Picture This

There is a day in our personal history that things go dim...and then very dark. Somewhere between April 25th and 27th our trusty Canon Powershot SD800 came undone. Quite literally, it came apart into pieces and it was beyond repair.  

I started taking pictures with my none-to-impressive camera phone. The shots were mostly blurry, but I was determined to capture life's most important moments, whether by photo or film. I was so caught up in the tasks at hand that it was the end of August, almost four months later, when I tried to move the pictures from my phone to the computer.  Somewhere along the way the SD card in my phone had decided it no longer wanted to store anything. (Insert weeping and a few possible swear words.)

So without further ado, and much needed imagination, I present to you the following memories from the summer of 2013...


Kate, Adam, and I spent the first weekend of the Manti Pageant together.  They helped me run my booth (more on that later) and we enjoyed hanging out together, eating ice cream, and watching the pageant.

Christina and family came to visit. It is always a fun time when she is around! (Cyndi did send me the pics from our girls night midnight trampoline photo shoot, but that deserves an entire post to itself!)

We used our Pass of All Passes and enjoyed lots of fun at the two Seven Peaks Waterparks. Liam was terrified of the water at first, but once he got into it he loved it! Mason is turning into a fish and starting to learn to swim. Kate and Adam braved all the big, scary slides and Colin and I got to enjoy a few together.  Dad was only able to come with us once or twice, so I braved the parks with all the kids and managed to keep everyone alive. But I tell you, I almost died the time Colin pooped (twice) on the sidewalk on the way to the bathroom.

Shem's sister Naky and her boys Preston and Tanner come to stay with us for a while. Kate gave up her room so they could have a room of their own.  We had lots of fun with these Arizona cousins we hadn't seen in years.

Pin the Nose on the Pioneer

Adam, Preston, and I attended Cub Country.  I'm the Wolf Den Leader and although I was forewarned, I was alarmed by the "excitement" of the camp workers. Adam loved it and enjoyed shooting the bow the best!

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Our tomato plants were so sad this summer. We only got five tomatoes. The corn, however, looked amazing. Kate took a beautiful shot of the sun peaking up behind the six-foot corn stalks. She was going to use it as a Reflections entry. :(

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Every summer we go camping at The Spruces in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Shem's brother and sister-in-law, Enoch and Amy, took the kids up early so we could do The Amazing Race for our youth conference. Our truck load of camping gear got rained on on the way up, but everything dried out eventually.  Our campsite was fantastic (thanks to Amy!) and the kids loved playing in the small stream, exploring in the trees, riding scooters and plasma cars on the paved roads, and roasting marshmallows by the campfire. Ben and Ashlie were a fun addition, as always. I had the best pictures of Liam crawling in the dirt and the kids playing by the stream.

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On July 25th the kiddos had their first day of school. I always take pictures of them in their first day outfits and new backpacks standing by the front door. I guess the professional pictures will have to do for the memories this year, although I was less than thrilled with them (but too tired to go back for a third time).

6th Grade

4th Grade

1st Grade

 

Liam didn't start crawling until 12 months old and when he finally started pulling up on things I got the shot of him getting into the silverware in the dishwasher. It would have been a lovely five piece collection. 

Liam, being the adorable bug that he is, has been captured in a number of pictures and videos. However, the video of one the most important milestones - his first steps - is no more. It was a much anticipated event as he didn't venture to start walking until he was 18 months. Here is a later attempt captured on Shem's phone.  Liam was 18 1/2 months old before walking became the preferred method of personal transport.