October

October flew by so fast. Most of the month I was consumed in getting ready for Karli's wedding. She had her reception at a beautiful place, but it did require us to decorate ourselves. So we spent the weeks prior to her wedding day making center pieces, making poms, decorating & painting mason jars, making thank you tags, painting frames and other things. Gosh writing it down makes it seem like it wasn't that much but it was A LOT.

{a lot of our nights looked like this}

{we made around 300 of these tags to go on these IBC root beers}

It was all worth it though. The wedding day couldn't have been better. It was gorgeous!

I will do a post all about it once we get the pictures back but for now I'll let you see one of her bridals we shot in September :)

One Sunday this month, I decided to experiment and make some donuts I found on Pinterest. Tyler helped me of course and they were SO delicious!

Pumpkin Donuts with Maple Glaze

September!

We had a fun month in September! There's lots of pics as evidence :)

We had a backyard campout over Labor Day weekend with the whole fam & that's where most the pics are from.. So many good ones!

{Tyler with Miss Priya}

{Meghann & Priya taking a little nap}

{Emerie}

{Porter LOVES horses & he wanted to give this one a kiss}

{Emerie helping Grandpa sweep}

{Slam dunk!}

We sold one of our cars {pictured below} & as of right now we haven't found a replacement. So yes, we are sharing the murano - it's not the easiest thing to do! Luckily a few days Tyler has been able to borrow his Dad's car - Thanks Jeff!

We will hopefully find the perfect vehicle sometime this month but things have been crazy busy so we will see!

My sister Karli has had two bridal showers & lucky for me, one of them was at my good friend Jacque's. I hadn't spent time with her in quite some time so I made sure to get a pic or two. We had a little too much fun as you can see..

Only 8 days until Karli is a married woman!

We went to the Blue Iguana to use a Groupon before it expired & Tyler ordered the Grande Burrito. Little did he know it was MUY GRANDE!

We weren't insanely impressed with the Blue Iguana & it definitely wasn't worth the effort to get there (downtown SLC, parking, etc etc)

My sisters and I were able to attend the RASCAL FLATTS concert! Dev & I arrived early to get good lawn seats but lucky for us we got our tickets upgraded to actual seats for FREE!

While we were waiting around for the concert to start, it started to rain.. & by rain I mean DOWNPOUR! and scary lightening & thunder I swear was less than a mile away. They don't allow umbrellas so we got DRENCHED (see pic above). We found shelter standing on top of a picnic table under the table umbrella standing oh-to-close to a few strangers! haha. It was a memorable experience that's for sure.

It cleared up just in time for the concert to start (and Karli to show up). Justin Moore & Sara Evans opened for them & they were awesome! I prefer Sara over Justin personally - she sang amazingly! Of course, Rascal Flatts did not disappoint either - they are addicting! This was my 4th time seeing them in concert & I just keep coming back for more! I highly recommend going to anyone who hasn't - it is great for all ages too! It was a little different this time around because I have been so spoiled previously with front row tickets BUT who needs to see up Gary's shirt anyways?! Haha. It was still just as good from a little farther back ;)

Special thanks to Karli & Chase who got me the tickets as a thank-you for shooting their engagement pics!

Speaking of.. we just got Karli & Chase's Engagement video done by my bud, Kale Fitch! It is SO SO cute, you've gotta check it out below!

chase + karli from Kale Fitch on Vimeo.

I cannot forget to mention that September was also a bittersweet month. My Great-Grandmother, Hazel Doty, passed away at the ripe age of 95. We attended her funeral to celebrate her life & to reminisce the memories we will all forever hold dear. She was an amazing woman & we are so happy for her & the reward she is reaping in heaven for a life filled with righteousness, service & love. She is finally with her husband, Sam, whom she had been without for 25 years. We will miss driving down to Provo frequently to visit her, but we know we will be able to visit with her again someday.

Get Air - Happy Birthday Chase!

A couple of weeks ago we went to Get Air for my sister's fiance, Chase, birthday party.

For those who don't know, it is a trampoline playground type place!

We had so much fun doing flips into the foam pit, basketball & our favorite, dodgeball. We were all so worn out afterward for jumping for 2 straight hours!

Watch the videos at the end to witness it for yourself!

{Karli & the birthday boy himself}

Keep Trying

~I am pretty sure I found this for a reason today~

GIVEAWAY!!

I NEED YOUR HELP! And in return.. I am giving away a $500 voucher towards photography services with me, Rachael Tyler Photography!

KARLI & CHASE are in a contest to win a free wedding cake!
I need you to go to One Sweet Slice's facebook page & like their page. THEN click onto the photo gallery for their WIN A FREE CAKE CONTEST & find this photo of Karli & Chase & LIKE it!!

Then, leave a comment here or on my facebook page to enter into my giveaway & I will be checking to make sure the winner has liked Karli & Chase's photo before I announce the WINNER!

and please... PASS THIS ON!!

If Karli & Chase win I will also giveaway a free engagement session!

Alaskan Inn

Last week, Tyler & I had the opportunity to spend the evening & night in Ogden Canyon at the Alaskan Inn. We had originally bought a groupon & intended to use it for our anniversary. But plans changed & we found ourselves approaching the expiration date. So no special reason as to why we stayed here but it was a very nice & relaxing evening we spent together.

We stayed in the room called "Bear's Den"

We decided to go on a short hike on the Indian Trail. We wished we had had more daylight so we could have hiked the whole way, but what we did hike was beautiful!

We went to dinner at The Oaks, which we weren't totally impressed with but it was nice to sit outside by the river & enjoy the scenery. It was a nice ending to our short summer getaways since Tyler goes back to school tomorrow! Only 2 semesters left!! :)

Vegas Weekend

I found myself shooting another wedding in Vegas this year almost exactly a year to the date of last years Vegas wedding! Lucky for me, Tyler was able to take the time off work again to join me, so we made a little weekend getaway out of the trip.

I just so happened to have a wedding at the Oquirrh Mountain temple the day before so Tyler & his brother Kalen made the drive down to Vegas on Friday & picked me up at the airport that night after I finished the reception.

On Saturday we spent the majority of the day photographing the wedding. In between the temple & reception we found a place to have lunch that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. It was called Four Kegs & it was pretty Dive-ish! It was delicious to say the least but I would have never picked it from the look of it that's for sure!

Immediately after the reception we raced to The Venetian Hotel to see Phantom of the Opera! We made it with only a few minutes to spare & we even ran into Tyler's friend, Austin! Small world.

This show was INCREDIBLE!!

We had trouble debating on whether to get floor or balcony seats & I am so glad we decided on the balcony because it was the best view for this show! There were so many special effects & the parts with the chandelier were in perfect view. Christine Daea & the Phantom were UNBELIEVABLY talented! I was in awe the entire show & I will admit I got pretty emotional at some parts! I just love the music for this show & to hear it live & so amazingly performed was surreal! Needless to say, I am SO glad we chose to go to this show!

The next day we decided to stick around for a few more hours and do some exploring. We of course had to visit M&M World and I even allowed myself to buy a bag full of them :)

And we stopped inside the Sugar Factory. I had never seen it before so maybe it is new? I'm not sure but the huge hype apparently with this store is the bedazzled lollipops you can buy that Kim Kardashian promotes - haha!

{you can see a girl on the right posing for a pic with her bedazzled lollipop, lol}

We had lunch at America in the NYNY hotel & then we headed to St.George to visit my grandparents and stay the night. I was so excited to see them even though it had only been 3 weeks since my last visit :)

It was such a fun weekend, even though there was some working involved. I'm so blessed that I have opportunities like this with my job!