Archive for the ‘mine’ Category

I just wanted to share a quick snap from a “camping” trip we took about a month ago. I say “camping” because its as close to camping as we get with two little ones. We stayed in a cabin at Cape Lookout State Park, complete with its own bathroom. Not-so-funny story: We arrived at the campground. Had a great time walking around and exploring. Had a delicious barbequed hot dog dinner (only when we camp) and fresh corn on the cob. Kids were excited to get to sleep in the cabin. We kept them up as long as we could to guarantee sleepy children. Brought their special blankies and babies as well as the music night light. After about three hours of them goofing off, then getting upset, then crying that they wanted to go home and sleep in their own bed, we gave up. Loaded up the car around 10pm and drove home. Even funnier – same thing happened last year. One of these years we’ll be able to stay the night somewhere. I can feel it.

To be honest, those memories are the ones that I’ll probably forever remember and cherish. Things like this make me smile every time I think about it, because that’s just how my kids are. Occasionally I’m able to snap a few good ones to help me remember.

I’d say this was between hours 2 and 3 of our attempt to get the kids to go to sleep. We look like we’re calm and relaxed and enjoying a nice romantic sunset, right? :)

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My best friend from college, Malynda, and her husband, Ian, came up to visit us this past weekend. Malynda and I have been buds since college and neither of us can believe its been over 10 years since we graduated. Sheesh, that makes me feel old. They usually make a visit up here at least once a year. They love Oregon as well as the outdoors, and I wonder if they ever tire of me begging them to move up here.

Anyway, we were looking for something to do on Saturday and someone happened to email us the link to the Tree to Tree Aerial Adventure Course. Our eyes lit up when we saw the website. They said they just opened Memorial Day weekend. We thought that meant seasonally, but it turns out they just opened for business. We had so much fun! For their first week open to business, we were so impressed with their business and can’t wait to go back. Luckily we took two cars. The kids allowed me to do a couple (beginner level) courses before I took them home for a little quiet time while Malynda, Ian and the husband stayed behind for a few more hours to play. If I had stayed, I don’t know if I would have had the guts to do the black diamond course, but I plan on going back to try real soon. Anyway, here are a few snaps from our aerial adventure day.

I’m the one with the scared-out-of-my-mind-but-having-oh-so-much-fun look on my face.
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And what’s a trip to P-Town without a visit to Multnomah Falls.
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I love hazelnut groves. They make the best setting for photos. I like hazelnut coffee creamer too. Oh yeah, and nutella. Wow, hazelnuts are great!

And a few pics to share…
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portland child photographer

portland child photographer

portland child photographer

portland child photographer

and this pretty patch of flowers was right next to the hazelnuts
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I met up with my friend and fellow photographer, Jackie, of Jean Photography just to take some fun pictures of each other. I wanted to scout out a new location to see if it would work for photos, and I just like hanging out with Jackie because she’s just so darn cool and I always learn a lot from her. I’m always the one behind the camera so its very good for me to have my picture taken once in awhile. It helps me understand how you feel. It makes me aware of how hard it sometimes is to look natural. It also reminds me that good direction from the photographer not only makes the subject feel more comfortable, but also results in a beautiful natural photo.

Without futher delay, I present the sweet, fun and beautiful Jackie…

I love the reflection of the sky in her glasses, and she has such a fun expression.
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Hot!!!
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Isn’t she the cutest?
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love her expression here too along with the gorgeous side lighting
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portland custom photographer

we were taking pictures of each other at the same time. :)
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And this is me… These are so tough for me to post because I’m not a fan of looking at a picture of myself, but figured you guys would like to see the photographer behind the camera.

People were saying that I look like the blonde girl, Elliot, on Scrubs. Its hard for me to see because I just see me, you know? What do you think?
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I usually wear lip gloss. I couldn’t find it so I put lip liner on. Note to self: stick with lip gloss. :)
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I love this one. I think its really cool. I showed my husband and he said “cheesey” (if you know my husband, you aren’t surprised by his comment). Not cheesey because of the beautiful photo Jackie took, but cheesey because he knows I don’t wear aviator glasses. :)
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Last weekend was my birthday. I had a really nice day. I went to the zoo with my husband and the kids in the morning and got my hair cut in the afternoon. I ate well. Had Swedish pancakes with bananas, blueberries, a squeeze of lemon and powdered sugar for breakfast and delicious BLTs with salt & vinegar chips for dinner. It was a good day.

