Leah Jackman Photography

In Case Of Lost Camera

2012-01-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

I saw someone do this and thought it was clever. These pictures are now locked on my camera in case I lose my camera somewhere.

Fotoshop by Adobé

2012-01-14T17:40:00.000-08:00

I thought this fake commercial was hilarious. Society's standards for beauty are skewed by modern day technology and this video addresses that. Enjoy!

Rooomates

2011-07-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

2 Roomates + 1 Camera + 1 Beautiful Day = A Couple Hours of Fun! 'Nuff said.

Timpanogos HS Prom

2011-05-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks Tate and his great group of friends for letting me take their dance pictures again. These kid really are fantastic!

Love this Lady

2011-04-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

Roosevelt

2011-03-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

Fun trip this weekend to my friends home in Roosevelt. (That's in Utah for anyone who hasn't heard of it). Her cute little sister loved posing for me.

Mine :)

2011-01-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

Yep, this is my awesome family. Love them to death! Bless the inventor that had the idea for a camera timer! I got a good workout running from the camera to get into the frame before the timer ran out... all while wearing heels.

Mace's Family Pictures

2010-10-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

I also grew up with these guys. Thanks to the Maces for letting me be part of their family pictures!

My Adventures

2010-10-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

So, I've done a LOT of fun things the past couple of weeks and I wanted to share a few of them. I forgot to take my camera with me, so I had to steal these pictures from a friend on Facebook.

I went with a group of friends to the Rexburg area in Idaho. This is us on a freezing morning visiting Mesa Falls.

We also went shooting. And I'll brag that I hit everything I aimed at with that 22!

We did a little off roading to get to the Civil Defense caves and played hide-and-seek in the cave with glow stick juice!

I also got to take a helicopter ride. One of my friends is training to be a helicopter pilot and hooked us up!

While in Idaho we got to walk around BUY-I campus and visit the Rexburg Temple.

Life really is fun right now! :)

Bradley Family Pictures

2010-10-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

So, I pretty much fail at this whole updating my blog regularly thing. Life has kind of been crazy lately, but that's a lame excuse. I, Leah Jackman, promise to be better at updating my blog on a regular basis.... unless life keeps being as crazy busy (but fun!) and I just forget.... this I swear.... Amen!

Ok, now that that's taken care of. I took the Bradley's family pictures a while ago. I grew up with Shannon and just love her family!

A Few Thoughts....

2010-09-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

1. A year ago today I was in a wonderful country called Chile with these two ladies who decided to get married to two great men when we got back.

2. We were making fools of ourselves a year ago tonight by doing a white girl version of the Cueca.

3. We were staying with these three beautiful girls and their wonderful parents.

4. I wish I was back there right now.

5. Instead I'm working full-time and taking pictures on the side. Which is still a pretty good alternative. I get to see tender moments in people's lives.

6. My current job is ending at the end of this next week. (If anyone knows of a good job opening let me know!) I wish I felt this happy about it.

7. I'm the ward activities co-chair in my new ward. HELP! Anyone have any good ideas for student ward activities???

8. I love this time of year. There's something in the air, call me crazy, but fall has a distinct smell that I love. Pretty soon the world is going to look like this.

9. I really need to update my wardrobe. Dang it. I am definitely not a shopper.

10. I've been in this mood a lot lately. Yes, I realize a picture isn't a mood, but to me this picture describes the mood I've been in. Again, call me crazy.

11. I realize my thoughts are kind of random, but it's a Saturday, and I'm hungry. And that's the way I think. When I'm hungry. And it's Saturday. Or any day...

The end.

Jamie's Reception

2010-09-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

These are just a few pics I snapped at Jamie's reception. Sadly I didn't get any picture of the newlyweds. It was definitely a party!

Jamie's Bridals

2010-09-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

As you can tell, we had a LOT of fun. Thanks Jamie for letting me be part of this exciting time! And thanks to all of the helpers that were there to hold all of my stuff!

Preview to Jamie's Bridals

2010-08-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

So many wonderful helpers! Jamie is definitely loved!

Here's a preview to beautiful Jamie's Bridals.

Be excited... be very excited!

Pizza Pie

2010-08-24T20:42:00.000-07:00


Everyone loves pizza. Those who say they don't are lying. You can't be American without having an inborn craving of pizza. Inborn... is that a word? In-born. Inborn. Inbourne...? Moving on...

To start with, for your crust you need flour, yeast, olive oil, warm water (not shown), and salt.

The sauce is tomato sauce, basil, oregano, and parsley. You can choose any of your favorite pizza toppings. I went with the classic pepperoni and olives.

Start by mixing warm water, salt, olive oil, and 3/4 cup flour.

Mix it nice and good until it's smooth as Trent (he made me put that).

Add your yeast and mix well.

Add the remaining flour.

Knead it until smooth. You may need to add more flour, keep adding until it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Now we get tricky. Take your cookie sheet and sprinkle corn meal all around it. This will keep the dough from sticking without using any more grease. Plus it gives it a fun texture.

Start rolling the dough out. You'll get a good workout stretching the dough out to the edges... it justifies the pizza, I promise!

Ta da! I now have strong arms and a beautiful pizza crust. Or was that beautiful arms and strong crust? Let's just say it works both ways. Now, stick it in the oven for a few minutes. If you don't poke it before putting it in it will blow up like a balloon. If you like balloon pizza, don't poke.

Start mixing the sauce while the crust is in the oven. This is a mixture of tomato sauce, basil, oregano, and parsley.

Mix it up nice and good.

Pull the crust out of the oven and spread the sauce nice and even.


Add your toppings. Don't skimp. Trust me.

Now add your cheese of choice. I went with mozzarella and cheddar, but do whatever sounds good at the moment... or whatever you have in your fridge.

Now stick it back in the oven for a few minutes. Emphasis on few, it will cook fast. You're just trying to melt the cheese and have it brown just a little bit.

And this, my friends, is what we call the best and most heavenly pizza in the world. Don't believe me? I dare you to try it.


Oh, yes. This is what life is all about. Here's the full recipe: Pizza 2 c. flour ½ tsp salt 4 Tbsp olive oil ¾ cup warm water 1 Tbsp Saf-instant yeast (scant) Mix water, salt, olive oil and ¾ cup flour together until smooth. Add yeast, mix well. Add remaining flour. May need to add more flour as you kneed until smooth. Sprinkle corn meal in bottom jelly roll pan. Roll dough out in jelly roll pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 7 minutes. Take out of oven. Spread pizza sauce on dough. Add any pizza toppings you want. Top with cheese. Put pizza back in oven until cheese is melted and starting to brown on top. Sauce: 1 can tomato sauce (8oz) ½ tsp basil ½ tsp cut oregano ½ tsp parsley Mix well and spread over pizza crust

Tara & Josh Bridals/Groomals

2010-08-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, they're cute.

Jost & Tara Engagements

2010-08-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

Aren't they a cute couple?

Eric & Amy Wedding

2010-08-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my cousin Amy for letting me share in her exciting, snowy day!

Richardson Family Pictures

2010-08-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Richardson's for letting me take their family pictures!

