When I think of the 4th of July….I think of Neola.  The place I grew up, the place where my roots are.  I think of family, friends and community coming together to celebrate the birthday of our great nation.  I was so excited to be going home to celebrate this year, and wanted for my husband and children to get caught up in all the things I did when I was a child.  And, I have to tell you they were good to me and took part in all of it…and I would even go so far to say that they were caught up in it too.

I learned this time home that Neola  has the longest continuous running 4th of July celebration in the state of Utah.  I think that is something to be pretty darn proud of.  It was so fun to take my camera with me and to capture some of what I love about my little home town.  I hope you’ll be able to feel the spirit of  this little community.

First off you have to know that the 4th of July celebration in Neola officially starts on the 3rd with a great big BBQ,and a kids rodeo.   They make the best darn chicken you have ever tasted…I’m talking delicious and believe me you do not leave there hungry.  The food is in abundance….and boy did we ever eat.  Yummy!!  After all that eating the kids decided they needed to work some of it off, so dad signed them up for the kids rodeo.

Holden just knew he was going to show those country kids a thing or two.  He bet his dad five dollars that he would be the one to catch the pig.  Have you ever seen this before?  Well if you haven’t they let two pigs loose in an arena with a whole bunch of kids…I’m talking a whole passle of them, and then it’s a big free for all.  It’s running, diving, screaming, pushing , kicking, and crying at its finest.  Well, as you can see from the pictures our Holden emerged victorious with a squealing pig in hand…..my boy was grinning from ear to ear, and the first words out of his mouth were, “pay up dad”.  As soon as his dad paid up the smart kid found a buyer (he knew we couldn’t bring a pig back home with us) and he sold his pig for twenty-five dollars…Not bad for a city kid!!!

I do have to share a funny with you though….the people of Neola have gotten a lot smarter since I was growing up there..not only do the kids chase pigs, chickens and bunnies….but now they can actually get puppies and kitties…so if you have any extra animals around your place that you can’t seem to give away…just haul them out to the kids rodeo in Neola and the kids will go crazy trying to catch them, and the good news is they keep what they catch….unless they can find a buyer for them like my smart boy.

Moving on to the highlight of the evening……They have one last final pig just waiting to be caught by one hot Mom!!!   Yep you heard me right a Mom!!  And representing our family……our own lovely Lowanna!!!  Okay if you thought the kids were rough…you should have seen the ladies.  It was a brawl!!  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one.

And yes the ‘Lovely Lowanna’ was victorious and just look at that beauty of a pig she caught.  He is one lucky guy…..or wait is he a she?  Lowanna I could not have been prouder….You represented our family in the finest style!!!

The next morning was the 4th and it started off for the ambitious with a half marathon and a 5K….of course yours truly wasn’t running, but I did get up and out early so I could get some pictures of family and friends that were running.

First off came Sheela and her daughter Shasta.  I grew up down the road from her.  She babysat me a couple of times…I just remember how much fun she was and that she always made me laugh, and I remember going to the Union High School football games and watching her cheer.  She was one of my favorite cheerleaders.  Last year her son ran the 1/2 marathon and finished in first.  This year he missed the race…he has much bigger things he is doing.  He is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Next in line and with the biggest smile on his face came Tommy.  I grew up with Tommy and you know I can’t picture him any way but with a smile on his face.  It was so fun to see him all grown up.  He is the same age as my little brother and I have lots of stories I could tell about him…all good of course ;D.

Then came Lowanna…you remember her from earlier in my post…The ultimate pig catcher.  Well, this girl can run too, and not just the 5K she ran the whole 1/2 marathon….You go girl!!!  I love you Lowanna.

Next came two of my favorite almost brothers.  ( We are cousins and grew up in houses next to each other.)  Matthew had run the 5K with his good friend Jon and had already finished.  He decided to go back and run the end of Mason’s race with him.   I owe Matt so much for who I am today.  He never gave up on me, and I love him with all my heart.  “I love you Matthew Duncan. ”

Let me tell you a little about Mason.  This was his first race…he pretty much had never run before, and did he start with the 5K…of course not…not Mason.  Mason does every thing he does to the extreme and he does it the best he can….He is awesome!!!  I’ll tell you something if they had been running a full marathon that day he would have signed up for that one….that’s just Mason!  I asked him if he had to walk any of it…and what do you think his answer to me was…I don’t even have to tell you because you already know the answer.

So as you can see we celebrated the 4th this year…doing it the only way I know how with family and friends in the place I call home….Good old Neola, Utah.  I hope that maybe you got caught up in it a little bit too!!

I say this often, but I mean it when I say….I’m so blessed to get to do something I love so much.  This shoot was especially fun for me because it features one of my beautiful daughters wearing Belle Ame.  Talk about a fun, fresh line….this is it!!!  I have to tell you my house is one of the most popular on the block because of all the pettiskirts we have.  All the little girls come over and want to dress up in London and Hattie’s skirts…..so much fun!!!  Thank you Tasha for giving us the opportunity to wear your beautiful clothes.  (Tasha is the designer behind Belle Ame.)  We love you and we love Belle Ame!!!

London being London….she is one wild and crazy girl with unending amounts of energy!!!  I love her to the moon!!

To see all the different looks and styles of Belle Ame or to find Belle Ame in a store near you click here.

Another perfect day and another perfect wedding….truly a match made in heaven.  Randi and I were lucky enough to be a part of Jordan and Jonathan’s wedding day in McCall, Idaho.

If you guessed these two are golfers you guessed right….their story began on a golf course.  Don’t you love this shot of their rings, and if you look really closely you can read the writing on their custom made tees they say, “Mr. & Mrs. Big Deal”  (Jonathan’s nickname on the golf course…Big Deal that is).  I wish I could take credit for this clever idea for a ring shot….but I can’t….all the credit goes to my adorable hubby John.  I love you big guy!!!

Do you want to see more?  Well then head over to our wedding site i do wedding photography….we have lots more to share.

I was so lucky and got to go out one more time with Mary and her entourage…thank you Kenny for flying in from Texas so I could spend one more evening with my friends…and an extra bonus was I got to meet you!!!  I have already told you how talented Russ is, but now I can  add amazing scouter to his resume.  He found the most awesome place for us to shoot a downtown Salt Lake City Urban session.  I think this session rocked!!

I also loved this one in black and white.

Mary is on a plane, as I’m posting these, headed for Japan where she will be working for the next five months….and Kenny will fly off tomorrow for San Francisco.  I’m hoping that these beautiful images will be something they can carry with them until they are together again.

And my dear friend Russ…Love this one of you.  I will tell you this has to be the most serious crew I have ever worked with….they love their somber faces…and you know what I do too!!!

or do you like the black and white….I’ll let you decide.

And I had to put up one more of Jake…..I like you Jake because you like to have your picture taken, and that makes my job easy.  But, one of these days I will get that irresistible smile..promise!