Playing It Cooley

January 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 21:31:00 +0000

I keep my personal Insta account private and limited only to my friends, so here’s my best nine for Elev. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my composite work. I don’t give it as much time as it deserves, and my best nine gave me the final nudge I needed. 2019 is going to be the year that I push the boundaries of my artistry and work at my conceptual creations. It won’t be easy, oh no. But I’m feeling hopeful for the work I want to create and the skills I’ll develop along the way. I’m making a goal of 12 conceptual creations for this next year. Already heavily into planning for two of them and I’m really excited for what this year will bring as I figure out how I want to express myself with my work!

Kiddo’s first time ice skating. Fell about a hundred times but got back up with a smile every time. ❤️

A few more shots from Little Sahara a couple months ago.

So, the sofa is *mostly* finished. I had some problems with paint dripping and I'm still trying to figure out how to best remove them without stripping the finish on the wood. I'm super happy with it though! ❤️

And new dress for another upcoming project!

MINE

In a very rare moment, Logan was calm enough for Angus to go cuddle with him.

Fireworks. Poor kitty.

Recovering from surgery!

A meteor with a handle to fly around.

Bath day

This is Fire + Ice. ❤️

Logan studied my face very carefully and drew a beautiful picture of me. 😂❤️

I am in shock. We put off swimming lessons for Logan because of his inexplicable fear of water. In the last few months, he’s shown more interest in water play so we decided it was finally time. In ONE WEEK, he’s gone from disliking getting his face splashed, to controlling his breathing and swimming down to the bottom of the pool to grab dive toys! I can’t believe his progress and also so excited for more fun in the pool without a clinging monkey. ❤️

Look who’s in the promo emails for Shoot & Share this year! What what! (Just got my 2019 contest entries in!)

Some of Logan's recent works to remember.

Number practice.

The zoo in the winter. It was cold, but so fun to see the animals without the crowds!

Sad moment during his first watching of LOTR.

Christmas works.

Afternoon at the dinosaur museum with these two! ❤️

Robert Cooleys I - IV, from when Logan was born: Last weekend, this wonderful great-grandpa passed. I will forever miss him and his light in this world. He set a beautiful example as a patriarch and human and I’m so honored to be in his family. He left behind an amazing legacy of which my son is part of. I wish I had a more recent updated photo of these guys, but I’m at least so glad I have this image of the Roberts I love.

A few days before, I explained to Logan about his namesake. He was so sad about missing his namesake and surprisingly calm and respectful through the day.

Last night was the Super Wolf Blood Moon! This is the first time I’ve ever stayed up through an entire blood moon. Honestly, with the winter storm warning we had for today, I didn’t expect to see any of the eclipse. BUT, we got super lucky at our house and it cleared just in time for the beginning, then the clouds started moving in right at the end of the eclipse. Foreground is a throwaway image from our visit to Hawaii in the fall. ❤️

January is new head shot time! ❤️ (Thanks to my friends and sisters for helping me with my pickiness!)

A little bit of an obsession with tornados.

Logan's first homemade scones were definitely a hit. Also, happiness is cookie dough in one hand and bacon in the other.

ARM SIZED FLAUTAS. Holy cow. So amazing.

Someone is getting a little obsessed with reading. A few very late nights lately, when he just couldn't put his books down.

Penguin plunge! And we're already signed up for next year!

Kiddo is loving his zumba and yoga classes at the rec center!

This guy wasn't too thrilled with an audience.

Winter kitters.

December 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 17:35:00 +0000

I think we wore him out....

Missed image from St. George Thanx.

So cold but so pretty. Beautiful afternoon at Tibble with half the photographers in Utah. 😂

Winter potato

Life/work/obligations pull us so many different directions, it’s become extremely rare to have a day to just spend together. Rob didn’t get to have a single play day in the snow last winter, because all snowy days were work days. So we spent today on just us. And you know what? It was perfect. ❤️

“Do you think these cut orbeez look like the rocks that have beautifulness inside?” (geodes) ❤️

I’m kind of a fan of the view from the rec center. Also, I don’t know what to do with myself while Logan is in yoga/zumba class, so I guess my fourth workout in 36 hours?🤷🏻‍♀️

Santa letter this year!

He wanted a picture with this tree after seeing his doc that day.

Someone was sleeping under kiddo's bed and got locked in at bedtime.

Logan was so excited and peeking in at Santa before our turn.

Don't mind me, I'm sitting here ugly-crying over Logan's Santa photos this year. Seriously. So. Perfect! Brandy is the BEST! (The shot where they swapped hats is my favorite!) Love, love, LOVE! ❤️

Hibernation

Small but deep injury for Rob at work. He didn’t appreciate my helpful googling while he was at the ER.

Hooray for clear winter air!

Little punk is protesting his medicine by sleeping on the neighbor's gold cart instead of inside.

Lucky number 13! How did I get so lucky to find him? The one who understands me better than I do myself. The one who sacrifices himself every day to make us happy. The one who doesn’t blame me for my faults, only helps me to work on improving them. The one who has endless amounts of patience with my crazy projects. The one who pushes me to be better. The one who I can tell any secret, doubt, or insecurity to and receive no judgement, only comfort and strength.