Prom

2010-04-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

My brother Tate went to the Prom this last weekend with a group of friends and they asked me to do their pictures! We had a blast down at the Riverwoods.in Provo. They are a fun group of kids and they looked great!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

2010-04-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

Cousin Amy got married recently and I was asked to take the pictures at the temple. I'm working on editing them right now (I'll get them to you soon Amy!), but here are just a few shots of the temple that day. This was in between the random snow storms that happened every half an hour.

The Earthquake in Chile

2010-02-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

Remember these kids?

As you probably already know, Chile was hit by an earthquake measuring 8.8 early this morning. It originated in Maule which is very near Chillan where this orphanage is. The building they live in was well built, so it's most likely still standing, but all of the cribs that the children sleep in are most definitely not secure. I'm still unsure as to the amount of damage that was done.

Please keep the kids in your prayers as well as Kim and her family who live in Santiago and also felt the effects.

Also remember to pray for the people in the islands who will, if the timing was guessed right, be hit by a tsunami any minute now. Especially pray for Chandra and her family who live in Hawaii.

Thanks.

Free Time = Bad

2010-02-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

I had never thought that it was possible to have "too much" free time until I graduated from college and moved home to look for a job. Now I know that too much free time isn't good for you. It makes you do crazy things. Like go through all your mom's recipes and type them up until you have over 100 pages of recipes. Or, get excited to clean the house just because it's something to do.

Like I said, too much free time isn't good for you.

In order to fill my free time I've also become a book worm. Over the years I've read every novel in our house at least once, and we have quite a few. So, I've started going to the library, but there are so many books to choose from and I don't want to choose something that will be a complete waste of my time.

So, I was really excited when I was reading my friend Beth's blog and she was making a list of 100 books to read before she dies. Brilliant.

I've started making a list of books I've thought about reading, but never really had a chance because school took up too much of my time. So far I have 78 books that I've found as "must reads" on different lists.

Now here comes the point of this post.

Took me long enough to get there, I know.

I would really like to hear your thoughts on what books I should add to the list. Are there any that you think every person should read before they die? Or any you thought were inspiring, thought provoking, or just plain good?

Let me know if there's any book I absolutely must add to my list. I would really appreciate it!

Oh, and here's a little random something that I absolutely love, just because I hate all text posts, and this talks about being bored.

If any of you haven't ever read the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.... DO IT! You'll fall in love.

That is all.

Yaki Soba

2010-01-26T12:08:00.000-08:00

One of our families favorite dishes is called Yaki Soba.

It's mouth watering, nose running, eat-as-much-as-you-can good.

Since my last food post went over pretty well I decided to do it again! So, if you're not at all interested whatsoever in food, just ignore this heavenly meal.

This, my friends, is Yaki Soba.

We start with chopped carrots.

This seems to be a theme with my food posts. Hmmmm... maybe it's a sign that all good food starts with chopped carrots?

Next comes the chopped onions, also a theme.

And one half of a head of cabbage, also chopped.

Note: This is slightly less than one half because I have certain younger siblings, names will not be mentioned, who like to sit and snack on chopped cabbage. Yes, Chase and Erin are strange children. Oops.

May I present the fun soba noodles from a package that automatically makes you feel cultured. These can be purchased in any oriental market.

Ok, let the fun begin!

To start with, pull out your Wok. Or, if you don't have a wok you can use a LARGE pan.

Pour in some sesame seed oil.

Now pour the canola oil in the wok.

And chili paste... in the wok.

Change the amount of chili paste depending on how hot you like your food. If you like it hot enough to breath fire, add 2 Tbsp. If you like it hot enough to make your nose run, add 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp. If you don't like it hot at all, you've got the wrong recipe.

Now stir fry it for about 30 seconds in the wok.

Have you noticed I like to say the word wok? It's just fun!

Wok, wok, wok, wok, wok..... see?!

Now add garlic... in the wok.

Ok, ok, I'll try to control myself.

Stir fry it for another 30 seconds.

Here enters the soy sauce.

Throw in the chicken.

And cook it until no longer pink. Then remove from the wok (I couldn't help myself) with a slotted spoon.

Set it aside and keep it warm.

Dump the vegetables in the ~~wok~~... the umm, the pan.

Mix the veggies until the sauce covers them well. Stir fry to cook it all evenly.

Now, while the veggies are cooking down, place your soba noodle that somehow, magically turned white (not sure what's going on here), into boiling water.

Make sure you follow the package and cook the noodles not even 5 seconds longer than it says, or you'll end up with soggy noodles. No one likes soggy noodles.

Back to the veggies. Here the veggies have cooked down just enough. You still want them to have a little bit of a crunch, so don't cook them to death.

Now add your noodles that have magically turned back to brown.

Stir in the chicken.

Mix in the rest of the soy sauce.

We decided to experiment and add water chestnuts at this point. It's not called for in the recipe, but it was a fun addition.

Yeah, we're just fun like that.

Mix it all together so that the flavors combine.

And you have mouth watering, nose running Yaki Soba!

Disclaimer- This picture doesn't do it justice, I was in a hurry and didn't check the settings on my camera.

Here's the full recipe:

• ½ tsp sesame oil

• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/2 Tbsp chili paste
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 inch cubes
• ½ c. soy sauce
• 1 onion, sliced lengthwise into eighths
• ½ medium head cabbage, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
• 8 ounces soba noodles, cooked and drained

In a large skillet combine sesame oil, canola oil and chili paste. Stir fry 30 seconds. Add garlic and stir fry an additional 30 seconds. Add chicken and ¼ cup of the soy sauce and stir fry until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan with a slotted spoon, set aside and keep warm. In the emptied pan combine the onion, cabbage and carrots. Stir fry until cabbage begins to wilt. Stir in the remaining soy sauce, cooked noodles and the chicken mixture to pan and mix to blend. Serve and enjoy!

Let me know if you try the recipe! I love to read your comments!

Macro

2010-01-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

Photo tip #4 is called Macro. Have you ever wondered what that little flower looking setting on your camera is? Well, that is what is called your Macro setting.

Get to know your Macro setting.

Be friends with it.

It's a friend you really want to have.

When you put your camera on the Macro setting magical things happen.

First, your camera lets you get closer to a subject than it normally would and still be in focus.
Second, it opens your aperture, so that the background will be blurry and your subject will be in focus. (Remember me talking about this before? I love this technique so much that I'm bringing it up again!)
Third, when you look at your pictures after using the Macro setting you get really, really happy and do a little dance... or at least I do, but you didn't need to know that.

Here's my example:

See, doesn't this just make you want to do a little dance? Oh, the things that make me happy.

Now, like always, it's your turn! Go enjoy your Macro setting, and make sure to do a little dance for me!

Peruvian "Spicy Chicken"

2010-01-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

Who out there loves Peruvian food?

(Raising my hand) Me too! The flavors of the spices they use are just incredible together.

When I was down in Chile, Kim let her maid Claudia (who is from Peru) teach us some Peruvian dishes. One of our favorites that she made is called Giso de Pollo Arvejitas, or if you ask Kim's daughters it's "Spicy Chicken". Don't be fooled by the name though because it's not really all that spicy hot.

