Huron

While we were in Huron before Easter, (apparently we are there A LOT!) I had an opportunity to pull out the camera and create some awesome images. It was a beautiful day out with lots of bright warm sunshine!

The lovely Melissa

Margarita (aka Kris' grandmother) looking young as ever!

Of course no trip is finished without me taking images of my wonderful husband! Here's Kris' GQ photo. By the way, I'm absolutely loving this light! Who says we can't have California sun in South Dakota??

Lastly, this is what happens when you ask your husband to pose tough...although he does look like he's wearing a small form of brass knuckles, even if it IS only his wedding ring!
Maria

Thanksgiving

This past Thanksgiving, as some of you may already know, Kris and I traveled to Huron to be with his family. Having spent last year around my family, it was my first experience of the Gross traditions.
On Thanksgiving, the entire family gets together to eat turkey, potatoes, stuffing, etc. After stuffing their bellies full from the meal, they bring out pounds of candy and pre-made structures for making gingerbread houses! It's such a unique idea, because most people create them closer to Christmas. I had a blast watching the kids dig into the scrumptious candies and lick their fingers covered in icing!

Here are a couple portraits from the day

Thanksgiving night, after we all had time to let our stomachs settle, we had the 10th Annual Gross Thanksgiving Soup Cook-Off. Taste testing started with a large bowl filled to the brim , but didn't last long before we demanded half-cup sizes! (None of us wanted to try stuffing nearly 16 cups of soup into our stomachs - just for a cook-off!!!) Each family member kept track of their favorite soups, and, after tasting all 8 recipes, we tallied up the scores to determine the winner. You'll never guess who the winner came out to be! (No sillies, not me. I suck at cooking.) My husband!
Maria

Here is Chef Kris preparing his pasta e fagiole before the contest

Halloween

I know that it's past the deadline for a New Year's resolution, but I've been trying to back-date my postings to cover some of the things I did last year. For all of you that have been patiently waiting, thank you! I promised I would get them up soon!

Every Halloween, after I insist that Kris dress up as Captain Jack Sparrow, (because he could be Johnny Depp's twin) we carve pumpkins. This past October we were lucky enough to have Kris' cousin Alex join us in our creative tradition. Even though we had seeds and pumpkin strings strewn all over the kitchen counters, it was all worth the mess after seeing our final creations.
P.S.
Just because you have a pattern that shows EXACTLY where to make your cuts for the image on a pumpkin DOES NOT mean it will be equally as easy...
Maria

Here's mine

Kris' (funny it's the Pirate's of the Caribbean)

Alex's

Our pretty pumpkin lights we strung along the front walk-way

Vintage Hollywood

As I was attempting to find a way to photograph my new do last night, I decided not to take just any image. I grabbed my hubby and went to work on playing with some new techniques. I hope you like them!
Maria

This makes me think of an actress head shot for an old horror film.

Hangin' with Ayden

This past fall, Kris and I headed up to Brookings while Cory Ann and Erin traveled to Iowa for a wedding.
Ayden kept us on our toes with all the activities he came up with! Lucky for me Kris has just as much energy as a 5 year old!!
Maria

Rockstar!

Here they are playing soccer. I think Ayden got his mad soccer skills from his mom - he might even be the next Beckham!

This is Ayden's pet turtle Martha. Isn't it great how fascinated they both seem to be by her?

I came into Ayden's room where he had all of these animals perfectly lined up. He informed me that they were having a battle with the cars on the other side..... is that even possible???? I wonder if they've ever tried it in real life.........hmmm...

Bling Bling

As some of you may know, about a year ago Kris and I moved back to Sioux Falls after living in Huron, SD. During the process of packing, stuffing, cleaning, hauling, and storing in Huron, then traveling and unpacking in Sioux Falls all in the same day, my wedding ring was misplaced. I'm sure you're wondering how it could have been lost....after all, why hadn't it stayed on my finger?? The answer: Avoiding destruction from long hours of moving steel and shelving over the Christmas season at Wal-Mart. (A month prior, my ring had it's my monthly inspection where they informed me I had almost broke one of the prongs off and could have lost my diamond.) I just felt that the ring was safer at home on the bathroom shelf, waiting for the day I could love it again...

apparently I was wrong.

For the first 8 or 9 months I did not fret about not locating the ring- after all, it was my mother that had placed it in a safe holding and knew for certain that it hadn't been tossed out. But, after that 13 month mark, my mind started having crazy ideas of mean people pawning off my freshly found ring after searching through the garbage we left behind. Needless to say, I kind of panicked. Well, I didn't go crazy psycho on anybody - I just gave myself a high dosage of anxiety.

About a week in, the day before Valentine's Day, Kris was home and I was feeling lonely for my ring. As we were talking, I happened to notice a black crate in our apartment - about 5 feet away from where I was sitting- which was filled with bathroom supplies from the move. I figured it was worth a shot to look through what was inside. I came across a purple box that seemed pretty light as I picked it up. As I explored more deeply, I found 3 or 4 of my missing necklaces along with a white jewelry box. I took the white box out and opened it. Inside was another box -this time black and fuzzy! As I preyed open the final container, my wedding ring sprung out onto my bed -leaping with joy and sparkle as it landed!
Pretty sure I shed a tear or two... I love my wedding ring.
Hope you can all sleep well tonight - I know I will!

Maria

Me in 2D

Because everyone was on the kick of Simpsonizing themselves in ode to the Simpson's Movie, I decided to bring back the long forgotten South Park self caracters. Kris and I had a histerical time picking out the body parts and expressions. Here's what I came up with, with the help of www.sp-studio.de.

ML

Me -yes, I did an update! Plus, I think I look great sporting the AC Ellis T-Shirt!!

My wonderful husband in his new career:


I think that everyone needs to be a South Park caracter at least once in their lifetime...especially our mothers!

My mom:


Kris' mom: