Monday 31 October 2011

Saskatoon Photography ~ Wedding

Here are a few of Kathryn and Duane's Wedding photos.
It was a beautiful fall day and the leaves were spectacular. Unfortunately the cold fall wind forced us indoors.  But it was still lots of fun and Kathryn was a stunningly beautiful bride - as you can see. :)
 
 

 



I will be posting the rest on my web site in the Private Gallery sections by tonight.

Sunday 30 October 2011

arrrgh

I wanted to post some photos of our family vacation tonight but I can't. We arrived home late this afternoon having started the process at 10 am Hawaii time yesterday so lets just say....boy, that took a long time. There was fun  on the way - like lunch with just my sweetheart at Dukes (romantic and brought back fond memories) and Dinner with the whole gang at The Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki. Do you remember the photo I posted of the restaurant in Niagara on the Lake that brought your bill in a folder labeled "The Damage"? That came to mind yesterday late afternoon. Do you think it is reasonable to charge $12 USD for a mai tai?
I don't either.


Anyways, after an hr doing the gas up and van rental returns followed by the shuttle back to the airport (with 10 people), we checked in. That is everybody but Eva -  we had to wait 45 min to actually get a ticket for Eva. See this photo? Us wondering where the heck the ticket agent disappeared to for 30 minutes!
Have you ever noticed that when you have to stand for a loooong time it helps to lift one knee. Or maybe this is some Cortens gene thing...   :) Oh , and it simply must be the left knee or it won't work.

We did eventually board our plane (big sigh here). There was not a single empty seat on this big bird because apparently United cancelled the flight earlier in the day. Two more planes later, we are all now home. I just heard from Paul and Mark and everyone is home safe and sound. Holiday is officially over - sort of.  Sammy and Allison don't have heat in their house and may be moving in with us but other then that, things are pretty much back to normal.

So Sherpa and I shopped and restocked the fridge and ...... rather then do laundry it seemed much more fun to play with photos in Lightroom. However the laptop with all my photos and edits is losing power and I don't have the power cord to charge it. That is because the power cord is in luggage that United bumped in Denver when it also bumped Sammy, Allison and Eva. Yes - they were informed as the plane was boarding. They did finally get them on.... but not Allison's luggage and since (warning: this is complicated) United tagged one of our bags with Allison's name instead of the baby car seat, it pulled our bag.

Can I tell you how I feel about United Airlines right now?

pause
deep breath
grace...

They have very nice stewards who take good care of you and the flights were on time and pleasant and if you don't have to actually deal with purchasing a ticket and paying for checked luggage and then retrieving said luggage.... well they are a pretty good airline.

However, I am loving WestJet all the more. ;) LOL I can't count the number of times someone in the gang said. "should have flown WestJet" or "WestJet never charged us that!" "I have never lost luggage with WestJet".
I am even starting to like Air Canada a little. Our last flight with them was really quite nice and they even joked (just a little) with their passengers.

But do stay tuned because when that power chord does arrive along with my makeup and Dave's golf shoes, I will share more photos. And I am thinking I might need my makeup before he needs his golf shoes. In the meantime I do have a photo from today on the camera of Colorado that I will upload to my computer and post for the days 365 which you can find on the 365 blog

If I don't fall asleep on the key board first.

Oh! GTG Allison and Family are at the door..... guess that furnace isn't working.
Must be the "year of the furnace" because our furnace was condemned 5 days before we left on holidays. But that is another story for another day (and more air miles to accumulate on that worn out card).

BAGGAGE UPDATE: Monday am update -  the United Air Baggage claim 1-800 number is in India. Just thought you should know. Sooo I phone India to ask if my bag has arrived here in Saskatoon (?)....   I think he was speaking English but at times I really wasn't sure. It took a lot of brain power (and a few extra minutes) to decipher the accent.  I am not a fan of call centers in India. When you are a tad disgruntled about service it does not help if you cannot understand the person you are calling for assistance.
Apparently the bags have arrived at the airport (I think that's what he said) and I have updated them with all the info - because there is no one at Allison's cold house - they are all here with a working albeit condemned furnace.  And life goes on.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Snipits from our Holiday

