my good friend and talented photographer, kris, stayed with her family at our little blue chateau while we were away. I was so disappointed I wasn't there. I was so looking forward to all the cooking and the slumber part.
check out her photography blog to see some more of our cheerful house and their beautiful kidlins.
come again! next time maybe we will upgrade to a bed and breakfast!
(moi, pres, boss and banan right at the start of the mish during the 1st zone conf)grant and I leave today for a short one nighter...back we go to our beloved texas.
as most of you know my parents have been serving as mission presidents for our church in the fort worth texas mission for the last 2+yrs. they have been doing a marvelous job, and although it's hard/strange at times not to have them at "home", fort worth has become one of our homes and we will all miss it once they finish up next summer.
we are going this weekend to celebrate my youngest sister's mission call to MILAN ITALY!!! umm...cool mission sis. and even cooler, my dad served in the exact mission about a 100yrs ago! this weekend will be the first time my whole family can be in the temple together. cool, cool beans.
we are so proud of her. I can't believe she could actually be old enough to move to a foreign country. I think it should be against the law unless older sisters can come along for protection.
we love you ann! can't wait to be with you this weekend. onesies in full force!!!!!!!!!!!
(photo taken by jon canlas)
these are some of the girls who were at our temple sealing (some 3am friends not shown). having all of these amazing women by my side that day gave me so much strength.
I can't imagine my life without them.
they're a group of broadway performers, ironman athletes, fashionistas, amazing bakers, inspiring artists and devoted mothers. they're women of conviction, opinion, insight and soul.
they are all my true loves. I feel teary eyed just thinking about it.
turn it up loud and let your hair loose.
it has been said that I have some pretty great friends. what they say is true. I would say I have the tres leches of friends. the ripe mango of friends. the kauai of friends. I have the BEST friends.
I have what I call "3am" friends. you know, the ones you can call at 3am when you REALLY need them. I believe each of us only have a handful of these types of people in our lives. matt and heather are 3am friends. being a 3am friend doesn't come without sacrifice (like phone calls in the middle of the night), but there are perks as well! like my complete devotion and loyalty, as well as the occasional photo shoot.
spending a week in the wind rushing state of oklahoma to be with my newest baby girl and her family was amazing. our week together was planned in 3hrs increments...which usually consisted of eating, playing, sleeping, pooping, eating, playing, sleeping, pooping. for a non scheduled girl like me this household was a machine! I think I can still smell the formula and that sweet little body after bath time. seriously, does anything smell better than post bath baby?
I watched in awe as I saw first hand the transformation of these two into parents. they are naturals! the love, and adoring and cooing and instincts were all there. all and more. I loved matt and heather before but after seeing them as parents I think I love them a little more. such selflessness. such sacrifice. but just like being a 3am friend has it's perks so does being a parent. olive is flawless! happy is an understatement. for sure one of the easiest babies I have ever been around. and can we talk about her plus my camera? um, is it normal for a 7 week old to stare into my lens with big wondering eyes?! NO! but olive, being flawless as she is, stared into my lens the entire week. not kidding. we even tried to get her to look away but her eyes were transfixed. somewhere deep inside I want to believe she will take after her auntie and become my apprentice.....or maybe she is the smartest 7week old in the history of time. whatever the genius, taking photos of her was a complete and total dream.
olive, stop being 17yrs old! never get bigger! make those cooing noises as you fall asleep forever! always look right into your auntie rachel's lens! never stop the kung fu panda moves right before you fall asleep! move closer to me! smoosh smoosh smoosh smoosh!!!!!!!!!!
all my love to my favorite new family.
he's mine.
taken on our drive back from boulder, nv.
(on my way to oklahoma today...where the wind comes rushing!)
t
during our stay in paradise this weekend we took a few hours to tour the hoover dam. worth it!
it was really hot outside (understatement), but it was interesting to learn all the little facts.
for some reason it made me so sad that they had to divert the colorado river from it's original path while building the dam. that river had traveled down path and created that river bed for how long? and we just come in with a bunch of steel and decide to move it? I know it helped in a lot of ways, but I just felt bad for the colorado.
in true form, I wanted to know more facts about the lifestyle of the workers. what did they eat? what were living conditions like? were they happy? did they feel like they were living up to their full potential....you know, the basics. I also was slightly obsessed with finding out how many people died while building the dam. why weren't they telling us this fact? I wanted to know if there were people stuck inside that concrete! finally we had to ask one of the tour guides and the number wasn't very impressive. I can't even remember....30 or 40.
