge that you are going to take a plastic sword to the arm.  AND YES...NINJA'S WEAR WHITE SOCKS.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Happy B-Day...you old drumstick thrower.

My sister had a birthday yesterday, I called her at 7:05 a.m. and sang happy birthday on her voicemail, then reminisced about dumb games her and I used to play in the back of the car when on road trips with our folks.  (Yeah, this was one of those annoying voice mails that goes on and on)

There are things about your childhood you just don't forget, like the backseat games, fighting with Sally every Sunday after church and playing my drums at the time when it would be most annoying to her..etc.

Growing up my drum set was in the basement in the family room, where we did most of our TV watching.  Steph has never had the experience of a drum set in the house until last week, she let me purchase my first set of acoustics since my old set was basically worn out and sold years before we were married.

I set up the new kit on Sunday, but haven't had a ton of time to tune it and play it so my level of annoyance has been minimal.  Each time I have played I always ask, "I wasn't too loud was I?"  Steph always says, "no, I liked it."  Maybe it isn't that loud in our house or maybe Steph is super deaf, but I keep having flashbacks of the "stick throwing incident of 1987" and I have been trying to not re-enact that event.

REWIND to 1987, I'm sure I was wearing a Nike shirt with my name on the back, had long hair and "Bermuda" shorts...the home speakers were blasting Bon Jovi, Quiet Riot, Stryper, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Whitesnake or something like that, and I was playing along on my drum set...LOUD AND PROUD.  (To this day I can't believe Penny never told me to be quiet) 

Sally would have been wearing something teal and purple with leg warmers and big hair, and she was sitting on the couch.  The unwritten rule was first one in the room gets honors to the remote (I actually broke a toe one time racing her to the remote), or if I'm playing first she would have to live with it.  But this day in 1987 I decided to break the rules, and play the drums while she was watching re-runs of Little House.  There must have been drum sticks laying all over the floor, and she grabbed one and said, "if you don't quit playing I'll chuck this at you!"  I kept playing, and she Nolan Ryan'd that thing straight at my melon.

I don't recall if it hit me, glanced off me or hit the drums first then hit me, but I called her bluff and she threw down the royal flush, and it hit me in the head.  I had just been told by a science teacher that if you get hit in the temple you could die instantly, and armed with that knowledge I proceeded to cry out this phrase that has lived on, "YOU, sniff, COULD, sniff, HAVE, sniff, HIT, sniff, ME, sniff, IN THE TEMPLE!"

Well, it didn't hit me in the temple, and I stopped playing long enough for her to see Laura win the spelling test and save Walnut Grove from a blizzard.  I have to think at some point Steph will walk into the room and chuck something at me in order for me to stop playing...just to make Sally happy.

To be honest I think it was that traumatic day that kept me from making big as a drum rock star.

Friday, October 01, 2010

T. Denny My Offer Stands....

A view of what the new Sanford Health sign on the Target Center in Minneapolis will look like.
So it looks like the T-pups ticked off the Hottest Team In Minneapolis by selling themselves....I mean part of their building to a familiar hospital brand around here.  It seems the Twins are mad at their neighbors for selling some advertising space on the side of their building that will dominate the sight line in right field.

Not real sure why Sanford would advertise in MLPS, maybe I don't understand their new business model, but I do know that almost every TV in eastern N.D & S.D. will be tuned in to watch the games if the Twins do well in the October Classic...so technically they would be speaking to their market.

On a side note, (tongue-in-cheek here) the other Sioux Falls mecca/hospital Avera has purchased some signage as well...they picked up a billboard at Bloomington Jefferson High School's JV Football Complex...just to, once again, try to keep up with Sioux Valley/Sanford/T. Denny.

Keep reading...click on the link below if your name is T. Denny Sanford.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Go Big. Go Blue. Go Jacks.

Bob and Penny took the kids this weekend so that Steph and I could spend over 10 hours in a car together...and we talked the entire time.  Wow, what a concept, to actually sit and just talk with your wife, with no screaming kids in the back of the car, or having to "yell" back at them to quiet down.

