Today I received an  email that made me laugh so hard! I wanted to share these hilarious comments and photos from none other than the infamous Olan Mills Studios....I remember when I was about 10 years old and our family had pictures done with Olan Mills and I thought we had hit the jackpot...how on earth could we have ever afforded to go there??!! here's a little hump day entertainment!!!  The comments by each image are not my own..I hope no one gets offended... ______________________________________ Drake won Bitchin'est Senior Mullet by a landslide. This dude wore a tie for nothing. Olan Mills backdrop #4: Bucolic Meadow with Split Rail Fence. Is that an animal carcass behind her? A pose like this will get you kicked right out of the Convention. Olan Mills Backdrop #11: The Library, one of their most popular themes, as seen in this photo of the young Unabomber and his wife. You'd think Pearle Vision would throw in another two pairs for free. I got a 20 that says he drives a Camaro. Someone spent money on this. It's so cute when couples have matching hairdos She's looking for the speaker that's piping in 'Muskrat Love' so she can blast it with her laser eyes.

Most of you may not yet know, but I had been chosen to be the PUG leader for Claremont a couple of months ago! It's such an honor to have this title and responsibilty and I hope that it can grow into a great group of photographers who are eager to learn, network and share ideas about the world of photography! We meet once a month at my home in Claremont, and it (so far) has been invaluable! This month, instead of having a typical meeting, Pictage decided to get together for a holiday party! Last night I headed out to LA to join the OC and LA PUGS for some holiday fun! It turned out be a great night! It's always fun to socialize with other photographers...our lives are all a little crazy! Our Claremont PUG party will be next Tuesday, December 18th at The Yardhouse in Rancho Cucamonga! Don't miss out on the fun...you even get to invite a guest! I stole this image (with permission!!!) from Jules Biachi's blog because I was a dork and forgot mine!!! Thanks, Jules for taking so many fun pictures! Lauren Hillary, me, and Jules Bianchi

Do you have a friend that you have known for almost 30 years? Someone who you may have lost touch with due to busy lives but when you see each other, it's like you never skipped a beat? If you have a friend like that, then you know what I am talking about when you see that person... it's like a rush of adrenaline as you catch up on each other's lives and laugh about old times, bad perms and boyfriends!

That person in my life is my friend Renee. We have been friends since grade school...been through the best and the worst of times. Renee is that friend that I have never skipped a beat with. As we became busy with our lives, families and careers, the days turned into months of losing touch, but when we visit, it's such a familiar feeling, and I just feel so lucky that I have that kind of friendship with Renee!

Anywho, we got to have a little fun with her beautiful little girl, Emma. She might be the cutest little thing, and i just love watching her and seeing her little personality shine through to the camera.

Her daddy better watch out...this one's gonna be dangerous with those big, brown eyes!

WOW....Zion is absolutely beautiful and was the most anticipated stop on our trip...it didn't end up meeting our expectations, however, it was indeed our most exciting part of the trip and you will soon see why!

We had 3 days to spend here....the mountains are beautiful and so unbelievably huge that you feel like you are at the mercy of these majestic canyon walls. To experience the rush that Zion brings, you need to hike among the towering cliffs and challenge yourself to walk inside of the many narrow canyons, where you can only walk through water to get to the next beautiful sight.

I wish that we had more time to document Zion. The mountain colors range from cream, to pink, to a deep reddish brown. It was so vibrant that I could not take my eyes off of them...there was something to see around each corner.

We traveled all the way up the canyon to The Riverside Walk and hiked through the narrow canyons in the river. I was terrified because there had been recent fires and there were flash flood signs EVERYWHERE! All I kept saying to Aron was, "Where on earth are we going to run if there is a flash flood"? The visions in my head were horrible....scaling the walls in fear...BUT I stuck it out and traveled with the family like it was our last hike....we splashed and laughed and acted like we were kids again. It was so much fun!

After our day hiking, we headed back to our campsite and started dinner. We were all so tired from our long day, but looked forward to our following day and talked about where we were going to hike next!

That conversation quickly came to a halt when we looked outside our window and saw sheriff cars speeding through the park in a panic....Did someone fall into the river? There was a river running through our resort and our first thought was that someone had fallen in...
As we rushed outside to see what happened, we were screamed at by several people to get out of the resort immediately....My mind could not keep up with how fast everyone was screaming...people were literally speeding out of there with their hook-ups hanging out and flying in the air like whips....OMG....it was so scary. We were in the heart of a FLASH FLOOD..yes, my biggest fear had come true. The next 2 minutes literally passed in slow motion trying to grab anything that I couldn't live without. We didn't have time to hook up our RV to our truck, so we had to leave it there and hope that it doesn't float away. At this point, Aron got the kids and dogs into the truck, threw our toothbrushes and some clothes into a backpack, I grabbed my camera and got the heck outta dodge!

As we were driving out of the resort, it was filling up quickly with mud, water, fallen trees and debris. It was so unbelievable how quickly a flash flood can hit. We were just counting our blessings that we had our family.

We drove to higher ground and all we could do was watch in horror as destruction set in. After about an hour or so, the water level dropped and it looked like our RV was o.k. The water level rose up to the bottom of it, but luckily there was no water damage...just lots of thick mud everywhere.

These pictures really do not do this experience justice.

This is BEFORE the flood.....

The following pictures are DURING the flood....

After the first storm cell passed, Aron got clearance from the fire chief to go back into the resort to get our trailer....it was the only one left... The chief had us escorted back into there and told us we only had 10 minutes until the next storm cell came in and we were at our own risk and responsibility while getting it....We took our chances and a couple of fireman helped Aron hook up and get out of there.

WE MADE IT!!!!!

We didn't stick around to see all of the damage, but I am sure it was terrible. Needless to say, we did not get to hike Zion the next day...it might be a while before they can get me back there.

All in all, we had an amazing two weeks of vacation and made priceless memories that we, as a family, will forever treasure.

DON'T BLINK......YOU MIGHT MISS THIS!!!

Just for the sake of saying that we did it, we stopped at the four corners....New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and Colorodo. This had to be the most ridiculous stop on our trip, but it had to be done....in the middle of nowhere there is this little monument and a bunch of Native Americans selling turquoise and frybread. At least the frybread was good....