Ward Christmas party with his cute friend, Ellie.

Rob just went back for surgery so here’s our 2018 Xmas card. Have a merry tacky Christmas from all of us!

Poor kid is just as uncoordinated as his mom, but he still loves Zumba.

He's out!

Cold days

Playing with my flashes (Vitamin Water contest) and kiddo wanted to join in. ❤️

More cold days

The pictures may not be perfect, but all that mattered tonight was the memories of time spent together. ❤️

Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas!

The nintendo seems to be a hit.

Steve! First time we've visited in twelve years! How did the time go by so fast?? It was such a good evening to spend together and catch up on life. Definitely need to get together more often than every dozen years!

Some Logan Christmas works.

After a looooong Saturday.... he’s finished!

💗

Like father, like son. (I'm a sucker for blue eyes.) I've wanted to get these shots for a while now and finally did them last week. Both of my guys have blue eyes that look green from the side. My photos don't showcase it as well as I hoped, but it's something. And bonus, their matching notched left ears. ❤️

A couple of butterballs with new year's resolutions

New Years fireworks from Maren! Just a little bit frigid, but so fun!

November 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 17:11:00 +0000

School picture arrived! For how he’d been looking the two days before picture day, his face wasn’t too bad. Though they did crop out his hive-covered arms. 😂

New spot, old location 😍

We visited Forest City ghost town up AF Canyon, and decided to just keep driving all the way through to Heber. Such a gorgeous way to spend the afternoon. ❤️

I promised him a leaf pile to play in after school. ❤️ At dinner, he was crying about his nose hurting really bad. We finally got him to go blow his nose, and he found leaf pieces inside. 😂

Fuzzy winter butterballs

Night at Little Sahara. It was not as good as I hoped, but we still got a few nice shots.

There’s nothing like a child’s joy to make your heart happy. ❤️

Logan, after an intense scene in the movie yesterday: “That part was startling my heart!” 😂

I learned Logan levitates when bowling. 🎳

I showed him the “trick” that’s been going around Reddit (puzzles are cut from the same shape, and so interchangeable) and he’s SO impressed because he’s never seen it on YouTube before. 🙄

How I love this morning view ❤️. And my fence post toppers

Mornings.

Some of Logan's recent works.

Thanksgiving 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 17:17:00 +0000

A few days in St. George for the holiday this year! It was a perfectly relaxed trip, with a day at Snow Canyon too.

o thankful for family and the time we get to spend making memories together. ❤️

He’s very impressed by the cairns we saw in Snow Canyon, and wanted to build his own.

Coming back down Johnson canyon.

Everyone: How was it up there?

Logan: It wasn’t very beautiful.

L: “Hey can we go to this spot in the park?”

Us: “what is the name of the place?”

L: G-A-P fingerspace 0-3-8

October 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 20:11:00 +0000

Alpine Loop drive

Still lots to learn for capturing drone shots.

Corn fountain!

Surprise, surprise, he chose blue for crazy hair day.

I’m glad I took the time to drive up Pole Heaven! I am so backed up on work that needs to be done, but I also KNEW that today was going to be my last chance to grab photos of the leaves at higher elevations before the storms roll in and blow them away. Seems I always miss them by just a few days in previous years. Not this year!

It was the perfect day

Turkeys!

Logan decided he was done with training wheels. I figured it’d take a few days for him to balance, but just two runs up and back on the sidewalk and he’s got it!

Part 2: He can stop by himself and almost start all by himself. I can’t believe how fast he picked it up! He decided he was ready and he was!

Fun run day!

We only see them maybe once a day in the summer, if they feel like dropping by. But now the cold weather is here, hibernation mode is activated.

Josh’s cast. First cast I’ve gotten to sign in like 2 decades! 😁

FINALLY finished Hawaii pics. I'm so crazy in love with this image. 60"x30" printed on pearl paper, gater mounted. It's beautiful.

Crack cookies! Probably so called because they’re made with crackers, but I’ll pretend I call them that because they’re ridiculously addicting. Rob has to remind me every day not to eat an entire pan at once.... 😁 It’s been a long time since I made a new dessert recipe. 😋

Taken from the Squaw Peak "parking lot"

‘Tis the season for finding corn EVERYWHERE in the house.

Strep or flu? Only time will tell.

We ❤️ Jaker's! They were so nice to let us bring the little dino over for photos one evening. Our favorite October place!

Tired dino needed a ride home after pics.

Amelia shared some of her cats’ vast wardrobe with us. 😂

It’s been a rough, busy couple days. Sickness abounds, but life doesn’t stop. Especially after it’s been almost three weeks of illness.... So happy for a moment to just stop and cuddle my sweet fuzzballs.

My tonsils finally went down today so definitely flu, not strep. Woohoo! Hopefully only another day or two to feeling completely better. Also still loving our Pumpkin Punches we bought last year, they make it so much easier and faster to carve!