That night, my husband told me his brother was bringing his computer over for my husband to fix because it was attacked by a virus. At 9pm there was a knock on the door. My husband said he needed help bringing the computers in (weird – not the kind of thing he would need help with). I opened the door and saw some guy looking down at a piece of paper holding roses. He talked funny and said “uh, delivery for Miss Kristina Allori”. It took me about three seconds to go from being surprised that my husband got me flowers, to wonder why they were being delivered so late at night, to wondering why the delivery guy was kind of weird, to realizing that it was my dad! He flew up from CA for a visit! It was truly the best birthday surprise!

On Saturday we went to the Tulip Festival with my dad, my sister and her two boys, the hubby, my stepson, my two little ones, and my mommy. It was a really nice day.

My sister is going to die when she sees how cute this pic turned out. My nephews ADORE Papa.
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Papa with my little man. I know, I know. It just doesn’t get any cuter than big squishy cheeks and a newsboy cap.
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We actually managed to get a pic of my dad with all four kids at least looking in the general direction. By the time we tried to get pics of the grandkids with my mom, we lost my oldest nephew. We are lucky enough to have my mom live close by so we can try again for a group pic. My daughter wasn’t really in the mood for pictures that day. :)
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My two little ones exploring the hazelnut groves.
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Who’s that in the middle? I guess you don’t get to see me too often because I’m always the one behind the camera.
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Nope. You can’t have him. That adorable little Pudge is all mine. I tried a texture on this photo. You like?
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If you go to the tulips on the weekend, they have all sorts of fun stuff like face painting, swings, activities for the kids, and good food! This little guy has one of the best personalities and he’s so adorable. I’m not just saying that cuz he’s my nephew either. He and my daughter love to hold hands.
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This is me trying to pan the camera. Ideally she would have been in focus and only the background would have been blurred, but I’ll take what I can get. I want one of these swings. Its made out of a single tire but is in the shape of a horse. Man she’s cute.
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And the best part of Papa’s visit? Pajama time in the morning! She used my dad’s gut as a trampoline. He got her back with tickles. (that green thing is a string from a balloon – I was too lazy to clone it out)
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… and this little piggy ran wee wee wee wee wee all the way home!
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Love you dad! Thank you so much for coming up to visit. We miss you!!!

Is it just me, or are holidays 10,000 times better when you have kids? Happy Easter!

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The weather has been weird here lately. Last week we were teased with gorgeous blue skies and temperatures in the low 70s. For the past 7 days we’ve had lots of cold wet windy days. What do you do when you’re itching to take some new photos? Make some banana bread with your Sweetums! We used this recipe. I had all the ingredients except for 16oz of sour cream. I only had half a container so I substituted the rest with whole milk vanilla yogurt and I cut the sugar down by 1/2 cup. Oh man, it was goooooooood.

Mashing the bananas is the best part.
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Can you tell I’m a mom? Did the snack trap and bottle warmer give it away? Um…. the recipe didn’t say to only fill the loaf pans up half way. About 20min into cooking, I had to open the doors to let the smoke out. The batter was over flowing and burning up on my oven’s heating element. Gave the bread the slightest smokey flavor. Nice going, mom.
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Did I say smashing the bananas was the best part? I take that back. Getting to lick the batter is DEFINITELY the best part.
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Are you hungry yet?
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Wishing you all lots of love, hugs, cuddles, kisses, chocolates, wine, flowers, and all that other lovey dovey gushy stuff that comes along with V-day.

This one’s for the grandparents…

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My favorite girl is 3 years old and she gets more perfect with every passing day.

portland child photographer

portland child photographer

portland child photographer

Not only was I surrounded by my family, my beautiful kids are happy and healthy, and we weren’t snowed in like last year, but Santa (aka husband) surprised me with the best gift ever! You have to really know him to appreciate his sense of humor. Christmas morning I open a box to a brand new Nikon D700 – a camera body I’ve been drooling over for quite some time. Because I do know my husband’s sense of humor, I hesitantly opened the box and sure enough he put my D200 inside. He filmed the whole thing and thought it was hilarious. At this point, I don’t know if he borrowed our friend’s D700 box (which is what he wanted me to believe) or he really did get me the camera and was messing with me. Two days go by and I’m starting to think he really was messing with me. We celebrated Christmas with his side of the family yesterday. I grabbed my camera bag to snap a few pics and what’s in there waiting for me? Yup.

Is it possible to be in love with something made of metal, plastic and exquisite glass? I say yes. I’ve only taken a few photos and I’m already madly in love.

Dear D200,
You were my first love. You fostered my love and obsession for photography. You have always been trustworthy and dependable. You have captured photographs of my children that I will forever cherish. I will always remember you and now you are my trusty back up camera.
Yours truly, Krissy

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portland custom photographer