Speechless

Speechless.

Yeah, that's what I feel like when I think about Christmas '08, which was by far my best ever. My grandparents from Michigan were here again for Christmas, which was very nice. (They stayed with us Dec. 12-26). I got many books and clothes, and below are just SOME of my gifts I received:

- An anthology of animal heroes which is really good!

-A new watch with more buttons on it than I know what to do with!

-A VERY nice train book from my great-aunt and great-uncle.

- Mom and Dad gave me a VERY nice set of 6 train cars which we can use for our layout. (By the way, we have actually started working on it now! We have laid the bulk of the track and are now working on the mountain and also the mine.)

-Mom and Dad also gave me my LONG looked forward Human Anatomy textbook. (I will hopefully start it in February J. Yeah, I know its 12th grade work, and I’m still only half-way through 9th grade, but the only prerequisites are Biology 1 (done that in 8th grade!) and Chemistry 1 (I’ll be finishing that hopefully next month. I am almost done with 14 out of 16 modules. I am studying/taking the Mod. 14 test this week.)

- I got a VERY nice Audubon Wildflowers calendar from my aunt in Spain. :D I REALLY like it A LOT! :D

- I also received a VERY funny book called "Food Play" from Lauren's puppy raisers. It is 350 pictures of food carved to look like different things-people, airplanes, fish, dolphins...you name it, they had it! Now I know what my food does while I've turned my back.....:D


- Okay....I'm almost done. I got two really nice music albums from my aunt and family in Florida. I got a CD of the Nutcracker, and a cassette of Jamie Jorge. Jamie Jorge is absolutely extraordinary! :D

-However, my favorite gift was…a DSLR camera! I was speechless when I opened this gift! DSLR stands for Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera. DSLRs are what the professionals use, and I’m only a teen! I just can’t believe it! I got the camera from my Uncle Brian in Arizona and his photographer friend John. John was buying a new camera, and told Brian if there was someone who’d use the old camera, he’d give it away…and so I ended up with it! I am becoming FAST friends with this camera VERY quickly! DSLRs are nice because if you want to have a certain effect when the picture is taken, you can buy and add a filter. (not doing it post-camera on the computer). Some things filters can do you can't do with computer software. Also, you can add or remove lenses-the things that zoom in or out your picture.

- I got money from both sets of grandparents. :D I am going to put most of it in my camp fund, to save and use the rest for a camera case for my new camera.

On gifts I gave: I gave Mom a photo calendar-mostly my creations. (see her reaction above!) I gave Dad a Jamie Jorge CD, and to Alison I gave 4 gifts: $1.00 in 85 pennies, 1 dime & 1 nickel. (so she had plenty to feed her piggy bank, "Squash"!) I gave her two Hot Wheels cars, an activity book, and a you-assemble-it wooden plane which she is trying to get Dad to help her at this moment!:D

Now, usually, people make New Year’s Resolutions, but I’m making an Old Year’s Resolution. My goal is to take 10,000 pictures this year-not such an outlandish goal since as of right now (12/28/08, 2:38pm EST) I’ve taken 9949 pictures! Just 51 to go…I think I can achieve my goal, since Dad and I are going to a New Year’s Eve party for my Youth Sabbath School Wednesday. I think I can, I think I can….. :D

Yesterday we had an exciting experience. We were on our way home from caring for some of our friends' animals. I had brought my DSLR (made by Canon) along so I could take some pictures. Well, on the way home we ended up behind a man with a carriage and horse. We passed them and pulled into the next available parking spot, which turned out to be the Apison Post Office. We parked, and Mom, Alison and I with camera in tow went to the curb to see the pretty horse. When Mom complimented him, he offered us a free ride! We gratefully accepted and enjoyed the ride thoroughly. Included with this article are some pictures from the past few days. Dad also took some of the photos included in this article.

~Photobug

^^Need I explain?!?

^^My first time composing a picture with my Canon DSLR.

^^Grandpa & Grandma W. on Christmas Day. This was one of the first photos taken with my Canon.

^^Horse + carriage=motion!

^^The very pretty horse that pulled us.

^^Alison with her tape and CD, courtesy of Aunt Christa and family in Florida.