The Boring Story

Savvy Photgrapher Giveaway!

2010-02-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

Check out this amazing website, they have an awesome giveaway today! The Savvy Photographer is giving away a fabulous Kelly Moore bag~http ://www.thesavvyphotographer.com

So exciting!!

Launched my Photography Website!!

2009-09-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

I launched my photography website today and I am just ecstatic about it! I have been so blessed with the support of my wonderful friends and family as Ive tried to establish my photography business. Thank you all so very much! Check out my new site!!

dennealisephotography.com

I Heart Faces: Week 33 "Nostalgia"

2009-08-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

This week over at I Heart Faces the theme is Nostalgia. I picked this photo of Carlee in front of a nostalgic woody. We go to Woody's on the Wharf every year, because the day I gave birth to her this event was going on, and my husband and I really wanted to go to it but I went into labor instead. Carlee and I LOVE looking at old cars together....and she has to get her picture taken in front of the ones she wants to own...LOL.

I Heart Faces: Week 29 "At the Beach"

2009-07-27T09:08:00.001-07:00

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is At the Beach. I chose this picture of Carlee running in the ocean in Hawaii...she is just full of joy!

Head over to http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ to see other beautiful faces on the beach!

I Heart Faces: Week 28 Feet!

2009-07-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is "Feet". Here is a photo I took of Carlee on the lifeguard tower showing me her sandy tootsies!

Head over to http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ to see other more feet!

I Heart Faces: Week 20 Silhouettes

2009-05-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

This week at I Heart Faces the photo challenge is Silhouettes. This is a Silhouette picture of my best friend and her family walking on the beach at Natural Bridges Beach.

Check out other silhouette pictures at iheartfaces.blogspot.com

I Heart Faces: Week 19 Blurb Photo Book Contest

2009-05-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

This week over at I {Heart} Faces there is a contest. The winner of this contest will end up with their photo in a book! How exciting! Here is one of my favorites of Carlee gazing up at bubbles. If you want to enter, or look at other wonderful entries head over to http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/.

I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Facesweb sites.

My First Photo Shoot

2009-05-17T18:09:00.001-07:00

I did my first photo shoot of my best friend and her beautiful family at Natural Bridges Beach on Thursday. I was super nervous. I wanted to capture how special their connection is and how beautiful their family is for them. I really enjoyed taking pictures of them. Kaylee played in the water and Leah was having nothing to do with it! My best friend Ashley is so gorgeous, it was hard to get a bad picture of her. I am so fortunate to have such wonderful friends that are my guinea pigs for my passion in photography. Here are some of my favorite shots of the Gooch Family.

I Heart Faces week 18 "Laughter"

2009-05-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is Laughing. Right away I thought of this picture of Carlee. She was running circles around me as I tried to take her picture. She was being so silly and laughing hysterically as I tried to keep up with her! Check out other great photos at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

Boardwalk Beach

2009-05-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

We went to Boardwalk Beach again today, but this time Daddy got to come! Haylee walked on the beach for the first time to her daddy! The girls dug a whole together and watched it fill up with water then proceeded to splash each other. Haylee was amused by her reflection and the water rushing up to her. They both were covered in sand and soaking wet. It was a fun day filled with sand, water and giggles!

Sandy Sisters

2009-05-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the beach since the rain finally stopped! Carlee danced with seaweed as Haylee shoved fist-fulls of sand in her mouth. I really enjoyed watching the girls take in the sunshine and fresh air since we've been cooped up inside lately. Watching the girls play and seeing their different personalities emerge reenergizes me. They are both beach babies. Haylee squeels with excitement every time we step on the sand and Carlee races right to the waters edge to feel the water on her feet. Life is so good! I am just so blessed to be their mommy.

Haylee enjoying a mouth full of sand.

Carlee digging sand out of Haylee's mouth, what a good big sister!

Dancing around Haylee

My little dreamer

She loves seaweed

She wanted to go to the Boardwalk sooo bad!

I Heart Faces week 17 "Hats"

2009-05-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is "Hats" This is my adult entry. I am so proud of my husband graduating college!! It's been a long ride, we had two beautiful children along the way. We can't WAIT to start a new journey in our lives!

I Heart Faces week 17 "Hats"

2009-05-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

This week at I heart Faces the theme is "Hats". Here's Haylee in her favorite beanie, the only hat she doesn't take off! Check out http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ to see other great photos!

/span>>

Easter

2009-04-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

So, Ive been bad at blogging lately. I have been taking this amazing class by Karen Russell and am absorbed in that. As well as trying to keep the girls and I cool with this last heat wave that hit!

Here's some pics from Easter. Carlee carried her Easter basket around with all her goodies for 8 days. Now she's on to wearing her swimming suit every day. We'll see if she makes it 8 days. She makes me smile.

Carlee looking for her Easter eggs. It took her awhile to find this one!

Every time Carlee finds an Easter egg, she stops...puts down her Easter basket and kneels down to open it, then on to the next.

Love this one of Haylee looking all proud of herself!

Carlee by gramma's tulips

I Heart Faces: Week 19 Blurb Photo Book Contest

2009-03-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

You Capture. Week Three.

