Am I a lucky girl or what???

Have I mentioned that I recently got a new camera????? It is really AMAZING! I have yet to figure out all the bells and whistles, but it is a HUGE step up from what I had. I am LOVING it!! It seems that lately it is never far from me. (sorry, if you already think I post too many pictures, I really will try to control myself!)

On that note, I have started a photo blog.

It is mainly a place for me to track my progress and to learn, but I thought I would share it with all of you too! I have always loved to photograph nature, but am finding myself more interested in portraits (babies, kids, couples, families). So if anyone wants to be a guinea pig and let me practice on them, please let me know!! I don't know much about photographing people, but I will do my best and you can keep any pictures I take... Practice, practice. And of course your feedback is so important to help me learn so please tell me what you like and don't like. It is still a little under construction, but check it out!

http://ersphotos.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin carving was a little different this year with the boys, but they did a great job.

This year for Halloween Zach was a dragon (thanks Amy & Brett for letting us borrow Owen's old costume!). It was a touch small, but super cute! His little tail waggled as he walked.

(not great pictures- we just snapped some in the church parking lot before the ward party...)

As you can tell, Cal and I are really into Halloween and went all out. ha ha. Hey, at least we dressed up!

Grandma puts the boy to work

Why is it just so fun to play in the leaves? This boy can't get enough of outside.

Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we decided we needed a little Fall trip, so we headed to Glenwood Springs. Friday afternoon we made the 3 hour drive into the mountains and got there just in time for bed.

Saturday we mosied to the hot springs. There is a good sized hot (105 degree) pool and a HUGE warm (90 degree) pool. We spent almost all of our time in the big pool. It was perfect since it was maybe 60 degrees outside.

Zach is wanting to be more and more independent, so we spent a lot of time on the steps. He would climb up and down and then run back and forth on the very top (.5 inch deep) step. He gave us a good scare by falling in right at the edge of the steps and just floating face down til we could get to him. It seemed like an eternity, although I know it was at most 2 or 3 seconds. He leaned out to try to lean on a sign, but the sign moved and in he went. I was only maybe 2 feet away, but couldn't quite catch him. He didn't cry or anything. Just sputtered a little and looked around. I'm positive it was way more traumatic for me than for him!

That afternoon we decided to be brave and attempt to take him on the 70 minute walking tour of a cave there. We had never been there before and it is supposed to be neat. To get there you take a tram up to the top of a mountain above town. As we were waiting to go up, Zach started throwing tantrums. Hmmm. He has been a piece of work (poor little guy) the last week or so getting his first few molars in. We kinda looked at each other and thought, "We must be crazy." But up we went.

On top is an "adventure park" with rides and fun stuff for kids (older than Zach) so we walked around and waited for the tour to start.

After a little more drama from our sweet teething boy we decided to return our tickets and head back down. The cave will just have to wait. But it was still fun to go up and see the great views!

He looks so innocent, doesn't he?

Sunday we headed home with a few stops to run around and play. We stopped along Glenwood Canyon and even though we were too late for most of the fall colors, it was still gorgeous!

The trip didn't go exactly as planned, but that's life with a toddler! We still had a great time and were glad we went!

Punkin Patch

This was the third annual Rogers-Smiths Pumpkin Picking Extravaganza! Owen and Zach are both two year veterans, but baby Colin was just 4 days old! We all assured Amy that there would still be pumpkins the following weekend but she insisted that we go as planned even though she had only been out of the hospital for 1 day.

About as good of a picture as you can expect of two busy boys at the farm.No shortage of pumpkins here, despite the traffic jam to get into the place.

Check out that tuft of hair. Just like his daddy.

Pumpkin riding! Yee-haw!
Penmanship practice.
This was a hay bale maze for the kidlets. Everyone was having a good time.
Checking out the cute little piggies.

One tired boy getting a rest with dad.

Fall Beauty

Have I mentioned that I LOVE Fall?