52 photo project | week 12 | summer treat

Always such a busy time right when you get back from being out of town. This week has all been about getting laundry done and getting back into our routines that I haven't had a chance to even upload all my photos, let alone have a look through them.


[self portrait using camera timer]

This photo, however, did catch my eye as I recall what a happy day it was for all of us to be together, blissfully unaware of what was going on elsewhere, making sand castles at the beach. It was definitely a treat--the best kind of treat I can think of.

Looking forward to sharing it all with you.

Have a great weekend!

12of12 | July | the iPhone addition

I did actually take pictures today with my canon that I will eventually share when I get home, but like I said earlier, not having the internet made using my phone the best way to improvise. It definitely does the job & captures the bits & pieces of our day--well, at least the bits & pieces when I pulled out my phone. I must say, i actually quite liked the change.

01-04. all finds from my morning run--a delightful morning it was.

05-08. a day at the beach

09-12. resting after a long day at the beach & shakes just because

Another month down--we are half way to our goal. Crazy to think half the year is gone already. If you played along make sure to share with mister linky.



P.S. for those interested, i put these photos together using the diptic & instagram apps for iPhone.

Have a good one!

52 photo project | week 06 | memory

It doesn't take long these days with social media around to get the word out, unfortunately it was not good news this time. I found out today my older brother's friend died yesterday in a plane crash. Knowing too well the loss that my high school friend is now experiencing for her brother has brought some very tender feelings back to my heart.

When my brother died there was a part of me that longed to go back in time when life was effortless and my world simple. When I didn't know the pain of loss and how it could devastate you. When I didn't have to think or concern myself with what came next I could just walked outside my door and a world was waiting to be created.

Sigh.



Those were the days, the carefree summers nights playing games with the neighborhood kids, our annual fourth of july swimming and fireworks with my cousins, riding horses in Star Valley, fishing, jumping in Lake Powell to cool off, playing star wars with my brother, sleeping in my doorway to feel the swamp cooler breeze, playing house in my tree house, walking to the dairy to get ice-cream, summer chores, sleepovers....etc. etc.

I can never go back to those innocent years and simpler times (honestly I don't want to), but I am grateful those memories have stayed with me long after other ones have faded because it's those carefree moments of running through the grass barefoot without a care in the world that have become a source of comfort and a continual reminder to me to let go, to not fear, to live with abandon--and heaven knows I need reminders.

I know life is fragile, and while I think we should continually keep our eyes focus on the now, our happy memories can be a source of peace and play a part in helping keep us on our desired course and live the life we always dreamed we would as a child. When you're a child anything is possible, why should we forget that now that we've long grown out of our childhood?

We shouldn't.

xo

simple pleasures

When you put on a movie with popcorn you don't even know there's kids in the house, let alone six.

My friend's out of town and I've had her three since yesterday. It's actually been fun to have a shadow again--her youngest is four and has been keeping me company while the others are at school. Besides the change it was to my day, having them here has been a huge hit with my girls. Since we don't usually have sleepovers, except with family, they were stoked to be able to do it on a school night and then come home and play some more. I keep wondering if they're going to get sick of each other, but so far it has been nothing but good times--and how could it not? They've made their own personalized pizza, watched movies, danced with abandon, played outside, enjoyed bowls of popcorn, and slept in a fort.

Oh the simple pleasures of being a kid.

all aglow

Our annual walk through Temple Square....



















We were pleasantly surprised this year that it wasn't as busy as it has been in the past. I think the ominous rain kept people away even though it really just sprinkled for a few minutes. Too bad it wasn't snowing--it's been strangely warm for this time of year. We couldn't have asked for a better night, or company, to roam around enjoying the lights.

**What are some of your holiday traditions?

Yellowstone in photos

Let the road trip begin. I couldn't believe how quickly the 5 hours passed. I'm use to driving to St. George (4 hours) which seems to take forever. It was a welcome change to go north.


The river right across from the cabin. The water was cold cold cold.






morning exploring


and I thought we waited a long time to get into Zions. It took about 30 minutes to get into the park.




Basically traffic would come to a stand still when animals were spotted and many cars would pull over to the side to take pictures. This was our first encounter...elk. We actually didn't see a varied of animals like we had hoped, but what we did see was very exciting. The kids were happy to drive along looking for animals along the way. This picture cracks me up of the crowds.






Firehole Falls


I met this man while taking photos of the falls. I walked passed him and said, "nice equipment" (he was using what I was using). He smiled and asked, "are you into Canon?" I replied with an affirmative. He invited me to come see what he had with him. So I followed him and his wife and saw the awesomeness he was packing. Oh my goodness. My dream never looked so good. He's a retired man travelling the globe taking pictures. Exactly what I hope to do with Adam when we're his age.


A lone bison seen from the road...took this one while driving.




Old Faithful proved to be faithful to us. Literally the moment we walked up to wait for it to blow it started. It really is such a wonder. The kids loved it.


Taken inside the 97 year old Old Faithful Inn.


The cause of many traffic jams.




The cabin we stayed in.


Adam as always keep the kids entertained.





It wasn't what I remembered as a kid, but it's exactly what I hoped it would be. We spent a relaxing weekend in a beautiful part of the country with some of our favorite people taking pictures, laughing, looking for animals, playing games, talking, and enjoying the surroundings. There is just something so beautiful about the quiet wide open spaces.

It went so well we are already planning our next adventure together.

xxox,
amy

over the weekend...

I took the kids swimming. I didn't pull my camera out very much, but enough to remember from last year that what I want is to get my hands on some under water equipment for my camera so I can take photos below the surface. Unfortunately they don't rent it so I'm going to have to rely on Kodak disposables until I can figure something else out.

randoms from the month of May

Congrats to Bella! She got first place in her class spelling bee. She left that morning telling me she was going to come home with a trophy and she did. I think that's the secret in action.


This is the card Adam made for his mom for mother's day. It's little bits and pieces of email forwards she has sent him over the years. I thought it was endearing.


The lilacs have been out for a couple of weeks now and it's been a good couple of weeks. I love lilacs.


Tess took a few friends bowling for her birthday last Friday.


Saturday Adam and I spent a good amount of time looking for music. Always a good pass time for us. (photo by tess)


I took these 3 to get a Slurpee and as it turns out the machines were broken UGH! Surprisingly they did quite well with the news, but I had a feeling they wouldn't let me leave without getting them something. Here is Megan negotiating what else they could get as I take the picture. Shouldn't they have a sign from the street that says "machines down"?


Before we went to the cemetery we celebrated Tess and my niece Estee's birthdays. Don't those cupcakes look delicious? Let me tell you they were. My SIL Amy could go into business.


We went to Liberty park Memorial Day with our good friends who's daughter was having a birthday. It was a low key day walking around (the weather couldn't have been more perfect) talking while the kids played in the water attractions, and going on a few shady rides. Still can't believe we went on those old rides...I was less than certain we weren't going to fall to our death.