2009-03-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

This week at "I Should be Folding Laundry" the theme is texture.

We were walking on the beach and I took some pictures of mussels and barnacles attached to a rock.

To see other neat texture shots check out http://www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com

We Picture This

2009-03-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

I just turned this color picture into a Black & White. I really like how it turned out! To see other beautiful black & whites check out http://we picturethis.com/.

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-03-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

You Capture~Perspective

2009-03-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

Beth over at "I Should Be Folding Laundry" has a feature every week called "You Capture". This week's theme is called perspective. I usually take pictures of my daughters and people, so this picture I took stood out to me. I was on a walk and the reflection of this church caught my eye in a puddle. To see more beautiful pictures check out http://www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com.

I Heart Faces week 8

2009-03-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

This week's contest theme at I heart faces is "messy".

Carlee begged me to let her paint her little sister Haylee's face. This is her masterpiece .

Please check out iheartfaces.blogspot.com for more wonderful picture entries

New Favorites

2009-03-01T12:40:00.000-08:00

Haylee favorite food for now is cantaloupee. She actually eats it through the mesh strainer teether, not like this! I was eating this piece next to her and she lunged over, grabbed it and started gnawing on it. So, I grabbed my camera! She smells of sweet cantaloupe and I just love it. I watched her very closely so she didn't gnaw off a piece and choke...she just sucked the juice right out of it. Im sure it felt good on her gums too! Sweet baby.

Carlee got a new chaise lounge for her room. It's pink patent leather with white piping. This is her new place to read, watch her movies and play with Luci, her baby. She also likes to sleep on it. I put her down for a nap the other day when I went to go check on her she was passed out on her lounger. She tells me if I want to take her picture, she has to sit on her pink lounger. I was outside taking pics of Carlee playing and she made me bring her lounge out, I had to. I love her devilish grin. What a cutie!

I will pics of our Tahoe trip soon. Ive been so busy, and Im finally done editing them!

She..

2009-02-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

She wakes me up in the morning by singing on the toilet.

She will make up a song about anything, including going to time out today after saying a bad word. There is a song for everything.

She wears flip flops everywhere, and calls them her "flippers"

She changes clothes 6 times a day

She tells the cats if they don't stop fighting she will "put them in time out...and she's NOT kidding"!

When she tells me she loves me she says, "Mommy, I love you more than the whole big world".

She is very opinionated and knows what she wants.

If she gets one drop of water on her clothes she strips them off, no matter where she is

Bubbles still fascinate her.

Im gonna get ya!

2009-02-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

Haylee is growing so fast! She is now trying to figure out how toy get things that are out of her reach. She is trying to crawl and I had to snap some shots of her trying to learn how to move her body the right way to get where she wants. There is so much determination in her eyes. And pure joy in her laugh when she finally gets the toy she wants after falling on her tummy and rolling to them. She's learning! Im off to baby proof the rest of my house..she's determined to crawl all around this place!

Taking my camera for a walk

2009-01-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

Early this morning I took my camera for a walk with Phil, Lori and Nette. We walked to a church in Soquel as the sun was coming up. We had the pleasure of using his AMAZING lenses. I especially loved his telephoto lens, which weighed close to what Haylee weighs! I could barely hold the thing still, but I fell in love.

Normally I take pictures of my girls. I rarely take pictures of anything else. I see the beauty in a lot around me, but can't take my eyes off the girls long enough to capture much else. I look forward to our next outing. Here are two pictures I liked out of the batch I took.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2009-01-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There was barely anyone there, so we spent hours gazing at the fish, touching starfish and Carlee played in the Splash Zone. We started taking Carlee here when she was 5 months old. We went about once a week. She was in awe of the fish in the enormous tanks. The Aquarium is still one of Carlee's favorite places.

Daniel and I decided to take Haylee for her first time today. She too was in awe of the fish and otters and jellyfish especially. She kept trying to grab them through the glass. Carlee was educating Haylee on all the sea life. The girls sat next to each other in front of the enormous 50 foot tall tank with hammerhead sharks, tuna, sea turtles, sunfish and many other fish I have no clue what they are! It was so amazing. Haylee was fascinated! Carlee touched stingrays, starfish, abalone, and hermit crabs as well. It was such a great family day. We definitely will be going back soon! Some pictures are a bit fuzzy because I don't use my flash, and in some rooms it was pretty dark. But they are still such great shots!

Roaring Camp

2009-01-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

Today we all went to Roaring Camp and walked through the redwoods. One of our favorite places to walk. Its such a peaceful place and I am always in awe of the enormous redwoods that have been around for centuries. Of course I had to take my camera. The lighting was perfect and it was so green an lush.

Carlee was enthralled with the moss growing on the trees, rocks and fence. As well as the huge trees. It was truly beautiful. Haylee kept looking up at the canopy of trees that hung over us, reaching to touch them even thought they were so tall.

It so nice to have this place to get away from it all. Life has been a bit crazy lately and when we went here, it seemed to center us. We are exactly where we are supposed to be in life and are so open for what's next to come. Instead of resisting it. It's a lot less stressful!

