Laura's Wedding + First Girls' Trip

My long time friend from college got married last month! She hired me to be her photographer and I felt so honored. She's been asking me to photograph her wedding for years, way before she met her husband.
As I was planning for this trip, I didn't know whether I should leave the kids with Ryan or if we should all take the trip to California as a family. The thought of trying to photograph a wedding with my kids around kind of seemed like a nightmare, to be honest! So we decided it would be best that I go without them. Luckily, my sister-in-law, Christina, offered to drive with me. Or rather, drive the whole way to California and back! She was my personal driver for the weekend lol. (I get pretty anxious in busy LA traffic, so this was a huuuuuge favor...)

We drove to California on a Friday and left that Sunday, so it was a really quick trip! Friday night we went to the rehearsal dinner. It was at Bucca di Beppo and it was DELICIOUS. On Saturday we just chilled at the hotel, made a Target run, and made use of the treadmills in the exercise room. Did I mention I signed up for a 5K?? It's gonna be at the end of March. I've still got a lot of work to do.... After running, we showered and got all dolled up for the wedding.

We got to the wedding a bit early so I could take photos of the reception decor and of Laura getting ready. I seriously wanted to cry watching Laura get her makeup done and putting on her gorgeous dress! She looked so beautiful.

I was a little nervous about getting all the right shots of the wedding since I honestly don't have much experience when it comes to photographing an actual ceremony. I usually photograph Mormons after they get married in a temple. No cameras allowed in there! But! I think it turned out alright. 

Greg and Laura Camp.

 

I'm so happy that this wedding allowed me to see Holly, too! We've been friends for like, 9 years! And counting.

 

The reception was catered by the In-N-Out truck.  I approve. 

After the wedding festivities, Christina, Holly, and I were free to play. We decided to go see The Greatest Showman because I heard such good things about it and none of us had seen it yet. Of course, it was so good! We had a good laugh about the title before we went to go see it because Holly was convinced it was called The Greatest Snowman! In her defense, she never saw a trailer for the movie. After the movie we went on a donut run and then hung out at the hotel. My idea of a perfect girls' night.

The next morning we packed up, had free hotel breakfast, went to sacrament meeting at the closest LDS church and were on our way home. It was such a busy trip that I didn't have any time to miss my kids. Like, at all. You could say that it was too short of a trip, haha. But I'd say it was a good amount of time for my first trip away from my kids. They didn't miss me at all, which is so relieving. They were in good hands with Ryan.

Fox's 1st Birthday

 

Fox's first birthday was two days after Christmas. I kept forgetting about planning a little party for him because I was so preoccupied with Christmas prep. I foresee many of his birthdays going about in this way.... Poor kid! Ryan tried to convince me to not throw a party because Fox would never know the difference if we didn't, but I would know the difference and I knew that I would regret it if I didn't even try! So I kept it pretty simple and without a theme. I feel like themed parties are only worth it for later birthdays, like 3+ years.

 

 

 Like Gwen's party, we ordered a bunch of Hot and Ready pizzas. I'm convinced it's the best option for kids' parties, at least until my kids start making requests for different party food.

 I'm so glad we've got this backyard for the kids to play in. I bought Fox a few new balls as his birthday present, and his party guests had a blast with them. My plan to keep them all occupied was a success.

 

 Cake smash time!

We love Fox.

Christmas 2017

I was ecstatic about having Christmas morning in our own house this past year! It was a dream come true. Of course we spent Christmas Eve and the rest of Christmas day at "the cousins' house" (as Gwen likes to call it), but I didn't feel like bringing my camera. 

We bought the kids a Little Tykes basketball hoop. Gwen doesn't understand that the object of the game is to stand from a distance to throw it in, but she loves to "dunk" it. In hindsight, maybe we should have bought them soccer balls and a goal- Fox has become a little pro at kicking a ball around the house. Maybe next Christmas.

 Gwen saw the dinosaur eggs on the side of this box and proclaimed, "Look! Sweet potatoes!"

 She's still very much into dinosaurs.