Logan wanted to make a book about jack-o-lanterns. This is about how far he got.

Turned around to this.

I made this super big for Logan 3 years ago. Still fits him for one last adventure at Star Wars night at the library. ❤️

Fireworks! And Angus loved schmoozing Elle when she came to visit.

Autumn views 😍🍁🍂

I did a thing! Evening with this lovely lady ❤️

I've kept telling myself that I need to do more artistic work, if just for an outlet for myself. I finally arranged this evening with my friend, Laura, for us to plan and style ourselves and shoot each other. I'm SUPER happy with how the photos turned out!

They turned out exactly how I hoped and I love them SO MUCH! ❤️

Monday, Rob and I are on the tail end of our *second* illness in two weeks, everyone is happy for a normal week, we’re getting ready for the day.... What the heck, Logan?? 😵 Sigh. So much for normal.

Mr. Splotches woke up much much worse Tuesday, so off to the doc. Still my happy, energetic boy, just, well, THIS. 😳 Bad news: It’s viral hives and all they can do is let it get better on his own, about 3 days to up to 2 weeks. Doc prescribed lots of Zyrtec.

Good news: He’s not contagious and still eating, sleeping, and playing just fine.

So now I have to decide when/if to send him back to school. I feel like a bad mom if I do and a bad mom if I don’t. 😂

Wednesday, I called into Logan’s school to get him excused and ask if I can at least bring him in for make-up picture day. (We were in Hawaii during original picture day.) Explained about the hives and that they’re not contagious. Told the secretary “oh well, I guess it’ll be memorable for his first grade photo.” She just laughed and said “well his kinder was pretty memorable too.”

Logan woke up Wednesday morning looking about like Tuesday. But within an hour of his dose of Zyrtec/Benadryl, he started clearing up! Just in time for picture day. 😄 For how he’d been looking the two days before picture day, his face wasn’t too bad. Though they did crop out his hive-covered arms. 😂

Cabin time! Closing down for the winter. Thor was super helpful with the puzzle.

This beautiful beast joined my arsenal this week. Tonight was a perfect test run on top of Sawtell. It only took every stitch of warm clothes I brought with, including a blanket tied around my head, to survive the frigid wind at the peak for sunset.

‘Til next year.... ❤️😭

Angus brought home a souvenir and the yard looked like a feather explosion. Also, you can see where he always jumps the fence to come home.

Checking out Sandy Beach for the first time since end of spring. I hate the algae, I miss playing here.

It doesn’t look like much in the tiny pictures, but four hours of dejunking and organizing today felt so good. Threw away a whole trash can of stuff.

Can't sleep, can't wake.

I don’t know what Rob has against my Walmart man pants. They are gloriously comfortable, woven by angels, sherpa lined, and SO warm. I guess they’re maybe not very attractive? 🤣 (I’ll be living in these beauties 24/7 once the really cold weather hits.)

Sadly, we didn't get many days in the pumpkin patch. Three weeks of illness in October. :( We still squeezed in a few more visits right at the end of the month!

Logan told me he showed Angus his costume. Looks like Angus didn't even notice. I figured he'd run as soon as Logan had the costume on, and was surprised that he didn't mind too much.

Obligatory school parade post. ❤️

Happy Halloween!

Hawaii!

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 18:47:00 +0000

I don't know if we packed enough gear.... :)

Hi, Seattle. Bye, Seattle.

There's so many critters here! Also, amazing breakfast our first morning.

Geckos! And the beach area by our condo.

Instead of trying to find meaningful souvenirs for Logan, I got a Lego beach bus ahead of time and packed it to give him when we arrived. Totally worked, he still adores it and calls it his "Hawaii Adventure Bus".

Baby Beach. The whole island is going to know this kid’s entire life history by the end of the week. #nostrangerdanger

Poipu Beach. This one was "okay", but sooooo crowded.

Sea Cucumbers! And a crab.

POG! 😋 I remember drinking this as a kid, but it somehow slipped away and forgot about it until I saw it at the restaurant today. Bought some at the store to have for the week. Such a silly little thing to make me happy.

Rainbow on the way to our catamaran cruise. Lots of these through the week.

Spinner Dolphins! One of Logan's favorite memories.

We lasted a good hour or two, this is before the motion sickness set in....

I’m sure the Napali coast is beautiful. Buuuut, we'll need to invest in doc visits and motion sickness meds next time. 😭🤢

Some photos I was able to grab on the cruise, when I could force myself to hold the camera up.

This is THE picture. I saw it there but by the time we got to the Cathedral, I couldn't force myself to stand up to get the shot. So I threw my camera at Rob and hoped for the best. And wow, did he deliver! He sacrificed himself for it, since he hadn't been sick yet, but looking through the camera threw off his equilibrium and made him sick the rest of the boat ride too. I adore it so much, it came out so perfectly. Ended up printing this one 30"x60" for my office wall. It makes me so happy!

Luckily for kiddo, once he tossed his cookies and took a couple hour nap, he was good for the rest of the ride. Also, the only "photo"/time we saw a sea turtle this trip. Haha.