Anyways, Daniel and I are so thankful that we live in such a beautiful place and are all so close. That we can take our girls (and ourselves) outside and show them all the world has to offer...without money, distractions or stress. To just have time to ourselves and as individuals to just take a breath, run, laugh, and explore. We all really enjoyed getting away yesterday, and it was only 10 minutes from our home! We are going to do this more often.

Typical Carlee. This is why I love her!

I actually let Dan have my camera to take a picture of the 3 of us.

Back to our routine

2009-01-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

Today Carlee started back at preschool after the holidays. As soon as we got there she said hi to the goats and then proceeded to start an activity. Daniel and I took down the Christmas tree and Haylee played in her new room she shares with Carlee. She really loves it in there!

I can't help but take pictures, of course! I am learning how to use actions on my photos in Photoshop. They are really fun and addicting. I am in awe of Karen Russell (karenrussell.typepad.com/). I would love to shoot like her. I want to save up enough to take a photography class of hers.

Dan is taking off for his annual snowboarding trip soon, this year to Park City. So, Ill be busy!

The girls are down to bed, and Im going to talk Daniel into letting me take some pictures of him, I don't have any of just him. He's got such amazing eyes, and his adorable butt chin...I can't resist!

Carlee and Kaylee have a sleepover...

2009-01-04T16:43:00.000-08:00

Carlee had her best friend, Kaylee spend the night on Friday night. Right away they ran to Carlee's room to play dress-up and put on tons of sparkles. I put on music and they had a dance party and paraded through the house. I made them a candlelight dinner (with an LCD candle, not a real one) and they were "Cheersing" eachother. It was so cute! We made a comfy bed for them and they watched Barbie Diamomd Castle and ate popcorn, Kaylee in her pink wig and Carlee singing the songs at the top of her lungs. It was so fun watching them giggle, whisper, bicker, hug, dance and FINALLY fall asleep at 10:30pm! The next morning the pillows were covered in sparkles and Kaylee still had on her pink wig. They ate french toast (by fake candlelight) and played Honeybee Hop. Around 9:30 Kaylee's mom came to pick her up and it was just in time, we could see the meltdowns coming! Kaylee was a joy to have over, and Carlee cant wait for another sleepover...mommy needs to recuperate a little! It was a blast though.

More pictures of the girls...

2009-01-01T14:17:00.001-08:00

Carlee and Haylee are just so beautful. They both are just so fun to watch. Daniel and I are so blessed to have two little girls that brighten the world around them.

Bubbles! (LOVE this shot!)

Haylee sucking on her toes, I was told i used to do that when I was a baby and a toddler. Glad to know she got that one from me!

Carlee reading "Little Kitten Finds the Moon".

Haylee moves into her crib!

2009-01-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

Haylee has moved into her own crib now! The girls are sharing a room and they both seem to be loving it. We'll see how bedtime goes! Carlee helped me get the crib linens ready and helped pick out a place in her room for the crib. At first, she didn't want to share her room with Haylee, or her closet! She seems pretty excited about it after I rearranged the room a little and made a special area for her with her vanity and a movie area. And of course her own side of the closet. Haha.

John & Debi's Vow Renewal

2008-12-29T21:58:00.000-08:00

Dec. 27th John and Debi renewed their vows after 30 years of marriage. It was such a fun intimate celebration! They both are truly such an inspiration of love and stability. All I know is that I am so happy Im married to their son knowing what a strong marriage his parents have. Im one lucky girl! They decorated their house in a stunning winter wonderland theme. There was a ceremony, dancing, cake and a roast. Everyone had a blast and it was truly unforgettable.

John and Debi cracking up listening to Daniel roasting them...

True love's kiss...

Dancing...

Gazing a each other as John opened up his scrapbook Debi made for him.

Me teaching Debi the running man...

Getting re-hitched!

Pictures of the girls with my new camera

2008-12-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

So, since Christmas I have taken about 1100 photos with my new camera. Im in love with it! Here are only a few of my favorites of the girls...

Carlee's First Bike!

2008-12-29T19:19:00.000-08:00

Carlee had a smile from ear toy ear riding her new Tinkerbell bike Santa brought her for Christmas. Her expression was pure joy and I had tears in my eyes behind the camera as Itook pictures watching her chase after me and ride in circles around me. Daniel was right next to her the whole time. She would get so excited she would turn the wheel too fast. She had a couple spills, but got right back on, laughed and tried to go faster!

She was so proud of herself!

Checking out her bike...

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-29T18:56:00.000-08:00

Haylee's 1st Christmas!

Haylee in front of the Christmas Tree at Gramma's house in her sweet Christmas Dress. She's sitting up on her own now, and is so proud of herself!

Carlee got a new bike from Santa and she parked it right in front of the television as she watched her new movie. She didnt get off of that bike for an hour!

Haylee and Carlee at gramma's house. We all went over there for Christmas to open more presents and eat Christmas dinner with the family. It was such a wonderful day.

This is how Haylee opened her presents Christmas day...

Carlee was belting out Christmas songs from her Christmas movie with earphones on, not realizing how her voice filled the room. What a cutie!

Daniel and I Christmas day at Daniel's parents house. I love him so much!