A brand new blog

Well as many of you know I have recently started taking pictures for other people. I absolutely love doing it and I wish that I could do it full time. But for the time being, I take any chance that I have been given to practice. I have been thinking about doing this for a while now and finally have taken the time to do it. I have created a blog just for my photography "business". I hope that you will take the time to visit! www.marandasummersphotography.blogspot.com

A Model Search?

Well, I know that every mom thinks their child is the cutest kid in the world but I guess I went a little far with the idea. Just outside of Sears at West Town there is a table set up that said, "So you think your child is cute?", it really grabbed my attention. Of course I think my child is cute. Everyone tells me all the time that he is cute and I know I am not at all partial (just kidding) Anyway, I thought I would fill out the little entry form and just see how it went. They called me Monday to set up a full model shoot with our little man. The photographer's name was Victoria and she told me to bring 3 outfits. A casual, a dressy and an outfit that really showed off his personality. I had just taken his pictures in his overalls the night before I got the call but I couldn't resist I had to do it again. She also said to bring some props so we brought lots of farm animals and a couple of tractors and his cowboy hat. Brody did pretty good for an 18 month old. He didn't really want to sit where and when we wanted but she got some really good shots anyway. Who knows if the judges will think he is a "winner" but it was a fun experience anyway. Now I don't want you all to think I am conceited or anything, I just thought I would try something a little different. And yes I do think my child is pretty darn cute!!!

Picture, Picture

I have been taking so many pictures lately. I really love it so much that I don't even realize how many I have taken until it is time to load them to my computer. I would post more often but it takes my computer so long to upload them that I really get discouraged. Anyway, I started last week with pictures of Avary. On Monday I took the ones outside that I posted earlier. On Thursday, Brody and I went to Amanda's parents house on the lake to take some more of Avary. I really wanted to get some outside by the lake but Avary had other plans. We did get one that turned out really good though. Then we moved inside and Amanda changed Avary's clothes and got her calmed down. Then I took pictures with her first birthday cake. They turned out so good.I had to get mom to meet us there to watch Brody while I was "working" - Thank you mom you are the best! Amanda posted a few of her favorites on her blog so check it out.

I have been wanting Adam to weed-eat around one of the buildings on our farm for a couple of days. He mowed today so after he cleaned up around the building and even made me a little bench for kids to sit on to get some good pictures. I was very inspired and ran inside and grabbed a pair of overalls for Brody. I wanted a pair that was a little too big. I put them on him without a shirt , grabbed my camera and off we went. We had a little photo shoot and some of them turned out really cute. Brody will ignore me a lot and not look at me when I am taking pictures. Then sometimes he will do just perfect. Tonight he didn't really want to look at me but that was okay. I think these pictures turned out just fine without him looking right at the camera.

We had a great 4th of July! We went to my aunt Evelyn's for a cookout at noon and I got to see everyone on mom's side. It was so much fun. Then that evening Harold and Sandy cooked out at their house. It started raining while we were there so we ended up spending most of our time inside but it worked out fine. The kids were able to go outside and play with a new water toy that Paul and Bobbie Lyn brought. They had a blast and anytime Brody has fun I definitely do too! I hope you all had a great 4th too and I hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am!!! It is definitely one of the best summers of my life!

A visit with Avary and a Photo Shoot

Amanda and Avary came to visit us for a little while yesterday. Amanda wanted Avary to see the cows and I thought I would take some pictures for her. They turned out pretty good if I say so myself and I think Amanda was pleased too. I really enjoy taking pictures and I wish I could do it more often. Avary is so cute and such a pleasant young lady.Brody, on the other hand was a little wild. He isn't around kids that are smaller than him often so he really had a hard time being easy with her. I was so afraid that he was going to hit her or something but we ended the visit with no injuries thank goodness!! Well here are a few of my favorites. Please let me know what you think!

A trip to the Zoo and a Birthday Party

Wow, what a weekend! We started out Friday night with the addition of our new tractor. On Friday nights we always go to Harold and Sandy's for a family dinner. It is so much fun to get together weekly and the food is always awesome. Well this Friday we got everyone to come to our house so we could show the tractor off a little bit. It was a lot of fun but I don't think Brody liked it too much when Paul took Joseph for a ride on his tractor. It was a little funny to see his reaction. Usually he doesn't mind to share, which is mostly due to the fact that Anna and Joseph are so close to his age and they all stay with Sandy while I work.

Saturday morning we got up and got ready a little earlier than what we have been getting used to. We met Brooke and Lexi Barton at their temporary house ( to see their new house visit the Barton's blog) We headed off to the zoo. Adam and I had taken Brody to the zoo in October but I don' t think he really understood what we were doing. Time had definitely changed that! He loved it. Especially the petting zoo. He was in his element for sure. He was grinning all over and would bend down and get in the sheep's face like he was talking to them or something. It was so sweet. After the zoo we headed to Olive Garden, yummy!! Brody and Lexi were getting pretty tired and irritated by this point so we came home and took a very long nap.

Sunday morning we got up and got ready for church. Brody made it through the whole service without me having to take him out. This is a big accomplishment for us. Our church doesn't have a nursery so he stays with us. He is a little distracting sometimes for everyone around us so most Sunday's we have to walk out, at least for a few minutes. After church we came home and grilled some steaks. Brody has a new found love for corn on the cob. It is so funny to watch him eat it. Most of it ends up on his head, face, or clothes but he loves it! After dinner we got ready to go to Gracie's 4th Birthday party. We had such a good time! Well I guess that's pretty much it for our busy weekend. Brody has just kinda wanted to rest today and I am all for that too!!!

New Tractor

Since Adam and I got married, I have tried to talk him into getting a new tractor. You could really say that he had his heart set on a big John Deere. Well recently he has really gotten "the fever" for a tractor of his own. We knew about what we were willing to spend and what size we needed. We just needed to find the "right" one with the right price tag. We finally found it. Wednesday we headed out with every intention of buying a tractor that day. We started out in Sweetwater at Massey Ferguson. He found what he wanted in a new model right away and talked to the salesman who pointed him in the direction of a tractor that was a few years old but in really good shape. He really liked it and it had just what he needed but we still had to go look at the John Deeres. We looked and found out really quick that they couldn't compete price-wise. So Adam called the salesman back from Sweetwater, they talked and we headed back to sign the papers. We got our "new" tractor Friday evening and Adam played on it all day Saturday. Brody really loves it too. He didn't really want anyone to ride without him. I even drove it!!! Here are a few pictures from our adventures, Don't you think our tractor's sexy???? (ha ha)

RHS Class of 1998 Reunion

Hey guys, I know that I have talked to several of you who were wondering about our 10-year reunion. Jenny Stepien found my MySpace page and sent me a message telling me that she, Marsha and a few other people had starting the planning process. I told them I would help in any way I could and I know several of you would too. They said something about meeting at the Sept. 26 ballgame and doing our reunion that weekend. The first thing we have to do is get everyone's address, email and other contact information. If you are a member of the Class of 1998 and are interested in going to our reunion or even helping plan it please email me at maranda_summers@yahoo.com even if I have your address so I can send it to Marsha. Thanks so much and I will be keeping you all updated on any progress that is made