More geckos. Everywhere. The cats and chickens were fun too, but I really loved the geckos. We also found one in our room one night, eating the spiders behind the furniture.

Sunsets. Lots of them.

Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Top of Waimea Canyon. So much for hiking at sea level. This is a higher elevation than our house. 😂

Views

Hiking here is a bit different from home....

More, from the top of the canyon, looking down on the Napali Coast.

We stopped at a few more viewpoints along the way back down the canyon.

More sunsets.

No luck on long exposures at night. We had bright moon every night and lots of clouds. Too bad, because the Milky Way would have been amazing there. Someday....

The morning view from our condo.

Kayaking trip up the Waimea River!

Hiking from the kayaks

I wish we'd had more time at the waterfall, maybe next time we'll rent our own kayak instead of a guided tour.

Everywhere smells like flowers 🌺

There were so many cats on the island, but most weren't pettable.

Logan drew a puzzle picture of our kayaking trip up the Waimea River for the waitress. ❤️

Waimea River from above. And a couple of waterfalls in the area, I can't keep track of the names of it all.

One of the best sunset evenings.

Kilauea Lighthouse!

Logan was actually really interested in it, and quietly listened to everything the guide said during our tour.

Playing on Hanalei Beach in the rain.

The mosquitos finally found me 4 days in. The salt water feels good on the bites.

Baby’s first sunburn.... Only 6.5 years old. I've been a bit neurotic about sunblock his whole life. 😬

The condo company provided breakfast one morning. I would definitely stay there again. It was a very central location for the rest of the island and such a nice, quiet place to stay.

Caught one! ❤️

Second visit this week.... 😋

Spouting Horn.

Salt Pond Beach. One of my favorites so far!

Better castle building at Polihale beach. I think we started with the worst choices for beaches this week, and they progressively got better, to the best one on our last evening. ❤️

Photoshop play

Misjudged a wave coming in and went out too far. Boo.

I planned to do family photos one evening, but Rob kept us too busy and I was exhausted every day. So this is the best we got. Still happy with them!

We can’t get Logan to stop talking to people. He won’t shut up and won’t leave them alone. People at the pool now know what his bed is like, how many bouncy balls he owns, and everything about his pets. 🙄

On our very last day, we learned that you can rent a dog from the Humane Society and take it to beaches and hikes! Wish we’d learned about this a week ago. 😢 Next trip, for sure!

Spouting Horn was one of Logan’s fave sights this trip. It’s like watching Old Faithful, but shorter and happens every 10 seconds or so. 😊

Glass Beach and a couple other sights again.

I think this one was Kealia Beach. Not too sure though, there's so many. We had lots of time to kill before getting on the plane, so we dropped by and walked around a bit.

I don't think I travel with enough teal, haha.

September 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 22:39:00 +0000

Burst blood vessels. Don't know how they happened, though I suspect maybe I rubbed my eye too hard while washing off makeup.

11pm and he wants me to come out and play.

Can't sleep, haha.

Scout Falls! A simple, fun, little hike that Logan really loved!

Rob playing with new video gear.

Just a teeny trickle this year.

As we were coming down from Scout Falls, Logan kept telling us (and everyone we saw), that “That was a gooooood hike!” I may have felt a little prideful of our little tough guy as we passed a tantruming preteen and I heard his mom telling him to quit it because of the happy kid half his age who passed him. 😬 I hope Logan can always hold on to the joy and wonder we get from the outdoors.

New goggles.....

I hiked Dry Mountain! What I thought was going to be pretty short, fast, and easy, turned out to be much harder. I wasn't well prepared. But it did have some amazing views!

Buddies!

A week ago, someone didn’t predict that this little puff would become that inferno. 😬 (Below)

I made it to the top! I practically ran the last half mile and the entire way back down, so I could get back in time to pick up kiddo from school.

It's sad to think that all of this view is gone and burned away now. Impossible to go up and check though.

Even though Dry Mountain was a miserable hike, I found a couple of buddies who made it better. Wish I could have brought them home! ❤️

I'm still wondering how Santaquin Meadows faired through the fire. I love that place.

This is the worst prepared I’ve been for a hike in a long time. (Yes, I wore hiking shoes, not flip flops.) Resources I used for planning Dry Mountain claimed it was a “moderate” level that was short and fast. Ho boy, were they off. It wasn’t long (4 miles total), but it was crazy steep, overgrown in many places, and very exposed. I had my camera, phone, and keys. No water, hat, sunblock, etc. Chalk it up to experience and will do a bit more research next time.

Birthday buddies, together again!

“It’s a Hawaii vacation ship!” ❤️

Brought home my (and sibs) K’nex from our childhood and he’s determined to build the massive roller coaster. So far, so good!

It’s quiet around here during the day.

The Bald Mountain and Pole Creek fires. They started so tiny, and the forest service was monitoring them. But then one red flag day and they exploded. As I write this now, they are 100% contained, due to national response. They ended up burning something like 125k acres combined.

