So we decided to do an outside family photo shoot this year. My main reason was that I love the fall colors and trees in Thief River turn into such beautiful colors – usually. I was thinking of last year when we had a beautiful fall but didn’t take too many pictures then and Kason was a baby so it was harder. But of course, once we set up the date with the photographer, it was pretty obvious that there won’t be pretty colors or nice warm weather. The trees almost skipped changing to beautiful colors because it got too cold too fast. The day of the shoot was very cloudy and freezing cold and we kept thinking are we really going to do this to our kids? But we didn’t want to cancel the shoot because we couldn’t reschedule it so we went ahead with it. I really didn’t want to take pictures with us wearing big puffy jackets and hats though so we pretty much froze even with 3 or 4 layers of clothes. Kason was very hard to keep in one spot or to even stay in the shot with us or other kids, which I kind of suspected. And after a little while of being in the park Anika too got really cold and was not smiling at anything. Kade had a blast and wanted to run and play even after we were all done but Ehren and I were glad to get into a warm car and get home to warm up. So I left the photo shoot thinking man, if we get one good picture it will be great. But Chelsie did a great job and considering the weather and how little Kason and Ani are, we couldn’t get more or better pictures. We have a lot of good memory pictures that will look great printed so I’m very excited. I just get tired of the same old pictures so these are very precious. Chelsie is Ehren’s cousin’s daughter and at only 20 years old she’s starting out her photography career. I’m sure she can be a great photographer one day, but it does take a lot of experience especially with kids and people and seeing if the poses are good before taking pictures. Anyway, here are some previews of what she took. We have a lot more pictures saved and I can’t wait to play around with them.
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- this is more the real colors and I didn’t enhance it much
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- Kason is getting so big
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- with our little girl
Overall, all the kids were pretty worn out by the end of the weekend but they had fun. A huge bummer happened at the end when we were finishing off at the Gooseberry Falls, just going through some rocks and water to get a better view. I had our camera in my pocket but it was too big to zip it and as I bended down to lift Anika, the camera fell right between 2 rocks, in the water. The pictures were fine, but there is water built up inside the lens and Ehren doesn’t think our camera allows taking apart the lens to clean it. He’s going to try to take it all apart, but we’re probably hosed there which is a huge bummer. It is not a high end camera, but not cheap either. So our 2nd digital camera we owned since we got married ended up in the water as well. Ehren was responsible for the first one and now it was my turn. I guess we’re even. 
