family portrait

Today I ran into an old friend and she mentioned that the pictures we had taken were on the photographer's website.  We did a quick session the week before Ryan left for his mission . . .

Cantera Family - October 2013

Elder Cantera 

life in little squares

"Taking pictures is savoring life intensely,

every hundredth of a second."

Marc Ribaud

Meet my new favorite:  INSTAGRAM.

I guess it's not really "new" anymore since I began using the app about a year ago, but after discovering that one can share their entire instagram account online, I thought it's about time to mention my favorite little pastime.

Yes, the blog as suffered as a result of IG, but it's been wonderful to capture and share little moments in time that would otherwise be forgotten or stashed on my phone or camera forever.  Sometimes it's an event that needs to be recorded, such as a school or piano performance, family gatherings, vacations, birthdays, etc.  But more often than not, it's those seemingly insignificant moments that beckon to be captured:  time spent reading aloud with my daughter, the split second when I'm captivated by a sunset, mountain peak or a field of flowers; the impromptu pictures taken on a morning hike, my children's artwork, or anything in general that makes me smile.

All in all, it's added up to about a picture a day, so yes, it's our past year in little squares.  Oh, and the filters are just oh, so fun!

Now that my IG photos are online, the past year of daily pics are HERE.

Phew, almost feels like the blog is caught up now ;).

Holiday cards and matching sweaters!

I happened upon these pictures taken on Thanksgiving day in 1999.

 

 

 

Ryan was 4 1/2, Caroline 2 1/2, and Chris and I looking much younger . . . um, ya, we haven't aged at all ;-).

It appears to be a photo shoot in my parents' Bountiful yard for Christmas cards that year - which would be back in the day when I planned for such events (i.e we all had a certain "Christmas/holiday" look), well, since about 2007, we're just happy to get a decent pic of all of us together - this year hopefully from deep within the 2010 archives. 

Since I'm on the subject of Christmas cards, look what I found in the same pile of pics . . .

2000

2001

2003

2004

2006

2007

It seems I used to take such great efforts to make sure everyone coordinated . . . I'm afraid those days are offically a thing of the past, but it was fun while it lasted :-).

Photo shoot

All summer I kept procrastinating Sophie's 8-year pics and Caroline's 12-year photos - I try and get nice pictures of the kids at age 1, 4, 8, 12, then 16 - I like these ages, milestone ages, and a lot of change takes place in those short years, plus it's fun to see the kids' pictures side by side when they were the same age.  Anyway, I contacted Jamie (a darling photgrapher - we met last year after she took Liza's 4 yr. photo) and told her I needed some quick pictures of Sophie and Caroline before the good weather was gone, AND before they turned 9 and 13!

Before I knew it Jamie told me that I might as well bring Ryan and Liza along as well for some sibling photos, then she suggested doing these "urban shots" downtown as well as the girls' pics at Memory Grove, then the night before she sent me an e-mail telling me to look decent because I might as well jump in some shots as well.  Sooo, after running around like a mad woman trying to find outfits that didn't clash for the kids, getting everyone up early and ready on a Saturday, changing the girls in the car into their dresses, and trying to look put together myself, I have to say I was quite pleased with the final product.  Here are a few of the many I liked:

I'm happy, especially now it's over :-).  Jamie's great - click here if you're interested.  She's extremely reasonable - $150 for the entire shoot, plus editing, and the cd is yours to keep.  It was worth the effort!

14 years ago

I love this boy!

Chris and I were reminiscing this morning about our Ryan and how everyone told us that we'll blink and he'll be grown up. Where have the years gone? Wasn't it just yesterday we were putting him in the stroller for walks down Timpview Drive in our old Provo neighborhood? Weren't we just trying to figure out the baby thing - nighttime feedings, diapers, baths in the sink, etc.? Now we've moved on from babies to teens, in really, what seems like a blink of the eye. But what a journey it's been raising a son and watch him year after year turn from a darling little boy into a handsome young man. Today when I picked him up at school for our traditional birthday lunch outing I glanced at his Converse and told him that his feet are about the size that he was the day we brought him home from the hospital!

We are so proud of Ryan. He's truly grown up to be responsible, kind, helpful, honest, and a great brother and friend. Of course he's not perfect, believe me, he has his moments, but for the majority of the time, he really is fabulous and I couldn't ask for a better son.

So, in celebration of one of my favorite days of the year, here are some favorite pics of my favorite boy . . .

Happy 14th Ryan Christopher -

We LOVE you!