We met up as a group shortly before Casey & Peter’s wedding day so that not just the bride and groom would get to know me, but the entire family with all of the kids!  Casey & Peter really wanted to focus not just on their love, but on the fact that this really is going to be a union of 2 separate families blending together.

Since the wedding and all festivities were to take place at Deer Valley’s famous Stein Eriksen Lodge, it seemed the perfect location for the pictures!  And for having never done anything like this before, Casey’s little rascals Lilly and Owen, along with Peter’s Delia and Jimmy, all did a fantastic job for me!  Here are a few of my favorite images…

Thanks everyone!  Wedding pictures soon!

Anyway, so that’s the story of the late posting today, but never fear, Album Monday is here!!!

World, meet the amazing Wignall Family!   Trent and Itajia wanted to really document their two boys growing up together, so we were hired for our Four Seasons Family Package. Over the course of a single year [4 seasons] we document a family in their natural habitat! We went to Sea World with the Wignalls on vacation in San Diego, carved pumpkins, went sledding in the winter, and went on a spring family outing. In the end, they had hundreds and hundreds of images that were all spectacular, so they decided to go with a Book instead of an Album to hold their favorite 500!

[that's right, I said 500 images]

This is an 8×8 Book holding all 500 images on 300 pages! The cover is a custom printed cover with their family picture going full bleed, and it wraps around to the back cover where we put a different image. The style of Book is called Easthampton, from the New York Line, and was printed on the thicker Premium Paper. As a bonus, it also comes with a slipcase to keep this family heirloom protected for decades to come!

Thank you so much to Jagger and Crue-bear for letting me come and hang out with them so often, you two are the best kids ever!

Love, Auntie Pepper

Meet the Pepper-Wignall Family:

Itajai the Mom

Trent the Dad

Jagger the big brother

Crue the Amazingly strong toddler [Seriously, watch out for this kid. He may look small, but i saw him take out his dad, and his dad is a pretty buff guy...]

One of the first stops of the day was the Dolphin Encounter.

For those who don’t know what that is, basically you can pay more money and pet one of the dolphins and give it some tasty fishy treats. For a few more bucks there is a step up where you can actually swim with the dolphins, but Jagger and Crue are a bit young for that [That'll be next year, right Taj? ].

Our next stop of the day was to watch Shamu do his thing!

One of the best parts of the Shamu Show is when the whale gives the crowd a little cool down on a hot day. Usually there is only 1 whale, but right now they are training a few other, so we actually got 4 [that's right, I said 4] different killer whales at our show. Here are the killer whales, in formation, ready to attack their prey.

Here is a very small image of the immense volley of water they project on unsuspecting crowds who unwittingly sit in what is clearly posted as “The SOAK Zone”.

And here is what happens to you if you sit there.

You get, well, basically soaked.

I have to first explain that so the next set of pictures will make more sense. I was hoping to catch an actual “soaking” of the Pepper family, so I positioned myself carefully, actually missing the show to watch their reactions! [Sara said it was a good show, so awesome work Sea World people!] Right when the show was ending, there was a gasp and we caught this series.

Jagger was very unhappy at first, but trip to the gift shop perked him right back up and he just loved his new toys! Apparently they are to instill better grooming habits, and what can I say? They totally work!

And what would a family vacation be without a little crazy running around?

See, you guys thought I was kidding about the buff toddler, didn’t you? Crue told me that he works out every day on a rotating schedule of arms and legs. It was an arm day, so we had to stop while he did his workout.

After that was a trip to the Dolphin show…

… the Sea Lions… [aw, look at the snuggle bunnies...]

… the horses… [Sea World is owned by Budweizer after all...]

… and finally the Shark Encounter [I don't care how many times I've seen Finding Nemo, I've seen Jaws way more times] Seeing the sharks up close and realizing that they haven’t evolved at all in millions and millions of years is kinda scary. Eat, sleep, make little sharks. Every see Jaws 3? Yeah, it was a terrible movie, but remember all those people trapped in that one underwater exhibit? I couldn’t help but that of that as we’re in a glass tube going through the middle of the exhibit with these amazing eating machines swimming above us…

Jagger liked the sharks, but he thought Shamu and the dolphins were way cooler.

Sea World’s awesome diaper changing stations

After all that fun and excitement, one of the best parts of the day for the boys was running around on a lawn and tackling each other and their dad.

Thank you so much Taj, Trent, Jagger and Crue, for letting aunties Pepper and Sara come and hang out with you last week, we had so much fun and I can’t wait to see you again! Watch your email for a link to all the pictures in a couple days!

Love, Pepper

February 9th 2007

Proud Pappa Kent

Exhausted Exhilarated Anna K

Luke’s first fart

2 year old Max surprised us all. For the entire pregnancy, the family had a little game, and they would ask Max where his brother was, and he would pint to Anna K’s tummy. We fully expected him to again point to her tummy, but when asked where was Luke, he pointed directly his brother. Max is no dummy!

Little Luke meets big brother Max for the first time

Luke wasn’t interesting enough, so Max went back to his favorite activity every time he sees his Aunt Pepper, playing with my Blackberry.

10 days later, Luke was back in the hospital. He was there for a while. I took pictures to document everything, so when he was well and better, he could look at them. Having recorded them for posterity though, I don’t want to look at them now though. I know I am skipping 3 months of his little life, but for now, I just want to focus on him being better.So these pictures are from last weekend. As you can tell, he is much happier, growing at a normal rate, and is just munchable! I mean, look at that face!!!

Happy relieved Anna K at home with her baby boy Luke

Luke’s cousin Sofia came over to play, but then they both just sat there like lumps.

Luke and big brother Maxwell

OK, so really Sofia is the prettiest baby girl but don’t let that go to your head. [I think her mom buys anything with the word 'princess' on it] She is only 4 months old, but she is the boss and she knows it. She is not sad here, she just wants me to stop taking pictures. She wasn’t screaming for anything in particular, she was screaming AT me. I’m surprised the picture even came out, I was laughing so hard!

Maxwell and Sofia’s older brother Eli

OK, now Sofia is ready for her close up. I swear, she was totally posing for me. When was the last time you saw a baby hold a pose until you were ready for something different?! She is going to be the next model for Gap Kids or something. You heard it here first!

The Cast

Ari

Jonah

Milo

Kelly negotiates breakfast with Jonah

Eric & The Boys

Jen get’s a little love…

…while Lawrence get’s stuck with sock duty.

Curiosity…

…comes in…

…many forms.

Child abuse.

Gratuitous postcard shot.

Ari, incredulous.

These are…uh…you know. Feet.

Kelly instructing Ari in the traditional Vulcan greeting…or something.

A parting shot.

Guys, thank you so much for the short but much enjoyed visit. We need to do it more often. We’ll have the proofs up in about a week. Lawrence and Jen – let us know where you want yours sent.
Jonah, Milo & Ari – keep it gansta, kids!!!

Much love,
Mitch & Pepper

We shot these in the clients’ home. Everybody is just so much more relaxed that way, plus we feel that the home is so closely related to the family dynamic that it bears inclusion. Plus, they had some really cool walls and great light, which never hurts.

And of course, just because a new baby is coming doesn’t mean that you can neglect the old ones:

Many thanks to D & B, and congratulations!

- Pepper & Mitch