and then back to colorado we went.

we left new york sunday evening & headed to denver colorado. we stayed at our good friend himali & ashley's apt the first night. ashley was gone & himali was fast asleep when we arrived well after midnight. we woke up early thanks to our natural lil alarm clock & walked their neighborhood until a cute breakfast place opened up. YUM cinnamon rolls!

have i mentioned how accident prone my son is? notice that lil hole on the top right side of his forehead. well, he managed to find the sharpest thing in their apt & fall into it. sheesh. he is one heart attack after another.

thought this was a silly picture of him. i think he sorta looks like an oompa loompa.
we found a park. he loves swinging.
love him. soooooo much.


around finn's naptime we headed to boulder. it was raining pretty hard once we got there & well, finn isn't that acquainted with rain- so we let him run around in it. he loved every second of it. so did the two ladies that were waiting for a break to make a run for it. he just ran back and forth screaming.

the next morning our alarm clock woke even earlier, so bryan & finn went for a long run. they came across this deer. great photo b!
we walked around pearl street. one of my favorite places. this awesome band was playing & we were hypnotized. they were the string something or another from nashville. i especially love this photo because of the three papas in it. being good daddies. nothing in this world breaks my heart more than seeing a dad with his young children.
finn was SO tired.
then we met up with teddy. these are some of our favorite peops in the whole world they're about to leave for a year around the world- so we decided to come stay with them for a week. to get our fill- since it'll be so long until we see them again. unfortunately- sarah was out of town for the bulk of it. but we still managed to see her some!

ted planned a lil cookout up on the mountain. here's finn entertaining himself with a frisbee & some rocks. that's my outdoorsy baby! how cool will that be if he always chooses this over a game boy!
it was a spectacular evening.
i learned later in the week that a "blow flower" is a dandelion. how this information has eluded me all of my life- i'm not sure. thought this was beautiful.

the amazing view. i could do this forever.

missing sarah here!
we hit the water park the next day. finn wasn't such a fan, surprisingly.
this might be why- he kept attempting to be brave at bad times- like when the water was about to spray up his nose!

we had dinner at the farmer's market & our friendly son tried to flirt with this beautiful family. 2 natural children & 6 adopted. i love it. hope mine looks something like it one day.
huh?
then we headed to aspen. i was shooting a wedding in carbondale on friday & we wanted to meet up with ashley the night before- who was taking an art class with her sister. her awesome family invited us over for dinner & swimming. they surprised me with two cakes & ice cream. bryan had ordered me some freshly baked cookies at midnight back in boulder- so this was one hell of a birthday- sweet wise!

we love our girl.
the cabins that we stayed in for the wedding were amazing. i wish we had weeks upon weeks to be there. so peaceful & fabulous. here's ours!
the morning of the wedding we got up bright & early so we could walk around & see the farm animals. notice the snake over on the right? they were everywhere.


we got home from the awesome wedding around 10pm. finn was tuckered out, but relaxed on the porch with us while we drank some hot apple cider. it was a fabulous way to end the night, under a kazillion stars with my two boys. i NEED some metal chairs like these. i've coveted them for awhile- so keep your eyes out for me!
the next day we went on a hike with kelly & mark, the new married couple!!! i'll do another post solely on that because it was beyond spectacular. but here is a photo of my lovely feet afterwards. it started to drizzle on us, but we are damn lucky that was it. the sky was scary & the thunder was very close. we made it safely down to the bottom but we were trucking it because it seemed like it was going to get bad.
we left soon after the hike so we could be back with ted & sarah for one final night. ted's band was playing so sarah & i went to be their groupies. isn't he adorable?
sarah- you avoided my camera well. i'll get you next time my pretty.

& one last one from this marathon post. finn. at home, finally. it took us days to unpack :)~

i realized the other day

something pretty eery.

i was in a car accident on june 9th, 2005. i survived (obviously) with barely a scratch, although my car most definitely did not. the first woman to reach me afterwards said later she didn't expect to find me alive.

my aunt barbara, while hugging & holding me said it was because i had a purpose. a reason to live. i believe her. i've always felt i had a purpose. one day i'd do great things. take my art & help it to help others. be a good mom to children who need it. adopt. volunteer. etc.

why this didn't cross my mind until now- i'm not sure. but finn's due date was june 9th. he was born two days later- but for 8 months we looked at that date with excitement, anticipation & eagerness.

what a strange world we live in.

we all have a purpose.
we were all put here for something fantastic.
i hope you find your fantastic soon.

here's mine :)

buffalo.