We went to Lincoln, Nebraska to watch South Dakota State University play the Huskers.  Steph's brother Jason hooooooked us up with Champions Club passes, which is like tailgating for lazy people, then we went in for the game.  Without recapping the entire game, I was very pleased...we got a standing ovation from the Husker fans, and walked off the field with a 17 to 3 loss.  A loss, but a lesson.

The other cool thing was I got to see Sally, Brad, Carson and Cassidy at the game.  Carson grew like 2 feet since the summer.

Here are some photos of the day...can you believe the photographer took no camera with?  So these are BlackBerry pictures.  As far as the the photos from on the field, let's just say I still have a lot of contacts out in the media world.



Friday, September 24, 2010

I Breathed Today...Then A Bridge Collapsed

My pace of life since July 7th has been breakneck.  Today I actually inhaled and exhaled 2 times without the phone ringing.  Then I got an e-mail that a bridge out by the house collapsed.  If you are familiar with the Foster Creek Bridge it is kind of the bridge that connects North Shore to the rest of the world without having to use gravel.

It is also serves as a backdrop for a lot of my LakeHaus Productions photo shoots, I can think of at least 5 off the top of my head where the bridge has come in handy.  Click here to see the bridge, and 2 kids.

So I guess I will not be running north in the mornings and will continue on my southern routes, unless I want to do a little early morning swimming too!

WEEKEND FORECAST:

SDSU @ Nebraska - Saturday 6pm   GO JACKS.
(Steph and I will be the people wearing BLUE in the sea of red)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

KEN BLOCK....Gymkhana III

I love rally car driver Ken Block, he used to be Mr. Subaru and of course that's why I loved him...but as you can see in his newest movie he is rolling a Ford...actually he is abusing this little car.

This is visual candy.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Williams & Ree


It wasn't hard, but I talked these guys into singing Happy Birthday to the fair.


Monday, September 13, 2010

Grandpa Bob's Birthday Weekend

Grandpa Bob had a birthday today, and we celebrated all weekend long.  The boys and I got up early on Saturday and headed into Bales for some good old fashioned sale barn breakfasts.  Then we went out to dad's horses to help him set up for an event on Saturday night.

Of course the boys wanted to ride the horses so we kept them busy in the round pen for an hour or so.  It is fun to see them both loving to ride.  Brecken is of course a cowboy when he is on his horse, but Maxim chooses to be a Medieval Knight fighting off dragons and other bad knights.  He also some how worked Star Wars Clones into the mix on Saturday, but that wouldn't surprise me.  A tauntaun is a lot like a horse.

Sunday we grilled steaks at mom and dad's house and dad and I fell asleep watching football.  Sometimes I can't believe how different he and I are, and then somedays I catch myself doing the exact same things he did...that I thought were completely dumb.  Like getting up at 6 AM and running...now I am grumpy if I don't get my running in.

Thanks dad for being a dad, father, friend and role model...to me, my sister and my kids.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Sky Cam

For part of my LakeHaus Productions duties I got up in a helicopter and took some overhead shots of the fair.  Super fun and the fact that the chopper's door was off made it even better.

10 minutes after shooting this photo I was on the Freedom Stage introducing an act!  I was going at a breakneck pace this weekend, but I think Steph's job of supervising our booth was harder work!



Sunday, August 29, 2010

VERY TEMPTING...

This sign is in front of our house, and is soooo very tempting, but my speedometer only goes to 150.
(The county is changing out the old signs, and I guess it would be too financially efficient to take the old ones down while you put up the new ones???)


Saturday, August 28, 2010

A little busy lately.

I'm sorry the blog has suffered lately...if you want to know what I have been up to, just google my name, and then hit the "latest news" filter.

It has been a rough couple of weeks on the family...very nice to have nothing really scheduled this weekend.  Built some legos, played the drums with the band, ran big miles on Saturday, now I'm going to start kicking out a bunch of LakeHaus Productions work.

Fair week is next week, if you are around stop by the LakeHaus Productions booth in the "South Dakota Made" building.  The one where you can get milk and ice cream...south of the FFA Animal Nursery.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Born To Ride Sheep

Brecken entered the Mutton Bustin' at the Bull Bash in Mitchell tonight...he rode great for his first time out.  He scored a 74 and placed 4th.

