A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to photograph the Wood Family. They were celebrating 40 years of marriage and retirement. What a joyous occasion!

The little ones were troopers as it was quite a hot day and it was right before dinnertime, so a few of them were not too happy to be in the pictures. Despite a few tears during group shots, we got some great candids of each child. Don’t they all have incredible eyes?

This last Sunday, I got to blaze up a mountainside in Little Cottonwood Canyon with Seth and Ed. They are hard core rock climbers and enjoy night bouldering in the summer because the rocks get so hot during the daytime.

Since I have only been rock climbing a handful of times in my life, my skills were not up to the level they needed to be for bouldering so I mostly just hung out and took pictures. I did try to climb for a second, but have no idea how they pull into the rock. It’s insane.

Lit by only a couple of lanterns, these boys pieced together the rock and learned the best places for hand & foot placement. It was cool to see them take it hold by hold. Maybe someday I will be awesome enough to try bouldering myself….

And, maybe someday I will have a camera that can handle shooting in really dim light without giving me super noisy pictures. Sigh.

A few weeks ago, my family had our annual family reunion up at Bear Lake.

The water in Bear Lake is freezing! This did us no good on Friday, since it was windy, cloudy, and not very warm. Saturday was a perfect day, though (which is the day I took all these beach photos). Sunny, hot, and perfect weather for a swim in the icy blue. So refreshing!

The first picture is an HDR shot I took next to the cabin we were staying. It was a beautiful night with mesmerizing clouds and a soft breeze. Oh, and tons of mosquitoes

Meet Karen.

Karen has 5 kids and 2 grand kids (soon to be 3 grand kids). She just spent the last week down in Lake Powell with her family and enjoys anything that involves being outdoors: hiking, camping, you name it!

It was fun photographing Karen because I went to high school with 3 of her kids, one of which is my age, and I’d never met her until now.

Meet Jean.

Jean works for IHC. In her earlier days, she started off in the NICU. Her eldest daughter is currently following in her footsteps, working at the NICU at Primary Children’s Hospital. Jean has 2 amazing daughters and a son. She is from California but has lived in Utah for the last 7 years.

I love her big, bright eyes and beaming smile

Meet Steve.

Steve is married to LaVon. Steve is serving in the military and was based at the compound where Saddam Hussein would visit! His son has followed in his footsteps and is currently in Iraq.

Steve and his wife LaVon currently run a photography studio on the side and were so much fun to talk with and photograph!

This is Breanne and Riley‘s baby Porter, only 10 days old. He was born 5 weeks early so he is still super tiny. Porter love keeping his hands up by his face and still spends most of his days sleeping. Ah…newborns are so adorable!

This is Porter’s friend Arabelle (I think that’s her name) who came over to visit while I was photographing him. Isn’t she a doll?

Meet Tom.

Tom is another friend of mine from the wonderful world of photography. He shoots a lot of models and also does wedding, portrait, and event photography. He was very good at posing himself

I loved hearing Tom’s story about how he met his wife: they met while on the cast for an opera in which they were singing. I think it’s amazing Tom used to be an opera singer! Tom loves his ties and prefers wearing his Dr. Pepper baseball cap to any other.

Meet Stefanie.

Stefanie is an artist at Poor Yorick Studios with me. She is a printmaker and co-owner at Saltgrass Printmakers, a local shop for printmakers to collaborate as artists, use excellent printing facilities, and take classes.

Stefanie has 2 kids: 22 & 18. She has lived a full life but is taking advantages of all the opportunities she can. She’s planning a big trip to Melbourne, Australia next year for a printmakers conference!

Meet Brett.

Brett and his wife Linda live in Ohio and have 4 kids. He is currently waiting to be accepted to work overseas, destination unknown. I think that is an amazing opportunity for his children to grow up in a foreign country!

Brett and Linda traveled to Italy a few years back and spent time enjoying the country that Brett lived in for two years serving an LDS mission back when he was 19 & 20. I loved hearing them reminisce and talk about their adventures.