Kate's pictures

 

I've been really ambitious about taking pictures of the kids lately.  Kate was asking me tonight why I do so many photo shoots of my children.  I responded that taking pictures to me is kind of like playing Barbie's to her.  She laughed.  I let Kate pick out her outfit for the photo's and she nailed it.  She is developing quite a taste for fashion.  Her jacket is for school this year, and then she paired it up with her sixties go,go boots from Halloween last year.  She was a trooper and earned her subway sandwich for sure.  We had a wardrobe change and I shot some of her in her ballet costume.  I LOVED her ballet costume this year.  As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to take pictures of her in it.   

Fourth of July

Wow another fourth of July has come and gone, and I can't believe it.  It seems like we just went and watched the fireworks last year.  The kids are growing up quickly and as they do I am reminded that these holiday's, traditions, and little celebrations are really what life is all about.  Childhood feels like one milestone after another.  And before long they will be off into the real world of deadlines, nine to five jobs, and day to day responsibilities that seem to make adulthood such a drag.  For now I'll revel in the magic of childhood when time is measured by when the next holiday is, and whose birthday is coming up.  One of the cutest thing's that Ben has been saying lately is "Mom when is the next holiday, is Easter a long time away".  I say yes Easter is next year the next holiday is Halloween.  Ben says "Oh, I love Halloween I don't know what I'll be yet."  He has a few months to decide.  Oh, the simple joys of childhood when your biggest worry is what to be for Halloween. 

Here is Kate and me at the Kaysville parade.  We broke with tradition this year and didn't go the the Layton on.  Kaysville throws out a ton of candy and is a little easier to find parking and less walking involved, which is a big thumbs up for everyone involved.  We also got to see our kid's babysitters in the parade.  One was Corinne she was an officer at the Jr. High, and also Anna who will be a cheerleader next year.  We were at the very end of the parade, I mean the last people on the last street.  This ended up being very fortunate for the kids.  They literally had bags and bags of the left over candy dumped right in front of them.  It felt like it was raining salt water taffy.  The kids got more candy then their little Ziploc bags could hold.  After the parade we went swimming and ate steaks and hot dogs.  Then the kids got some down time and Jence had a nap.  Afterwards we visited my Grandma Black and went to the Layton fire works.  It was a really fun memorable day.  I feel a little sentimental about the fourth of July.  Growing up as a kid we had really great tradition's on the fourth.  I can't remember ever missing a parade, or fireworks on the fourth of July.  

My awesome Grandma Margret Woolsey.  She is so sweet.  She is always giving and thinking of other's.  She gave each of the kids a dollar to spend at the carnival.  Fourth of July wouldn't be the same with out a visit to her house.  She lives just a few blocks from the park, and the parade. As a kid I can rememeber walking back and forth from her house to the fair that they hold at the park each year.  Sitting underneath her walnut tree eating hamburgers and hot dogs.  I love my grandma so much!

Jence's two year old pictures

Jence had his two year old pictures taken tonight.  I know he's really two and a half, but I don't know what happened to this year.  It's just flown by.  My goal is to get caught up on all the kid's pictures before school starts, so stayed tuned and I"ll be having the rest of my kiddo's on here soon.  Jence was great.  It is really fun taking the kids for photo shoots one on one.  He loves trains, so I thought it would be fun to take some pictures with trains.  He liked seeing the trains but wasn't so happy about taking a million pictures with them.  At one point he said "I"m done"  and he meant it!

Bear Lake photo's

The planets must have alined because we had a perfect overcasted day, and lots of gorgeous light at Bear Lake.  I saw the lighting was magic and I promptly bribed my kids to get into their Sunday clothes for a quick photo shoot (it's amazing what awesome smiles my kids can put out for ice cream).  The Lake was stunning, and with the partial clouds it made for perfect photography atmosphere. 

Last day of Yellowstone trip

Our last day at Yellowstone was a lot of driving.  We basically drove around the rest of the park.  We drove the upper loop starting in west Yellowstone, up the mammoth, through towers, up to Larmar valley, then back down past canyon and back over to west Yellowstone.  The objective in all this driving was to See wild life, specifically a bear.  Kate actually prayed that we would see one, and sure enough we lucked out.  We pulled into an area where there is a petrified tree.  There were alot of people, and a thought I'd better bring out binoculars just in case we saw something up where the tree was at.  It was a short five or ten minute walk up the path and sure enough there was a crowd of people watching a black bear graze in the meadow.   The bear was a safe distance and he did seem to even notice that we were there.  He just went about his business eating grass.  He actually seemed like a nice cute little guy.  That satisfied the kids.  They all thought that was the highlight of the whole trip.  Me and Dan were so relieved that the kids could check that off their priority list of must See's while on our trip. 

Yellowstone day 2

We went to Old Faithful Geyser on day two.  It was fun to be back, I can remember seeing old faithful as a kid.  After the geyser erupted we walked all around the area and saw hot pots, hot pools, and geysers.  We did a short hike to morning glory which was really colorful.  That is the one Kirk is standing in front of.  Then we went and found a picnic area to eat lunch, and we let the kids play by a stream.  It was a dangerous land mine with buffalo chips.  Benjamin was unfortunate to have stepped right into one.  I had to wash his shoes off in the river.  I have to say that washing out buffalo poop was a first, and hopefully a last time experience for me.  It was a fun day and we enjoyed spending more time outside and less time in the car driving. 

Yellow Stone Day 2

Day two of our trip we went into the park for the first time. We headed to the east side of the park, where we met up with my sister Kristen's family.  It was so much fun to see them again.  I love being with my sister and her family it makes me wish we lived closer to each other.  We saw the paint pots, Yellowstone lake, Hayden valley, and the Grand Canyon.  The lake was one of my favorite photo spots.  There was a gorgeous overlook we went to.  We saw a baby deer through the spotting scope which was cute.  We also saw tons of elk.  The Grand Canyon is a definite must see.  The waterfall was gorgeous.  You can't see the water fall in our family picture, we are standing right in front of it.  But you can see it in the photo with just the kids.  It gives you an eery feeling looking over the falls.  It kinda freaks me out, especially with little kids.  They are fearless, especially Jence.  He will climb right over the side railing.