Grandpa was smiling from ear to ear and Brecken walked back to our seats in front of thousands of people and he made sure every single one of them saw his trophy.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Monkey Man

Watch This....click here... crazy story about a guy from India that learned parkour/buildering/freerunning whatever you call it to escape poverty.

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Dude Trip.

Maxim and I went on our first ever "dude trip"...just us two and nobody else.  We were going to head out to the Black Hills to climb and bounce around for a few days, but I was dumb and scheduled the trip on the same weekend as the opener for Sturgis...so while all the Harleys were headed west, we headed east to the Palisades...here is the trip in photos.



Our hike at 0-6-hundred...Maxim's idea, because he couldn't sleep...


Our shadows at 0-6-something


Maxim holding King Rock in the palm of his hand.


Me squishing Maxim's melon.


Because 1 Maxim just isn't enough, and 6 would be too many.


My favorite photo...Maxim packing in our climbing rope for the day, that was the first time he carried any gear on our climbing trips.


Getting started on a great route on Queen Rock.
(yes, he should have had his helmet on, but his dad forgot it in the garage...God protects better than a plastic brain bucket!)


Topping it out, one of 4 times in about 10 minutes!


HE LOVES TO SWING DURING THE RAPPEL.


THANKS FOR MAKING THIS TRIP POSSIBLE MOM!
Love, Maxim and Dad...

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Happy Anniversary LHP...

LakeHaus Productions is now a year old...give or take a little bit.  Technically we had the tax id number earlier in 2009 than August, but last August is when it really took off and now it is going like a 4 year old hopped up on Red Bull.  (Wait I have one of those already, now we have 2?)

Steph and I talked about having a "One Year Anniversary Open "Haus" some weekend at our home, but we are so busy with LHP work that we don't have a free weekend until late September.

We have been blessed to say the least, we started this thing to maybe pick up a little extra cash now and then, and it has turned into a full-fledged photography, video, graphic design and Internet business, with side projects and a couple extremely large assignments that will last over 2 years.

So just in case we don't have that OpenHaus for LakeHaus...thank you to all who have made this thing possible...be it through baby sitting, helping clean up or giving us business ideas, you are all very much appreciated.

Also, we would like to welcome our first part time employee.  She went from model to "photography assistant/kid wrangler/model", and her name is Morgan K.  Morgan has been our go to baby sitter for a while and a week ago she helped us on a family photo shoot and she rocked it.  She holds the flash, the diffuser, fixes hair and clothes and makes kids smile...she will also be logging a lot of time at the State Fair at our booth in the South Dakota Marketplace (where you buy milk and shakes).

Monday, August 02, 2010

Cassidy Bay

My brother-in-law Brad and my neice Cassidy recently visited the Dominican Republic, which is the country where Brad was born.  He snapped this picture of Cassidy walking down the beach on afternoon and posted it to his blog.

Our entire family loves this shot, so I thought I would take the original and give it a little LakeHaus Productions editing flair.

On a final note: Cassidy is "the bees' knees"...she is growing up way to fast, and it makes her uncle feel a bit old.  She is so beautiful and has a beautiful soul to match....the total package, right?

Water Feature.

So we were supposed to go camping this weekend with our best friends from Sioux Falls, but our camp sites were flooded out.  They decided to go to Omaha and hit the zoo and Ginger Cove, the lake our friend's parents live on, we decided to stay home since we needed to be at church on Sunday morning since Steph was singing and I was playing drums.

So on Saturday we went to work on our "water feature" that looks sooo nice on one of our back patios.  When we told some friends we put a little pond thing in, he said, "you guys live on a lake, why do you need a pond feature?"  I hadn't thought of it that way, but it looks nice and it is land that I don't have to weed eat or mow, so it is good!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Downtown MLPS

Most of my photography is based in an outdoor rural setting so it was nice to get to go downtown MLPS and get some shots.  Here is one.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Jack

Steph and I had a great weekend without the kids, thanks to both sets of grandparents.  We went to MLPS and then on to Wisconsin for a Jack Johnson concert.  We loved Jack's music before we went to the concert, and after we love him even more. 

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

May I Have Your Attention, Please.

Grandma Clarice and Grandpa Roger are here for a couple weeks and our family couldn't be more happy...especially Kolby, she has Grandpa Roger wrapped around her sticky little fingers.

