Halloween 2010

I am actually kinda happy with myself, I am getting these pics up LESS than a week later than I wanted to, WHOA-dream big, Britt! Halloween was fun this year. Calyn decided to be Jesse from Toy Story again so since we already had an old cowboy costume that Dev's mom made for him when he was a little boy I decided it would be the perfect duo...Jesse and Woody!! And all too fitting too, right? (Woody) Calyn was Jesse a couple years ago so when she mentioned being Jesse again I pulled the costume out of her keepsakes box only to find exactly what I was worried about...it was much too small for her, therefore, I would have to remake the exact same costume just a couple sizes bigger.

Well, they didn't have the same cow print material that they had last time, they just had the actual fur kind and I had NO desire to deal with fur so I had to buy white and black material and actually cut and glue the spots onto the white, ARGH!! Then, I thought that the hat with the home assembled red yarn Jesse hair from only a couple years ago would FOR SURE still work, I mean how much can a kids head grow in 2 years, right? Well, I guess all the schooling really has worked because her head DID grow too much meaning I would also have to redo the yarn hair and braid on the hat to make more room for that overstuffed, brain-filled head of hers. For Rylan I needed, merely, to buy a hat!!! WHEW! Thank you Simone!!!

Despite all the work I was really happy with their costumes, they looked so cute walking around as a little cowboy and cowgirl. Luckily we were able to get some good use out of this costume since we actually dressed her in it 3 different times! 1st: for her school carnival which the kids loved. They haven't stopped talking about the spook alley in which I was silly enough to think I could just go along with them...crawling under children's desks pushing and pulling terrified, crying children in the pitch black...SILLY GIRL! 2nd: for our ward's trunk-or-treat Friday night, then 3rd: for actual trick-or-treating Saturday night. All in all we had a great Halloween but I am glad we are now on our way to the craziness of the next 2 holidays!!
Ready or not....

I have had these pics all ready for 3 weeks now but just never got around to putting them up here, so here we go finally!! Here are our pics of Cal & Ry on the first day of Kindergarten. Whenever I get the camera out to take pics of one of the kids the other insists they have a turn too so I have just accepted the fact that no matter the occasion, they will both have their pic taken. I guess that is really a good thing, more cute pics, so no complaints here. Anyway, a tradition that I have carried on from my family growing up is getting ice cream every year on the first day of school as a family. I remember looking so forward to school just for the family ice cream trip. We would always go to Reed's Dairy and get double scoops, however, when we asked Cal where she wanted to go she insisted on Sub Zero, so this year we switched it up a little and went there instead. We had Demi, Nana, & Papa come with us since it was Demi's first day of school as well as a teacher at Rimrock Elementary. She is the 6th grade teacher and loving every minute of it. She is an awesome teacher and has several little boys in love already. ;)

Mesa Falls Marathon & 1st Day of School...

This last weekend Uncle Paul & his family, Mom, Dad , Demi, Dev, the kids, and I went up to Aunt Cindy's cabin in Island Park for the annual Mesa Falls Marathon Weekend. My Mom & Dad Jeff run in it every year but since Mom hurt her foot she hasn't been running in it so she & whoever can come up drive the route and cheer on Dad at several different stops along the way as he runs the entire 26.2 excruciating miles...ok, at least that is what they would seem like to me since I am not exactly known to voluntarily run more than 240 ft at a time (distance around the bases of a softball diamond). Anyway, we have started to make a weekend of it and stay in Island Park so this year was no different. We brought up Dev's family's raft and floated box canyon, went on bike rides, played games, fished, played horseshoes, and laid around like bumps on a log. That's what you're supposed to do at a cabin, right?? Here are some pics of Dad doin' his thing. Just a warning, some pics may be a bit graphic, Dad gets a little "racey" when he runs...hahaha, that one was for you, Dad!! ;) A guy that works with Uncle Paul and Dad was also running so I put up some pics of him crossing the finish line as well.

Mini Shoot part 2

A VERY overdue photoshoot!!

I have been wanting to take the kids out for a fun Mini shoot for the longest time but it seems like the more I learn about photography the less I use it for what I originally wanted to learn it for...capturing my own memories and family. SO my new goal will be to have a mini shoot every month at LEAST once with the kids and maybe I will even throw one with Dev & I in there every now and then (I apologize ahead of time). I mean seriously, how sad would it be to look back on all the families' memories I was able to capture but find so few of my own? So there it is, I've said it and you all must hold me to it! Also, I have added many new pics on my photography blog and would love for you to go check them out. You can either click on the link to the right that says "my photography blog" or you can simply click here. have fun!

Redfish 2010

In July we went to Redfish Lake for the annual Wood family reunion for 5 days of camping at "The Point" (the best campground on the lake). It is one of our favorite times of the year, full of so many fun activities and memories. We do all kinds of things like boating, boarding, swimming, eating, timed competitive obstacle courses or competitions like our "Wood man competition" where we do a mini triathalon, hiking, eating, minnow catching, snorkeling, fishing (using poles or nets), visiting the lodge several times, going to the hot pots at Sumbeam, visiting the ghost towns and the sawtooth fish hatchery, canoeing (which entails going out on the canoe with as many people as we can cram into the canoe and tipping it over), cliff diving, rope swinging, card playing, programs, s'mores, bike riding, going to the logs and tubing down our very own "Bubble Bath Rapids" (and yes, we have claimed them as our very own), building sand castles, rock climbing, eating, and new this year...boat bailing, which consists of standing on the back of the boat which is going 20mph and just simply bailing off the side of it, an urge I had and Dev & I decided to fu...completely safe!

This year Devin decided it would be fun to snorkel and look for fish then try to catch them with a net. If you look close in this pic he is holding the net ready for all those unsuspecting fish. He, Little T, Trevor P, and Mike Williams (I have to refer to them by their last names since our family insists on marrying people with the same names. 3 Trevors, and 2 Mikes) all did this for a couple hours one day, to no avail, then as soon as they turned the net over to Melissa she caught a fish within 20 minutes of trying...let's just say Devin was a little more determined after that to catch one.