]]> http://www.merephoto.com/blog/personal/made-you-smile/feed/ 1 http://www.merephoto.com/blog/personal/lake-powell/ http://www.merephoto.com/blog/personal/lake-powell/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:42:27 +0000 admin http://www.merephoto.com/blog/?p=1502 Here are just a few, yes a few, of the zillions of photos I took during my family’s Powell vacation. Since becoming a parent I’ve realized that these family vacations are not really for me anymore. Once you have a kid, it really becomes all about them (whether you like it or not–hehe). Last year was kind of lame since Audrey was a brand new baby and just wanted to sleep and eat the whole time. Now that she’s older, it was actually fun to see her experience this place that has been so much a part of my life. She was pretty good about just going with the flow (except when it came to naptime) and really seemed to enjoy everything (including the sand–yes, she ate a handful. gross).

Audrey LOVES buckles. Buckles on her carseat, her push-car, her stroller, and these lifejackets. Don’t know what it is, but she can entertain herself for hours trying to put them together.

We didn’t bother to brush her hair while there, and by the end of the week her curls had turned to mini dreds.

Sure wish that it was cute for my legs to look like this in a swimsuit…

Okay, okay, there WERE other people there besides Audrey. Here’s Easton channeling his “blue steel”

Oh those teeth!! Love them!

Have I mentioned before that Audrey LOVES her dad?

Thanks to Kayti, we got a shot of all of us together.

to spend some much needed time with these people:

Be back soon!

Love this girl’s reaction to Cosmo. She knows what’s up.

Bones with Cosmo (*sidenote* I totally loved this little guy. Mainly because when Jake was a little boy he had a hat just like this and would wear it. His parents have a video to prove it, and it’s hilarious)

The Flash Fox stole my camera and took this totally awesome shot. Yeah, I’m a dork. Are you just figuring this out?

Aren’t these little onesies darling?

These kids were too cute!

Would you like to know what pure joy looks like? Here it is:

And I couldn’t resist putting my own cutie up here with these others! (teehee. don’t those teeth make you laugh?)

If you’d like to see all the photos from the day, you can watch the slideshow HERE

Audrey wasn’t particularly thrilled with the whole hat idea…

She managed to give me (okay Jake–she’ll ALWAYS smile for Jake) a smile

Off with the hat!

She kept looking at us like, “Is this really for me? Can I touch it?”

She was nervous at first…

But then she tasted it.

And she liked it…A LOT! (name that movie)

Hey Mom, what’s this?

Mmmm…tastes hard

But this cake is SOOO yummy!

Did I drop any?

I’m going to miss these legs. They are already slimming out, and it makes me sad.

Aren’t these bloomers cute? Thanks again Aly!

Part I.

My sister Alyson is a crafty genius/seamstress. Check out her blog: polkanuts.blogspot.com. I had been telling Aly that I was looking for a cute dress to take Audrey’s 1 year photos in. So what does she do? She MAKES Audrey an adorable one-of-a-kind dress. With a matching hairpiece. Isn’t she fabulous? Just look how cute it is! I think these are some of my most favorite photos I’ve taken of Audrey to date. They are just SO her.

Oh this face! I want to eat it.

I’m getting this one printed big for her room

Part II.

Now for the party photos! A big shout-out to my fabulous sister-in-law/assistant extraordinaire Kayti for all her help with this party!

We made this little banner. I love how it turned out!

My cousin Mindy makes the most adorable little cakes! She made this one for the party, and another for a cake smash session coming up in Part III (yes, there’ll be a third part to this post…) Let me know if you want her info!

Some yummy homemade cupcakes. I should have made the frosting a little thicker, but they still turned out!

Oh the excitement! Look how lucky this girl is…and she knows it

Always smiling! She loved everyone singing to her.

This photo makes me laugh. She wasn’t actually blowing. I think she was trying to mimic Jake blowing, but couldn’t actually do it. It looks like it though, doesn’t it?

Audrey was pretty dainty about the cake eating. Just sticking a finger in here and there, and they trying to give pieces to her daddy. Maybe it was the fondant? She’s not so dainty in Part III when the cake has buttercream frosting

Once again, check out my sister’s craftiness. She whipped up this adorable “1″ hat and cupcake bloomers for the birthday girl! These will also debut in Part III.

My favorite part was watching Audrey open gifts. She absolutely loved every one! Her reactions of excitement and joy when she opened every gift was so cute! (And I think it made all the gift-givers feel good too–THANK YOU EVERYONE!!)

Her present from Jake and I was this green car. And let me tell you, it’s the best thing I ever bought. She is SO in love with this car. Every morning she crawls to it and tries to climb in. Once we put her in, she puts one hand on the wheel and the other on the arm rest and just leans back like she’s cruising down the boulevard. Every now and then she’ll honk the horn. She loves having her bottle or sippy in the cupholder, and LOVES taking her doll on rides with her. She could ride in this for hours.

Happy Birthday Audrey! Mom and Dad love you! (And obviously a lot of other people do too)

Isn’t she stunning?

P.S. I did this shoot before attending Zack Arias’ OneLight Workshop (phenomenal), and now I have to laugh to think of all the things I did wrong (lighting wise) during this shoot! Live and learn, I guess.

P.P.S. Happy April Fool’s day (do you actually wish someone to have a happy april fool’s day?) I’m not much of a prankster, so no jokes here! What about you? Do you have any good prank stories?

I loved how all the kids immediately went and grabbed Jo’s train. So cute!

So many expressions..teehee

Aren’t they a cute family?

Nate and his boys

Jo and one of her darling nieces

Million dollar smile

Look at that detail on Jo’s dress. So pretty!

LOVED Jo’s hair and hairpiece. Lovely

This shot wasn’t set up, and I didn’t notice the statues when shooting. But looking at it now, I love the juxtaposition of the two

They held their reception at Sleepy Ridge Golf Course. It’s a lovely venue! We did a few shots out on the course.

Sleepy Ridge in the background

And the departure. For all the reception shots (there’s a LOT!) check out the slideshow posted below.

It was such a great day!!! Despite some mishaps (my lens got dropped at the temple and my light fell over at the reception–it’s a long story! haha), I was so happy to be able to witness and photograph this special day for these two!! So happy.

For the reception pics and a ton more of the couple, check out the slideshow!

Here are my images that are included in the guide: