my family

Every other year the Smiths have a family reunion. It is loads of fun and so nice to see all the cousins reconnecting. This year we spent a few days in a lovely cabin in the West Virginia mountains. You might think July in W. Virginia would be full of bugs and death heat. You would be wrong. This area was chosen for its cool weather and after the heatwave everyone lived through, West Virginia was nice and cool. 78 was the average temp. I know! Unbelievable. We went tubing down a river (so fun), had a Frisbee golf tournament (surprisingly fun), and spent a painful hour on the back of a horse (the kids were in heaven).

There were also less idyllic situations. Like the mouse droppings found in our beds and the hide-a-bed which was “a torture device from hell”. Oh yeah, and that time when everyone took a turn being violently ill. I do believe we got what is commonly referred to as the cruise-ship-epidemic. There were 22 of us and only 5 didn’t get ill in some manner. People were fainting! It was crazy. My family was strangely healthy. We were under suspicion for a while. Then Zach and I got a taste of it… thankfully not too bad.

While everyone is together I try to photograph the crew. This year was a bit difficult, since there was always someone sick. I stuck to individual photographs, and I forgot myself and Zach. Oops. I should have at least gotten Zach. Me not being photographed is pretty common. Oh well. Here’s the gang:

Oh happy day! My new camera has arrived!! This is the perfect time of year to photograph with all the beautiful blossoms. Our tree doesn’t always blossom, this is only the 2nd time in 5 years. All those late frosts in Denver kill the blossoms. This year, though, all the flowers are singing!

I’m loving my new piece. It’s got this amazingly huge preview screen on the back that I’m starting to fall for. I’ll keep playing with it, but I hear the range is a lot wider than my moldy old D200. It’ll be nice to have a bit more details in highlights and shadows.