I love this time of year.  In Phoenix it’s warming up outside…the flowers are starting to bloom AND you say over and over again…This Is Why I Live Here.  (Give it a a month and the tune will be a little different…like WHY DO WE LIVE HERE IT’S SOOO HOT!!)  Another reason I love it is because up north it is still chilly and it makes for a nice get away!!  Well, what a surprise that this spring break a major storm would hit and the snow in Flagstaff would be the BEST it was all year!!!  Woohoo!!  So, we invited ourselves to spend a few days with some very dear friends up in Flagstaff and had the best time.  I love this family to the moon & back.  Kari is an amazing wife, mother and friend and I cherished every moment we got to spend together.  Although a few more miles separate us it feel like our friendship has none between it.  Our kids had such a fun time together and we can’t wait to spend lots more time with them this summer!!

Jason & Gage got to take advantage of two amazing snowboarding days at Snowbowl, but all of us got lots of snow time and some fun sledding right down the side of our friends’ house!!  This first picture was Monday taken in the backyard looking up at the house, check out the snow coming down.

Look at all these kiddos…LOVE!!!!!

Headed out to enjoy this amazing weather today…love living here!!!

Blessings!

Janelle

After the CRAZY CRAZY holiday season I have been taking a VERY NICE LOOOOOOOONG break!!  Although, I am not completely done with the things that I need to get updated I have made BIG progress.  I updated my regular website and finally got my wedding website up!!  Woohoo!!  Major accomplishment!!

So, as I have been working on getting these done, it’s given me time to really reflect on the year that has passed so quickly and the one that we are already more than a month into.  With some changes in our family’s schedule it has forced me to pull back with my business and focus on my family especially.  Being a wife and a mom is hard work and my kids will only be little for a few more years.  I don’t want to miss out!  So, this next year I will be really trying to be a little more balanced and in doing so focus on the type of photography that I have grown to love.  In particular…weddings, couples, seniors & newborns.  Yes, I will still be photographing families of course, but in a more limited capacity.  For those of you that didn’t get a chance to do holiday mini sessions I am going to offer spring mini sessions this March, those dates to come soon.

I have a “to be blogged” list that is a mile long, but after spending the last month updating things I will simply leave you with a few family pictures…thank you Erin for capturing my family in less than ten minutes…Ha!

When we were on our summer road trip I sneaked (is that a word?) in a couple of impromptu pictures of my four little blessings.  These were taken right around the corner from my best friend’s house in Oregon.  Yes, I am jealous of the Northwest and their gorgeous scenery, so I was happy to take advantage while I was there.

I love me some yummy warm light.

This last one just makes me laugh…so classic of my four kiddos!!  It’s one of my favorites!!

I am super excited about a BIG revamp coming at the end of the month!!  Can’t wait to show you!!  Have a GREAT weekend!

Blessings,

Janelle

Honestly, I don’t feel that my camera can capture the beauty and breathtaking wonder of this remarkable creation.  The Coastal Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world.  When you look up at them it is almost dizzying as they seem to touch the clouds.  The canopy from these trees allows little light to pass through them and even when the sun is shining it is this soft beautiful light that filters down.  We spent the first several days with clouds and a few sprinkles, but it didn’t stop us from enjoying our surroundings.  The kids enjoyed the fabulous junior ranger program that is available at a lot of the California State Parks.  They did nature walks, campfires and fun projects like making animal tracks.

The Eel River runs along the opposite side of the Avenue of the Giants from our camp and we were able to drive down to the river and have some fun the last day we were there.  The water was a little chilly for me, but didn’t stop the kids (or hubby).  The weather that day was absolutely perfect.  We enjoyed our week in the Redwoods immensely…really hoping we can convince our extended family to join us one of these summers!!

One little side note…after we left Santa Cruz we decided to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  The only problem is when you are vacation you forget days of the week…who goes through San Francisco with an Excursion & trailer on a Friday, well we do.  Tack on two hours to our drive…it’s all about the adventure!!

Cool view, but not sure we’ll go back through on a Friday - Ha!

Daddy got right to work with a fort!

Gage was out collecting a stick for the fort…gives you an idea of the greatness of these monstrous trees.

I have very few pictures of me and my kiddos, so this was sweet of my hubby to capture.  {love}

I have a picture from three years ago of Gage & Sadie on this same bridge…

Yea…for a tire swing under the bridge…score for kids!!!

Avenue of the Giants…AMAZING!!  Our camp was just around the next bend.

The Eel River

Love the Bob the Builder towel…#1 Daddy!!

One more post tomorrow as we made our way to our sweet friends in Oregon!!

Blessings!

Janelle

I can’t believe that summer is already starting to wind down.  I am happy to say that we had an AMAZING three week road trip with our family and are back in the hot (& muggy) Southwest.  Ugh.

Every time we are up in the Northwest we try and figure out how we could live there…it wouldn’t work out now, maybe one day.  So, for now we will just keep visiting!!

So, here was the itinerary for our family fun…LEAVE the HEAT!!

Our first camping spot was in Santa Cruz, California at New Brighton State Beach.  It really is amazing how you can be up in the pines (right off of the freeway mind you) and walk down to the ocean.  The temperature was a little chillier than we expected (I guess I just couldn’t wrap my mind around anything cool with all the heat at home…I only packed one sweatshirt).  The kids didn’t mind the chill in the air…as they ventured out into the water.  I however, stayed put on the beach!!  We spent some time at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk as well, which was a great time.  It was especially fun for me to remember being a kid at this same place!!  Here are a few pictures of our Santa Cruz fun (and no these aren’t edited…most of them are with our handy dandy point & shoot - Ha!)!

This was the campground over looking the ocean…

The beach right below us…(on a side note, this is a very steep hill and I forgot there were 100+ stairs at the bottom that my poor husband had to go up & down with the double jogger stroller!  Oops!)

Goofy kiddos

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

My husband looks really intense about his fire…

There were lots of amazing climbing trees at our camp

Sweet Gunnar… :)  He couldn’t help, but stick anything and everything in his mouth when he was put down…I think on the beach he ate several handfuls of sand…yum!

Tomorrow…The AMAZING Redwoods!!  Seriously, the camera can’t even capture what we saw, just breathtaking!!

Blessings!

Janelle