Labor Day Fun

It seems that all summer long, my sister and I try and make plans to get together, and for one reason or another, the plan just doesn't come together. In theory it shouldn't be so hard to get together, but it always seems complicated. But as the end of summer approached us, we said to each other...."we must get together labor day weekend"! So we decided to go up Provo Canyon and have a picnic and play for a couple of hours. (Warning: LOTS of pictures...but when you take over 500 in one day, that tends to happen)

While we were waiting for them to get there, I snapped this shot of Nikelle's scarf she was wearing.

Her eyes!

How bout that gust of wind????


There was a cool ampitheatre that the kids (Andrew included) put on a show! In fact he was the announcer. But by the time I heard about it, the "show" was over! But Carissa did enjoy running around with some kids that were there. They danced, they cheered, twirled...anything to get applause!


Then there was lots of rolling down this little hill! At first I had to show her how to roll...but then she got it!


The kids all wanted to go stick their toes in the river. And pretty soon the challenge was to go across. The water was surprisingly swift, and deep. Hannah went with her dad, and she only made it halfway. Carissa was very hesitant to go in very far, and was content to stand in the 2 inches of water (thank goodness)!

Then Nikelle wanted to try it. But she really struggled with her balance...and probably got the most wet!

This face was her "Ooooooo.....it's slimy"!!!

Oooooohhhhhh.....she's gonna fall!

Almost recovered.....but down she goes!

"You didn't get that...did you???"

Cousin Josh coming to help her!

They made it to the other side!

Whoooo...not again!

All is good! (If they weren't cousins...I'd be concerned...isn't that the sweetest picture?? And it's REALLY hard to get Josh to smile, so I especially LOVE this one!)

And just when they thought they were on the homestretch, Josh slipped and went down!
(Ahhhh...she just finds that SUPER funny, huh?

She reigns triumphant!!! She did it! (And no dry clothes to change into, and it's a LONG drive home)

Man, I love photographing her!

And look there's that awesome smile! (see Mom, he's not grumpy ALL the time!)


Then as I went looking for what Carissa was doing, I found her with her cousin Camille. And they were telling "jokes"! Well Camille was making up things that were complete nonsense, and Carissa would laugh hysterically! Camille would just giggle back, since it was SILLY...but not really "funny"! But to see Carissa trying to get the "jokes" was pretty comical!




Then it was back to the ampitheatre to "perform the jokes". But when they got there, there was another family using the stage for their picnic. (Um...hello.....that's what the MILLION tables are for!!!)
So Nathan ran behind them pretending he was on a "basketball stage"! He's REALLY good at pretend dribbling!


The big kids got together to play football with some brave adults! It was a fun game! I was in the grass with my zoom lens sneaking shots of them!
Here's one of Donavan (who was less that cooperative to get photos) and it looks like Josh is about ready to pummel him! Which he probably was!


Those of us not willing to get hurt playing football, enjoyed some time laying in the field. Have I mentioned that I love photographing this girl!


Here's my cute niece Hannah. She turnes 10 today! (Happy birthday cutie!)


And because I had my magic zoom, I caught these two little cuties off playing. Nathan was confused cause Carissa just kept running around, and he kept following her everywhere. I'm not sure if she was trying to get away, or if she was leading the game! They were busy picking grass, and finding leaves, and twigs and various items to make an "ant house"!


Then I focus my attention back on the game. Trying to get a smiling shot of Josh (just to prove to myself that it happens more than once per day!) And there was a pretty funny catch involving Glen (you can see his head in the corner) and you can tell by his wonky hat, that the catch was pretty stellar!


Then as I look around to see where the little ones are again, I see Carissa, again running away from Nathan.

But once he caught up with her, they were able to play at the water fountain.


Now apparently, there had been some severe taunting to the above mentioned "catch" (or maybe lack of...I'm not sure really) and Donavan was teasing Glen about it. Glen asked me he had my permission to take him down...to which I replied...ALWAYS! So Glen turned around and put him on the ground! Which is funny to me, cause when they were all little, they would "wrestle" with Uncle Glen and he could lay there and none of them were strong enough to move him. Ya, things have changed. I think I actually saw Glen using real muscles to hold him down!


And after all was said and done. We had a great time! Some of us a bit wetter than others. Some of us sore from using muscles that haven't been used in a while (Hm, Andrew!) and some of us itchy from laying in the grass too long! But I wouldn't of traded anything for that day! It was awesome!

And here are my favorite shots of the day!

Carissa, "trying" to hide from me taking pictures! (When will she learn???)


And my #1 favorite....she's looking at me! (and no weird faces!)


Well if you made it to the end of this post, and you aren't my mother, or the mother of my nieces and nephews, you should get a prize! (I did warn you that there was an abundance of photos!)

End of {sniff-sniff} Summer

Today as I sit and write this post, the weather is stormy and blustery outside, and looking at these pictures, I'm already missing the warm sunny days! Hopefully we'll get a few more before it's really cold!

About 2 weeks ago, the weather was warm enough to fill up the little pool. So out we went to fill it up. As it was filling up, we walked down to the mailbox to find that our neighbors were having a popsicle/ice-cream sandwich/otter-pop/lemonade stand! This was a new concept for Carissa, so of course she wanted something (something that we had in our very freezer...and for NO money) So we came home to get our money, and as we were heading back home with our little frozen treat, a couple of the neighbor kids followed us home.

Well it soon became obvious that hot kids with a little pool filled with refreshingly cool water was just too much of a temptation!

Yup....clothes and all! It started out with "you can get your feet wet"....but then it became the process of looking the other way, pretending to not see what was really happening. (Sorry Aislinn....we really did try to keep them dry) But when Owen started going down head first, we had to put a stop to it! (even though it was really funny)



Goodbye summer....we'll miss you!!!

Donavan's Senior Photos {Part ONE}

I took Donavan out the other night to get some senior photos. I'm still in DEEP denial that he is a senior...but seeing as how I never made it out with him last year for a photo shoot, I figured I better get some of him anyway! There is something that happens when I take pictures of my kids...they won't cooperate for me, so I brought a friend with me (thanks Teresa) and I think between the two of us, we may have got some "ungrumpy" looking shots! MAYBE!

So here you go, the first part of his senior photos. I'm planning on taking him out for more since he wants to have some with his trumpet, but his good one was at school. So we had the guitar as his prop this time. But he had a hard time understanding the word "prop"...he just wanted to jam!











Here's the same one with a different processing. Can't decide which one I like better.










He really liked this silhoette.


And Mom...this one is for you...since I know you love his eyes!


And here's a shot of the grafitti building as the sun was setting.


Now I need to go through the 563 (NOT KIDDING) photos I took on Labor Day! And preschool starts tomorrow. Wish us luck. She's been clingy this week. Hopefully it will go smoothly.

Back to school series

Decided I better scrap all the back to school pictures before another year is over and gone! So here are the pictures from last year compared to the ones from this year. And even though they both have grown up and changed in the past year....I still get the attitude from Donavan! I just hope someday that changes!