Oscar's Arrow Of Light

2 for 2 so far.  Tyler and Oscar have their Arrow of Light awards.  They work hard for these.  Well the leaders work hard too.  I hear that the kids work harder as they get older.  The balance shifts.

Building the bridge to scouting. 

I look very imperial.  This is because I photograph really badly.  I always end up with a weird look or my big horse teeth sticking out.  Ha.

This is where he dropped the back of the pin.  Then, while I bent down to find it and get the dang pin on my shirt, he got his reward handed to him and I missed it.  Oh well.  This is why I need a designated 2nd shooter that things like this. 

Yes I got it!!
And yes that is lady liberty behind him.  

Congratulations Oscar.  On his way to Scouts.

Fall Break Get Away

My Men, Ah such a delight.  We had a great time in Pinetop, AZ.  Nate took the boys fishing 3 times and they didn't catch anything, but ask them what their favorite part of the vacation was, Fishing! ........ Boys!

We found a little play ground next to a big open baseball field and the day was delicious, overcast and cool.   

I laid down in the grass and the boys were jumping over me.  It was so fun.  I didn't even get trampled.  

He's bigger than he looks.  

This one isn't.  He's still little and we love him dearly.  I water marked this one, playing with ideas for when I do a little photography biz.  This isn't happening any time soon.  In a couple years.  I am concentrating my efforts on the home front.  These boys are growing so so fast. 

OUr BMW.  Ha.  She looks good in HDR.

What a beautiful scene.  It was misting a little and there are water droplets on the lens.

These last images were taken with my iPhone.  It just amazes me that phones can do with pictures.  

There was thunder and Emmett didn't like it one bit and he told it off.  There might have been baby cuss words.  It was hilarious.

TruHDR is the app and this is what it can do.  Love these images.  What a gorgeous sky.

We rented this house from some one on VRBO.  Check it out.  We have rented in Montreal, Canada and Newport Beach twice, Utah, Flagstaff.  All great experiences.  This cabin had a hot tub and it was so nice to have a soak after a long day of vacation.  

Side note, this was the first time that I planned out every meal and stuck to it more or less.  It was nice to know what we were eating.  It is a new thing with me to plan the meals ahead.  I am liking it alot.

Camping with Cousins

Headed up to Prescott and drove around a bit looking for a place to camp. It was about 2 hours, I am ashamed to say but it was just Alli and I and a bunch of anxious kids. The husbands were thankfully bringing up the rear later in the evening. So there was less stress. Just Alli and I bouncing around in the wilderness (oh and the kids) looking for just the right spot, (for one night). Finally landed somewhere near the Potato Patch.

It was a little warmer than I like to camp, But that means, warm nights. So that's good. Tyler got some new guns and had an itchy trigger finger for his birthday. We already had 2 bbguns, now we have 2 other ones. A 22 rifle and another 22 that can convert into a 12 gage shot gun. I know this well because I was sent to Walmart to buy the bullets.

Everybody got a turn on the bbguns. The older boys got to man the 22's.

If you look close you can see the cartridge flying in front of Oscar's face.

Uncle Ryan, the crack shot.

All the boys love climbing the trees.

Portrait of a happy young man. Not a boy anymore.

Wyatt had many offerings for the fire.

This last picture was cool. I set up the camera and then as it was taking the slow shutter image, Tyler and all the kids walked right past the camera carrying a flash light. This is the result. Pretty cool.

Emmett's 2nd birthday

I have neglected my blog sadly. These pictures have been foundering on photobucket for months. But it is finally here. The pictures from Mitter's birthday. I got inspired by my cousins kid's cake. Amory was born 1 day before Emmett. They are on the East Coast and I saw the cake before I went to bed the day before and made my brain to the mental acrobatics that it takes to figure out how to make it. Ok maybe it is easy for you to see, but it took me a while. The boys were very enthusiastic about the cake.

Emmett watched it bake. He was so cute, he could sense the excitement.
There they are. I did them in loaf pans, so I could just cut slices from the bottom up.
It looks good, It tasted ok but not super good. Not adult eating cake good. Just used a mix.
Litte Mitters got some toys and was very happy from the attention. Love these pictures of him and his daddy. He is a lucky kid. And that is a lucky dad too.




Our little caboose is a delight in our house. We are so grateful to have him in our family

Outing in Payson. Beautiful

Allison gets these ideas in her head. Let's liken them to a bee in her bonnet. "Let's go to the woods and take a 5 mile hike. Jeff needs it for cub scouts." Ok. Im game. I wasn't too sure about the 5 mile hike but I knew I could always take the weak ones and quit early. Grandpa decided to be the protector on our outing and we were grateful. Those bears were vicious, VICIOUS!. Thanks Grandpa. You are the best.

Big rocks to climb and sticks to throw. We had sandwiches, Cheetos, and gatorade for lunch. It rained a tiny bit and was so pretty.

Everyone took turns walking across this cool log.

Oscar and his defiance. You will not get a good picture of me. I'll make sure of it.

Alli and her little bird. Peter couldn't figure out how to bite the end of the camelback and then suck the water out so Alli spit in his mouth. Yes folks. The picture is prettier than the act.

A walk in the woods did us some good. Thanks Alli for getting us out of the house.