A letter to Spring

The view from our back window right now.

Oh Utah Spring, can we be done with the snow now? Pretty please?

Remember how last week it was so warm and wonderful to be outside?

We had such a lovely time at the park.

Miriam got to eat grass for the first time.

Asher got to wear shorts.

Please warm weather, won't you return? 

But don't go straight to summer either, please, k?

much thanks,

Katrina

the view from our front porch this morning

Last night the rain turned to snow and this is what we woke up to! I knew we were going to get at least one more good snow. The sun is now shining bright and working on melting the snow away already. I think Spring can come now.

a saturday afternoon downtown

Jared spent Thursday through Monday in North Carolina for a conference at Duke, which means I was home alone with the two little ones. (The big kids were with their mom.) This is the second time he's had to travel since Miriam was born. The first time was a longer trip and was physically more demanding because both kids were younger. This time for some reason, emotionally it was a lot harder to have him gone. I am so spoiled that Jared works mostly from home so I get to have adult conversation throughout the day. With him gone, I felt so lonely. I'm really glad to have my best friend home again!

My sweet friend, Olya, was really thoughtful and invited us to crash her mommy/daughter date on Saturday afternoon. We met downtown at the Church History Museum which has a fun little children's exhibit. The weather was absolutely gorgeous--sunny and 50 degrees so we also spent some time on Temple Square letting the kids run wild. It was wonderful to get out of the house, enjoy the company of a real grownup who is fun to talk to, and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Plus, we had AMAZING light and both captured some beautiful images. Olya's camera battery died but luckily our cameras take the same battery so we took turns switching mine back and forth. :-) I think we both appreciated having a few pics of ourselves with our kids since we are usually behind the camera. Thanks again, Olya for a wonderful afternoon! I've said in the captions which photos are Olya's.

How freaking adorable is this?

Taken by Olya

Is that joy or what?

I'm obsessed with the flare in this one!

Taken by Olya with my camera

Taken by Olya

Taken by Olya

On our way back to the car, Miriam got all puckered out and feel asleep in the stroller. Asher on the other hand was obsessed with all the fountains and we had to stop at each one so he could put his hand in it.

Asher calls her "Mimi Bear" when she's wearing this.

salt lake city temple through the 50mm

I took the babes down to temple square yesterday to enjoy the amazing weather we've had this weekend. I wanted to keep my camera light so I kept the 50mm lens on it. This lens is amazing for portraits but not the best for landscapes/architecture. It was fun to shoot the temple though in this limited way. Forced me to be creative and shoot from angles I wouldn't normally. I'm pleased with the results.

Which one do you like best? I think my favorite is the first.

the city library

I photographed a family on New Year's Eve at the downtown City Library. These are a couple shots of the interior I took that day. I love this building. One of the coolest architecturally I've ever been in.

well, here it is

If there's one thing Utah is exceptionally good at, it's having 70+ degree weather one week and snow the next. Keeps us on our toes. 

Behold what we woke up to today:

temple quarry trail

Last week I took some breastfeeding photos at Temple Quarry trail. I had never been there but discovered it is a delightful little trail at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon. There are lots of great spots for photos and TONS of rocks to climb, so I knew we had to bring the kids back there. Monday being Labor Day, we loaded the kids up in the 'burb and set out to explore.

The trail is named Temple Quarry because this is the area from which the settlers of the Salt Lake valley got the granite to build the Salt Lake Temple. There are still chisel marks in some of the stones. One of the coolest things about the area is that at this time of year the creek bed is dry so its just a huge stretch of rounded rock. Very fun to climb and a great place to find cool rocks to take home. We told the kids they could each pick one and so of course Isaac and Olivia found one to fight over. Other than that, they all really enjoyed themselves. I think we'll be going back there. And I will definitely be suggesting this as a site for future family photos.

end of summer at snowbird

The day before school started and my parents headed back to NM we drove up to Snowbird. The last time we were there was almost two years ago when we were all in Utah for Asher's baby blessing. This time we took a little hike/walk and then rode the tram up to the top. After that we got pizza for dinner.

It was fun except for all the complaining from the big kids. They were excited about the tram but found all sorts of other things to be pills about. Anyone else's kids do this when you try to do something fun?

I need to remember to get out and enjoy Utah's beautiful mountains more. 

Anyway, enough with the chit chat. Let's get to the pictures!

Asher was loving running up and down the trail.

Trying to chase a bug.

Holding hands with Mommy and Daddy

Grandpa packing Miriam. Can we say precious?

I love the shapes kids make when they run.

The kids were being all grumpy so I asked for their grumpiest face.

And then this one. Grace was just being pouty no matter what and Isaac is a goof.

I took another one where Jared is smiling but I liked this photo better.

Ah, they do smile!

I love my parents.

Asher cared more about the various vehicles at the top of the mountain than anything else.

Not sure why I look so awkwardly posed here.

Riding in the tram back down the mountain.