Anyway, to get to the point, I made it for my family tonight and thought I would share the recipe with step by step picture instructions,...

...just because it's too good not to share,

...and just because it gave me a chance to use my camera. Really, my reasons are selfish.

Believe me, you need to try this.

OK, so here we go.

The first thing to do is dice up one carrot into yummy, orange cubes.

Next, do the same with an onion. If your kids put up a fuss about onions just cut it up into smaller pieces. They'll never know you tricked them and put it in.

I promise.

OK, now we get to the good stuff. In a bowl add garlic, cumin, and salt.

Stir up that good stuff until it's nice and mixed.

Now enters the chicken. You're supposed to use drumsticks, but all I had were chicken breasts.

Hey! I gotta work with what I got.

Carefully cut small slices into the chicken. Now go ahead and press the garlic mixture into the cuts you made and around the whole piece of chicken.

Repeat with each piece of chicken, using up all of the garlic mixture.

Now, melt some butter in a LARGE pan on the stove. Don't skimp on the pan size.

No really, don't skimp.

Brown the chicken pieces in the butter, making sure not to overcook them. We just want them browned, not cooked all the way through.

There, now set your beautifully browned chicken aside for just a little bit.

Pour a little oil in your pan and toss in the onions.

Let the onions cook a little before you add curry, pepper, and more garlic. Mmm, garlic.

Stir it all up.

Mmm, do you smell that? If not you really should get going.

Once the onions are cooked through, toss the chicken back in.

Now add two chicken bouillon cubes, crunched up into powder.

Now your yummy, orange, carrot cubes

And the frozen peas.

Add about a cup and a half of water.

Make sure you stir it around good so all your veggies are covered.

Oh, the smell! This smells like heaven.

No, really! This is EXACTLY what heaven smells like. Just ask me.

Cover up the heavenly goodness, and let it sit on medium heat for 25 minutos.

Now add your frozen corn. Let that simmer for five more minutes.

Now sprinkle on a handful of cilantro.

The fresher the cilantro the better.

Do not follow my bad example and use the dried stuff... unless you're completely out of the fresh stuff, and too lazy to run to the store for some... then it's perfectly OK.

Congratulations, you did it! After torturing your family,... and the neighbors down the street,.... and the family that lives across town with the incredible smell, they finally get to eat it!

Well, your family does anyways. The poor neighbors and people across town just get to wonder who the amazing cook is and where they can get one.

Serve with a mound of rice and you have "Spicy Chicken"!

Below you'll find the recipe with all the measurements.

Giso de Pollo Arvejitas (Spicy Chicken)
4-8 Drumsticks
1 Carrot, cubed
1 Onion, diced
1 1/2 cups Frozen Peas
1 1/2 cups Frozen Corn
2 Garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp Oil
1 Tbsp Butter/Margarine
1 tsp Curry
1/4 tsp Cumin
2 cubes Chicken Bouillon
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cup water
Cilantro

Cut slices into drumsticks. In bowl mix one clove garlic, cumin, and salt. Press mixture into chicken slices and around entire drumstick.

In large pan melt butter. Add drumsticks and brown. Do not brown until cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside.

In pan add oil and onion. Cook until onion is slightly transparent and add curry, pepper, and one clove garlic. Stir. Add rushed chicken bouillon cubes, peas, carrot, and water.

Cover and cook on medium heat for 25 minutes. Add corn and cook for 5 more minutes. Dish should still have a lot of liquid in it, if not add more water. After the five minutes add a handful of cilantro.

Serve with rice.

Leading Lines

2010-01-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

Our tip number three to start off the new year is all about a wonderful thing called leading lines. Leading lines are... well, just what they sound like, lines that lead the eye to a point in your image.

There are so many things you can use as leading lines, such as fences, bridges, train tracks, roads, rivers, trees, shadows, even the horizon line. If you just start looking you'll find them everywhere! Be careful though, because once you start looking you won't be able to stop.

In my example picture below I used the lines from the bricks to lead the viewers eye to the girl in the image.

Depth of Field

2009-12-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Here's your tip numero dos (2)! Depth of field describes the portion of an image that is either sharp or out of focus. Great depth of field = everything in the image is in focus. Low depth of field = one portion of the image is in focus and another portion is out of focus.

In the picture below we have low depth of field. See how the boy in the front is in focus, but everything else is out of focus? This is great when you want to draw attention to just one subject in your image, for example the boy in this picture. I wanted him to be the focus. (Also notice the rule of thirds!)

The picture below has great depth of field. Everything in the picture is in focus. This is great for scenery if you want the whole scene to be the focus of the picture. It also is important to use this technique when taking pictures of large groups of people so that everyone in the picture is in focus, and not just one person is the center of attention.

You can get low depth of field with your point and shoot camera by focusing your camera (hold the shutter release half way down) on the subject you want to be in focus then moving it away to capture the whole scene. The camera should stay focused on your subject. Also try putting it on the macro setting. With SLR cameras make sure you have your aperture set at something like f/5.6 or smaller like f/2.8.

I love working with depth of field because it brings a whole new dimension to your images! Have fun playing with it!

Devan + Lauren Wedding

2009-12-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night I got a call from Sister Jensen in my ward asking me if I would be willing to shoot her friends sons wedding Thursday morning. Their photographer canceled on them last second and when they didn't know what else to do this friend (who is also the grooms mom) decided she would take the pictures. Of course we couldn't let that happen so I said I would be happy to step in. Devan and Lauren tied the knot on this beautiful Thursday morning. It couldn't have been better weather, the sky was almost cloudless and it was warm enough that Lauren didn't even need her furry boots to stay warm! It was so fun to work with this cute couple and be able to share in the biggest day of their lives!

Rule of Thirds

2009-12-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here's your first photo tip from Leah!

Now, a lot of photography consists of good composition (composition is how all of what you're shooting fits together in the frame of your camera). Good composition = an interesting photograph. So, how do we make a good composition? Why, by using the Rule of Thirds of course!

In order to get the rule of thirds, go ahead and split your picture into a grid of nine quadrants like so...

See where the lines intersect? That's where you put the subject of your photo, like the flower in this picture.

What this does is make your photography more dynamic and interesting than it would be to place your subject in the center of the frame. Easy enough, right?

Now it's your turn to go out and practice. Good luck! And remember good composition = interesting photograph!

Starting something new!

2009-12-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I've been thinking... scary I know... and I've talked to a lot of people that would love to get into photography as a hobby, but they don't really know how or where to start. Photography classes are always an option, but let's be honest, who has the time?! So, to make things a little easier for everyone and as a good refresher for me I've decided to start posting photography tips on this blog! Now, I'm not a professional yet, but I do know a little more about photography than your average person. So, here's to you three people that read my blog, hopefully you won't get too bored as I give myself a little refresher on my photography classes. And, hey, you might even learn a thing or two!

I love this girl!

2009-12-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

I pulled out my camera today and was able to convince Erin to pose for me (which doesn't happen very often). Isn't she just cute!