they were about finished building the bridge that will take traffic over the dam. amazing! it was a bunch of concrete hanging over the air. how? HOW? made me think of "the fountainhead" by ayn rand.
thanks to the dam for an interesting and information afternoon.
thanks again to beana and her family for inviting us. this place is a total dreamboat.
grant and I are trying to relish our weekend getaways while they are still easy to do. life only gets more complicated right?
summertime just makes me happy.
highlights:
- BIG TREES! (seriously scared me at first)
- camp fire
-cooking over camp fire
- grant gathering wood for about 18hrs. my man, keeping me warm.
- dates to the outhouse
-chapstick in the bear locker
-smoke
-queen sized blow up mattress
-"cute"
-the bear clapping while hiking
-cherries
-pasta salad
-car sick! (lowlight)
-1st road trip with mini computer
-grace alles house and grandpa peters notes!
- light+ sunflares+ smoke=slight obsession
-grants hot air on the fire
-tired at 7pm
-waiting for the stars
-wet wipes
-mineral king canyon hiking. amazing.
- love languages in the field on a blanket by a stream with golden light and popcorn.
- mind numbing cold water
-nectarine pie
-g laying in my bed of pine needles
-family posing in front of park sign
-brioche buns
-la princessa
-the way the air smelled
-reliving old memories with grant (I loved being somewhere he had been when he was little)
-making new memories
-marmots!
-biggest tree (overrated!!)
-swimming hole. NOT! (next time babe, promise)
It was my first time to sequoia national park. I love going somewhere new, almost more than anything and I love going to those new places with grant. we stayed two nights in mineral king in the cold springs campground and drove our last day into the park to hang with some giant trees. It was amazing to see a place with so many memories for my husband. I loved mixing the old memories with the new. I was car sick for a whole day coming back down mineral kings windy road, but I think if I wait long enough I think I could be talked in to going back. might have to get out in walk in front of the car next time like g's mom did when she was younger.
seriously love those big trees. hard to really get how humongous they are from a photograph. gotta be there. gotta go!
a really amazing way to celebrate independence day weekend. huzzah!
(here's my man on what may be the world's most gorgeous hiking trail)
what's up with making promises I can't keep?
dear blog,
please forgive me for abandoning you this week.
next week will be better, promise.
(there I go promising again!)
xo-
rach
more photos from our holiday weekend tomorrow. xo.
we went to the drive in a few weeks back..I wore sweats and we ate french fries and orange drinks from mcdonalds. kind of gross, kind of perfect.
(I am so behind on blogging, it's not even funny. I have photos from months past that I still want to share!!!!...including this weeks camping adventure in sequoia. goal to catch up even if that means 5 posts a day. fingers crossed.)
my friend eva hirt emailed me this photo and I had to share.
back during the alaska days some of our good family friends were the elberts, hirts and stenbergs. (I don't really recognize kathy in this photo but I do remember her fierce dog and how I was once forced to eat it's dog food).
this is a photo from kelly elbert's bridal shower. from left to right on the couch we think it goes martha hirt, kathy stenberg, mystery lady, and my mom with kelly elbert sitting in the front. how amazing is martha hirt's outfit? wow.
I do have to say my mom is quite the looker. always has been, always will be. I'm so proud of my hot mama!
relative size. hello dandelion.
photo taken on g's iphone. cool.
see the rip. r.i.p. tent and mj.
mr husband and I wanted to get away for the official first weekend of summer, so last friday night, we jumped in the car and drove till we found a campsite...how adventurous of us!
as we setup camp somewhere in frazier park, we had only one minor problem, our luxurious queen size blow up mattress ripped a hole in our tent. how rude. after some minor deflating we slept like two little peas in a pod.
it wasn't until morning light that we realized how beautiful our site was. the misty light was glistening off everything and some morning shooting ensued. it felt so good to wake up and take photos first thing. best saturday ever.
breakfast consisted of whatever we threw in the cooler...raspberries, vanilla bean yogurt and avocado. weird, yes. delicious, yes. if we only knew we could light a fire! next time pyro maniacs for shizzle. I really need to fry an egg on a tin can for grantel.
...after camping, hiking. after hiking, eating at awesome mexican restaurant with homemade horchata. after eating, drive in movie!
best first weekend of summer ever!
