Curly Locks

Reagan's hair is really growing. It is getting very curly! Is she going to look like her Daddy?

Jason, Age 2

Daddy's New Toys

Since having kids and moving from a point-n-shoot camera to a digital SLR, I have found a great interest in photography. I'm a Canon user, and I've long sought to have a L-series lens to add to my equipment list. After saving my money, I finally pulled the trigger on a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens! This lens (and the 24-105mm f/4.0) are considered to be the two best general purpose lenses that Canon makes. I chose the 24-70mm over the 24-105mm due to the larger aperture, sacrificing the extra zoom. The 24-105mm has image stabilization, but that helps with handshake and not object motion. I have found myself in numerous situations where a larger aperture would have been extremely useful, and thus my decision to go with the 24-70mm lens.

I rented this lens for a weekend back in October 2008, then for a week while we were vacationing in Florida, and I really liked it. The one item that I was surprised with was that the camera's built-in flash would hit the lens barrel when it was fully extended, casting a shadow when taking photos of objects nearby (this is actually the 24mm side of the range -- this is a reverse-zooming lens where the longer barrel is the wider angle). Therefore, in addition to my new lens, I purchased Canon's latest flash -- the Speedlite 580EX II. The user manual for the flash is about a third the size of the camera manual! I have a whole new set of features to learn about now with this flash. I also purchased a lens UV filter for protection and better shots (so they say).

Here are some pictures of my new toys (showing first what I had before). Once the rumored 60D camera body is announced in the fall and I pull the trigger on that (I currently have the 20D body), I will be rocking and rolling. Now back to the flash's owners manual...

Sisterly Love

I am so glad that our girls really love each other and play together so well.

George Strait & Reba McEntire

Rhonda and I went to the George Strait & Reba McEntire concert in the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. The show opened with Lee Ann Womack in place of Julianne Hough who reportedly got sick at the last minute. Lee Ann said that the day before the concert she was sitting on a beach when she got a phone call asking if she could fill in. We were excited to see another big name that was unexpected. Blake Shelton was great and funny. Reba and George both played for 1 hour 20 minutes each, and afterwards Rhonda and I agree that Reba put on the best show of all 4 performers (all were great, but Reba was more entertaining). The facility was great despite some sounds problems (first event, so not a big surprise). The huge HDTV suspended above the field was even more spectacular in person than what I've seen through video online. I figured I would be able to see lines or segments in the screen, but it is truly HD quality and perfect. Given we were in the 4th level of the stadium, without the screen it would have been disappointing. Jerry Jones pulled off his quest of not having a bad seat in the house! After George sang a couple of songs, he said, "Isn't this roof supposed to open? Jerry, open the roof!" The lights around the roof started blinking and it opened up, showing the moon outside to those on our side of the stadium. A nice breeze blew in which was a little welcoming since it was quite cold in the stadium (yes, not hot, but cold, they had the AC cranked -- much better than being hot).

Here are a few pics and videos, but you can see the entire gallery at this link (please go through them, there are a lot of good pics, especially for more of the show and of the new facility): http://picasaweb.google.com/jason.e.reeves/GeorgeStrait

Cowboys Stadium

From inside, you can see The Ballpark (Rangers baseball) and Six Flags. Wonder if the City of Dallas wishes for a do-over on this deal...

Waiting for the first act. 60,128 people was the final attendance. The main display is over 180 ft wide and 7 stores tall (and in HD, baby!).

Lee Ann Womack

Blake Shelton came on stage saying, "This isn't my first beer today!"

Some of Reba McEntire's band members.

Reba McEntire

For Reba's final song, she came back out in a red dress for "Fancy".

George who? King George according to Rhonda.

I took a long exposure for this one to allow the light from the display to light up the room and reveal the slow-opening roof. Not bad for handholding the camera.

I like the colors in this photo with the roof continuing to open.

Video of George Strait closing out his show.

A New Helper

Rylee has been helping Mimi make pancakes for a while now. This time, she has another helper! Reagan wanted to help, too. Of course, the pancakes were yummy!

Daddy-Daughter Date

Not long ago, Reagan and I went to the mall (for ice cream, of course!). A new store was there that has an indoor surfing water feature. Reagan really enjoyed watching the participants, and I just knew that the guy at the end of video was in for trouble.

Silly Aunt Chelsey