Why have a bowl of fresh, clean water in the house when rusty truck sprinkler water is just as good? 🙄

The last few shots I went out to grab the night before we hopped our plane off the continent for a week.

HAWAIIAN PAUSE. Haha, post coming on it's own.

I don’t know why I was so dumb to take a shoot only a few hours after getting off our red eye, but I’m glad I did. The colors are perfect on the Alpine Loop right now!

I love open door weather!

Marriage test: Installing a new appliance together, haha.

Hill rolling

Alpine Loop drive tonight. ❤️🍂

HOORAY for pumpkin patch season!

While we were in Hawaii, I left a note for our pet sitters with pics and info for taking care of them. I couldn’t find a single normal pic of Becks to put on the note, they pretty much all look like this. 😂

Yeay, the fires are on their way to pretty well controlled! ....Oh okay, now a hurricane is going to hit UTAH? 🙄

August 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 14:00:00 +0000

Took Logan to see the temple we got married at, since we realized he’d never been there.

I probably shouldn’t have favorite clients, but this sweetie may be hard to beat. ❤️

“Your knee is looking good, getting better!” (scooter crash)

L: “Yeah! It looks like meat!”

Chimney cone with crack cookie topping. My summer love.

Aquarium day for Brylie's birthday!

Rainy summer days, one of the very few we've had.

Mmmm, play water. Also, he lost his collar a few weeks ago. Found the perfect new one for him.

We had a lighting class, and I'm proud of my love for letting me take a few shots of him with the rest of the class watching.

Logan: “I pressed the button on your phone and saw that he tried his pants on!”

Can’t ever pass up a free Lego event.

New favorite restaurant in Sandy! They have a salsa bar and the best flautas I've had from any restaurant in Utah! Almost rivaling the ones I love in Huntington Beach. ;)

Bribery for a great first week at school!

I now have a photo I can post on my biz page on vacation. Haha.

He’s so excited that he learned to swim on Monday (i.e. learned to float in his puddle jumper without fear, which really is a big accomplishment for him), that he invited his teacher to come watch him swim at the rec center today. 😂❤️

Back To School - First Grade!

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 19:58:00 +0000

First grade starts tomorrow! I want to say “What will I do with all that time?”, but I have such a huge pile of work to catch up on, I’m looking forward to powering into it all. 😝 Sure am going to miss this little sidekick of mine all day long though. 😢 (Call these his after-haircut photos too, since we never got around to taking them.)

Attempts at a serious face don’t last long with this happy boy. ❤️

Already missing this little one. ❤️

I think they are fans of school days and a quiet house.

A monster truck crushing a bus and two cars. <3

August Hiking!

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 19:56:00 +0000

Planned months ago.... All packed up, no where to go. 😫 Rained off Timpanogos, and basically every other mountain in this valley. 😭

My consolation prize for losing out on our Timp hike this year.

Primrose Overlook!

This was only 12 hours after the storm, and the smoke from the Coal Hollow fire had already moved back in to the Wasatch Back area.

Pretty spot on the road to Cascade Springs. Smoke was finally starting to clear this day. I need to do a shoot here sometime!

Cascade Springs was pretty, but not the amazing photogenic place everyone else makes it out to be.

Donut Falls with half of Utah. The perfect little hike. ❤️

A very well-fed chipmunk near the falls

I went to check out some possible photo locations near the Timpooneke Campground and the sheriff driving past told me about the mama moose and babies nearby. Jumped back in the truck to go get a few shots. I didn't get any amazing images, but they were fun to see. The sheriff said they're residents of the campground area and fun to watch.

Fall is already here in AF Canyon.

August 2018 Cabin

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 19:52:00 +0000

Caught a look at the bunny that lives under the wood pile.

We were so ready to escape the smoke from Utah. Sadly, some (not all though) followed us to Idaho. Bleh.

Guess who was least excited about getting us at sunrise to hike. Hahahahaha.

Morning at Grand Prismatic, on the hike to Fairy Falls.

Out til midnight shooting Milky Way on the reservoir, then up at 5am to hit up Fairy Falls before the crowds. Now: Sleep 😴

Trial run of the cheapie underwater dome I got for the GoPro. It worked SO well and no leaks!

This kiddo and kayaking

Hi, friend!

July 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 23:08:00 +0000

Cleaning out his closet to sell 5 years worth of clothes, but he just can’t let go of this 2t sized hat and 6mo sized vest. 😂

Ever tried Ruby’s cinnamon roll french toast? This is the next best thing! (Cinnamon bread is from Smith’s)

Family days!

Flat

One of Logan's favorite things.

I need to take Sweet Cream Bar out of my Insta feed. These chimney cones are ridiculously addictive, and I love this crack cookie on it!

Logan was a huge fan of the zipline at Aunt Erica's parents' house!

Night

Morning

Think he was a little cold?

I love his hair on slides. Just don't touch him.

Today, we realized we’ve known each other for eight years! How time flies. So thankful we could be with our friends we love today.