Our aventures on the creepy train

2009-11-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

Story time.... It was late at night by the time we finally left Santiago to venture down to Chillan and see our new home for the next month. After some crazy taco’s (traffic jams) in Santiago we finally made it onto the highway that heads south to Chillan. After our fiftieth bathroom stop we were driving along minding our own business when Jamie looks out her back seat window and says something to the effect of “look at that” (sorry if I misquoted you Jamie). Well, I looked out her window and had the strangest experience. It looked like a television screen was following our car and was playing right outside Jamie’s window. After all of us trying to process in our brains what our eyes were seeing we finally figured out that it was a train running right next to our road. The windows all seemed enlarged and we could see the people in the train as if they were just a little ways away from our car. Well, after that experience of course we really wanted to take the creepy train back to Santiago! When we bought our tickets there was a poster by the ticket window at the train station advertising the train. This ad showed some young adults all having a great time playing Uno on the train at one of the two table in the car. Naturally we asked for a table seat and went and bought the game Uno. I would definitely recommend the train as a means of travel if we had passenger trains here. We played our Uno and made a few friends on the train. It was a very fun, relaxing ride.

Us on our creepy train at our table

Gotta love Uno

Mercedes and family waited on the station platform until we left.

When the train took off Mercedes and Francisca chased after it waving goodbye like in the movies!

McDonalds

2009-11-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

Our last day at CONIN we bought the kids McDonalds. You should have seen the looks I got when I asked for 10 happy meals to go. It was a very funny experience feeding these kids McDonals because they didn't know what to do with it. After the first shock of carbonation the loved the Fanta. The french fries were a big hit. But the hamburgers were sadly rejected. We got three of the 12 kids to try the hamburgers and they only ate a few bites. It's a sad day when you find a kid that doesn't like McDonalds, but we had 9! Hopefully some day they'll grow up and learn to appreciate it.

This is the box full of happy meals that I had to carry on a very full very bumpy bus. Yes, I did have Fanta spill on me before the ride was over.

The kids with their Caja Feliz.

More of the kids.

They gave Ruben his Fanta in a bottle

Belinda loved her french fries and tia Paige loved being with her while she ate them.

Marco LOVED his Fanta. He drank almost that full cup without stopping. I feel bad for the poor tia who had to change his diaper after that.

After the kids wouldn't eat their hamburgers they gave all of them to Francisco because he had eaten a few bites of his.... not sure if they really though he would eat all of them, but it made for a funny picture.

Termas de Chillan

2009-11-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Sra. Gloria asked us one day what all we had done in Chillan. She was so disappointed that we hadn't been to the Termas (hot pots) yet. She told us she would take us that Friday when we got to CONIN. Paige wasn't able to come because she wasn't feeling well. Sra. Gloria and two other tias took time off from work and drove us up the mountains in the CONIN van. It was beautiful. The snow was coming down gently like in the movie White Christmas and everything was covered in it. We weren't able to make it all the way up to the termas because the road was slippery, but it was still a lot of fun. They had packed a lunch for us and even offered to take us to taste some of Chile's famous wine! Of course we had to disappoint them and turn it down even for medicinal purposes, but it was a sweet gesture.

All of us up in the mountains.

Sra. Gloria really really wanted us to take pictures by these strange things on the side of the road because they had volcanic rock on them. We decided they made us look like peacocks.

Peacock Jamie.

Us getting a little too excited about snow.

Jamie really liked the snow.

Esperanza

2009-11-09T05:52:00.000-08:00

We went to an orphanage called Esperanza where all of the kids are up for adoption, the same orphanage where Jason and Damian were taken. We went one day for our lunch break and then the next day to give the kids cookies. The kids were so stinkin' cute and were so excited to see us again when we came back the second time... I got the best hug ever just for coming back. It was fun to communicate with some of the older kids... about six years old... because their spanish was better than any of ours. We even got laughed at for sounding so stupid when we talked in spanish! They thought it was hilarious.

Paige being funny with some of the kids. Jason in the highest making a funny face.

Me with some of the kids.

Paige and Jamie with some kids. Jason is in there again in the grey.

Meet the Fourth Room

2009-10-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the fourth room. We had a lot of fun with these kids. They are full of energy and smiles. We would play with them, do file folders, paint fingernails, and do music time. I absolutely love these kids!!!

Alexander

He is constantly tied in his crib because he is crazy. If there is something that shouldn’t be gotten into, he will find it, and will get into it. He has an old man laugh that is trapped in his little kid body. He is super happy, despite always being tied in his crib. Jamie claims him.

Benjamin

He loves to be held and gives amazing hugs. He has cute little dimples. He loves to say “No” in a joking way because he thinks it’s funny. He has a lot of energy and is bound to be an athlete because he has amazing aim and an amazing kick. Leah claims him, because otherwise she’d throw a fit.

p.s. Paige wrote this, not Leah

Franco

He gives the best kisses and hugs. He is a smart little kid and excels at the file folder games. He loves doing thumb wars, but cheats to win. He is the only child to know all of our names. He loves to brush his teeth. Paige has claimed him.

Fernanda

She loves attention. She struggles with eating, but somehow they always get her to eat in the end. She loves being tickled and being in the oldest room now. We all claim her.

Scully

She is out of control crazy. She’s poco loco. She likes to bite, hit, scratch, and throw toys. However, we know she has the ability to be sweet. For example, when she sleeps she looks like a little angel. She loves one-on-one time. She surprisingly loves getting her nails done. She has lived her entire life in CONIN. Paige has claimed her.

Jose

He is the kindest, most loving, most affectionate child you’ll ever meet. He is very caring about the other children and always wants to make sure they’re ok. Jamie claims him.

Belinda
She is gorgeous. She gives THE most amazing hugs ever and just loves to be held while hugging you. She gives the sweetest little kisses on the cheek. We let her follow us everywhere because she is so good and such a great help with everything. Paige has claimed her.

Elena

She is the chunkiest, most solid girl at CONIN. She likes to claim her territory, and when you invade it she gets upset. She is sweet and loves everyone. Leah claims her.

We Love Comments!

2009-10-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We've noticed that there are a lot of people that look at this blog every day. Thank you so much for caring about what we are doing. However, even though there are a lot of people that look at this blog we don't get very many comments about the posts. We love to read your comments and thoughts so please don't let us down and make sure you let us know what you're thinking. Thanks!

Love,
Leah, Paige and Jamie

Meet the Third Room

2009-10-28T03:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the third room. These kids are so fun! They are at the age where they just love to play and dance.

Claudia

She loves dancing and twirling around, with the help of a tia of course, because she can’t walk yet. She has cute, curly hair. Leah has claimed her.

Felix

He is most often seen crying, but when he smiles it is so adorable. He generally cries when his mom and grandma leave, because he misses them. He wins the prize for the best eater. He LOVES watching us through the glass into the next room. Paige and Leah claim him.

Marco

2 years. We love to call him Marco Polo. He is Marlene’s older brother. Before his hair got cut he looked like the little crazy ape from Tarzan. He is a fairly mellow kid, but when you can get him to laugh he has the biggest smile. He can’t talk, but he loves to make many different sounds. He has a million different facial expressions. Leah claims him. Gotta keep the siblings together, right?

