Vacation 2012 Part 2: The Badlands

So if you aren't into jagged, rugged peaks jutting up out of the earth I just might say The Badlands aren't for you.  I have never really thought that was true beauty.  I was WRONG!  If you don't wanna see lots and lots of photos of the Badlands, then you might wanna stop reading.

One of my motto's in life is, "Don't let other people make opinions for you."  Decide for yourself.   And I just started living by it about ten years ago.  I am so glad I did.  If you would've asked me ten years ago if I wanted to take a vacation and include the Badlands in my sightseeing, I would've turned you down pretty quickly.  I'm so glad I changed my mind set.  The Badlands were beyond beautiful.  There are no words for the gorgeous I got to see.
We drove into Badlands National Park and I knew I was going to see greatness, but I had no idea how great.  Let's just say tears.  That's what happened when I stepped out of the vehicle.  Lots and lots of tears.  I should've brought a tissue with me.  I think Ben thought I had hurt myself some how.  All of the beauty before me was overwhelming.  I couldn't hold in my awe and when it came out, it came out in the form of tears.  The pictures that you are about to see do not, by any means, do the Badlands justice.  I tried to capture them in the best way possible.



They were all pretty far away from me.  I zoomed in as much as I could.






He went from not wanting to take a photo to Hey mom please take some pictures of me.


Then he decided to take some with me.  My heart was very happy.






And my husband convinced me to get in front of the camera.  It rarely happens.  But I thought he did a good job taking photos of me. I'm very critical of my own photos.








We were all in the car for a while, as we drove through the park.  Naturally the kids were complaining about their legs hurting and Tyler wanted to climb on some rocks.  We came across a good place to get out and walk around.


The kids look so small here compared to the rocks.  Maybe it shows some perspective.



These two peaks are my absolute favorite.



 



I will never forget driving through the park and I hope one day we will all get to return.  I now have a new love for the Badlands.  Next up... Needles Highway and Mt. Rushmore.


Live Greatly, Love Softly

Vacation 2012 Part 1

Our vacation was scheduled around my husband's family reunion this year.  He's from Iowa, so that's where we were headed.  I was excited to get to see his family again.  I happen to love his side of the family and I wish we got to see them more often.  Then Ben gets a call from his mom saying that we could just cut our trip there short by a few days and head up to South Dakota and go see Mt. Rushmore and other landmarks in the area.  Ben and I discussed it and decided that it would be a great experience for the kids and for us as well.
So our first stop was IA where the majority of Ben's family is.  Well in the surround area's anyway.
The few days we got to stay were great.  We stayed with Ben's aunt who is the most amazing hostess.  I always love getting to stay with her.  The morning we left she made the best breakfast I've had in a long time. The sticky buns were out of this world.  I didn't get a whole lot of photos of the family, but I did get to snap some at the reunion.


The two girls in the bottom photo are 2nd cousins.  The first is my daughter and the one smiling is Ben's cousin, Tina's, daughter.  Her name is Callie.  I like to show people photos of Callie and then tell them it's not Maci.  I get the best reaction every single time.
The photo on the top is Tina's whole family.  Mom, dad, brother's, sisters-in-law, etc...

More of the family reunion...
 


The day after the reunion, we hit the road.  First up...The Great Plains.  I have always read about these in history books and have seen countless photos in magazines and travel brochures, but to see them in person is amazing.  Land goes on and on and on for what seems like forever.


I love how the hay gets stacked.


All along the way there were signs in fields.  We got to see a few pieces of art also.  I liked this one.
Indians chasing...

Cowboys!!!  Go figure.

When I was in high school my parents and brother made a trip to Montana.  To this day, I can't figure out why I didn't go with them.  Anyway, they came back talking about this place along the side of the interstate called Wall Drug, which was located in Wall, SD.  Then about a year ago I saw something on the Travel Channel about it and thought to myself, 'My family got to go there.'  I had completely forgotten about it.  Then about 300 miles east of Wall, we started seeing signs for Wall Drug.  My heart jumped into my throat!!  I told Ben we had to stop there.
These were only a few of the signs.

There were way to many to count.  Oh and if you are a honeymooner, they give you free coffee and doughnuts.

Wall also had an 80 foot dinosaur.  Jordan, my brother, had a broken arm at the time when he had his photo taken in front of it.  So in honor of him, we put our arms in the air. :)  And the photo on the top is the view behind the dino with the sun shining on it.  I just thought it was so pretty.


My kids are crack-ups!  They keep my husband and I laughing constantly.  And my daughter, when she's in the mood for photos, loves the camera.  Example:

The picture to the right is her winking face.




Ben and I at the fake Mt. Rushmore.


And this is just my husband being himself.  Now you know where my kids get it from.



Wall Drug's big thing is the free ice water.  They've been doing this since they opened.  So Ben of course had me take a photo of his excitement over the water.



This is all for part 1.  Next up in part 2:  The Badlands!  Most beautiful land I've ever seen!


Live Greatly, Love Softly

Tonia and the Kids

Tonia is a very, very good friend of mine.  I don't have any biological sisters, so I would say that she and her two sisters are my sisters.  I love those girls so much and would do absolutely anything for them.  So I guess maybe that makes their kids my nephew and nieces??  They could all call me aunt if they wanted to.  :)
I was more than happy to get to shoot a family session for them.  And just on a personal level, I loved how they turned out.  It's been so great to watch these kids grow up.  No they're not done growing yet, but they have changed so much in the past few years. 










I think my favorites from the whole session are the two at the end, simply because of the Razorback apparel.  They love the Hogs and so do I. 


Live Greatly, Love Softly

The Hewitt Family

I've know Jade ever since we were little girls.  Her sister is closer to my age, but when you get older age just really doesn't matter.  I got a call from her a while ago about doing a family photo session and I was more than happen to help out.  She has a great looking family and I told her if her girls are this pretty now, they are gonna have to keep a gun by the door.  These girls are absolutely beautiful.  The oldest, Stella, looks just like Mom and Abbie, the youngest, looks just like dad.









I mean look at that gorgeous family!!!


Live Greatly, Love Softly

Photography Workshop Models

Last month I got to go to a photography workshop about posing and lighting.  I loved it!!  I definitely wanna go to more when I get the chance.  My friend Tracy got to go to, so that was an extra perk.  It was taught by a lady a couple towns over and I really learned a lot from her.  I can't wait to have my next Sr. photo shoot. 
When I got there I found out she had models on hand.  They were beautiful girls and they seemed very comfortable in front of the camera.  It was very easy to work with them.
















Live Greatly, Love Softly