Here are some pictures from the first day of their arrival yesterday...note, Grandpa's constant attention to Koco...




Of course our house has been pretty busy with the 4th of July on the lake...we had a great time with a lot of friends over the 4 days of fun.  Here are some of the photos I took when I had some time to myself.







Monday, July 12, 2010

Storm Chasing, Fine Art and Energy Drinks

Most of you know about our side business http://www.lakehausproductions.com/ ... well, we also have some fine art prints that Steph and I sell under that same business name, we call them the "HIS signature" series.  They are landscape photos that I have taken over the years and we add a piece of scripture to them that ties in nicely with the print.

This weekend we were at the Brookings Arts Festival selling our prints.  My dad came up with the idea of using the covered wagon and cookfly (sort of like an open sided tent shade) to use as our "booth"  it worked out great and Steph decorated it sooooo classy.  We sold a lot of prints and I am always humbled to know that people will buy pictures I have taken and pay hard earned money for them to hang in their home...it is flattering to say the least.

We had a great first ever show, the Brookings Arts Festival Staff gave us several comments, and we were also invited by a head hunter to go to another art show in Minneapolis to sell our work, and they waived the booth fee for us...I think they are hard up for artists?!?!?!?

There was a slight change in weekend plans as on Friday the TV show Inside Edition called a fellow free-lance photojournalist friend of mine and offered a gig on Sunday that paid so well, we couldn't pass it up.

We left Huron around 11pm headed West...slammed a lot of Monster, Red Bull, RockStar and sunflower seeds and arrived in Rapid around 2AM, got up at 7AM and were ready for work.

We were shooting video for a story that Inside Edition is doing on Silverline Tours a storm chasing tour operation that is based out of Denver.  So we ended up all around the western edge South Dakota, got close to Nebraska and spent most of the day in Wyoming.  We didn't see any tornadoes, but the super cells we saw were really cool...(don't be surprised if I have some prairie weather pictures to sell soon)

So we worked from about 9 to 7pm MT and were somewhere in Wyoming and we drove all night to get back to Huron around 3AM or 4AM.  I slept at Bob and Pennys house and was at my desk a little after 8am.

I am on a high from our booth at the arts festival and my work for Inside Edition...now the follow up, my mother and father-in-law arrived at the house at 11AM this morning...it never slows down at our house!

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Giving Up...

I have started many things...only to give them up later.  I was gonna be a boxer after watching Rocky III, but getting hit all the time sucks.  I rode bulls until I was about 23, my shoulder kept popping out of it's socket which isn't normal, so I quit that...(but still have the desire to climb back on one!)  I stared reading a bunch of books that didn't hold my ADD attention span.  I have a mountain bike rebuild project that has been sitting in my garage for 2 years now.  I haven't filled the nail holes on our trim in the kitchen.

It happens, we get into different routines in our life...things change, and our changing dreams and life patterns force us to basically give up on somethings.

What brings on this post about quitting, you ask?

I ran into a friend of mine's little brother...he's like 27 or something.  I haven't seen him in quite a while, and I almost didn't recognize him.  He was wearing farmer-style overalls and had put on like 80 pounds.  I told him I liked his overalls...he said yeah, "I gave up trying to find jeans that fit...the overalls don't fall down and they make them for fat guys who eat a lot of cake."

Now I have "wintered-well" a few times and 10 or 15 pounds goes on pretty easy, but at some point don't you say...I have to do something about my clothes not fitting?

So if you ever see me wearing overalls, take me out for a run...a long run.  I have always said, "I work out like a maniac so I can eat like an idiot!"

Friday, June 25, 2010

Brecken the T-Baller


Here is a couple shots of Brecken playing for his t-ball team the Twins.

Note the batting glove dangling out of the back pocket...he saw a big leaguer do that.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

He's 8.

So today at 6:17 p.m. Maxim will have officially been in the world for 8 years.

I decided to post these pictures of Maxim from Sanford's Cradle Roll archive...I remember thinking, "What am I going to do with a kid...am I ready to be a dad...what if I drop him?"  Well, Maxim has survived 8 years with Stephanie and I and I think he is doing quite well.