Exequiel

This little boy looks slightly Asian and has 2 huge front teeth that are so cute. He always has the biggest smile whenever anyone looks at him. He enjoys playing bumper cars while in his walker, both with other walkers and with adult’s legs. His mom comes in everyday to see him and seems to be working really hard to get him back. We all like her a lot. Therefore, we give claim to his mom.

Jeison

He rocks from side to side in his crib. He has huge, unblinking eyes. When he cries it is the saddest cry with huge tears. He loves being tickled and held upside down. Paige has claimed him.

Irma

She has the cutest, curliest hair. She is always happy. She has the brightest eyes and biggest smile. She does really well at playing by herself and keeping herself entertained. We all claim her.

Constanza

She loves to be held. She loves to mix her vegetables with her fruit at every meal. Hailey claims her.

Javiera
She loves attention and cries when she doesn’t get it. She loves playing with toys, especially ones that make noise. Paige has claimed her.

Ruben
He LOVES to dance. Whenever music turns on he immediately starts to dance. He loves to hit, especially tia Leah. He likes to hit, and gets in trouble a lot, but he has people wrapped around his finger. (Including the cooks, who give him extra little treats all the time.) Whenever he does something wrong he gets a little “oops” face, whether he meant to do it or not. He loves having toys put on his head. Paige and Jamie claim him.

Francisco
He is so sweet. His most commonly used phrase is “TIA!” He tries to act like he’s not excited to see us, but you can always see the smile he’s trying to hide. He loves to take toys from the other little kids and keep them for himself. He hates being left out of the action. He really loves hard boiled eggs. We all claim him.

Meet the second room

2009-10-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the second room a CONIN. Once the kids have outgrown the baby room they are move to the second room. Here they are at the age where they are learning to sit up, turn over, crawl, and eventually walk with help.

Joaquin

Happiest little kid you’ll ever meet. He gives the biggest smiles. He is the most flexible little boy. He goes to Concepcion once a week to see a specialist for Down Syndrome. His parents didn’t want him once they found out that he had Down Syndrome, which is how he ended up at CONIN. We all claim him.

Magdalena

She is currently learning how to walk. Every time she sees us she gets the biggest smile and runs on over to us in her little walker. She doesn’t really look Chilean. She always has a lot of boogers, but is still a sweetheart. Leah has claimed her.

Marlene

6 months old. We’ve mentioned her before. We were there when she first came. She was filthy. She is such a calm little baby who rarely cries. She’s one of our star pupils with tummy time and rolling over. She looks like a little cabbage patch doll. Leah has claimed her.

Katherine

She is our little sumo baby. She loves tummy time. She is generally happy as long as she has her binky in her mouth. Leah has claimed her.

Isabella

She has the cutest little tweety bird cheeks. Her tongue reminds us of a snake. She has big beautiful eyes. Her laugh and smile are both contagious. Paige has claimed her.

Vicente the First

Whenever you first look at him he gets so excited and kicks his little legs and flaps his little arms, however once you walk away or put him down he cries. His hair sticks straight up. One time his eyes were completely glued shut after a nap. He was trying so hard to open them but no one noticed him. Surprisingly, he wasn’t fussing too bad about it. We noticed and had to get the attention of the tia’s to take care of the poor little boy. Jamie has claimed him.

Vicente the Second

6 months. He is one huge boy who sports a mullet which we have all wanted to cut a time or 2. He likes to just sit and watch everything. His parents were declared incapable to take care of him by an agency due to drug and alcohol abuse, so the police took him straight to CONIN. Leah has claimed him.

Juan Jose

This kid has amazing cheeks for kissing. He likes to just sit and stare, but when he smiles he is so cute. He is one solid kid. Jamie claims him.

Meet the babies of CONIN

2009-10-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

Over the next few posts I'll introduce you to our kids here at CONIN. Today you get the baby room... one of our four favorite rooms to visit. These babies are all between a few days old and four months old. They spend all of their days in the same room either in their crib or in a carseat on the floor. We try to take them out to different parts of the building as often as we can for tummy time and to just play, but it's hard to find time to do it with the schedule they're given. These babies really are so sweet and love just being loved, which sadly they don't get a lot.

Valentina

4 months old. She is THE star pupil. She loves tummy time and has already learned how to roll over. She always has the biggest smile on her face. She can take care of herself by kicking her leg and rocking herself in her car seat. Paige has claimed her.

Sophia

3 months old. She is a pretty content little girl. She loves to sleep and rarely cries. She doesn’t have much hair, but the hair she does have sticks straight up and is super cute. She gives some of the best smiles you’ve ever seen. One of our favorite tia’s has claimed her.

Jorge

3 ½ months. He is Mr. Politician. He has attitude and can raise his eyebrows one at a time. He holds his head high and proud. He plays hard to get, but has a smile that is to die for. Jamie has claimed him.

Brayan

4 months. He is a turtle. He is Alfonzo’s twin. He has little teeny tiny legs, especially in comparison to his brother. He has a smile, complete with dimples that just melts your heart. He’s one of the wiggliest boys you’ll ever hold. For any Brian Regan fans out there remember the act about how he says the name Brian, that is how we say his name and he loves it! Leah has claimed him.

Alfonso

4 months. He’s a little toad. When the tia’s refer to him they call him little fatty. When we feed him our arm gets tired. He has the biggest eyes that just pop right out of his head. He’s a twin. Leah has claimed him.

Mayten
1 month old. She still has the newborn baby look. She sleeps most of the time. Her bellybutton is spiraled and is stinking cute. She has the softest kissing cheeks ever. Pretty much we’ve all claimed her.

Belen

3 months. She is the tiniest most petite little girl. Even though she's one of the oldest in the room she is the smallest baby there. She has a hard time eating. Her little cry is incredibly adorable. We all claim her.

Daniel

2 months. He is our little alien baby. We’ve rarely gotten to be around him because he has been sick and in the hospital with pneumonia. We don't have a picture of him because he's been in the hospital. He is very content and cries next to never. Jamie has claimed him.

Benjamin

2009-10-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

I've been telling everyone that I'm bringing one of the kids home with me. His name is Benjamin and he is just the cutest kid ever!!! I don't have any better pictures of him, so this will just have to do for now. It's a really bad picture of him, but it's the best I have. He is the little boy with the blank stare on the left. Just imagine him with a huge smile, dimples, and a sparkle in his eyes. I love that kid!

Early Christmas at CONIN!!!

2009-10-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Hola everyone! I finally got some pictures posted, aren't you so proud of me?! We took three huge bins of stuff to CONIN. When we unloaded them all of the tias had to look through everything. It was like Christmas to them. We then went around with teddy bears for each child. Cutes thing ever. These kids really loved the teddy bears and Sra. Gloria said that they can sleep with them! Big shock because before the kids were never aloud to sleep with anything. It was generally a happy day, but we did have one really sad thing happen I'm going to post the story from what Paige said in an email because she explained what we were all feeling very well.

