31 | 52 (AUGUST)
We went on vacation to Yellowstone National Park for over a week, camping and exploring our to hearts content. Each day was something unique and absolutely wonderful. We summited a 10,000+ foot mountain one day as shown below – it literally started hailing at the top (Rocky Mountains are no joke!) and this was probably one of my favorite experiences of the week.
We spent another day fly fishing at the famous Lamar and Soda Butte confluence in the Northeastern part of the park. This was particularly special for me because my hubby and I used to fly fish here before kids and even marriage, spending sun-up to sundown here at times. This park played a big part in the beginning of our lives together, I could almost feel the ghosts of our pre-kid full of energy selves there with us. I could also sense a lot of bison – we got chased out of there this time, in fact. 😉
32 | 52
This is the day we left Yellowstone. We fly fished and explored the Madison river before leaving the park. It’s over 8 weeks later as I write this, and the kids still talk about Yellowstone almost daily. I’m so grateful I could show them this amazing, beautiful place.
33 | 52
I was hit with what I thought was a chest cold during my vacation, and it hit me harder than ever when I got home. My hubby finally convinced me to see a doctor, and turns out I had whooping cough (and I’m vaccinated!). I took these to reflect the state I was in that week. My energy level was next to nothing, and I was kept in the house and not even allowed to return to work for quite a while.
34 | 52
Thank goodness a round of antibiotics left me feeling pretty darn good, and we pushed a mountain summit back about 10 days to this week. I summited this last year, so I knew I was in for a long day. The hike started off with a struggle (sleeping in the 27 degrees + post pertussis lungs don’t mix) but I quickly got in the right mindset and pace to continue with the encouragement of a friend and also my inhaler, haha. It was so gorgeous, despite the smoke as you can see in the distance.
35 | 52 (SEPTEMBER)
My mom visited this week, and I had a slight relapse in my cough due to crazy intense wildfire smoke in the area. We escaped to the ocean for a couple of days, which was pure perfection. I really regret I didn’t get my mom in these shots – she avoids my camera at all costs, darn it.
36 | 52
This week marked the first week of kindergarten and preschool for my girls. My 5 year old also took the bus for the first time, and I was so surprised by how anxious I got. I wanted to go to school to check she made it there okay. But instead I documented how I felt. I felt empty. Alone. This didn’t last long thank goodness, and the kids are now both so happy in school and I’m learning to embrace the free time to get much needed things done.
37 | 52
The week before our anniversary, I told my husband the one thing I really wanted was another self portrait of him and I. This project has left me with some of my favorite photos of all time of him and I’m so grateful for that. So one evening in between grilling on the deck I dragged him over to some pretty light and we took a couple minutes to take these. We had our cat and even our chickens coming over, which was so hilarious and made the moment even more memorable. I’m surprised we kept it serious in most of these!
38 | 52
Our anniversary week! We celebrated our anniversary by heading out hiking while my mom watched the kids. The hike was hilariously short compared to our memory of it (with kids, hence taking a while the first time!), so we went out to lunch and had some beers after this. I love time with him as much as I did at the beginning. Maybe even more.
Until next month, friends.
