I grew up in the water. I grew up in Texas and my Grandparents (who we just about lived with because they lived so close to us) had a swimming pool. I don’t remember a time that I didn’t know how to swim. We never took lessons, but when you are in the water that much you just figure it out.
My kids… not so much. We decided to put them in swim lessons. Yeah, that was a total waste of money. The instructor would ask the kids if they want to, for example, blow bubbles under water. We would see all the other children’s heads disappear as they attempt what she asked and ours nodding their head back and forth in a definite “no.” I told her a few lessons into it that I am not at all opposed to her telling them that they don’t have a choice and they will do whatever she wants but she told me they are taught to leave it up to the children to do it at their own pace. I knew then and there that it was money that would have been spent better otherwise. I have just resigned myself to the realization that my children will never be little fish unless we move to Texas or Florida or somewhere they can live their summers in a swimming pool.
I think Chase’s face says it all:
Really, though, it wasn’t all bad. Once the boys found out that the instructor was not going to make them do anything they didn’t want to (i.e. getting their ears in the water) they didn’t mind it so much.
James looks thrilled, right? 
I did get James to put his face under the water… once… If I remember right, I had to bribe him with something.
Annika actually enjoyed the lessons. Her only issue was when the instructor wanted her to go under water without holding her nose. She told me over and over that she can’t do that and every time I would tell her that is why she is taking lessons — to learn. But alas, the instructor caved and allowed Annika to hold her nose. Another $30 down the drain.
One day James came to me with a special request. He wanted me to do some pictures of him. Imagine my surprise… and excitement! We had fun for a while, just the two of us, with James taking control of where the session was heading…
And then I found out that the only reason he wanted me to do pictures of him was so that we could do this:
Oh, well, I’ll take what I can get.
A few months ago (yes, it has taken me that long to get around to doing anything with these pictures!) we visited family in Las Vegas and my sister-in-law and I had some fun with our cameras and the kids. Well, I had fun with her kids because mine weren’t so up for cooperating with me that day! So, Chelsea, sorry it took so long to let you see these pictures…
So I finally got around to editing a ton of pictures and organized ones to post on here. So you will be seeing quite a few posts from me over the next couple of days. I came across this one — one of my more recent favorites of my sweet kiddos.
I love that Annika is so much like me. (Except her taste in clothing, that is — but we won’t get into that. LOL!) Over the last 9 months or so she has really taken an interest in photography. She started by assisting me on my on-location sessions by helping me with the lights and carrying things for me. To, from, and during the sessions I would explain what I was doing and why. I would tell her how a camera works and how the settings all work together. She would ask questions and, more importantly, understood and remembered my answers. When I upgraded cameras a couple months ago, my other camera became my backup and Annika’s primary camera. She is now able to be my second photographer when we go to sessions, as well as assist me setting my lights and such. She is amazing! We had some business cards printed up for her with her self-designated title:
She has some amazing images you can see on her flickr page by clicking here.
We will be updating that frequently, so be sure to check it often. Feel free to leave comments, too — I know she will like that!
… according to our 4 year old??? Cars! I can’t even count the number of times he has watched it but it sure is cute to hear him recite the thing:
…buy a hat!
I guess Chase’s haircut really isn’t that bad — it’s just not the fluffy, crazy, wavy mess that I love so much. I needed to do Valentine pictures for his cards for school so I set out in search of a hat. I fell in love with this one…
Chase was so excited about his “Air Force hair cut” (that’s what he told everyone because he got it cut at the BX on base) that I played off of that…
Enough is enough!!! I came home one evening to find that Daddy took the boys and they all got new haircuts. They thought “it would be a fun surprise for Mommy” — AKA “let’s not mention it to Mommy until the damage is done and she can’t say ‘no’.” I was speechless. (Well, okay maybe not, but Justin probably wished I were.) Saying I was not happy is putting it mildly. I know, I know it’s just hair, it will grow back but there is so much more to it than that – things that I think only a mother would understand. This is my baby. By the time his hair grows out as long as it was (the messy mop-top!) he will be too old to have it that way. Once he starts Kindergarten in 6 months, I will have to resign myself to the fact that my baby is not a baby any longer. The short hair makes him look so much older and I am not quite ready to accept that yet.
Oh, wait — here’s the best part. 
Annika came straight to me and told me “I wanted to call you but they wouldn’t give me Daddy’s cell phone.” I asked “You were going to tell me before they did it?” to which she replied “Yes, I said ‘Mommy is not going to be happy.’ but Daddy said ‘She’ll get over it and she will start to like it.’”
Yup… I’m waiting for just the right moment to use that exact line against him. In his defense, he did tell me that he thought that I would want to take pictures of the three of them with the same military haircut. You bet I took him up on that offer!
It was time to get Annika some new glasses and these are the ones she picked out. (I told her she looks like a little librarian now — so cute!) We also got her some prescription sunglasses since the transition lenses don’t change in the car. I’ll have to get add a picture with those, too, because they look so cute on her.
I snapped this image when I was testing out my lights before a session this morning. She is my little assistant and for only $2 each session, she is amazing!
I wasn’t able to get Christmas cards out to everyone I wanted to this year because I didn’t have addresses. So, it’s a bit less personal, but Merry Christmas to you all (and here’s what you would have received…)
Every year we dismiss the idea of sending out a letter with our cards because, well, we really don’t have anything all too exciting to write about. I’ll tell you what…
2008 has been a year we will never forget!