"There´s a little boy, Jason, who is so incredibly sweet. Sometimes a punk ( He hits and bites and spits), but he´s also very sweet. His mom sold him and his little brother for drugs, which is how they ended up in CONIN. He´s now 5 years old. And when you turn 5 you move to a different orphanage where you live until you turn 18, or until you´re adopted. Wednesday was his day to leave. As a going away present we gave him and his brother each a teddy bear and new outfit to wear. Literally, that´s all they had when they left. A teddy bear and the clothes on their back. When they brought Jason in to say bye to us he wouldn´t even lift up his head because he was so sad to leave. It had been his home since January. I was having a hard time holding back my tears. But then they told us that we could go with them to take the 2 boys to the other orphanage. In the car I held Jason. He was so sad. When we got there and got into the office he burst into tears. I then started crying, too. It seriously broke my heart. They finally got him into the back room… and not too much later they brought out a bag of his and his brothers clothes. They even brought back the underwear. These boys now had only the teddy bears we gave them. Of course this made me cry all over again. They had nothing. Not even the clothes on their back. It´s such a sad realization to me and I´ve been thinking about little Jason and his brother ever since. It´s such a hard life, I can´t even imagine."

It was a hard thing to witness and we just hope Jason is doing well. If we get a chance we might go visit him some day to see how he is. Well, that's all I can think of right now. Enjoy the pictures!

The tias and Sra. Gloria (on the left) looking at some stuff we brought.

Them looking at the capes and loving them. Thanks Aunt Ann!

Looking at some books we brought.

Paige and Jamie stamping CONIN on all of the clothes. We had to either write or stamp CONIN on everything we brought so nothing would be stolen.

Jamie stamping books.

Paige going through things and me writing CONIN on books.

Us giving Jason his bear. Poor kid, he was so sad.

Saying goodbye to Damian, Jasons younger brother.

Fernanda collecting teddy bears.

Fransisco also collecting teddy bears.

Irma with her teddy bear

Irma, Ruben (in the background, Fransisco, and Fernanda)

Jose and Michael.

Franco

Fransisco really liked to steal everyone elses bears

Paige, Belinda, and Franco

Franco and Michael. Yes, they are hitting each other... such boys.

Vicente loved loved loved his bear.

Claudia

Long and probably boring update on CONIN... Sorry

2009-10-02T19:27:00.001-07:00

I know I've been so bad about posting more about CONIN lately, but we've been so busy in CONIN that when we get home we're just worn out. I promise that sometime the next week I'll get more pictures and stories of the kids, but for now here's a little taster. Everything is finally settling into a schedule. Every Tuesday and Thursday the parents of the kids can come in and visit, so there really isn't much time to work with them those days. We worked it out so we'll be working Mon Tues Wed Fri and Sat as much as we can. We were able to bring the three heavy boxes full of stuff for the kids and the tias (workers) had so much fun looking at it. It was like Christmas to them. We bought a bookshelf with the money that was donated to put everything in. We marked everything with CONIN and put a lock on the bookshelf so nothing will be stolen. Today was the first day we were able to start really working with the kids and Sra. Gloria (the director) was really excited. We took about three kids each time to a large room so they could get away from their dormitory. We started with the babies in the morning and did tummy time with the ones that were old enough for it. Most of them didn't appreciate it, but they'll learn to like it eventually. We then took the next oldest group and mostly just played dress us with them. In the afternoon we took the third room and did coloring time with them. We just got out crayons and paper. Some of them loved it and some don't quite have the hang of it, but they still loved getting out and doing something. With the oldest room we tried to find an activity that was at each childs level. Some we did puzzles with, some played with blocks (or destroyed the towers we made for them), and some did matching games. Today as we worked with the children we tried to just assess what level they were at and set goals for them. In a future post I'll let you know more about the goals. Sorry this post is all text and really long, just one more thing. Success story for the day. Felix is a child that was just moved to the oldest room. He is a little slow mentally, but I'm not sure completely what's wrong. He normally doesn't do anything but cry. He doesn't focus his eyes on anything, have any facial expressions, or really react to others. Today we did blocks with him and he actually focused on the blocks as we built towers in front of him. When prompted he would start adding blocks to the tower. When congratulated for doing so he even gave a small half smile. He also did really well focusing in the morning when we had him the first time today. We thing the tias were shocked with how well he did. Well, that's all I have. Sorry it's so long and boring, and sorry if it doesn't make any sense, but I'm not going to go back and read it because I've already spent enough time on a boring post with no pictures. I'll try to find time for some exciting pictures!!!

CONIN

2009-09-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

We finally went to CONIN for the first time on Friday. It was a very emotional experience. There are four rooms and the kids are separated depending on their age. Each room has about 10 cribs where the kids spend most of their day. There are four workers, one for each room, that take care of the kids. But this is just a job to them so they do little more than feed them, change them, and make sure they are ok. We went for just a few hours on Friday and Saturday to get familiar with things there. It was so hard because there are so many kids in need and I'm only one person. Whenever we would go in a room the kids would all try to get our attention and as soon as we picked one child up the rest would all reach for us and beg to be held in our arms. Once we set them down they would just cry and cry because a few minutes isn't enough time. There was one little girl that as soon as I set her down in her crib to hold another child she started banging her head agains the metal crib. I really wish I had more arms or could split myself into multiple people in order to give these kids the attention they need. Hopefully the month we're here we will be able to not only give them more attention, but also the love they crave and don't get. Thank you for your love for these kids. As soon as we start a program with what we've brought I'll post more so you can see any progress we make. Please keep the kids of CONIN Chillan in your prayers, they are children of our Heavenly Father and life is so hard for them right now. They need that love.

Here's the second to youngest room.

Alfonso and Brayan are twins in the baby room.

Avea with two babies

Hailey with one of the girls in the third room.

Kim with a couple of kids. (Sorry it's sideways)

Me and Jorge "the politician". He always has his head tilted up and is looking down so they call him "el politico". Makes it kind of hard to burp him like that.

Little Belen. The newest in the baby room.

Ezekiel in the second room. He just smiles whenever anyone looks at him. So cute!

Elaina in the oldest room. She would hold onto Paige and not let her go.

Jamie, Ava, and Hailie with some of the kids in the oldest room.

Little Belen again.

Our first time holding one of the babies.

Ava with the second room. The church donated those walkers so the kids now have something else to do besides be in their cribs.

Jorge in the oldest room. He's the biggest kid there and is a little slow mentally. I'm not sure exactly what the problem is but he's probably the sweetest kid you'll ever know.

Hermana Zeballos

2009-09-26T04:37:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday we went jewelry shopping with Hermana Zeballos.... Dangerous woman to shop with. Her husband, Elder Zeballos, will be speaking in the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference so be sure to watch for him! I got to take a taxi and the subway for the first time to get there! We all got a couple of things from the jewelry store and I discovered my love for pearls. There were millions of colors of pearls, but don't worry, I limited myself to one strand.

