Havasupai, AZ

Havasupai is a hidden paradise... after all, it takes a 10-mile hike down the Grand Canyon to find the beautiful turquoise waters that you've probably only seen in places like Hawaii. A group of 29 of us made the trek down (drove 12 hours with a stop at the St. George Temple, hiked through the night, and slept for maybe an hour or two after reaching camp) and stayed for three full days.

With temperatures over 100 degrees, it sure was convenient to have so much water to swim in all day every day. The coolest thing to me is the fact that there's an Indian village 8 miles down the canyon! They depend on tourism and frequently use mules and helicopters to get needed supplies to the village.

The village even has a small LDS branch, which was super neat to see the Gospel in such a place :) Check out havasupaitribe.com for more information, and see my Facebook page for more photos. This is definitely a place to go before you die!

Spring 2009 PS Winning Photos

This summer I helped advise the Photographics Society on campus since Sister Esplin wasn't able to do so. I entered two of the three contests and placed in both: UP CLOSE & PERSONAL (spring) -- 2nd Place Society & Judges Choice for $55 total and EMOTION (man by water) -- 1st Place Society & Judges Choice for $80 total. Visit the PS page for more details.

Keate Kids

My cousin Kim wanted some photos taken of her four kids while they were in town, so I took them up to the Kaysville Botanical Gardens. It's really a beautiful place with lots of neat things for taking photos. This was my first shoot with kids (besides less formal shoots with my niece, of course), and I think it went rather well. All the kids were ready to go by the end and surely made it known in this first photo :)

Caden

Britton

Ashlyn

Gavin

Jaycie is now 2!

Shannon, Ryan, and Jaycie came to Utah July 2-12 for Ryan's annual conference in Park City. Because she's so pregnant, Shannon was going to have to stay home with Jaycie. Luckily, the doctor said it was fine for Shannon to travel. We made sure to get some photos of Jaycie while they were here. Jaycie turned 2 on the 4th of July--it was a blast doing fireworks with her! I should have gotten some pictures of that, but I was having too much fun watching the fireworks :)