Nick & Julia {wedding}

So this was the second to last wedding I shot, and it took place up at Brundage in McCall. I have never done a wedding up there before, so the entire venue was new to me. I really didn't like it, simply for lighting purposes, until sunset. Once sunset hit, it was fantastic.

Deer Valley, Utah

This weekend, our firm had a working retreat and it took place in Deer Valley, Utah. We were all up well before the crack of dawn Friday morning to make an early flight. I have to say, the time management for the Boise office was really poor. The Salt Lake office is huge, and close to Deer Valley, so none of them had to catch a plane or endure hours and hours of downtime.  When we arrived in Salt Lake City, we still had five hours before the attorneys had to report for their meetings.  (Note: the retreat was for attorneys and paralegals only.) We had several rental cars, so everyone pretty much split up and did their own thing. My aunt, her shareholder (for whom I also work cases), and I decided to poke around downtown. We walked through all of City Creek Center, which was just incredible. If you haven't seen it, definitely make it a priority next time you are in Salt Lake.  (http://www.shopcitycreekcenter.com/) Since the shareholder is big time Mormon, we toured through Temple Square. While I had zero interest in the subject matter, I did appreciate a lot of the architecture.

 

 

 

Once we got to Deer Valley, the attorneys all headed into their day-long meetings. The Boise paralegals were the only once there since the Salt Lake folks were still working. We didn't have to be anywhere until the big dinner later that evening. We decided to walk through Main Street in Park City (very fun place!) and then take a city bus over to the outlet malls for some major shopping.

We spent several hours doing that before heading back to Deer Valley.

 

 

Before dinner that evening, we had a fantastic cocktail hour, where we got to mingle with all of the Salk Lake employees. We see them all quite often through all of the video conferences we do between our offices, but getting together in person is always more fun. The dinner was delicious and we got to hear some major history of the firm. I know for sure that the firm was relocated to SLC in 1882, but I believe it was founded prior to that. Needless to say, it's been around for quite some time!  We have 255 employees (130 of which (attorneys and paralegals) were at the retreat) between all of our locations.

 

Saturday was really the only time the paralegals had working meetings, which were followed by a summary report to the attorneys. It was a great brainstorming time.

 

After the retreat closed out, we still had several hours before our flight. Some of the Boise group headed back to Park City for a nice lunch and some ice cream. Then we settled in at a bar in the airport to have drinks and watch the MLB Playoffs.

 

 

We managed to sneak into Boise last night right before a storm hit - so glad we weren't up in the air for that! When I stepped off the plane, we were right next to the Boise State plane, so I had to grab a picture for Carter, who was waiting inside for me. He was so excited to see it!

 

Cruising Through 1st Grade!

 

Today, we had Carter's first parent/teacher conference for first grade. It went so well. He's still above his grade level for reading, doubled his requirements for the IRI testing, and quite the helper in the classroom. Apparently he likes to be in charge.....well gosh, he has two parents who are alphas, so he's quite doomed. ;) 

 

For getting such a great report from his teacher, we took him to Red Robin for lunch.

 

 

And since they are out of school today and tomorrow, he's joining me in my office at work this afternoon. Currently, he's creating masterpieces, which I am not allowed to see.

 

 

And carrying around bubble-head Carter as well.  It's been a fun day with him.

 

Great job at school, Carter! We are proud of you!

Moon

Since I've been sick for a couple of days now, I am surely not about to set my alarm for 0-dark-thirty to get some pictures of the eclipse. But I did grab some quick shots this evening while out playing with the kids.

A Lazy Weekend - What's That?!

 

I actually had a somewhat lazy weekend this weekend. And it felt so good! I had a family shoot Friday night and then another Saturday morning, but once I knocked those out of the way, it was smooth sailing. Except for the fact that I think I'm allergic to naps. I tried both days and failed miserably. I guess I need to retrain my body to embrace those naps!

 

Friday at work, I convinced them to turn on one of the TVs to the playoffs. Seriously - we have like 8 massive TVs and they had quite a few going during the World Cup. It's only fair that we extend the same courtesy to the baseball lovers, right? So once I got home from work, I turned the TV on for more baseball and convinced the kids that we needed to play in the living room. I mean really, mom doesn't have time to play outside when the playoffs are on. ;) Fortunately, they were on board.

 

 

 

Saturday, after my shoot, we had to get in some time outside. I can only lock them inside for so long. ;)  And to be honest, I have no problem letting Carter play out front alone. I can see him when he's playing, and we live on a very quiet (cul-de-sac) street with little traffic. However, I'm not comfortable letting Kendall just run free out front without me there. So I sat out front while they played for a little while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday was the laziest day, for sure. After breakfast, I built a massive fort and that pretty much kept them occupied for hours. They brought in 8,000 toys, pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, etc. You can bet NO ONE wanted to clean up that mess. Funny how that works! ;)

 

 

 

 

They also had an epic pillow fight on my bed, which turned into a tickle fest. Goofy kids!