Us with Hermana Zeballos in the subway

Downtown Santiago

2009-09-25T04:16:00.000-07:00

Monday we went to downtown Santiago to see the sights. We went to Cerro San Lucia which is a hill with an old fort on it. We also went and looked around at different famous buildings then looked at some shops. We had our first completo. It's a hot dog with avocado, mayo, and tomatoes on it. It was pretty good. Quick explanation for why we look nasty - we were walking in a cloud all day so our hair got soaked and our makeup ran off.

Us on Cerro San Lucia with Santiago behind us.

A building on Cerro San Lucia

A cathedral in downtown Santiago

Inside the cathedral

A burial building on Cerro San Lucia

Us showing that there's a dead man in there

We had to copy the dog statue

Our first completo's!

Us with the guard of their white house

WARNING may contain some PG-13 material

2009-09-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been looking at Paige's blog she is also posting some of what we see. Don't look though if you can't handle some slightly dirty humor. She is posting the funny things we see or hear that are a little off or strange. Parental guidance advised for children under the age of 13 or children that need to keep their innocence a little bit longer.

What can we say? We're Single Girls.

2009-09-24T04:08:00.000-07:00

I know I didn't post very many pictures of us at the parade or on the hill or at the rodeo, but here I'll make up for it. Here's the many pictures we -- meaning Kim-- took.

The start of the parade

On top of Cerro San Cristobal with two police officers.

More men in uniform

And more. The girls aren't old enough to appreciate this yet.

Gotta love the guns

Jamie with our new friend that kept saying he was very lucky that day.

Me with our new friend

Paige with our new friend

Us with a rodeo participant. Kim made us wait forever for a young enough one to pass by us.

Cerro San Cristobal and Rodeo

2009-09-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

After the military parade on Saturday we went to Cerro San Cristobal which is a big hill in the middle of Santiago that has a statue of the virgin Mary on top with a statue of Christ on the cross a little below. At the top of the hill you can see a lot of Santiago. It's huge, I had no idea that it was so big. On the hill there was a little place we stopped at to have cheese empanadas and a popular Chilean drink called mote cone huesillo heladito. It's a peach syrup kind of liquid with peaches and wheat in it... Paige liked it, but me and Jamie just drank it for the experience. Funny story, there was also a few souvenir shops we looked at. Paige barely touched a magnet and it fell and broke. With a little persuasion from Dave though she got it and another one for the price of the one she broke. So now we just don't let her near magnets.
After Cerro San Cristobal we went to a rodeo. The rodeos here are a lot different than any I've been to in the states. The people participating wear a poncho, very large spurs, and a flat sombrero looking hat. They are in pairs and their objective is to herd an angry cow halfway around an arena then pin it to the wall as long as they can before it breaks away. It was mostly older men participating so it wasn't quite as fun for us single ladies as the military parade, but it was a lot of fun.

The Mote con Huesillo Heladito. Don't worry we didn't spend $600 on it.

The brain looking peaches in the drink

The virgin Mary on top of Cerro San Cristobal that you can see from a lot of Santiago on a clear day.

Another view of the virgin Mary

Christ on the cross that's a little lower down the hill than the virgin Mary. A little backward I know.

Hailey, Jinnie, and Ava on Cerro San Cristobal. Aren't they cute?!

A view of Santiago from Cerro San Cristobal. It's a little smoggy, but better than most days.

More Santiago.

The arena at the rodeo

One pair trying to trap the cow

Us at the rodeo :)

Here's a video of a pair trying to pin the cow on the side. Gotta love the music here.

Mmmmmen in uniforms.

2009-09-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning in Santiago there was a military parade that we decided to go see. We got there at 8 only to be told that it actually started at like 10... welcome to Chile. It wasn't a bad wait, just funny to be the only ones hanging around on a street corner waiting for a parade to start.

Us waiting on the empty street corner.

More :)

Breaking and Entering - Moms don't read!

2009-09-22T04:01:00.000-07:00

Tuesday in Algarrobo the destination of our walk on the beach was the "island" that's really a peninsula. This island has wild penguins living on it so of course we had to go explore! We got to the gate to enter the "island" that's really a peninsula and the guard there wouldn't let us in. With a little persuasion from Kim he finally let us pass. We walked to the island part of the peninsula only to be stopped by another gate, but this one without an easily persuaded guard. It was just a locked gate, so what do we do? Climb around the gate of course. It was a little tricky so only me, Jamie, and Paige went. The "island" that's really a peninsula was full of seagulls that really made a lot of noise when we invaded their privacy. We walked around the "island" that's really a peninsula trying to find the penguins. We had to climb all over bird poop covered rocks and bird carcasses to get to a point where we could see penguins. We saw three!!! We weren't really close, but it was the coolest thing ever to see penguins in the wild!

Here is a view of the "island" that's really a peninsula

Us sneaking on the island

Two of the three penguins!

Walking along the beach

2009-09-21T03:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday in Algarrobo we went walking along the beach because it was too cold to swim in the ocean. We found a whole bunch of beautiful seashells and collected them in a bag to take home. The water was really clear and the whole scenery was beautiful.

One view of the beach and ocean.

See how clear the water is.

More ocean with the "island" in the background. It was really a peninsula.

Where we went for dinner on the beach. They had the best mango and raspberry juices!

A view of part of the trail we followed when the beach turned into rocks.

Yes, we are dorks. That is our new pelican friend.

Us collecting our seashells.

Thank You!!!

2009-09-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the people that have donated in any way. It really is appreciated and doesn't go unnoticed. Thank you for your time, energy, items, and love that were given to us to bring for these people. We have had one opportunity so far to give to a family that was in need. This family is in our ward here and just had their third baby girl. The baby was a surprise and came after the parents got rid of all the baby clothes they had. We were able to take a bunch of baby girl clothes and three of the pink blankets made by grandma Burgener. I just want to pass on their thanks and their love to all of you. THANK YOU!

Algarrobo

2009-09-19T05:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday night we headed down to Algarrobo, a Chilean beach town. It was kind of cold, but a lot of fun.

This is the view of the bay from our borrowed condo we stayed in.

In Dave and Kim's ward there is a family that owns a condo with a huge salty swimming pool. This pool is so big you can take boats on it and go scuba diving in it... HUGE!!! It was a little cold for us to go swimming in so we stayed in the smaller heated pool instead. They made us wear these lovely swim caps and we have never looked better... *cough*

More Cueca

2009-09-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

After the ward party we were invited to go watch Antonio's band play at an after rodeo party to celebrate the Cueca. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone dance the Cueca over and over and over and over and over and over again. Everyone has their own style of dance, so it's really entertaining to see how everyone does it differently and pick out your favorite couple.

Celebrating the Cueca

The building full of Cueca dancers and spectators

Me, Paige, and Jamie outside the party building. Some guy thought it would be so funny to be in our picture, thus the random hand.

Here's how the Cueca is supposed to be done.

Chicken Run... Literally

2009-09-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

At the ward party we also had a chicken chase.... funniest thing ever! They had a children's chase, one for the women and one for the men.

These are the chickens in the bag. You buy them and they come in a plastic bag. I thought it was pretty funny.

Hailey in her traditional dress holding one of the chickens before the chase.

Video of the women chasing the chicken... feel free to laugh!

You can call her the Cueca Queen...