When they hand you that little human wrapped up in hospital-issued blankets you never know what is in the package.

Maxim is insightful, caring, free thinking, comical, and creative.  Some days when his little mind is wandering, and he is lost in his own little world, I can't help but want to get inside his thoughts to see what makes him tick.  He has made Stephanie and I much different people, for the better.  Thank you, Maxim...and Happy Birthday.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Lake Byron Falls

Our rain gauge actually overflowed this weekend.  It holds 6 inches.  I don't know if Maxim was playing a trick on us or not, but this picture shows that we did get a little rain.  The lake came up almost 2 feet.

If you have activeX installed and click on the photo it will make it full screen...I think.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Different Day Than You Planned

Ever wake up with this really productive day planned and you end up in a conference call for 2 hours, eating chips and dip at your mom's house for lunch, running out of time for a workout, and to cap the night off...removing a virus from your computer, while your wife, and 2 of 3 kids suffer from a virus?

Most days don't go as planned, but if you do plan a day...it will most likely just go.  -ME

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Kolby is crying.

Since Kolby woke me up so early this morning her nap time happened at about 7:30am, so I was going to blog a little, and now she is crying again, and it is only 9:00am.

I now know why Steph can't mow the yard, feed the kids, hang up my laundry, clean the house, get the kids ready for all of their sports, and so on, and so on...I have just Kolby and I can't even do the one Saturday job Steph gave me to do, and that was water a few flowers...I hope it rains...not really.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

"Woof, Woof." said Maxim.

So Maxim is pretty much self-sufficient in the personal care department, of course with some prompting by Steph...he will brush his teeth, shower and pick out clothes all by himself.

Tonight after a good day of "outsideness", Maxim needed a shower and when Steph went into the bathroom to get something she smelled a familiar smell of shampoo, but it wasn't the one you want your son using.  She asked him if he was using Kia's (our dog) shampoo and he said, "Yes, after I got it scrubbed up on me I realized it was Kia's!"

So he just rolled with it, I guess there is no sense in wasting good dog shampoo...Steph laughed at him and when she walked out of the bathroom, Maxim said, "woof, woof!"

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Lone Rangers

The boys got out on the horses last night and played a little Lone Ranger, fully equipped with cap guns and WILD imaginations.

The highlight of the night was when Grandpa showed the boys how the old western movie stunt guys used to bail off horses when they got shot....or did Grandpa really get bucked off his new horse?  Call him Casey Tibbs and see what kind of reaction he gives you.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Summer Break...now Brecken has some friends.

Maxim's last day of 1st grade was on Friday, and summer break has officially begun.

That is good news for Brecken, as he was starting to get a little bit sad for "friends".  I guess the other day Steph and Brecken were outside, on the trampoline and Brecken was playing his "butar" AKA guitar.  His song went something like this....

"Ohhhh, I don't got no friends,
But I got my grandpa....
I don't got no friends,
But I got my grandpa...."

My first thought was to correct his use of "got no" to "I don't have any friends," but then I realized that it was more of a country song, so the use of improper English is accommodated in this instance for song writing purposes.

Well, his friend/brother will be around for about 90 days now, all the time.  By the end of the week he will be begging for Maxim to go back to school.

We are sure this song will live on in infamy as Grandpa thinks it is pretty much the best song ever written.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Cowboy Is 4.

I'm a little late on this post, but I have been driving a car for the last 4 days...the 13th was Brecken's birthday.  The little wild man is 4 years old now.

Many of you know he loves skateboarding, wakeboarding, playing hockey and being a cowboy...quite the combination of loves we know, and it makes for some interesting playtime.

I am not sure but I think every dad has been a "bull"  for their children to ride.  My dad did it for me and I do it for my boys as well, and lately Kolby wants in on the rodeos too.  Brecken and Grandpa share quite a bit of time on horseback, and with all the growing B-Wreck has been doing lately he didn't fit into many of his clothes, so for his birthday he got clothes, and he was pumped about it.  New cowboy jeans, a bullriding vest and brand new boots just like the High School kids are wearing.  He is pretty proud of his new duds and can't wait to go ride Juneau with his new boots on.

Here is the little picture I did to make him look like he was a real bullrider on the PBR tour.