The Ballard and Welch families go way back. Mike, Tyler, Regan and I all went to High School together. Mike and Tyler were good friends through out high school and later both served in the Marine Corps. While our families have not spent much time together over the years you can feel a bond and familiarity unlike most. Old friends, Marine Corps brotherhood, young wives, military wives, boy moms. There's a lot going on there. The shenanigans and stories Tyler and Mike have together are endless and it would only be fitting that our families have an epic photo shoot to add to the list.
Regan and Mike thought it would be an amazing idea to venture to Medicine Lake for their photo session and while I agreed I warned Regan that I have reservations about photographing kids in winter, in the cold. Runny red noses and kids crying about the cold do not make for amazing family photos. She assured me that the kids would be dressed warm, there would be blankets and plenty of hot cocoa to go around. We concluded that this would be a very fun and very candid photo session.
We planned to leave early allowing enough time to make the drive and then some just in case I needed more light for the session. While there was no snow, we did forget about the creek crossing on the way to the lake. We stopped and Mike checked to see how frozen it was. The creek was fairly shallow but of course I had to be the driver of the vehicle that got stuck, and the one guilty of taking the tow strap out of the vehicle weeks before. Neither the Ballard’s or the Welch’s had the tools we needed to pull us out, go figure, it was a good thing we allowed for the extra time. Mike had to venture to their property in Old La Sal and scavenge for something, anything, he could find to rescue us with.
While we waited Regan served up some delicious hot cocoa and homemade cookies and I took this opportunity to capture these candid moments with these handsome boys and their beautiful momma. Riley, Oden and Emmitt were amazing, all boy all of the time, lots of smiles, silly faces, laughter and absolutely not one tear or whine about the cold. These boys were real troopers! To make a long story short, Mike returned and rescued us, Tyler got our little 4runner across the creek with some work and Mike crossed in their Dodge 3500 with no problem. We made it to Medicine Lake at 10,000ft in mid December at 26º and had just enough time to capture these beautiful images of their family. I am so grateful to Mike and Regan for having our family along on this adventure, getting to see Medicine Lake at this time of year and creating some new family memories together.