2009-09-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

We went to the ward party on Saturday to celebrate the 11th and had our first chance to show off our Cueca skills. I uploaded a video of Paige dancing the Cueca in the ward competition. She ended up showing us all up by coming in second in the competition. Way to go Paige!!!

*DISCLAIMER*- Paige just wants everyone to know that the video I posted was more of a practice round and not the real competition.

Aprendemos la Cueca

2009-09-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Friday night we learned the Cueca, Chiles national dance. Antonio came over to teach it to all of us. It's a fairly simple dance, but when you're the one doing it it's harder than it looks. It is a fun dance though, it's very flirty and can be made to be a little bit provocative. Here are pictures of me and Jamie dancing with Antonio. For some reason we didn't get a picture of Paige doing it, but don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities for that while we're here!

Shopping and I Spy in My Food

2009-09-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to a tourist place with a bunch of different kind of shops. It was a really fun place. Here is a picture of us shopping.

While we were shopping we ate lunch. It was authentic Chilean food.... still not sure how I feel about it.

Here's what I ordered. That was one huge bowl of food.

Jamie got a little more than she expected - and yes that is a half done egg on top of almost every kind of meat you can imagine

Let's play I Spy in my food. Who can find the corn, chicken, olive, and raisin?

Hola from Santiago!

2009-09-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

Bienvenidos a Santiago Chile! We finally got here! Kim (my cousin) was at the airport to pick us up, then we rushed back to her house as fast as we could and only had time to brush our teeth before we headed to her daughter Hailey's traditional Chilean dance performance. It was like a big carnival at the school. There was a live band and singers performing the songs and all of the grades 1-6 did their dances. They also had food and toys for purchase at the school. It was like one big party! I think I could get used to this. :) After the dance performance we went back to Kims for lunch, showers, and naps. It's been a great first day in Santiago!

This was the band and singers performing during the dances.

I just had to get a picture of thi teachers' spurs. They are HUGE!

Hailey's class doing their dance. She's the one in the white shirt with the black shawl.

Hopefully this works, I've never uploaded a video before. If this does work, this is Hailey's class doing their traditional dance.

Airports and Such

2009-09-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hello!!! This first post about the trip isn't all that exciting. We travelled on three planes before we finally got to Santiago. Todays post will just be about the flights and getting there.

We flew Delta the whole time, so it was easy to travel not having to worry about our luggage.

Me eating at Chili's in the Chicago airport.

Paige and Jamie (my cousins) eating at Chili's too :)

This is us right before we left our moms. They stayed and just watched us go through the line. It was pretty funny, just when we thought they had left we turned around and they were still there just staring at us. Love ya mom!

I need your help again!

2009-07-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

I need your help again.... Look at this post and the previous post and let me know your favorites from each. I'm doing a class assignment again and need to be able to print the best from the shoots that will then be used for my portfolio.
Once again, thanks to another beautiful girl for modeling for me. My frend Britni modeled this shoot, isn't she gorgeous?!

The Beautiful Kailie

2009-07-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

Kailie modeled for me in this photo shoot. She was very kind to do this last minute... Thanks Kailie!!!

2009-06-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

The response I got for senior pictures in May was so good that I've decided to do family pictures as well!!! I will be home August 14th - September 5th and will be doing family pictures for $60. The $60 includes:

1 hour session of up to 10 people
Any groupings you want
CD with proofs of up to 15 of your favorite images

I do on location portraits. If you have a location in mind where you want your family pictures done we can meet there (as long as it's within a reasonable driving distance), or I have some locations that would work great.

I will also be doing senior pictures for seniors graduating in 2010 for $30. The $30 includes:

1 hour session on location
CD with proofs of up to 20 images

If you are interested please email me at ljackman.123@gmail.com and we will be able to set up a time and place to meet. Hurry and make an appointment as the times will go fast!

Studio Fun

2009-06-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

This was a photo shoot of my beautiful roommate Matice. We had fun goofing around and even used the studio umbrellas that go on the lights in some of the shots!

I NEED YOUR HELP!!!

2009-06-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

For my portrait class this last Thursday Sister Brown had four models come in and we drove all over and "shot" them. These are my favorites of the bunch. We have to pick just one of each model and then one of the couple to turn in on Tuesday, but I can't decide. HELP!!!

Family and Friends

2009-06-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

These are group pictures I had to do for an assignment. Some were in the studio and the last two are my wonderful siblings at windsor park.

Just for fun!

These are the school pictures of three of Tate, Chase, and Erin that were supposed to be done at the beginning of the school year, but kept getting forgotten about (sorry mom). We finally got them done at the end of the school year!

This is for you Trent

2009-05-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

I decided to add some of the images from Trent's shoot. We just goofed around and had a great time. Here's what we came up with!

The rest of 'em

2009-05-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here are the rest of the senior pictures. A big thanks to all of these seniors for being such great models and allowing me to use thier pictures on my blog and to finish class assignments!!!

1st Batch of Senior Pictures

2009-05-26T13:30:00.001-07:00

Here's the first batch of senior pictures that I've done since I've been home. These three beautiful girls were so fun to work with. I still have two more days of it so keep posted for more!

Field Trip!

2009-05-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

For my portrait class today we went on a field trip into town and took a bunch of pictures of each other. The reason no one is looking at my camera is because our teacher was taking pictures as well, and of course they look at the teacher :)

Beautiful Ali..... again

2009-05-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

I took Ali again to my favorite wall in Rexburg at a different time of day to retake some of the pictures from a previous photo shoot.

Senior Pictures!!!

2009-05-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

I will be home (Orem) May 23rd - 30th and am looking for anyone that forgot to get their senior pictures taken or any other pictures you would like taken. I don't charge anything because I'm still learning, but I will be using the pictures I take to complete class assignments and as part of my portforlio. If you would like to set up a time to get pictures just let me know either through facebook or email me at ljackman.123@gmail.com. We can work out a time and a place to have them taken!

Fun Pictures!!!

2009-05-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

So, after I added all of my serious pictures from the photo shoot today I decided I had to show the fun side of it so you wouldn't think I was torturing my friends the whole time, they were actually having fun! :)

This was an out house at the nature park by the skate park. They were both holding thier breath because it was really stinky.

Here Amanda is holding her breath.

Two best friends!

Watching the ducks

This is Lindsey who is also going into photography and was taking pictures of our models at the same time.

Amanda stole my reflector and skated off with it.

I couldn't resist taking a quick picture of this boy at the duck pond. It was just perfect... (hopefully his parents never find out I took it!)

They decided they were going to go down this ramp on the count of three... well as you can tell Kiersten chickened out and Amanda ended up leaving a chunk of skin at the skate park in memory of this great fall.

Helping each other up

Cute Amanda!!

Amanda tried to go up that ramp by her and ended up like this

kissy kissy!!

"Look! It comes off!"

Hot poses for Lindsey

They decided to climb the ladder that says "No trespassing".... oops

Studio Portraits

2009-05-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

You will probably recognize Ali from other pictures on this blog. She was nice enough to put up with me and my camera again, but this time in the studio. The assignment was to use five lights and then switch to just one light... These are the results.