our friends neil & sandy were married in dunkirk ny. so, to buffalo we flew. finn & i left early in the morning & arrived in time for the rehearsal dinner. it was a lovely wedding & so great to see neil & sandy say i do. finn slept through the whole ceremony!

this became a favorite activity for finn, during our travels. he did this at least once a day.
sunday was father's day. bryan opened his present bright & early! a new wallet made from recycled advertising & the tube from a bicycle tire!! how cool is that? his old one i gave him like 4 or 5 years ago was completely falling apart.

on sunday we booked a late flight so we could go to niagra falls. i'd never been and bryan was young when they visited it. so here's a few pictures from our adventure.







next up colorado!

steph's shower

my baby sister is getting married in october. she is doing it in true stephani (notice the no e at the end of her name -always unique, always different) fashion. on a friday. in nashville. it's going to be awesome.

she is marrying the love of her life & my good friend jeff. i know jeff from my favorite place in the world -silver bay association. jeff's brother, dougy, is one of my closest friends from camp. he asked me to shoot his wedding & steph came with because she got to know him pretty well too, the summer she worked there.

well, i don't know what kindof detail i need to go into :) but they ended up "getting together" that night. i actually snapped a photographed two seconds after their first kiss. my birthday was the next day- so after the wedding we all went out drinking to continue on in the festivities.

dancing at the reception.
at the bar, getting a lil closer.
yep, here it is. in all it's glory. literally 2 seconds after their first kiss. we were all working our way back to the hotel when we smelled pizza. now drunk & disorderly we ordered some. steph stood on this chair so they could share a piece. i'm happily eating mine over at a table when i look up & see them kissing. i'm stunned for a second, but then my paparazzi skills set in & i grab the camera.
this says it all.
i love that last one. it's how they are still to this day: goofy, fun loving & cute.


stay tuned for more pictures- i'm their official photographer. and maid of honor. this should be fun ;)

but, back to the shower! our aunt karen & cousin maria hosted it for her & it was beautiful. i unfortunately didn't think to grab a picture of the four of them together- but THANK YOU. you all did an amazing job!

they framed the invitation & had flowers everywhere.
here's the reaction to karen's toast. giggles. i think my uncle was actually inviting himself to the rarig's home in the pocono's.
cheers to the lovely couple. i love how happy my mom is here.
aunt sandy's pimento sandwiches. they were too cute so i had to take a picture.
tehee.
get it.
opening presents. jeff loved his apron- it has a pocket for his beer, so it's perfect.
i mean no home is complete without the bride & groom kissing salt n pepper shakers.
our fam.
jeff's parents flew in for the party.
the miller women sure do know how to make a man feel special.
this post wouldn't be complete without some pics of finn.
playing with his cousin kennedy.

yeah for parties. and for weddings.

we have my cousin jackie's coming up & then our cousin brad just proposed so we'll just keep em coming from now on out!!

to steph & jeff. love you.

louisville

we were able to hang out in louisville for a week and a half between weddings. it was awesome. but it goes by so quickly each time. going home never feels like a vacation, quite the opposite. so much (self applied, mostly) pressure to see everyone & do everything on our list & more than half of it goes unchecked.

the first night home we grabbed dinner with johnny, dad & auntie to celebrate her birthday!
there was a band outside our favorite lil mexican restaurant so we were outside listening to em for lil bit. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE!!!

we stayed at my mom's house because my sister was in town.
this is how finn rolls while eating.
steph gave it a try to see if it was as comfy as he makes it look.

lourdes had their summer picnic while i was home. i haven't been in well over 10 years & was so excited to go!! finn was tired, but found pure enjoyment in splashing in the buckets! he was drenched.
that friday was his official birthday. so i made another vegetable cake & two of my aunts that were out of town came over to celebrate. lovin his cake.
happy birthday to you sweet boy.
waking up uncle jeff & aunt sneffi.

nana took finn for lots of walks... this is what a walk with her two babies looks like :)
wondering if we're too tired for the pool...
nope, never. lauren & kennedy hanging out.

jennifer & kennedy!


poor sleepy babe.
we stayed at grandma dee's & papa ron's house one night & of course great aunt di came over to play.
i've been told by my very talented friend, ted, that the piano is the best instrument for him to learn... so grandma dee's showing him how it's done.

the night before we left we had a few visitors: uncle jeff & aunt lissa, uncle david & aunt maryann & papa. he took turns attacking us with hugs.
he's such a goofball.
sweet, sweet boy. steph's wedding shower is next :)