The Dumont’s were so much fun! I had been dying to shoot at the river access off range road 23 and highway 770 ever since I first found out about it this fall and when they said they spent lots of time along the North Saskatchewan River as a family, I knew it was the perfect spot to make more memories for them. From their newest little baby boy, to daddy’s little girl and the young man of the family – I loved being able to experience an evening with them outdoors enjoying nature and the beautiful sunsetty skies. No matter the age level of children, they all test your abilities as a photographer and keep you busy honing those skills. Enjoy!
September. When I was only into my second month of pregnancy and nausea was a daily battle. And because of that…loss of appetite. So keeping up a healthy weight meant trying to eat in smaller, less fragrant portions throughout the day and finally just chugging a meal replacement shake once or twice a day.
Am I thankful those days are over! So about a month ago already, I decided to celebrate my renewed appetite with a bake session – late in the evening – when it was still daylight until 9/930 and let Arial stay up to help me eat them afterwards. And I rarely bake…like never bake. But I saw this blueberry orange muffin recipe pop up in my Instagram feed one day and my mouth started watering, and the only way I was going to be able to taste them was to make them myself! So please forgive me if your mouth starts watering and you can’t do anything about it in this moment – I probably teased about half my Snapchat friends with photos of blueberry’s and muffin tins that night! 😀
I just have to say – Arial makes a pretty cute test taster – muah!!
Recipe
Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp of baking soda, 1 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of unflavored yogurt, 1/2 cup of orange juice, 2 Tbsp of grated orange zest, 1 cup of blueberries
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease or line a 12 cup muffin pan with paperliners
- Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk sugar, oil, and eggs together in a separate large mixing bowl. Add yogurt, orange juice and zest.
- Add egg mixture to flour mixture stirring until just combined. Gently fold in berries.
- Fill prepared muffin cups.
- Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Cool on wire rack
Every summer since our first anniversary to Whistler, BC and from there, the Okanagan, we have packed up our camper and drove to Kelowna for a week over July 7th. But this summer we had a hard time getting Shawn time off from his new county job and had already taken the weekend of our anniversary to camp in Jasper. My sister has been a horse guide for Brewster Adventures since July and we knew we wanted to visit her in Banff before summer ended, so we lined up a Sunday and Monday with her days off and at the same time, a high school friend of mine and Priscilla’s was visiting from Saskatchewan so it was now or never! Nothing beats a two-day holiday to the mountains! We stopped in Dead Man’s Flats and Arial picked her fair share of gas station potted flowers (she actually let me stick one in her hair and left them in). One we arrived at Tunnel Mountain Lodge we all pulled out our bikes and took them up to Banff. We forgot Arial’s helmet at home so when we got to the town we rented one for her – so she wasn’t helmet-less the entire night! The next day we traveled to Lake Louise and I hung out with Priscilla in the barn, shooting a little on-the-job photos 😀 That afternoon Janalle and Chris hung out with Arial (you guys are the best, we considered it a date) for us while we took the 2-hour ride with Priscilla along Lake Louise and back. And the views – AMAZING! No local ride along the country roads can compete with a trial cut through the mountainside and winding up on the other end of Lake Louise facing Banff Springs Hotel. The tourists thought we were pretty cool too 😉 I mean, we even cantered on the way back! So all in all, it was a much needed family getaway!
Phone pics from the trip. Top left to bottom right: auntie/sister/mama selfie, river by Village of Lake Louise, mountain horseback ride, I’m on Priscilla’s guide horse, kisses, Arial hugging trees, taking Arial for ger favorite bike ride, Daddy & Arial playing peek-a-boo in the tipi, excited about Arial’s helmet!
2nd phone pics compilation. Top left to bottom right: selfie stick with the girls, Arial’s first ride in her new bike seat, sisters, mountainside along Lake Louise, our guide, tree hugger, Brewster Adventures horses, visit with uncle Anthony in Red Deer, bike ride with Daddy!
For almost 2 months now Arial & I have been able to meet up with Shawn during his lunchtimes, and the distances range from 5 to 15 minutes away. Not everyone gets that chance! Shawn started his new job for the county in May and worked close to half an hour away most days but when he texted me that he was just up by Gunn, I haven’t stopped hitting the road with Arial in tow. We’ve certainly become closer as a family with the chance to spend that half hour together every day now that he’s working 12’s on the tractor/mower unit and there are only a couple hours between the time he arrives home for supper and Arial’s bedtime. (not that bedtime is so strict during summer hours, when it’s been staying light out until 11pm for the longest time!
There’s just something about seeing Arial so excited to visit “dada” when I start packing her lunch and shoeing her out the door (not much shoeing being needed!). She has gotten pretty drowsy in her car seat when the travel time takes 15 min versus 5 min but the one thing that usually pops her eyes back open are my words “almost ready to see daddy!”
Here is a snippet on a regular lunch visit with daddy…First, the wait, then the greet, and all the little sidetracks in between. Because following her around, helping her climb fox burrows and guiding her up tractor tires are what his and her life is all about. As you can tell, she has no fear! When he plopped her up on the grill of the tractor, she really was on top of the world!
Love these two and all the moments they give me.
"We didn't realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun"
Forever 22 Photography 