I’m all silly tickled at Logan’s first crush. They’ve always been good little friends but in this last week, he’s suddenly started talking about how much he loves Ava and he wants to marry her when he grows up, and they’ll have lots of kids. Then he was all shy at seeing her again today. Even though he’s known her his whole life! Good thing we have lots of photos of them together to make a wedding slideshow in ~15 years. 😉😂

Didn't see this butthead for three days (but could hear him howling in the mornings, announcing himself), and he finally showed up.

"I only love three things to eat. Strawberries, cantaloupe, and crazy bread."

He’s already got one new tooth coming in and has decided he wants to completely cut off his hair this week. 😭 I had to document one last time before the chop chop.

Me: "Say 'thistle'!"
Logan: "Fifthle!"

I could pick apart every bit of this photo (middle one), it was taken with my phone, it's crooked, bright orange t-shirt (haha), etc. But I really don't care. All I see is the moment my brave Logan, who has an inexplicable fear of water, jumped into the reservoir for a promised lego. 😂❤️

Uintas Day trip

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sat, 28 Jul 2018 06:58:00 +0000

First time in my life seeing the Uintas. How has it taken so long?? Gorgeousness. ❤️

Upper Provo River Falls

Mirror Lake

July Cabin Trip 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 06:56:00 +0000

See ya next week, Utah! ❤️

Fleece jacket souvenir.... Cuz you know we’re freezing on these 82 degree days here. 🙄😂

When all you have by way of models is a grumpy boy and his Dino costume....

Fire sunset for a run to the dock tonight. Can’t say I’m missing Utah’s 100+ temps today....

The horde thought they were so helpful with flower crown weaving.

Morning run and a day with helpers again.

Evening on the river with my remote camera. ;)

It’s a new day. Make it a great one! ❤️

Lake play today. Found cute little crawdads to play with!

These will always be the images that nearly cost me my camera.... After taking these photos, I went to help Logan off the log. My little wimp freaked out at a bit of dead crawdad in the water and pulled me down. Gashed my knee and dumped the camera. Luckily, it was only about two inches of water, and I had my lens hood on, so it got badly splashed and a just few new battle scars (no broken lens, thank goodness). Ran to the car to wipe it down and open it up, and it had only gotten to the contacts, no water inside the body or lens. 😅

Mammatus clouds when we arrived home!

T-Rex Meets The Wienermobile

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 22:00:00 +0000

Logan has looked forward to seeing the wienermobile at Smith's for DAYS. This morning, he had the brilliant idea of wearing his dino costume too. Of course I wasn't going to say no! He was a huge hit, in the parking lot, and when we ran into the store for strawberries. It makes me happy to see all the smiles everyone had for my little dino. (Also, I love how much mileage we're continuing to get out of this costume!)

Fifth Water 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 22:49:00 +0000

Not so awesome this year. Sad. I suspected this would be so but only one way to find out.... Last year had so much snow/water, the springs were the perfect temps and so full and fun to play in. Not this year, after our dry winter. The water was all hot. (Look how tiny the waterfall is, compared to last year!) Still, it was good to get out with my little guy and do his favorite hike. :) Bonus, the place was empty? Haha.

(Photos taken with the raw Lightroom camera on my phone, then stitched/edited on my computer!)

Santaquin Peak

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sat, 14 Jul 2018 22:43:00 +0000

I'm getting old. Santaquin Peak was about as tough as Spanish Fork Peak but the views were almost comparable to Timp. So freakin incredible! We also had just about the most perfect, ideal weather anyone could possibly wish for, warm with a light breeze while going up through the night, gorgeous glowing sunrise, then cloud cover the entire way down. Perfection. Still.... It wiped me out! Seems like the recovery is way worse than last year's peaks! Guess I need to be pushing harder when preparing for these hikes.

He’s my favorite. ❤️ Also, we invested in headlamps for this hike. SO worth it, especially because it kept hands free for using hiking poles through the night.

Hiiiiii, Utah Valley!

“Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t.” - Elle Woods

Four peaks down, three to go! Wish I’d thought to start this with the first peak, but didn’t decide to do all of the seven peaks til after we hiked SF Peak two years ago. Just Nebo, Lone Peak, and Cascade Mountain left! I’m hoping we can find a night to hit up Nebo this summer and the last two next year.... We’ll see on Cascade though. The tiny tidbits I’ve found about it and learned from people scares the crap out of me. There’s very little info out there on it, and that very little is very scary for my abilities. We shall see, next year....

I'll take a repeat of this sunrise, please. Again, and again, and again!

Mountain sunrises are pretty.

The photos to make most of these panos were taken with the Lightroom app on my phone! First time I've tried using it and I'm pretty happy with it! Still doesn't compare to the big camera.... But for being in a pinch, I think this image turned out pretty good from them!

Recovery....

Corey Family Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sun, 08 Jul 2018 22:36:00 +0000

Finally forced/begged the family for some updated photos. We ended up having to do them in a church park with ugly fencing behind, so I did some background replacements on a few shots. It took ~3 hours per photo, but I'm glad I did it!

