It's amazing that the older we get the faster time seems to pass. It seems like our little girl was just recently born, but she is already two! We have an almost teenager and two other boys who wont stop growing; especially their feet... It seems that we go through shoes like crazy!
Work continues to grow too. We still love the intimacy of our boutique studio, and have fought expansion all year. It's hard to find that balance. We don't want to be managers of other photographers. Yet we struggle to get all of the busy work done. We are artists who got into photography for our love of the medium and our love for the subjects, we are not business people who got into it as an easy way to make a buck.
So hopefully this year we will be able to find that medium and balance our work life with the life our kids need from us! A 8:00am to 1:00am work schedule is not a good schedule for raising kids!
That said, we have loved almost every minute of being able to work with so many great families again this year! But before I give a run down of our work life, I wanted to give y'all the family life for the year.
So this year Kimball, our oldest turned 12. He has decided to grow his hair out and even though I try to cut it every few months, he does look a little better with the long hair. I just get a little tired of the hair whipping to keep it out of his eye! I think he's going to end up with neck problems... Turning 12 is a big milestone for us. At church he is old enough to receive the Aaronic priesthood and administer the sacrament on Sundays. He is is 7th grade, and is doing ok. He and school are not the best of friends. He would rather be taking something apart, building something or shooting something. He is also a boyscout, and loves going to scouts each week and going on camp outs.
It's hard being parents to the tween age. We can see him grow and start those changes that will take him into manhood and that is awesome, but then we also see that pushing of boundaries that come along with the growth and sometimes that makes us want to drop him off in the middle of the desert... He is however amazing with Eden. He loves and protects her so well. It's so cute to see her give him hugs and kisses.
Ammon, is now 10. It seems, however, that he is hitting puberty before his big brother. Picking up the boys from school after a hot date is not a pleasant olfactory experience. The car smells like a whopper with extra onions. Anyway, Ammon is doing great in school, he continues to be on the school council and getting great grades. He is in cub scouts and is still on the illusive 1st place trophy for the pinewood derby. Evidently winning requires a lot more fatherly 'participation' than what is suggested in the derby outline... He loves his airsoft guns as much as his older brother and although he still loves star wars, he is not as fanatic as in previous years.
Kelsyn, our youngest son, is 7 and getting ready to be baptized this summer. He is in third grade and the only one left at his school. He is pound for pound the toughest of the three boys. It comes with being the youngest and faced with the survival of the fittest. His foot length to body height ratio is also the greatest. He has little hobbit feet. I think he might be able to walk on water, given the proper motivation! He is doing great in school as well and is pretty smart, just a little lazy with the homework! He loves being a big brother and is excited to hang out with his little sister!
Eden just turned two and is well into the terrible twos. I think it is true about he red hair and attitude. She is crazy!!! This year she broke her both collar bones. The doctor thinks she will probably have the most broken bones just because she is being raised by a few rough and tumble boys so she thinks she is a big boy in a tough body. Not a little girl in a more petite body. Anyway, she is also so freakin sweet. there are few joys greater than having her wrap her arms around your neck and say 'iyuvyu da-ee' We also recently started potty training. it seems a bit early but she is the one who initiated so we are going with the 'flow'.
Together the kids are all doing well, outside of the house they are all pretty well mannered kids who are helpful, courteous, and kind. In the house they can be hells demons incarnate... This year we took the kids with us on one of our work trips through Texas. They had a great time, we went to schlitterbahn and they loved it. They got to spend time hanging out in phoenix and Carlsbad with both sets of grandparents and have had all in all a pretty good year!
So for work we had a pretty great and pretty domestic year. We normally travel quite a bit with work, this year was a bit different. Most of our work was in New Mexico and we only shot outside of NM a half a dozen times or so. This year we were in Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and California for work. It was nice! This next year looks to take us to the US virgin islands, Texas, California, Utah, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, And more that likely back to Europe. So if you are going to be in Italy or Germany in October, let us know and we'll set up some time for photos!
We are still cutting down on weddings and adding more portrait sessions into our schedule. we love weddings so much but they can be really work intensive and emotionally and physically taxing, so we are going to start being a bit more selective on the wedding commissions we accept.
Desiree is really getting into a groove with her New Day birth photography, it has really been fun for her to experience this huge joy in the lives of her families.
We have been doing a ton of Red Label sessions as well. The boudoir genre is really gaining in popularity and we have a style that id really becoming popular as well!
We have also won a number of competitions with our work, both Desiree and I have placed in the top ten and even first place in international competitions of the worlds best wedding photographers.
We have shot in bathrooms, bedrooms, ballrooms, and beaches. Ancient ruins, mountain tops, snowfields, deserts, and ghost towns. We have photographed mothers, and Mayors, babies, and NFL Ball players. We have seen births and deaths, and everything in between. We have driven and flown thousands of miles, taken hundreds of thousands of images and filled up numerous hard drives. Work continues to be both challenging and rewarding. We are loving life and although we anticipate 2012 being a year of many changes we are looking forward to all that it might bring!
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