Fair Photos…

Living in Puyallup, we are fortunate enough to be able to visit the “Puyallup Fair” a couple of times during it’s 17 day run. This is the largest single attraction in the state of Washington and one of the top 10 fairs in our country…quite an accomplishment for Puyallup! Each year they hold a photo competition and three years ago they added a new category…Washington State Photographers. This year I entered four photos and was fortunate enough to have all of them accepted. There were around 700 photos entered and approximately 1/3 were accepted. Of the four photos I entered, two were of my granddaughter, Jayden, who is of course my favorite photographic subject! The others were of EMP (Experience Music Project) and Slide Rock, outside of Sedona, AZ. Shortly before the fair opened, they posted the results online and I was shocked to receive Best of Show for my EMP photo (as well as first place) and a first place on one of Jayden’s photos…quite an honor since there were so many amazing and beautiful photos…I was humbled! Here are the photos I entered:




Hmm, what to enter next year…guess I’ll see what the year holds in store for me and decide that next summer…but I certainly couldn’t expect anything like this year…I’m happy with it! OH…and I must add that my husband also entered four photos…and had all of his accepted as well!

Happy Birthday, Jayden!


Today is a special day in our lives…our granddaughter, Jayden, turns four years old! It’s hard to believe that it’s only been four years since she entered our lives and changed our lives…she is beautiful, charming, caring, sweet, loving, determined, curious, playful, considerate and oh, so much more! We are fortunate to have her live close and I get two “mimi” days a week with her, which I cherish and am grateful for. For the first 20 months of her life, she lived in Virginia with her mom and dad…and then they all came back to the Puget Sound…and it’s been wonderful to watch her grow and change each day! So, today, I share some photos…one for each year – it’s amazing how much they change from year to year! Happy Birthday, Jayden, we love you!!

September 26, 2005…welcome to the world, Jayden!

A year old…and eager to learn and talk all she can! Oh…this picture was published in Australia as a poster for a speech pathology center…what a perfect shot for that!

She’s two…her first birthday here with us…oh, she was so sweet that day (and still is!)

Three years old…she’s growing up so fast…loves the park and all the toys there, not to mention the ducks on the pond!

Four years old…you are becoming such a beautiful young lady…here’s to many more years…and of course, many more photos!! As you can imagine, this is my reason for my passion for photographing children…and I “practice” with her all time time!

A visit to Moscow…Idaho, that is, not Russia!

A week ago, my husband I had traveled across the state to visit his parents, who live in Moscow, Idaho. It was a quick trip…over Friday and back on Sunday, but a fun one…and we had an “extra” traveler with us…our granddaughter, Jayden, who will be four in less than a week. She seemed to really enjoy the whole weekend and her “great-grandparents” loved having her around. By the end of the weekend, she’d become the “GO FISH” champion…really, and had beat everyone…I’m thinking we need to keep her away from Vegas!! LOL While there, I took a few photos (okay, more than a few!) of Jayden around the area and here are a couple of my favorites…along with a couple from an early morning outing in the Palouse! Enjoy!






A rare photo of Jayden and myself…thanks to my wonderful hubby for taking this!!