Logan's Flag Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 21:29:00 +0000

It's been several years since Logan's flag photos so it was time for an update. They turned out *almost* exactly the way I hoped, along with a few extras we made for fun!

Four images, taking out Rob holding everything up, haha.

A couple images that I already had, they combined well together!

Same as above, but I wanted a vertical crop to add fireworks!

How I love my little model.

Art is fun. :)

This one was Logan's idea.

June 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sat, 30 Jun 2018 20:40:00 +0000

Farm camp with friends!

‘Tis the summer of experimentation. Logan’s new diet, doctor’s orders. I’m not kidding. 😳

Another year, another farm camp. This time, on meds! Such a better experience for everyone.

Got to the top of the mountain to find practically hurricane-strength winds, and the little model completely passed out in the backseat.... Oh well, this idea can happen another night. 📸

I think Logan is a fan.... He begged me to play Cold (his favorite song/music video), so I just found the Night Argent YouTube channel for him. Came back and he had drawn the things he saw from the videos. ❤️

Outside makes me happy.

Happy Father’s Day to Rob! We love you so much! ❤️ (And in case you didn’t know, he’s really good at “giting drest”.) 😂

Some amazing photoshopping with friends. Haha. Love these beauties!

Little practice model

257k+ photos taken in six years. Ouch. Haha. Fingers crossed my baby can get through the busy Fall season, then it’s going in for a shutter replacement in January!

Nearly three months on, time to admit defeat on all OTC meds and see an ENT for Logan’s never-ending sinus infection. Thankfully, the CT showed our recently started Claritin has taken care of his impacted sinuses! Now just another month of antibiotic sprays to finish clearing up the lingering bacteria and fingers crossed that he’ll be DONE with this mess!

Bird dog, at attention.

This week marks a decade since we bought this nasty, foreclosed craphole and started turning it into a home. And got our first dog. And I got Lasik. It's hard to imagine that it's already been ten years in our happy place. Also, it's probably a fair question which has improved more, the house or my photography skills? 😂

Five minutes ago, he had no loose teeth. Bit his tortilla, and suddenly it was ready to come out in one tug!

Update: Scratch that.... TWO teeth lost in ten minutes! 😱

My favorite thing these days is having Logan say “thistle”. Hahahahaha, “fiffthle”. Geez, I need to get a life.

Hard decisions when he wants cuddles in 90+ degrees.....

He's such a good sleeper

Microwaved ivory soap puffs make for a fun bath!

CAMPING!

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sat, 23 Jun 2018 17:00:00 +0000

We got a roof tent! We took it out on a test spin last night. It was completely perfect for our needs and I think I can love camping again, haha. We also also got a backseat blowup mattress for kiddo and he slept like a rock on it. I'm so excited for more camping adventures this summer!

All set up! So fast and easy too!

Rob did awesome at choosing our spot. This view was amazing.

I'll take more camping sunsets like this, please!

All lit by moonlight and light pollution. Haha

170 stacked photos, taken in a 45 minute time span.

I'm so grateful this kiddo can sleep so hard in any situation.

Waking up with a view.

June 2018 Cabin Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 20:38:00 +0000

We had an unexpectedly pretty storm on our way up. Bottom pano is from the Herriman State(?) Park area just inside the caldera.

The babies, haha.

This is why Idaho is my favorite place. ❤️ It’s so clear and stress-free. Well, except for coyotes coming to eat us. 😳

We found heaven today. Going back with the kayaks tomorrow to spend the day on that gorgeous turquoise water!

Just looking at this photo (the one of Rob and I) makes my thighs hurt again. It’s hard to hold two kayaks together with your legs! Tog: Logan, and a very nice guy on the shore who plugged the shutter release cable back in for kiddo after he accidentally pulled it out.

I love the pictures this kiddo draws.

Oi! Cover up or go somewhere private while you do that! 😝

Actually took a photo of ourselves in Yellowstone for once. First time we’ve visited the Grand Prismatic overlook and I highly recommend it over or in addition to the standard boardwalk. It was an especially amazing view in the morning light!

Discovered a hitchhiker on Rob’s shoulder in the restaurant. ❤️🦋

Mesa Falls and tent caterpillars.

Suddenly surrounded by a pack of howling coyotes = Time to throw gear in the car as quickly/gently as possible, and get the hell out of dodge. 😳 Also, so many crawdads in the lake last night! Those, plus all the fish, bats, and tadpoles, were fun to see.

Made Sawtelle Peak with this popsicle on the ATV today. He was a trooper in the crazy winds and low temps at the top!

May 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Thu, 31 May 2018 21:26:00 +0000

His Tegu kitten named Hairball. 😂

Spring mornings.

Helping with the neighbor's tree.

About a month ago, kiddo and I had light colds. He’s been congested but his normal, (mostly) happy self since then. I figured it’d work itself out eventually. Finally decided to go to the doc on Friday. Sinus infection. 😨 Mom of the year award! (And some treasure hunting up the canyon yesterday.)