(all photos have a redish filter. I'm not usually one for action rama on my photos. I like to be pure, BUT I think this adds a feeling of nostalgia for camping trips of yesteryear, don't you?)
follow along as I wonder.
I just feel sick about this whole thing.
sure I watched the show last night, and not because I wanted to feed off their misery, but because I honestly fell in love with their family after 2+yrs of watching their show. It's not the divorce that upsets me...although ending a marriage is completely horrific...it's the fact that it's being televised! that they are explaining themselves to me through my television. messed up.
I have no idea what is really going on with them, NO ONE does....so I have no idea what is best for them. but I do think it's sick and twisted to get ratings and make money from it. if they really wanted what was best for the kids I think they show should have ended at the first sign of undue stress on the family. kate says it wasn't the show that led to the demise....but i'm not so sure.
so sad. I just wish promises and commitments would always stay. why are firm, "unchanging" words said if they are going to change? I guess this whole thing brings up feelings from past heartache for me. sometimes because of my past I get nervous about the future. people have their free agency, and when you get married you put a lot of trust and faith in the other person...hopeful that they will use their free agency for the betterment of the relationship. this doesn't always happen, and I guess that just makes me sad. sometimes marriages should end, BUT only after very very hard work to save them. I guess I just wish people worked harder. nothing is worse than losing someone you love. nothing.
my heart goes out to the gosselins.
(photo from tristan's birth)
I came across a little birth documentary slide show I made a couple years ago...and thought I would share.
I assure you this slide show is "PG" rated. ANYONE can watch it. It doesn't showcase some of the most recent births I've photographed, but my new and shiny website will.
my beautiful, amazing, God send, sister in law, stephanie is pictured above. her and my brother have had me photograph 3 out their 4 children's births....so you will see a few photos of them and my lovely babies.
I kind of feel like every baby I photograph being born becomes one my "my" babies. one of my babies was the neice of the couple's wedding I just photographed in utah. she is 4 almost 5 now...I just see her and remember her first moments. her first breath. the look on her parents faces. being able to preserve those memories really means everything to me. nothing is better, nothing.
click here to watch the slideshow. (there is music so turn up or turn down according to your pref).
if you are interested in having my document a birth, please email me and I can shower you with details.
..very well might be my favorite thing to photograph.
love to my babies. xo.
dear father,
I love remembering how excited I was when you came home from business trips
I loved the doll bunk beds you brought home for me once
I loved playing shark with you in the pool. I honestly thought you were the strongest most fish like man in the world
I love the memory of you baptizing me in our indoor swimming pool. the smell of chlorine always brings me back
I loved going to NYC with you. I forgive you for not having film in the camera
I loved you buying me new pink reeboks when I kicked my shoe off in the middle of times square
I love the world of food you have shown me...chocolate souffles, bread pudding, oso buco
I loved sitting on your feet as you climbed the stairs at bedtime
I love the stories of potty training and how I would wait ALL day for you to help me. weird
I love when I was a baby and I would call you mommy and mom, mama. double weird
I loved being able to go on the road with you for work
I loved feeling like a seminar celebrity when you would call me up on stage
I love all your "dadisms" around the dinner table, "a thorn among roses..."
I loved watching alias, survivor, star trek the next generation and jeopardy with you
I loved how you told me if I ever made in on a reality tv show you would pay me $10,000 NOT to do it. offer still good?
I love your handwriting, with your european sevens and signature loops
I love the big white trucks/suv's you always drive
I love how much you loved the "jewel" cd when it came out
I love remembering how you had to call my boyfriends to tell them not to bring me home late anymore. so embarrassing!!
I love getting "upgraded" with you
I love you for teaching me how to "work the system"
I love being able to come to you when I really need help, knowing all you want to do is help me
I love how you are my biggest photography fan. you believe in me and that helps me believe in myself
I love making fun of you! you're our dad! it's too easy!..."fudge brownie, 7x7=49"
I love you for all the sacrifice you've made for our family
I love you for trying so hard
I love you for your confidence
I love you for serving such an honorable mission (even when it meant you had to miss my wedding)
I love you for being my dad
happy father's day! I'm so grateful for you.
and happy father's day to all of my other "dad's"...lloyd, hugh, grandpa porter, grandpa peter's, grandpa thurston, grandpa henriksen, grandpa smoot and matt smith.
AND, happy father's day to the future father of my children, leo. just kidding... GRANT MITCHELL PORTER. you're going to be such a great peroxide and bleach dad. xxoo.