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I am so sorry I didn't get to take a picture of this crew with a more fitting backdrop. This afternoon Dan took Daniel and company (plus guide) up to the mountains for the last (??) peak ascent of the season. Their plan was to spend the night up at the Alpingrad, getting set to ascend Peak Amangeldy (14,000 plus footer. Correction - 4,000m plus) in the morning. Praying for a good experience for them as the skies were threatening there and here all afternoon/evening. Check it out! http://www.trekkingclub.kz/eng/index.php?p=35
Today I planned to spend the day photographing special needs kids at their annual camp. . . Unfortunately, our jeep had a few early morning issues which had to be dealt with before I could drive it alone for four hours on sparsely populated roads. By the time the jeep was ready to roll, the water olympics were already underway, however. . . So, Zhanna promised to do a fabulous job as photographer with her little point-and-shoot, and I stayed home. I felt bad, missing the opportunity to feature the kids laughing and being crazy and feeling like normal teen-agers having the time of their lives. It is always one of my favorite photography days of the year. But, maybe it was best for me to stay home and rest one more day. Perhaps I can finally shake this flu which keeps hanging on and hanging on.
So, instead of photographing kids, I spent another day with my computer, finishing the edits on Karlagash's photo session. She really, really, really wanted a slideshow to accompany her order. I hadn't put slideshows on my pricelist yet, mainly because I hadn't ever really figured out how to stream-line the process and make one which could be transferred easily to various media options (auto-run CD, DVD, flash shows, YouTube, etc. .) I am definitely NOT the computer genius. But, my desire to be a good photographer and provide a variety of services continues to push me forward. So, I spent the day beating my head against the ProShow program, learning how to upload, make special slides, add more than one song (even from iTunes), sync the music and slides, and transfer to various outputs. And, believe it or not, by the end of the day, I had many successes!
Now, if I could only figure out how to get the FlashPlayer link uploaded to Blogger. . .Still can't figure out how to paste the Flash video in here. And Blogger doesn't like some of the ProShow video files. If you are interested in seeing the show, here is the YouTube link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnIEjTlB1RsIf you live in Kazakhstan or another country with reputably slow internet, start the video, stop it (leaving the window open) and go do other useful things for twenty or thirty minutes (so that there will be a substantial buffer), then come back and watch it all the way through. Your viewing experience will be much more pleasant.
THIS one gets my "cutest model of the day" award with her new stylin' do!!
Jackie has been thinking-about/ planning-to/ one-day-going-to-get-the-courage to cut her hair for a year now. But, since her long hair was a part of her identity for so many years, she decided not to add one more change to the many transitions she was making last fall. Then, as she looked at a very active summer of camping and hiking, Jackie kept her length since it was simpler to pull back in a ponytail. She has now concluded her summer and is transitioning to back-to-school mode. Thus, she decided to "go professional" and get a new style. So cute she is!! When Jackie walked in the door with her new look, Natasha and I both said the same thing, "Wow! That cut looks great on you - why didn't you do this years ago??" She does look adorable - just in time for her to return to Northwestern U. for her sophomore year! 
With the exception of a grocery store run, I spent the entire day at the computer, editing images and becoming familiar with some new Photoshop actions. Here are some more processed images from my afternoon with Karlagash and her kiddos.This has got to be my very favorite. What a beautiful, young mama. And the photo process makes her look like an early film star. . . Love it.
There are hundreds of priceless images from this one afternoon session. You really have to see the whole collection to appreciate the diversity of these adorable children. Here are just a few more:
They will make their parents proud. . .
I guess we have been burning the candle at both ends a little too long. Today I woke up feeling quite flu-ish. Lots of head and body aches. Spent the day at home, alternating between computer work and naptimes! But, here is a happy thought: my birthday violets are in full bloom!
Okay, gamers - here is a recommendation for you if you don't already have this one in your game cabinet - Ticket to Ride: Europe! We broke this game out for some family fun tonight and all really enjoyed it. The reviews for the Ticket to Ride series recommend the European edition over the US line, as some additions were made to make it smoother. (I believe the stations and the wild locomotives are the additions). Anyway, we stayed up WAY too late on a school night but had a great time. The down-side? It is a FIVE player game (who ever makes a FIVE person game??) Slightly inconvenient for our family of six. But Dan and I partnered (and RULED the game with our completed Destinations, if I do say so myself. . . ) 
Most of the shots looked a whole lot more like this. . . (Note: the camera is not visible in this picture. Neither are we.)
Finally, we gave up and I just took a picture of Abby and HER cute haircut! 
I was so excited when our mountain-climbers returned home this afternoon! They had a wonderful adventure, successfully climbing Peak Amangeldy!! I was so happy for them! 
I do feel bad, however, that the only pictures I could take of them were lame-o backyard pictures when they did something so exciting. Here are a couple of shots of the adventure that I was not on:
A pretty thrilling way to spend their holiday weekend!
