Last Stop

Will didn't get a chance to take pictures with Gram, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Amy when he stayed with them. So, we made one more marathon run out to visit them before heading to the airport. Here's the photos he wanted...

Last but not least, the ever cooperative Uncle Bill posing as asked for the camera....

We all miss Will already, especially Owen!

Road Trip to Whittier

We took Diana to the ferry in Whittier on Friday after the photo shoot with Owen and Will at Sears. He was a little less than cooperative when it came to saying goodbye at the ferry terminal. But, what's new!

Owen was out as soon as he finished eating lunch. This is us waiting to go through the tunnel on the way into Whittier. Isn't he sweet looking when he's asleep!!

We all needed a stretch break after the drive down. It's a strange situation to drop Diana off. You have to hurry up and wait at the tunnel entrance because they only let traffic through from one side at a time and only once an hour. We were running late because of the photo shoot and didn't have time to stop on the way down and got to the tunnel with just about 10 or 15 minutes to spare. So, then we hurry into Whittier and say our goodbyes before taking off to catch the release of traffic from the other side of the tunnel. It definitely seems like you are just dumping them off and running. Anyway, we decided to stop and play a little at a scenic area just outside of Portage despite the wind and rain.

We did some posing and picture taking and the boys skipped rocks. Owen loved it and didn't want to go even though he was froze solid!

Last Week...

We've had a really busy few days and I am behind again on posts! So, we'll start with last Monday. Dave's Aunt Linda, Mom, and Grandma all flew into town and his Grandpa drove in from Valdez Monday night. So, they all stayed with us that night. We finally got the bed frame we ordered for Owen's bed, so, Dave and his grandpa wrestled with it until they got it put together. Lesson learned...buy the frame at the same time as the crib due to manufacture changes in the 2+ years it takes the kid to grow out of the crib!!! Who knew! ;O)

Owen was thrilled, although, our first night was not a success...he's gotten better though and we're hoping he is back to sleeping in his own bed full-time again!! He'd been consistently sleeping through the night in his own room for months and recently started to back-track. We're too used to a full nights sleep to change now! Notice he was thrilled to pose for me on Monday night when he was getting ready for bed.


Diana was nice enough to watch Owen for us on Tuesday and Wednesday, so, I was able to work the first half of the week and enjoy every one's last few days with them. On Thursday, Diana and I took the boys to Bounce House in Eagle River. I'm sure these types of places are strictly an Alaska thing....a warehouse filled with the blow-up bounce toys you'd typically rent or see at carnivals. Eagle River's is far smaller and less spectacular than all the others, but its convenient, and the boys really enjoyed the day.

This is them sitting on a blow-up chair!

This is Grandma Laster playing monster with Owen (you can see his arm) in Owen's favorite toy.

Owen getting ready to go down the slide...

Will posing for me...I think he had more fun than he admitted to...

Will consoling Owen as we were getting ready to leave...after the worst of the tantrum subsided that is...I am so proud of my public screamer (what age does he grow out of that again?)!

Will and Owen Pics

My mother really wanted Will, Shawn, and I to get photos taken together. I had planned to do it towards the end of the time Will was here, but he had other plans that kind of interfered and I wasn't able to get an appointment that could accomodate all of us. So, instead, all she gets is Will and Owen. And boy was Owen cooperative!!! They took 42 photos and I think Owen smiled in 3 of them...he's definitely at an age!!! Anyway, here's the best two out of all of them. I have other photos to share that we took on our way to Whittier today, but need to download them off my camera and most likely won't get to that until this weekend.

Some More Photoshop Techniques

I have had so much fun! Here's a few more pictures that I have altered during my classes.

This was actually one of the first techniques we went over. This wasn't exactly an ideal picture to practice on, but if you can tell, I converted it to sepia tones and then added color to his hair, jammie stripes, frog, and his cheeks. I attempted this technique on another photo and it turned out much better, but I didn't save it. So, you're stuck with this one! ;O)

Last but not least!!! This was a 14 part course and we didn't know until the day of what technique would be spotlighted. I could not have been more excited when I saw she was going to cover Selective/Spot Recoloration!!!! This is the one technique I've been dying to learn to do literally for years!!!! Now, for her example, Jessica used this beautiful shot of her daughter sniffing a daisy which is perfect for the technique. This may come as a complete shock, but I have no such photos of Owen. He doesn't slow down long enough for that kind of thing! So, here's our butched up version! ;O)

New Techniques in Photoshop...

I took an online photoshop class from Jessica Sprague a while back and learned so much! I recently read somewhere that she was offering a "free" class this month. Of course, I couldn't pass that up and figured even if it was just basic skills I would probably learn something or refresh myself on the last class. But, its so much better than that!!! I've learned so many techniques and am having a blast!!! Here's a few samples of what I've been working on....

