This weekend Jenni and I drove down to my Grandparents house in Rochester. I planned a little birthday getaway weekend for her because her birthday is on the 23rd and she needed to get away! On Friday night we visited with my Grandma and had some delicious raspberry wine and chocolate...and then we headed to the movies to see "The Secret Life of Bees." It was a really sad but moving movie. We slept in on Saturday and then got amazing massages in the early afternoon. After our massages we did a bunch of Christmas shopping! They have lots of shopping available there and all the Christmas sales were great. On Saturday night I cooked dinner for Jenni and my Grandma (my Grandpa was in Florida at the Swamp watching the Gators in the SCC football game...GO GATORS!!) so it was just us girls for the weekend :) I made a fennel, apple and blue cheese salad with homemade dressing, salmon with a mustard-cream sauce, asparagus and potato wedges. It was so yummy!! I love to cook. Saturday night we saw a funny comedy/play about Minnesota in Plainview. Sunday morning we did some more shopping and crafting. I made a Christmas wreath and Jenni finished getting some presents together. It was fun, and a nice relaxing weekend which was just what we needed! Jenni has all the pictures from the weekend so I'll post some later :)

Kansas City Halloween

Jenni, Meghan and I made the 7 hour trip down the Kansas City Missouri to visit Amy for Halloween. We had fun exploring around the city and spending time together. Amy is getting married in May so there is always a lot of wedding planning and talk going on, and it's fun to be a part of that. I also shot a second engagement session for them, because they wanted some photos at a park in Missouri where they currently live. It was a fun weekend!

Busy as a bee

As some of you know, I've recently expanded my passion for photography into a business! This is why I have been so out of touch and busy this fall, as I am trying to grow my portfolio. I have had the best time re-connecting with friends and shooting sessions for family and friends. I am hoping it will quiet down for the winter months so I can spend some more quality time with my husband, our families, and our friends. If you have not seen my photography blog and have an interest in viewing it, the address is: www.feldkamphotography.blogspot.com

Brag time!!

Ok so most of you know by now that Woodbury beat Eden Prarie to win their spot as state champions this year! It was an awesome game. Eden Prarie scored the first goal, and right off the kick-off my sister scored within 30 seconds to tie the game at 1-1. Then the minutes passed by as the crowd's intensity grew. Emily Moris scored on a header to bring the Royals up 2-0 and win the state title. I've been so proud of my little sister as she has become a really great athlete! She was picked for the All-Tournament team by the board watching the State Tournament, All Conference Team, Honorable Mention for the Sectional Team, and was voted most improved by her teammates and coaches. She's also one of the top 10 recruits for college soccer, with the Universtiy of Minnesota one of the many working hard to get her on their team. Last month they sent her a letter with her head photo-shopped onto another players on the field, and all the signs in the stands say, "We Love DuVal!" We all got a kick out of that.

Woodbury had to beat Wayzata in order to qualify for the state tourney, and the game was looking grim as it was 1-0 after halftime, with the minutes ticking away. Aly scored twice to help her team win 2-1 and advance to the semi-finals. It was an exciting game, with her scoring 8 minutes before the final whistle. Woodbury had a great season, and my sister has grown so much as a player and individual. She scored 13 goals this year and had many assists. It was fun watching her get interviewed on camera for the news and by recorder for the paper. As Woodbury kept advancing, we watched as her goals were nightly highlights on the news and her face was all over the Pioneer Press, Star Tribune, and Woodbury Bulletin. She even made the cover of the Pioneer Press! All of the girls on the team have great chemistry working together and are a very strong team, and of course she could not do it alone.

I don't usually brag much, but I figure this is my 5 minutes to get it all out on my blog....because I would never brag this much in person. Can you tell I am a proud sister???! :) I've never been more proud of anyone in my life as I am of her. Way to go Al!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of her from the paper!

Just thought it was time for some change :) Happy Friday everyone! In 3 hours you all better be cheering for the ROYALS!

it's been a long time! we've been so busy this fall but it's been filled with tons of fun. last night i did a session with my friend erin and her darling kids, and she reminded me that i had not updated in a very long time :) so i thought it was time for a blog session. a few weekends ago justin and i headed to the science museum to see "mysteries of the great lakes" at the omnitheatre. it was not exactly what we expected but it was something fun to do. after the show we had lunch at the st. paul hotel, and it was delicious. for the afternoon, we headed down to stillwater to their music and arts festival. we had fun shopping and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. on the way home we stopped at nelson's for some ice cream.

last weekend we visited my grandparents in rochester. they took us to the mantorville opera house and we enjoyed a bluegrass music concert by tangled roots. it was a really fun experience and we sat in the first row! those guys sure know how to play music :) they were amazing. we also helped my grandma dig up her 30-year old peony bushes so we could take them home and transplant them into our yard, our first item of our garden! we didn't have time for planting this summer with all the wedding festivities...so we are hoping they will survive and come back next year. they are my favorite flowers.

this weekend was mea for the highschool, so my sister stayed with us wednesday through sunday. it was so fun to have her!!!! we made homemade enchiladas on wednesday night that were to die for. it was really fun to spend time with her, because she is also so busy between school and she plays on the highschool soccer team....they are going to state! go royals :) their first game is on friday...can't wait to cheer her on! i was busy busy busy with 4 photo sessions this weekend! justin and i snuck in lunch together between a wedding i was shooting on saturday, and it was a nice break. on sunday jay attended mr. dietz's funeral and my sister and i had the day to spend together between a morning and afternoon shoot. we went out for some yummy mexican and then watched the vikings play a terrible game! it was a fun weekend though and as always it flew by.

Here are a few pictures of our night in mantorville...

time flies...

this week was full of relaxing and getting things done at home. we had a little project going on in our study. because of my new photography endeavor, we decided to re-do our study because i need more work space :) soooo, we made a few trips to ikea and got all the supplies needed for a re-vamped office. a new rather large desk, lamp, hutch, chair and table top organizer. but, the best thing about the whole project was jay let me get a new big screen monitor!! it is 22 inches wide, and can rotate from a horizontal monitor, to a vetical monitor for looking at documents and pictures...it is much easier for editing pictures, etc. it is sooo nice and i am so thankful to have it! justin says it helps him see his fantasy football stuff too....hahah nerd! but i love him. so now justin and i each have our own computer and space to work, which is awesome. it was a fun little (or big) project for us and i am thankful once again for a handy husband!

this week also brought more exciting news. we were featured on the front page of the national wedding website, the knot (www.theknot.com) they featured our proposal story and posted engagement pictures of us. it was pretty exciting to be on the front page! we are also being featured as one of their "real weddings"...pretty cool and an honor for us. and now, our weekend begins! we have a lot of fun things planned so i need to stop blogging so we can go enjoy them!! :)