The family fun in the sun has come to a close and tonight we are packing, cleaning, putting things away and planning our long day tomorrow. Some of the kids are now getting in one last game of Scum - Mark and Paul are heading back from their day trip to the BIG Island of Hawaii where they saw an erupting volcano - looking forward to seeing their photos and video. I am posting my 365 and then heading to bed - there is lots to do before 10am tomorrow morning. sigh....
We don't catch our flights until almost 9 pm and have to be out of our rental at 10 am.... so this could be a trying day for us all - especially the babies.
Here are a few photos from the past two days.
Grandpa's shoulder always works like a charm no matter how much Miss Eva is resisting her nap.  

 This little fellow was less then an inch long. He was hanging out on the stairwell today, posing for me. I knew there was a reason I dragged my macro lens all the way to Hawaii.

 Tonight's sunset.
The moon was out too.

Okay, I now have to pick and post my 365 from the 60+ photos I took today.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

The Heavens Declare

...the Glory of God
Taken today at 5am Hawaii time.

Can you find the belt of Orion?
Alnilam the middle star in the "belt" is approximately 1340 light years away from earth and is 375,000 times more luminous than the Sun. Thought you would like to know. :)
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Job 38:31

Monday 24 October 2011

Water Logged - and Loving it!



 
 
 
 Totally LOVIN' this photo!!
This is what happens after 2 hours in the water boogie boarding and a huge bbq salmon supper. Love it!

Friday 21 October 2011

Hawaiian Sunset

Only had time for a couple of sunset shots tonight. Today was spent picking up rental vans, getting a whole lot of groceries and arriving and unpacking which ate up the late afternoon.
Here is the view from the patio. Harold is walking along the wall at the end of our patio. The waves are crashing down just outside that wall. It is a beautiful and restful.
We pick up 6 more of the gang at the airport tonight and our firefighter arrives tomorrow. Then we get into some serious kitchen fun preparing meals.

Saturday 15 October 2011

CP Roundhouse

The old CP Roundhouse and other 100+ year old buildings on the Sutherland site were recently torn down. I was able to catch a few photos of 100 yr old pipes, machinery, glass, even an 100 yr old elevator. Some of the walls were 4-6 layers of brick thick - I suppose for warmth. But my, that is labor intensive. I thought about the men working this yard 100 years ago, eking out an existence for their families who might have lived in a tiny house on Grey or Central Avenue. I am sure it was a very dangerous job in those days.  Personally, I am not sure I would travel on an elevator that depended on a thick rope to pull you up (and down). But they did - for a lot of years. 
 
If only the walls could talk. 
Stay tuned. I have a wedding today! Yeah it is not raining and there are still some fall leaves.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Saskatoon Photography ~ Engagement

Angela and Blair are getting married and I know there are a whole lot of people that are thrilled about this upcoming union. But none as happy as they are.
There was lots of love at Boffins Gardens Monday morning.

 


BIG sigh. 
All this love and joy just warms my heart. Could there be a better job then having the honor of capturing these precious moments? 
I think not. :)

The photos are up on the web site HERE for all you family and friends. 
Password protected of course - thems the rules.

Monday 10 October 2011

Saskatoon Photography ~ Family

Well we have returned from taking photos of Niagara and back to taking photos of families. And wasn't this little 5 yr old a whole lot of fun.
His expressions were priceless!
 Here he is showing me what Mom and Dad are doing. 
I just cracked up ~ honestly he was so entertaining.

 Caught him still here for a nanosecond. :)

 Chased him all over the climbing structure for this shot.
 Adorable.


And there are a whole lot more being uploaded to the web site as I type. Private Gallery is HERE. Sorry password protected but easy to guess for family and friends.

Stay tuned. I did an engagement shoot this morning and will hopefully be able to show you a few by tomorrow night. :)

Saturday 8 October 2011

Smattering of yesterday

Some of the 258 photos I took yesterday. It was a full but fun day.
I am now sitting in the airport waiting for our WestJet flight. We love WestJet.
 Jackson Triggs Winery tour.




 Musket demonstration at Fort George, Niagara.
 Niagara Falls at sunset with the moon.
 Skylon Tower. A quick ride to the top.