It all started peacefully enough; unless you count the extremely cold and snowy winter in Utah that I was not particularly fond of.
In April we did a bit of remodeling. We knocked down the wall between two bedrooms and turned that space into a studio for my photography business. I keep myself plenty busy between my photography and spending a ton of time at the school involved with the PTA.
In May, Justin and I ran our first ½ marathon. Yes, indeed, that is 13.1 miles! It was a beautiful run around a lakeshore and then down through Ogden Canyon and the weather was great. Our times were on the slow side, but we will work on those next time. It only took about a week for our muscles to recover.
June came and we made our first trip to Primary Children’s Hospital. James had surgery to get his ears “pinned back.” It was an elective surgery that we decided he would be grateful for when he was older. James is our sensitive and very competitive little 1st grader and I am pleased to say that his ears look wonderful!
Fast forward to October and our second trip to Primary Children’s Hospital. We found out that Chase’s palate and back wall were not closing all the way (compromising his speech articulation) and he needed surgery to take tissue from behind his tonsils to add to the back wall. He did great during the surgery and the overnight stay. Chase still talks about his “hospital sleepover.” Chase is our fun-loving, comedic preschooler and I am pleased to say that he is talking so much better!
Justin decided he would complete the year of “Hospitalizing the Boys,” so between the little ones’ surgeries he had a doctor appointment of his own. Imagine our shock when, in September, Justin was diagnosed with colorectal cancer! Two weeks later, he was in for a colon resection where they removed 7 inches of his colon including the 2 inch tumor. After 4 days in the hospital and then several weeks of recovery, he was back on the surgical table while they inserted a port in his chest to receive chemotherapy infusions. The doctors feel that all the cancer was removed with the surgery, but at the same time recommended further treatments of chemo and radiation to reduce the risk of recurrence. Every other Tuesday now finds us in the Oncology office getting the infusion and then sending him home for 2 days with a portable pump. He has been through 3 treatments with 9 remaining. Considering all that he has been through, I am pleased to say that he is doing quite well.
Annika couldn’t be outdone by the boys this year, and on the first day of Justin’s treatment, as they were about to begin, I got a call from the school. It seems that she passed out in her classroom and then again as she was walking down to the office. Her doctor’s office recommended that I take her to the ER to get her checked out. Annika was discharged just in time for us to head down the hall and be there for her Daddy. The tests all came back just fine and I guess some kids are just more prone to passing out than others. (The doctor said stress can bring this on… Not that we have had any of that at our house.) Annika is our sweet, book-loving 4th grader and I am pleased to say that she has not had any other issues since.
Through all of this, we have realized how many blessings we truly have. We have wonderful friends and a supportive family. Our family has grown stronger with all of the challenges we have faced together. The Air Force has been amazing to us! They have been very generous in giving Justin medical leave when needed and every level of his organization has provided full support to us during this time.
We are all looking forward to 2009, when Justin finishes his treatments and we can hopefully return to a normal, uneventful year. We hope this finds you doing well and we wish you a wonderful Christmas and New Year. You are also welcome to check in periodically during the year for the latest Hinman family activities at www.photographymoments.com/blog.
With Love, The Hinman Family
Tamra, Justin, Annika, James & Chase
In the spirit of Thanksgiving this year, I made it a point to truly appreciate those things that I am thankful for. Number one on my list is definitely my family. I am blessed every day with a wonderful husband and three beautiful children. They were kind enough to humor me while I did some pictures of them:
First up, my handsome husband:
One of my two main objectives was to get a nice picture of Annika and her Daddy. I ended up with two wonderful ones:
James asked if he could get one with Daddy, too. I wasn’t about to turn him down!
With James and Daddy in place, I just had to add Chase:
Really, boys, tell me how you feel about this
My second main objective was a nice picture of the three kids together:
And then we got a few others before they had had enough:
Here’s what happens when grown men get a hold of clippers and a willing little guy –
I wasn’t so sure about it at first, but James actually looks pretty cute with no hair. They tried to get Chase next, but I put a stop to that! I love Chase’s curly fluffy-top. Though I will admit that he desperately needs a hair cut right now.
What is it with my boys and their smiles???
James decided on a Pirate themed birthday this year and invited about a dozen kids from his class to join us. The day was complete with two Treasure Chest Cakes (Annika did a great job helping me make these!)
A couple of Pirate crafts
Some decked out Pirates
A real Treasure Hunt and other games
And of course, lots and lots of presents!
Happy Birthday Baby! (You will always be my baby!)
That’s me! I am always proud of our children’s accomplishments. They are 3 of the most amazing little ones I know (and I’m not just saying that because I’m a bit biased!) Here is one of the most recent examples of why:
This is the score sheet for the reading portion of the standardized testing that Annika took earlier this school year. She did not get a single question wrong!!! Justin and I were trying to figure out her grades, thinking surely that was the highest possible score and her score was listed in another column. I mean, really, of that many questions, you’re going to get at least one wrong… right? I had her score sheet with me when I was talking to another teacher at the school a few days later and asked if she could explain it to me. She took the sheet from my hand and told me that in 15 years of teaching, she had only seen one other child get straight 100s on the testing! Yup — that’s my daughter — and I am so proud of her!
WordPress Loves AJAX 
