Prague City

We enjoyed our trip into the beautiful city of Prague, the castle on the hill had the most amazing views...

Bern, Switzerland LDS Temple Pictures

The protectors

The little princess at four months old, and her protectors. Just look at those chubby little legs!

Maison Cailler chocolate factory & Gruyère factory and castle tours

This day was definitely the highlight of our trip. I was excited to take the boys on a tour of the cheese and chocolate factory but did not anticipate how awesome it would really be. First of all, the way to reach these towns from Interlaken was through a seasonal mountain pass (very narrow and winding!) which had THE most amazing views.

This was taken with my iPhone, yes it really is THAT green here

Interlaken, Brienz wood carvers, Jungfraujoch and Paragliding

Switzerland has moved up on my list of most amazing places on earth. I had been to Zurich several years ago but it gave me no preparation for the beauty I would behold driving across the country. Unfortunately the drive from Zurich to Interlaken is a series of tunnels with just a few glimpses of the countryside, however those few glimpses are completely breathtaking. I wish I could have taken photos of the first tunnel we came out of, it was the kind of scenery movies are made of, incredible mountain cliffs and green valleys. I'm convinced that a person could drive every day for a month in Switzerland and see something totally magnificent each day.

Zurich, Switzerland a taste of local culture

We had so much fun in Zurich. There really aren't many tourist sites and that's what made it so fun. We took a few pictures of the churches and the beautiful river then wandered through the town to see what locals do. 

Garmish and Nördlingen {and photographs for sale}

My husband's parents came to visit us for several weeks and we hit the road on another trip to one of our favorite places- Garmisch-Partenkirchen. On our way we visited the medieval town of Nördlingen which sits near the impact point of a meteorite that hit the earth 15 million years ago. The boys climbed the treacherously old steps to the top of the cathedral for a bird's eye view of the town.

The Hague Netherlands LDS Temple Pictures

When we were in Holland I had the opportunity to photograph the Den Haag-Tempel in Zoetermeer. It is such a beautiful area, cows and sheep were grazing all along the roadside and there were farm fields everywhere (not to mention tulips). The Netherlands is such a beautiful country.

As always, images are available to download free for personal use http://freeldstemplepictures.com. Commercial licenses are also available for purchase.

Free LDS Temple Pictures

If you haven't already seen my other website http://freeldstemplepictures.com, I offer free pictures of all the temples I have the opportunity to photograph.

And if you haven't visited in a while, please do, there have been a lot of additions lately. First, and most prominent, is the beautiful soundtrack provided by the talented songwriter Sara Baril. She is amazing, as are the singers on her upcoming album Thy Healing Hands. 

Some of my temple images will be featured in Sara's upcoming music video for her song "A Place to Heal". She would love to have a variety of temple images from around the world. If you or anyone you know has any professional quality photographs of temples in Canada, Asia or Central and South America, please email me a sample!

Idar-Oberstein

My husband is on the high council in our stake and last week he was speaking in the Baumholder branch, so we decided to go with him and make a day of it. We packed a picnic lunch and drove up to the castle in Idar-Oberstein, just a few kilometers away. 

Decorating with Pictures

Have you been following this fabulous series about decorating with pictures? There are some AMAZING ideas out there! I'm guest posting today on a few ideas for decorating with pictures in a temporary home, visit Kristen Duke Photography to check it out!

Olivia's first week

Olivia was a week old yesterday! She is such a little angel and it's so cute to see the boys with her. They huddle together and stare down at her telling her how cute she is. Ethan always wants to hold and comfort her and Joshua is always writing notes that say "Olivia I love you so so so much". They are much more gentle with her than I anticipated, even Grant adores her. Such a different scenario! I'm used to bringing a new baby home to other babies who just don't understand.

Winter Wonderland

We've been having lots of great snow lately! I took the boys sledding through the woods behind our house (hoping to induce labor) and even took a *little* sled ride myself.

Frankfurt, Germany LDS Temple

Here are a few pictures of the Frankfurt, Germany LDS temple I took a few months ago. This is definitely the hardest temple I've photographed yet (and I thought Las Vegas was difficult!) It's in a residential neighborhood with several buildings behind it and it's up on a hill so it was really hard to get a good angle. I do plan on taking more pictures in the spring though when there are leaves on these lovely old trees.

As always, these photos of Frankfurt Germany LDS temple and all my temple images are available as a free download for personal or church use.

Happy New Year!

We took the boys to play at the park behind our house so I figured I'd bring my camera and take some pictures. The last time we'll be a family of five (yes, Joshua was still in his jammies). Sure love this bunch of ruffians! Hope you had a fabulous 2012 and here's to great things in 2013!

Sweet innocence (the appearance of...)

I love this little stinker! He is the sweetest little guy when he's not causing mischief. It's hard to believe this seemingly innocent little boy could be responsible for smashing an entire banana onto the floor mat in our reading area, coloring on the walls, or dumping an entire box of cereal on the floor (and all before noon)!



the Boys

I took the boys downtown for their last pictures in Kentucky, love these handsome guys!

Kansas City, Missouri LDS Temple Pictures

A BIG thank you to Mandi Bailey for sharing these beautiful photos of the Kansas City, Missouri temple! I love the unique perspectives and beautiful autumn leaves. Mandi is so generously sharing her images for free and you may download them at http://freeldstemplepictures.com.

Once I arrive in Germany, get settled and my computer unpacked, I will upload some antiqued black and white versions of these images as well, so be sure to check back in a month or two. Also, I will be unable to photograph any more U.S. temples for at least the next three years. If you live near a temple that I do not already have on my site and have any high quality high resolution images you'd like to share, please let me know! I get emails every day from people who are so happy to be able to display beautiful temple artwork in their home without an expensive price attached. This is a great way to provide a simple yet meaningful act of service.

Manti, Utah LDS Temple Pictures & fun in So. Utah

On the way to visit my family this week, I stopped in Manti and was able to take some pictures of the beautiful temple there. To download these and other free temple pictures, please visit http://freeldstemplepictures.com

The next pictures aren't quite so beautiful...There is a lot of dirt in Utah, especially southern Utah. My boys love it (especially Grant who "swam" in the mud). I loathe it. Here is some of the fun they had this week {followed by several baths each}

Las Vegas, Nevada LDS Temple Pictures

Visit http://www.freeldstemplepictures.com/ to download these free pictures of the Las Vegas temple.

Photographing temples is actually harder than you would think. Especially older temples. They are usually surrounded by houses and on busy city streets so it's difficult to find a place to stop to take pictures without people or cars in your photo. Once you do find a good spot, they are usually surrounded by trees so it's still hard to get a good shot unless you are inside the gates, but once you're inside the gates the temple is so massive that it's hard to fit it all in the lens. Sometimes I wish I had a helicopter...

I have seen pictures before of the Vegas temple with the spires and the city in the background and knew I wanted one like that. Unfortunately once I got there I realized there really isn't a great spot to get that photo (again, helicopter would be nice). There is a small hill and a mountain behind that. Anthony took the boys to explore a little cave and I began walking over to see if I could get a good shot. Fortunately I found a hill of gravel stacked up and made my way (in flip flops) over and climbed to the top. It was a bit off center, but it best I could do without falling off. As I started climbing down, I saw the van driving away! Apparently my husband couldn't see me and thought I had walked back down the hill to the temple... Fortunately I made it back to the temple before he left the city ;)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoy taking them!