Graduation!

Me & Theo at the Convocation, waiting to get our diploma covers

Well, I made it. This morning we had Commencement and Convocation. It was really great! The speaches/talks that were given were wonderful, it was also great to see people one more time. Seeing the professors in their cerimonial gowns and hoods made me want to go on and get my masters even more...President Clark's is the coolest I must say. It still hasn't sunk in yet. It seems kind of wierd, and yet not that different. Maybe in a few days I will be able to articulate better how I feel about it.

Just afterward. My dad, wife, mom and son, Tyler Jr.

End of Classes

Wow! Last night was my last class at BYU-I. The scheduled final was at 8-10PM, and I was very tired, and very ready to get back home to bed, but I still wanted to stay a little longer. We each showed our work and talked about it a little, no test. I don't know why I felt that way, I am excited to graduate...But scared and sad at the same time. I don't know exactly what my plans are. I want to work as a photographer, but don't know if I can support my family doing that. I will be taking portfolios into several studios and agencies in the next week. Maybe that will help direct me.

Then there is also the issue of Tyler Jr's foot...For those who don't know, he is perfectly healthy except for a smaller leg and foot that will need to be corrected through surgeries. We don't know what that will end up costing us (just going to and from Salt Lake), and we don't want to get too far away or too tied up with work so that I can help Jess and give all three kids the attention they need.

I will need to take time to reflect on these decisions coming up and discover what is best for my family.

He has a name! (again)

Ok, so we picked a name last night...but it wasn't set in stone. And for those who know me, know how wishy-washy I am. Don't ever try to convince me to change religions...because I will change (ok so not really). Anyway when I got to the hospital, Jess was filling out the forms, and asked if I was sure about the name Nicolas...well I wasn't. I think that Tyler George is more fitting. So we have a Jr.

It is in stone now...or at least on the birth cirtificate and other forms.

He has a name!

Yes, he finally has a name. After much deliberation, Jess & I came to a decision. Nicolas Tyler Hopkins. We like it. Jess wants to call him Cole (as in niCOLas). Kind of like how we have chrisTOPHER. I'm not too convinced as of yet...I do like nick and nicolas though. Anyway. These last two days have been crazy. Running the kids here and there, running on little sleep, and I didn't even birth a child! Jess is such a champ! I don't know how she does it.

So does he look like me? Or is he look like a Waddoups?

Thank you for your comments and ideas...even though the most popular name seemed to be William, we just couldn't get away from the Billy idea (Jess really does not like that nick-name). He seems to be a bit more Hopkins and so we felt he could have been a Tyler Jr...but not quite. So that's what we got.

Anyway, so tomorrow we will be bringing him home...that will be very nice to have them home. I will have to go up to school for a little while tomarrow, and then just get ready for finals on Wednesday and Thursday...then GRADUATION on Saturday...wow! kinda scary.

IT'S A BOY!

So the waiting ended this afternoon. At 3:40 our new little addition came into our family. We are more than excited for him. For those who are obsessed with information, here's what I can think of at this late hour:

-7lbs. 5oz.
-19 1/2 inches
-Smaller head than Christopher, but still kinda big.
-We went into the hospital at 9:30 in the morning. Hard labor began at 3:30, so yes do the math and Jess was only in MAJOR pain for 10 minutes!
-He is healthy and eats well.
-Jessica is recovering very well...She is becoming quite the pro at having babies!

So here's our dilemma, here we have a new baby and we still don't have a name picked out. With Toph & Cree, we had two picked by the time we got to the hospital. When we saw them, we knew what their names should be. Toph definitely looked like a Waddoups...So he got his grandpa's name (Chris became Christopher), Creedance was just Creedance. But with this little one we are at a loss.

Minutes old

Before the delivery, we narrowed it down to Nicholas Asher, William Asher, Tyler George Jr., Derrick. When he was born, I thought to myself, "He looks a bit more like a Hopkins than the others did...Maybe he will be a Jr." But I think Jess has voted that name out. I think we are now down to Nicholas Asher and William Asher. We would like to leave the hospital with a name for the little one, so here's your chance to cast your vote. Give us an idea or cast your vote...The winner gets 25¢ (however you are then required to pay postage..So you will owe us 14¢...HA HA HA!).Anywayya let us know what you think. Does he look like a Hopkins..Or are the Waddoups genes still dominate?

For some reason, Toph thought I wanted him to act silly.

Regardless of his name, we are so happy to have him here, and can't wait to bring him home.