This is the original pic of Dudley I posted a few days ago:
Here he is using some layering, a mask, and the edge burn technique (notice I made the leash disappear-how cool is that!!!):

Here's the same photo in color using the edge burn technique:

Pretty cool, huh!

I just love this picture of Uncle Doc and Owen. It was taken last September and it was really fun to practice on. This one just used a frame and lots of layers as well as some color desaturation:

I thought this one turned out pretty awesome too. This was the same technique as the last one and then we added some text.

Bear Paw

We unintentionally arrived at Bear Paw on Saturday just in time for the parade. I've never made it for the parade and was pleasantly surprised. It was kind of long, but we all enjoyed it. Everyone you can think of from the Chugiak/Eagle River area was represented. Even the fire department showed up, although, as soon as they passed us they got a call and had to do a 180 in the middle of the Old Glenn and head out. It was actually pretty impressive and kind of the highlight of the parade! ;O) Unfortunately, as the parade ends 100s and 100s of people descend on the festival making it kind of a miserable experience. So, it turned out to be a bust. There's always the fair though....
It took Owen a little while to warm up to the whole parade thing. But, when he realized they were passing out candy, it took on a whole new look for him! ;o) Someone gave us a bag that Will was holding and filling with the candy. Owen was worried about the security of it in Will's hands and decided it was best if he put the candy in his stroller and sat on it instead!!!

Time With the Grandparents

I had the Friday before the 4th off and we had a good time with Owen's grandparents. Diana and I started out the day by taking Owen to the playground. He was less than cooperative when it came to photos and didn't seem like himself. But, we still had fun. By that evening, it was very apparent that Owen was sick so Dave and I skipped out on the fireworks this year.

We came home and Owen chilled out with his grandpa and watched a movie. His new favorite is Lilo and Stitch.

Our fur-babies sure took to their "grandparents" too. Anthony and Diana didn't get a minute without them! ;O)

Valdez

We drove down to Valdez on Saturday the 27th and Dave and Will went out with the rest of the boys on Sunday fishing. Will seemed to really enjoy it even though they came back empty handed.
Check out the picture he got of an eagle grabbing one of the fish they had to throw back. Crazy huh!! I think all of them were so stunned that nobody else would have had the forsight to grab their cameras. Way to go Will! ;O)

Worthington Glacier....I Think

On our trip down to Valdez, we stopped at the glacier park just outside of town and took lots of photos. It was lots of fun, I don't know what it is about glaciers, but they are so much fun to explore!

3 Generations of Laster men...
Will doing the "Vana" in front of the glacier...

Will took tons and tons of photos...

Owen and his grandparents....

One last shot of Will climbing on the rocks... The three of us in a pic taken by Will...(he's pretty darn good!)

Solstice Time

Dave finally felt like it was warm enough to dig out our bikes and set up the cart for Owen. It wasn't Owen's idea of a good time, but we're still working on him! ;O) Hopefully his attitude will improve!
Later Owen made up his mind that he needed a little more outdoor time to celebrate Solstice...despite the fact that he didn't have any pants on!!! It cracked me up and I couldn't help but let him go. Of course, I had to grab the camera when he got out his gardening tools and got to work!!

Catching Up

O.k., so now I have to go back all the way to June to catch up on all the photos we've not posted!! These are of Dave, Will, and Owen playing Dave's new game in the yard. I can't remember what the game is called for sure. But, Owen thinks that its great fun to run around and pick up all the balls after Will and Dave throw them. He thinks he's a huge help, I'm not sure Will or Dave would agree though!! ;O) I may have over dressed him on this particular day, but it was still nippy out...before our heat wave started!

Surprise Birthday Party!

So, one of my few "fans" mentioned today that I hadn't posted in forever. So, to make her happy, here are a few shots from earlier today. My family (I think probably Shawnie in particular) threw me a surprise girl's day for my upcoming birthday which included lunch at my favorite restaurant, The Brewhouse, topped off by my first ever massage at a really awesome spa in the Sheraton. I already had a bbq planned for our Sunday dinner, so we got to meet up with all the guys at my house afterwards. We had a really good time. I love getting to spend time with my family. We're really lucky to have so much here near us.

Here's Owen and Will playing in the backyard. Now that the fence is in, I don't know who's enjoying it more, Owen or the dogs!! ;O)
Here's a shot of Owen playing with Mark. The two of them seem like they've known each other forever. Owen loves to wrestle and fight with him every chance we get. Mark and Geoff took Owen while we were at lunch and the spa, it was all Dave could do to get Owen to come home with him when he went to pick him up!

Here's a couple shots of Shawn's pups. They came to visit during the bbq for the first time since we moved in I think. They all had a blast and I don't know about Shawn's dogs, but ours are wore out tonight!!