Crash and Burn at Mammoth

happy 2009 everyone! was 2008 just a blur for you too? it sure did go fast. we had our share of ups and downs. in the end, we had our faith, our friends and each other, so it was a great year. somehow, in between all the work, we did find a little time to have some fun. on our last road trip photo shoot of the year we took a day off to meet up with some friends at their cabin in mammoth california. as much as we'd love to shoot a wedding in mammoth, we were blessed not only with fellowship, but with a few feet of fresh snow and plenty of california sunshine. it was absolutely awesome! take a look for yourself.

we found this sweet little hill to try out our sleds. seems innocent enough right? little did we know it would give us a story to tell for a lifetime. keep scrolling.

as i was scaling the hillside for a downhill run, kim captured this sequence with rain on the sled and april getting stuck in a moment you can't get out of.

somehow in all the turbulence april and rain traded places. rain was left on the hillside and april rode to the bottom.

check out this video of the whole thing

poor rain definitely got the short end of the stick. she split her lip in two places. i being a good parent, got right in her face and took pictures of it. kim yelled up, "is the camera okay!" not sure if that was before or after she asked if rain was okay ;)

rain is the toughest little girl i know. she only cried for about a minute, then gave us the a-ok. yuki passed the good word to kim at the bottom of the hill.

a little fresh snow and some words of encouragement were all rain needed.
tragedy plus time equals comedy.
it didn't take long before we all had a good laugh about it.

after making sure rain was ok, i checked on the 5D. it had a little snow packed in the back, but was working just fine. it's almost as tough as rain. :) while i was taking a look at the 5D i discovered that april got the shot of the year right before she was swept away. see below.

here's rain as seen through-the-lens by april.

who needs a snow ball when you can just chuck a snowblock?

rain and yuki were flying down the hill all day.

april got in some good runs.

other than the one speed bump named april, rain had a blast.

here's my shot of alex getting aggro.

here's kim's shot of all of us paparazzos.

yuki almost made my voice a go up an octave or two.

in God's country

after a long fun day sledding, yuki did her magic and cooked us up an amazing dinner. so good.

yuki taught rain a few culinary tricks and helped rain cook up half the dinner.

our christmas dinner. thank you yuki, as always it was the bomb.

mmm baileys and rice krispie treats. the dessert of champions.

after dinner came the car bombs.

if you think her dinners good, wait til you taste her breakfast. we love you yuki. (and not just because your cooking is awesome)

it was chilly at night. brrrrr

on our way home kim snapped a couple shots through the car window.

and for all you beautiful, soon to be brides, a wedding in mammoth would be awesome, hint hint. and as always lex and yuki, we treasure your friendship and with you guys it's always a good time. we love you! who's up for round two?