So coincidentally it's been another 2 months since I've updated this blog, and I have yet to even create Eliza's new blog. That should all change now that I'm unemployed. Don't worry Eliza, you're just as important as your big sister, but a lot more stuff has been going down since you were born than when Ella was born! I'm not going to attempt to sum up the past two months right now - that's for another post on another blog. However, it is almost Christmas, which means it's time to start the cookie making marathon. Sarah was going to make some peanut butter cup cookies this weekend, but somehow the dough didn't turn out right.

Enter Ella.

She was already completely covered in flour by the time I got downstairs with the camera. And she played with it for about an hour, so I had plenty of time to create a mini-documentary with my new Canon 7D. I'm still learning how to use the video functionality, and I don;t have the perfect software for editing it (just iMovie), but it takes awesome video. Expect a lot more of these, and expect them to get better quickly. So without further ado, I present "Baking with Ella."

It's been 2 months since I've updated this blog. Things are just so busy at work and then I get home and it's so busy here I don't have a chance to think about blogging. If you all didn't know, we had a beautiful little girl on Oct. 17th - Eliza Jane Cothran. More on that once I get her blog up and running (elizacothran.com). She and Ella look almost identical as newborns, except Eliza has dark hair. Other than that you wouldn't know which one you were looking at if I just handed you two pictures. Same nose, same lips, same almond eyes. Eliza seems to be a lot more laid back than Ella was at that age. Thank God, cause I'm not sure anyone could keep up with TWO Ellas!

Here are a couple of newish pictures to keep you entertained until her blog is up. (How old does Ella look in these?!)

Oh, before I forget...HALLOWEEN! We all dressed up as Bees. Ella wanted to be a Bee (her favorite movie is Bee Movie), so I decided to be a Pollen Jock from that movie. And we found Eliza a bee outfit. I was afraid Ella was going to want me to fly her around all night (which we had been doing at home every time she put her outfit on), but she was more interested in getting candy than flying, thank goodness.

Digby was Bolt, another one of Ella's favorite movies. You can tell from his face how much he enjoyed being spray painted.

















We're going to do a real photoshoot with Eliza tomorrow, so I'll have some better pictures real soon.

We had some nice weather on Tuesday so we walked down to the river and took some long overdue pictures. Not much to say except, "how cute can a little girl possibly be?"

A rare picture of Ella and Daddy! Thanks for taking these Mommy






And a couple I tried to take of Ella by herself:

So I'm working on developing a "sportrait" look for Great Northern gymnastics. I'm working with Nick, a class 10 gymnast, to get the look down before I start offering packages to the gymnasts and parents. I think Nick and I got the high bar lighting down pretty good on Wednesday. Now I need to work on the other 5 events. I've got a good idea for vault, too...

So I know its been a while since I posted. I have a lot of things to update too - new camera, new grill, new little girl (we're having a girl!)... but for the time being I'll update you on my past week. I had to go to Portland on business, but I went out a couple days early. That means I had to leave my bug for 5 days! I guess while I was gone she made up this story about how Daddy went to the moon and was working way up high in the sky. I took a hot air balloon to get there apparently (so says Ella). So I thought it was pretty awesome that I got the following pictures while I was there to corroborate her story! And yes, we were actually above the clouds at ~9,000 feet - it's not a camera trick.







Those were taken with my new camera (Canon 1D Mark II) and my new lens (Canon 70-200/2.8). I never knew until I got them how easily you can fit a car in the palm of your hand (I sold my Xterra to buy them).

Here's one action shot I got while I was there. My co-worker, Sue, was nice enough to let me stay with her and it was her idea to go up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. They have the longest ski season around, which I totally believe since these were taken on June 14th. That's insane!


*Click to see the large version

To see the rest (and buy some!) you can go here: "click!.

More later.

There was no one there this week. Ella had the foam pit all to herself - she even found a volleyball as she tried to dig to China. I regrettably did way too much pommel horse and my wrist splints are in full force today. And Joel convinced the three of us to jump through hoops. We didn't get much done in other words, but I need like a 3 week break now. My body is a shambles.



Here's another one from last month when there were more people there. It's hard to believe we're all 30 years old...

Gymnastics Clip of the Week (TeamSpringBoardTucks)