Just Waiting

Last week, Jessica went into the doctor, and he said "just give the baby at least one more week." So now we are just waiting. Who knows when, but it could be any day now.

I am fininshing up the last few projects for these last classes. I have one final today that will be no sweat, then I just have to get a few things ready to present. It is pretty wierd to think that I will graduate next saturday. I will be working full time at Cherry Glass then. I just hope that I don't let my photography suffer. I hope I can continue to support my family the way they need to be..........It's scary.

Large Photos!

In the BFA program that I am in we, as students, are required to do a senior project...or exhibit. At the begining of this blog you can see my exhibit of photographs of children. Well, yesterday I helped another student, Theo, put his show up. He was also photographing with a 4x5 view camera, but his prints are much larger...I printed mine 16"x20", where Theo's are 44"x55" or so. He was faced with the daunting challenge of how to display these.

We had the idea to hang them loose (mounted on thin metal strips top and bottom) from cables above the open area in the Spori building on BYU-I's campus. Frames would have been much easier, but hey! Who wants easy?! Yesterday morning I spent 60 feet above a marble floor rigging up cables to hang the prints from. It was a lot of fun, but incredibly exhausting. Today I feel like I spent the day mtn. biking or climbing. The exhibit looks great, and after monday when the 5 graphic design students get their group show up, the 3rd floor of the Spori will look really great!

On the Road

I worked in Aberdeen this morning at Ireland Bank. Just a couple of glass desk tops and window film, nothing big. But on the way there I saw a couple of things that I had to photograph, I will have to explain.

So I noticed this motorcycle and thought the drive chain looked interesting. On the top it was taut, while on the bottom it was a little slack. As I thought of why this was occuring (the engine pulls on the chain at the top and 'pushes' the chain towards the wheel on the bottom), I also noticed that the rider was wearing a Harley Davidson leather jacket. Then I thought to myself, "I thought that Harleys were belt driven not chain driven. Wasn't that part of their trademark in their motorcycles?" Anyway on closer inspection I noticed that this was not a Harley that the man was riding, but rather a Honda Shadow! I laughed and laughed. I had to get a picture.

Well, as I continued on my drive to Aberdeen, I drove through Springfield, ID. I didn't know where Springfield was untill a week ago when I went to this same job. So as I mosy through the streets (ok so the street of Springfield, my mind reminises of the many hours I have spent watching another Springfield. And just as I drive out of the booming matropolis of Springfield, ID I come across Homer's Cave. Aah! Yet another fully rewarding photo-op. Next time when I have more time I simply must stop...I wonder if they serve three-eyed fish?

Painting Easter Eggs

So for Family Night, we colored and painted Easter eggs. Can't believe that this is the first time that we did this with our kids. It was kind of fun. It is amazing how fascinated they were.

The pink dye didn't seem to be working so we poured it out after one egg. But after it dried a bit, it seemed to be the best looking. I really liked the spotting and streaks that happened with it. Maybe next year I'll plan ahead and make some digital negatives and do some cyannotype eggs for Easter. That would be cool!

Jessica is feeling very sick of being pregnant. The due date May 8th, but she is convinced that he is coming sooner than that. Maybe she wants him to come sooner, and that is convincing her. I feel so bad for her and how miserable she must feel.

Jessica's brother and his wife came up from Provo for the weekend to go to a funeral. Well, last night we (Jess, Nate, Kim & I) went to Heart, Mind & Soul. A 'night club' in rexburg. Kim is in a guitar class at BYU and needed to go to a live performance. Heart Mind & Soul just opened and we thought we'd go see what it was about. Nate wasn't too excited, but he did like one of the songs. It is a really nice place, lots of couches, tables and 'love sacks' (bean-bags). The music was pretty good. One of the singers had a lot of character. I wish there wasn't as long of a break in between the songs. The hour we were there they only played 3 times, and then there was a guy doing really lame stand-up comedy...I thought come on put the next bands up! Let's hear some music. We were also suprised that there were so many little kids there, and I mean little (like 5-10 years old). It was ok, because there was no alchahol (Rexburg law prohibits sell of alchahol by the drink within city limits), but it just seemed a little odd. Anyway it was a fun night to get out and get a little culture (or something like that).