Orange lump

Happy Mother’s Day weekend to me. All the furkids played nice for two minutes. 😂

Last weekend, we planted eleven flowers and one strawberry in our yard. Today, we have our first ripe strawberry, with about ten more coming! GUYS. I didn’t kill plants! Yet. This is a huge accomplishment for me. 😂 Also strawberries are Logan’s and my favorites, so it’s fun to have some in our own yard! And my first poppy too!!

“Do you know what the big red pothole is? It’s the Devil’s Anus. The Devil’s Anus leads to Thor’s place.” (Watching Ragnarok)

Rob BTS shots for me.

My sweet babe was so excited to finally give me the presents he made, along with the one Rob helped him pick out. My heart can’t handle the sweetness and thought put into these perfect gifts.

A man stopped me on our way out of Cracker Barrel and said he was so impressed because “you never see a child behave so well in a restaurant as he (Logan) did.” 😂 I told him that he caught us on a lucky day. Rob clarified *a lucky hour*. 🤣 (Also note the sweet Gandalf beard he gave Rob.)

Also.... More than legos? I didn’t think that was possible. 😂 How I love that kid. ❤️

We found one last half marinated bottle of vanilla and ten beans we haven't used yet! Now, we'll have lots of vanilla to use in a couple of months! Haha.

(Bottom left) Angus twitched in his sleep and kicked Becks. That startled Beckham awake and he kicked back, startling Angus awake too. Then they both just looked confused.

Logan, gaga over the ad that came in the mail today: “I love this! I really, really want it. It’s so awesome!”
Me: “Haha, no. Do you know how much that Lego costs?”
L: “How much?”
Me: “It’s $400.”
L: “Oh. That means we can only get one?”
Me: 🙄😂😂😂😂
L: “Why are you laughing at me?!”

Three weeks ago, Logan found a broken petunia stem in a shopping cart at Home Depot and begged to bring it home. Fine, whatever, it’ll be dead in a couple of days. We trimmed it and put it in a little cup of water. Well. It’s not dead.... It won’t stop growing! Three weeks. It has had eight flower heads so far and seven buds are coming in right now. All I’ve done is trim the stem and replace the water once a week. I just need it to grow roots so we can plant it, haha.

Finally fixed the work of some moronic newbie DIYer. 😝 Buh-bye to the ugly red that looked finger painted by a three-year-old, hello hammered “copter”!

A bird pooped on her in the yard this morning!

Cutting a hole in your house is no joke. 😳 But $100 in tool rentals later (😱), and the doggie door is in!! And we can go through our sliding glass door again!

Introducing him to the classics. He’s glued to the tv. 😂 “Wanna Twinkie, Ghengis Khan? Mmmmmmm”

Sometimes we do normal stuff like hang at the splash pad for a couple hours.

My life is complete, now that I've had a dinosaur princess twirling in an orchard! This is pretty close to my most favorite photo I've ever taken!

A little bit of soccer this month. He even made a couple of goals this year!

Sad, sick kid. :(

Squaw Peak Hike

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Sat, 26 May 2018 21:26:00 +0000

“I’m so excited to climb Squat Peak!”

He bagged his first peak! Even with the sinus infection that he still hasn't been able to kick, after two months and two rounds of antibiotics. :(

Verily, verily, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.... BUT HE DID IT!

We met a guy on our way up (and back down) who wanted to take our picture for us. So sweet. When he sent the photos a few days later, he sent this amazing note. I had to blog it so I won't forget it!

Rob and wonderful wife, I enjoyed meeting you and your fine son Logan in Rock Canyon. I have attached three photos which I hope are a fine remembrance of your day. Please let me know if you received them okay. Now a note to Logan. Logan, I was most impressed that you as a six year old young man made it to the top of Squaw Peak and back. That is a wonderful accomplishment especially for someone of your age. I am most impressed. It tells me Logan that you have a great deal of determination and stamina and that when you set out to do things you accomplish it. That is a wonderful quality for you to have and it will serve you well your entire life. I think I heard you mention as you past me on the trail that your legs wern't tired. Again, I was impressed. Along the way of life our legs do get tired on occasion because what we attempt to do in life always seems to be higher and greater than what we did before. It seems to me that you will be a young man that continues to accomplish the greater challenge, especially under the direction of your fine parents. They have truly given you a fine start in life and I am sure will continue to guide you properly on to many fine adventures in the future, including higher peaks to reach both with majestic mountains and life experiences. Listen to them and carefully learn from their experience and examples and you will do well in life. They are good people with a lot for you to learn. It was great, Logan, for me to also learn from you. With your vitality and energy, it made me feel a bit young again, which was a blessing to me. So thank you Logan for being the fine young man you are. And parents, thank you for being the good parents you are. Wishing you all every fine blessing in life always. Tom Powell

Kindergarten Graduation

noreply@blogger.com (Jocelyn) — Fri, 18 May 2018 21:25:00 +0000

Our little Kinder grad. I’m so proud of him for all the hard work and improvement he’s had this year!

Mr. Progress. Haha. Perfect award for his first year of school.

Rob reminded me to do this, kinder before and afters: