We took a couple quick trips while my in-laws were in town from Texas. Our first adventure led us WAY up north to Coldfoot, Wiseman and Adigan Pass. And what an adventure it was! The temperatures varied from 60 in Fairbanks to a windy 20 degrees in the pass. We saw caribou, sheep, moose, incredible rock formations, the ice jam on the Yukon and the treacherous and famous Adigan Pass the truckers brave on their way to Prudhoe Bay.  

We met a lovely family in Wiseman and stayed at their cozy bed and breakfast called the Arctic Getaway.  If you are ever headed up North look them up – the cabin is immaculate and has all the comforts of home and they’ll cook you an incredible breakfast to boot. Wiseman is beautiful, quiet and full of history and I am so happy I got to see it. 

Us girls were prepared to have dinner at the Coldfoot truck stop and were so surprised when we found out instead we’d be having a late night king crab feast at the cabin what a great Mother’s Day treat!

Just before our family went home we took a day trip to Denali and Cantwell. We have a piece of property in Cantwell that we feel incredibly blessed to have found. The last two shots were taken a couple minutes from our property on the Jack River. We feel ‘at home’ there and cannot wait to be able to build our cabin there. After playing in Cantwell for a couple hours we went 30 miles back into the park then out to dinner in Denali. We had an awesome day!

When I get fun new things for the studio it’s so great to have a built in little model!  Enjoy.

of mice and men often go awry…

So I had this plan to shoot some fun pics of Lael and me while testing out a new contraption for one of my lights. I did my make-up all fun and smokey, put on some heels and cute jeans, I set up the tripod, camera and lights, ran the trigger button up my pant leg to hide it and fired a couple shots of Lael playing with ‘her camera’. I checked the shots (there was backdrop and lights showing in the test shots so I was sure I had plenty of wiggle room). So it was go time, right?!  

So we get ready for the first shot I wanted…a fun shot of me in my jeans & heels with Lael peeking through my legs – I got it – sort of…

On to the next fun series…Since I spend so much time in the studio working in my chair with my little munchkin climbing all over me I thought I’d throw in the chair and get some fun shots to catch us the way we are most days…(minus the heels)

Well I’m not sure if there are little mice living in my house that know how to operate the camera and tripod, but that seems to be the only explanation for the shots we ended up with…They are so not what I was going for, but funny nonetheless. Look how fun these tie shots could have been! 

The plague flu has been haunting us for the past 10 days and I’m confident that we are finally on the mend. We have been hibernating together and it’s funny how something so icky can bring a sense of peace and closeness to us. Times like this remind us of that for better or worse, in sickness and in health part of our vows to each other. It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life…and I’m blessed to have these two.

There are some really amazing things about it being 40 below… Hot tubbing at the cabin with icicles on your eyelashes yet feeling like it’s warm out is pretty amazing. Dropping a quarter in the parking lot and trying to retrieve it within 30 seconds only to break a nail because it’s already embedded in the ice is pretty amazing. Our ice fog sunrise and sunsets are pretty amazing. And lastly, the site of a spider web at 40 below, to me, is also pretty amazing. So for all of you who are wishing for warmer temps here are a few shots at 40 below to make you smile, cringe or at least appreciate for a minute these chilly days. Oh and a fun collage of a sunny backyard shoot I did of Lael while we were in Texas. Stay warm!

Hot tubbin at the cabin with my bro & my tough Alaskan girl over New Years

Sun rise, sun rise looks like morning in your eyes…

Chilly spider webs

A little sun for the soul…

Below are some fun photos from our week. 

Hee Hee, I’m Lola!

This is looking through the window of Lael’s new ‘doll house’

Silly Hat!

Chase me Kemper!

Someone save her from that tiny dinosaur!

Decorating the tree this year with Lael made us stop to really enjoy the moments and appreciate all the beautiful ornaments in a way we’ve never done before. She has so many questions so telling her about each one and where we got it and what it is made it extra special for us. Our tree gets more beautiful each year because we have incredible friends who add special ornaments to our collection each Christmas. Remember the little things and take the time to stop and appreciate each gift whether it’s material, a real blessing or just a simple moment this Christmas. 

I have been overwhelmed with the amazing response and the job ahead of me is tough one, but there is still time today to nominate a family in need for my custom photography give away. Click here for details. I want to reach as many as I can with this effort so please keep the nominations coming. The deadline is tonight at 8 p.m. and I will announce the winner tomorrow on my blog so stay tuned. 

How fast the time flies…that you could love someone so much…that someone so little could impact us in so many fabulous ways…how much she has grown…that she is two! To think that she was just 5 pounds 4.7 ounces two years ago yesterday and was no bigger than our Christmas angel just blows me away. She’s amazing! Stay tuned for birthday pics.

As I browsed through my family snapshots there were several that brought me back to the moment or the memories that each image holds. This year marks the 31st thanksgiving our family has spent at our cabin. Each year we play cards & board games, snow machine, cook, then before our feast we huddle in and join hands and go around the room and listen to what each of us are thankful for. These images remind me of some of the small things that I’m thankful for. Remembering the first moment I watched Michael adoring our new little girl is a moment I won’t forget. Watching my dad hold my little girl as the river passes pulls at my heart strings. The tears that streamed down my Momma’s face when we told her Lael’s middle name would be Cherie after her were the sweetest tears of joy. Seeing two little cousins in the tub together brings me back to a zillion childhood memories I have with my favorite cousin and to be raising our own babies and running our business together today makes me so proud. Stepping out for a wild disco night with my shy guy in hot leather pants and an afro reminds me of how much he really does loves me. Witnessing my dad living in the moment and jumping off the cliff into the river was awesome and reminded me of the great example he has taught us that making the effort to have fun always pays off. For at least the past 6 years around this time of the year my sister and I take my nieces and nephews bowling and if this memory sticks in their little minds like some of mine with my favorite auntie they will be certain when they are grown that we went a 100 times. Taking in the sites and sounds of the kids during an all out water fight make me live vicariously through them. Watching my brother patiently fish with Lael tugging at his line and pole made me smile at how tender he’ll be with his own babies.

As I type Lael is curled up asleep on my lap which is where she can be found most mornings while I work, I wish I could keep her small enough to fit forever but for now this mental image of her so tiny will stick with me and as Michael always reminds me sometimes I need to just put the camera away and cherish the moment in full as it passes through our life. I am thankful for all the beautiful people in my family and for all the tender, silly, quiet and fleeting memories we share. For the freedom our soldiers fight to keep. The health we are gifted with. Amazing and unyielding support and love from Michael. Many unwritten blessings and most of all our faith.

Here’s to all the wonderful moments that remain forever in our memories…

Baa Baa Black Sheep is currently Lael’s favorite song to dance to so it seemed like the perfect costume to make for her! I’m new to this so it was no surprise that everywhere the little lamb went she dropped little balls of fur. We used spray glue all night! I was able to get a few shots in the studio before we headed out and she thought it was super funny to pull the fur and throw it at me.

We started the night at the museum – they had big, live, scary, bugs to see and plastic bugs for the kids to take home. There was no candy so after a quick tour we headed out. Lael quickly got the hang of the trick or treating and realized that saying “hap halweeeeen” or “deee dooo (thank you)” got LOTS of candy! Her bag from Nana and Papa was so full she had to drag it down the hall. She had a blast with her cousins and the grownups had some great laughs watching such a tiny girl get or take handfuls of candy at every stop!