My sister

Saw more family recently - we all had a great time!

My sister wanted some updated photos and braved the heat and the kids interrupting to get these.

Horses

My young niece is really into horses, so I hope she will enjoythese. A family friend in Norway owns the beautiful black horse and was kind enough to let us come with her to ride. The girls had a blast!

Swedish Family Reunion

One of the highlights (of many on our vacation), was our trip by ferry to Sweden to meet some family. My parents had met our Swedish relatives 20 years ago on a trip to Scandinavia, but it was my first time.

The ferry ride was pretty uneventful, but it was amusing to see practically everyone on board crowd the duty free shop to buy cases of beer, soda, candy, etc.

The family reunion gathering was at church in the town that my paternal grandfather's family originated. Right away my daughter saw a little girl around her age and wanted to meet her. Then she felt shy and went off by herself. She then got a splinter in her foot, which resulted in lots of tears. Finally, she made a friend and they spent the afternoon riding on a zip line together. My son experienced less drama. He started playing handball with the boys, even though he had never even seen the sport before.

It was great to meet so many nice people and see a bit of our family history.

Norwegian cousins

Most of my photos of the kids during our vacation were more candids, but I did get at least one nice one of each. They are all very photogenic!

We all had a great time together and my children are lucky to have such nice cousins who are very patient with them.

Recital books

The 2009 recital photos are now completely posted on my site http://www.loriejohnson.photoreflect.com/.

I have several options for books:

1. A premium 5x5 inch leather cover book with 20 sides - one image per side for $80.

2. A custom 8x10 inch photo book with 20 sides and a maximum of 70 images for $165. Additional sides will be $10 each.

3. A custom 12x10 inch photo book with 20 sides and a maximum of 100 images for $225. Additional sides will be $15 each.

4. The 2008 Nutcracker photo book is still available for $75 and custom pages can be added for $10 per side. This book can be viewed at my website http://www.loriejohnson.com/. The 2008 Nutcracker photo books will be available at this price through August 31, 2009.

Please contact me at loraliejohnson@hotmail.com or 610-731-7016 with any questions.

Back from vacation

So I returned Wed. evening from 2 weeks in Norway, with a short trip to Sweden. It was a great vacation, my parents traveled with us and we visited family and friends in Norway and Sweden. We enjoyed interesting conversations, watched the kids play with their cousins, stayed on a private island, went on a ferry, endured a day at an amusement park, went on numerous boat rides and ate too much! Here are a few scenics from the trip. I will soon post some family photos as well.

Right after returning I had my first beach session for the season. I am available for beach sessions, so if interested, contact me for details (loraliejohnson@hotmail.com).

I am continuing to upload recital photos and hope to have them done in the next day or two. Once they are done, I will post photo book options here.

I am also filling orders that I have received over the past few weeks. Due to my vacation, my fulfillment time is a bit slower. I should have all open orders completed by the end of this coming week.

Then and Now

I found these older photos of my daughter from her first recital in June 2006 and rehearsal for her first Nutcracker in Nov. 2006. Then here she is from the June 2009 recital.

I am posting some recital photos tomorrow evening (to include at least Tan Shoes, Blackbird, Tonight I Celebrate and the Sat 9:15 bunny song).

From 9 months to 9 years old

My son recently turned 9. It makes me feel a bit nostalgic for the days when he needed me so much more! I took the 9 month old photo in San Francisco and I can remember that time period so well. We had such a nice playgroup and seemed to go all over the place together. That particular day, we had met some friends for lunch and took a long walk around the city. We stopped at the Norwegian Seaman's Church and took some photos and enjoyed the views. This photo was taken at the Palace of Fine Arts, one of my favorite spots in SF.

Now my son is seeming more independent each day! In August he will be going into 4th grade and I suppose the time before he wants to drive the car will come too fast as well!

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I haven't posted dance photos for a while, but that is not because they are finished. I still have some to complete and plan to have them all posted by the end of next week. I have had some technical challenges and also some family visits and things that have kept me pretty busy.

I am also starting some beach sessions soon, details to be posted in the next week or so.