Be proud.

Sometimes we get to brag about our family and this is one of those times.

For those of you who don't know (and Nick is pretty humble and doesn't tend to tell the world about his accomplishments, unlike some, ahem, person he is married to), Nick has been recognized by the leading photography industry authorities as one of the world's 30 top emerging photographers to watch in 2011.

This award is HUGE.

It sets him firmly in the industry as a professional photographer. Nick has been officially recognized by other very accomplished and respected professionals in the industry, as someone who is going places, so watch out.

And they better.

Talking about the boy.

Finn is approaching 16 months and is starting to look less and less baby and more and more little boy (check out that picture below this post). But that's not the only sign that the little guy is growing up-- his vocabulary and use of language has exploded recently. And by recently, I mean the past 10 days or so. He went from speaking some basic words, to learning somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-10 new words a day, and using them regularly. I read somewhere that this would happen, but it is amazing to watch!

And today, he started to speak in clear sentences (Finn has always been a babbler and used the correct intonation, although we couldn't understand his language). Today he said "ball...where's it gone?" clear as a lark. And as Daddy, Uncle Ben and Uncle Daniel headed out the door to go get a drink at the local pub, Finn says "bye-bye guys" (where the heck he learned the word 'guys' is beyond me).

The only funny little quirk in his language is that he has stopped calling Inca by her name, which was one of his first words, and started calling her "doggie". Hmm.

Lunch Time

Finn's New Sleeping Pattern

Water Baby

Clothes an' all.....

Bristol Bay fishery must be protected

I was published in the Seattle Times newspaper today as a guest columnist! I wrote a piece on the proposed Pebble Mine and the threat to Bristol Bay salmon and the commercial fishing industry. You can read the article by clicking the title below:

Bristol Bay fishery must be protected

Nick works with Native Alaskans to help them tell their side of the story with visual imagery and audio/visual montages, so this is a subject close to our hearts. Nick was also published in Native Peoples Magazine this month on the same issue, but it has yet to be published digitally, so link to follow soon!

Monkey and I

Just Leaves Us Here

Sunflares and Sticks

Sunday Sunflares

Me and Uncle Daniel

Do my feet look small?

Come on I'll fly us to Alculcapulco

mmm....now where did I put my Thoreau

My first spoon to lick...

Don't mind if I do...

Happy Valentine's Day

Great-great Uncle Herbert

I won't go into all the excuses as to why we haven't had a single spare second to post lately. Simply put, we have been busy or sick or both. But life is good, we are all happy, and if the Hall family genes have anything to do with it, we will be for a very, very, very long time.
(See that man up there? He is in his mid-80's and drove an hour each way to visit us in Wellington, New Zealand when we were there. He has the memory of an elephant and more energy than I do. His life story is fascinating. We are inspired. And lucky to be related.)

Smörgåsbord for Lunch

Where is Finn?