Family Photos in Park City

Wow!  Getting four humans and two dogs ready for pictures is A LOT of work.  Good thing we only do that one time a year!  We met my cousin up at that famous white barn just outside of Park City for our pictures and I'm so glad we chose that location because the views were amazing and our back drop couldn't have been more beautiful.

*** click on the photos for clearer quality.  I'm not sure why they're blurry.  ???

 

We had a lot of really chaotic pictures like the one below.  Kids melting down. Dogs running away or being unruly. A two year old not cooperating or smiling.  Strangle holding the animals.  CHAOS I tell ya.  Pure chaos!

 

But, we also got a bunch of sweet baby giggles caught in the act as well.

 

Like I said earlier, Miles was difficult to control, but once we let him run wild we were able to get some great candid photos like the one below.  No joke-- we didn't pose him-- he posed himself.

 

Miles and Tug playing with a stick.  This depicts our life right now!  Miles is ALWAYS chasing some animal around with some sort of weapon.  I really am more of a referee than a mom on most days.

 

Graham of course is ALWAYS photogenic.  We have so many photos of him smiling RIGHT INTO the camera.  Such a sweet boy and snuggler he is.  We're so glad we were able to get a few priceless photos up there.  We didn't have a whole lot of expectations of the photos, knowing our entourage was a large and difficult one to work with, but we're thrilled with how they turned out.  

Moab!

A couple of weeks ago we went camping with our good friends, the Thompsons and the Fuller family in Moab.  While there we visited Arches National Park and hiked Delicate Arch, Broken Arch, Sand Dune Arch. Tim was also able to biked slick rock with his brother and friend, and we swam in the pool.

6.5 months pregnant and hiking Delicate Arch.  Amazing lady I tell ya!

Tad, Logan & Sabrina

Family Pic at Broken Arch

Billsky & Pegster--cutest couple EVER!

Sand Dune Arch is basically an oversized sand box for kids.  The sand is very fine and it's set back in the most gorgeous shady area.  We visited twice it was so much fun.

Happy boy.  Happy Grandma.

We just love the Thompsons!  Couldn't get enough of them while we were there.  Overall, the boys did awesome camping.  Graham got up the first night twice, most likely due to the FREEZING temperatures, but once he was sleeping in our bag in between us he seemed to do great.  It was a perfect weekend.  Family.  Friends.  Biking.  Hiking. Swimming.  Beautiful scenery.  Great dutch oven food. Great company.  It couldn't have gone any better.

Aching for the Aitkens!

We were aching for the Aitken family and could hardly contain ourselves with excitement for their visit. After a delayed flight, they finally arrived and let's just say they brought the party with them.  We packed the fun in and we packed it in tight.  

Tim and Addy throwing pots on the porch

 I'm not sure Aidan had a free moment to himself while he was here.  Miles thought he was the coolest cousin EVER and never left his side.

 We played outside, soaking up the nice warm weather.

 I am LOVING the curls that are coming in on this kid.  Is his cuteness for real?

 We hiked "tent rocks" and had a picnic up at the top.  Miles didn't want anything to do with me. He only let Teisha hold his hand.

 We went rocking climbing outside one night after Tim got home from work.

 That's some serious determination in that kid's face.

 Graham enjoyed a bowl of applesauce while watching the kids scale the rock wall.

 Even Miles got to climb with the harness for the first time (Teisha-- I need those pictures, some how I didn't capture him)

 We also had some downtime (but not much) where we read and READ and READ and READ the dinosaur books OVER and OVER again.  This picture was taken just before Aidan said, "alright dude, time to pick another obsession.  I'm not reading this book one more time."

 We also visited the Aquarium.

We just LOVE our cousins!

 Addy was an excellent baby sitter while in town.  She played with Graham and kept him entertained and may I say she ROCKS at watching kids.  Her attention to safety detail was amazing.  We have the best family EVER!

Not pictured were trips to the pool, the climbing gym, crafting/sewing with Addy, shopping in Sante Fe and a little western type mountain artsy town called Madrid.  On the last night here, we lost Gus and walked around the neighborhood to search and put up lost dog posters.  He went on a walk-about for almost 2.5 hours and I seriously thought we had lost him for good, but alas we found him.  Aidan was really shook up about it and was determined to search all night long if we had to.  Glad he showed up, because Aidan would have been searching alone. :)

So all in all, it was a good (scratch that-- it was a GREAT) visit, but it made us ache for them more.  Wish we lived closer :(  Thanks for coming Teisha, Addy & Aidan.  We miss you more than you know.