Weekend in Island Park

My family and I went up to Island Park for the weekend. it was a lot of fun, to start off the vacation, I felt that I needed to roll my father-in-law's snow machine down a hill. Luckily I was able to stop it after the second roll by grabbing the bumper (just as I grabbed it, I thought to myself "I am going to break my wrist!") After changing the spark plugs, I rode it back down the hill and out the valley. I was able to photograph just a little. Here's a self portrait with my 1930's Burke & James. Here's also a landscape of the hills and mountains in front of my in-laws cabin. I am 200-300 yards up the hill behind the cabin. Beautiful view! When I was riding, I was climbing just the other side of the

mountain in the middle, it is called Lion's Head. It is on the border of Idaho and Montana.

I also picked up a book. I think that I can count on two hands how many books I have read. I normally don't ever read, but This one just really captivated me...The Da Vinci Code. Very good! I am told that it is a quick and easy read, it must be if I can read it. I made it through the first 25 chapters in a single sitting. I amazed my wife and myself. It was a very relaxing weekend, but now I have to get back to the grind, and get caught up on everything.

MYGOTA?

Ok, so today I had to drive to Hagerman, ID and back for work. It is about a 3 hr drive each way. I had to entertain myself while driving, so I was taking pictures of some of the things I passed by...probibly not the best thing to try to do while driving. Well one thing I saw was this little Toyota...So I have seen the tail gate changed to YO or MY TOY, but never MYGOTA. So what is that? Is it a word? I was very confused. Another vehicle I saw, but didn't have my camera ready until too late was a HUGE RV with HUGE letters covering the whole side that said Girls Gone Wild! Oh man! I wanted a picture of that. What were they doing in IDAHO...OK so what were they doing not at University of Idaho? So It was a lot of driving for very little work.

Broken Glass
From orignal blog 3/26/06

So after such great weather on Friday and Saturday, Mother nature just couldn't stand to let us Idahoans continue to enjoy spring. Last night she really let us have it. I think the winds were supposed to get up to 50-70 mph gusts! This wind was too much for one stores windows here in Idaho Falls. I got a call at 9 pm from my boss asking me to go board up the broken window until we can get the glass for it. She didn't know how big it was, but I had been there before and I thought I could take care of it myself...Nope. It was way too big for me alone. I got some help, and got it boarded up for the time being. It would have been scary to do alone. It is roughly 80" x 92", and was falling out. Here's a picture of it in the crazy weather we had last night. The white lines are masking tape that the people that work here put on the glass to keep it from falling in. I don't think that would do the job. I like emergency call outs like this. Quick double time pay.

The weather today was great! It was nice to work outside. It got up into the 50's. Can you believe that?! Well, a friend called and had a great idea...build a fire and make smores in my back yard. Such a great idea! So they came up from Pocatello and we had a great clam bake in the back yard.

Memories of years of camping trips came flooding back to us. We talked about climbing trips to the City of Rocks, and little over-nighters to nearby crags. It has been too long. I remember the time that we could think of nothing but the next biking or climbing trip. Road trips with friends, late nights around the campfire telling stories, sharing dreams and growing up together.

It was a great chance to hear of Tyson's new dreams, and of his family. They are also expectng another baby in about 2 months. It was a really great experience to grow even closer to a great friend. Amazing what a simple campfire can do for the soul.

From orignal blog 3/23/06

Well, Topher's cut is looking very good. He hasn't slowed down. Tonight I came into the room and he was jumping from the chair (that he cut his head on) to the cushons...he didn't learn much yesterday. Creedance thought she needed a band-aid on her head too.

From orignal Blog 3/22/06

I had a scary phone call this afternoon from my wife, Jessica. She told me she had a fun morning at the emergency room with our 3 year old son, Christopher. He has this new thing with stacking up the couch cushions and climbing on them...Yea, you see it coming don't you?... while jumping off (he says) he hit his head on the chair by the desk. How that cut his eyebrow is beyond me! I am thinking he hit it on the desk, but we don't know for sure. Anyway, he did very well at the hospital, and got 5 stitches...He's catching up to me and he's only 3! He also had a dentist appointment this afternoon, and insisted that he still go, so he can't be doing too bad. Here's a picture, hope it isn't too graphic for you.

From orignal blog 3/21/06

Hello, welcome to my blog. I am new to this whole blogging world, so hi. I am a student at BYU-I, a private university in Rexburg Idaho. I will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts--Photography this April. As a bachelor of fine art student, I have a senior project on display right now. It is an exhibit of portraits I made with a view camera. My wife is involved with our church youth group, and we thought it would be nice for their activity tonight to go show them the exhibit. While on the college campus, we showed them some other students' work, and showed them the photo lab and how some photography works. It was pretty fun. I got to play the teacher of sorts. Here's a picture of the show right after I put it up.

This is the new address for Ground Glass.