vacation fun.

I had the wonderful opportunity of spending several weeks this summer, in two trips, with my grandparents in Oregon. Such as blast! We spent four days in Bend, Oregon grilling, biking, playing tennis, and watching SYTYCD, of course :)

waiting to board on the way to Oregon!

where we stayed, just beautiful

father-son moment...erik is possibly rolling his eyes, wait, I'm pretty sure he is! Two of my favorite boys :)

biking through oregon countryside

Tennyson & Brenna on our ride

my pretty little sister

mariah in the cute little town ice cream parlor...so fun!

the baby ryry "playing tag" with the big kids in the yard

mi papi! behind the lens at dinner, of course!

mariah, I think she totally looks like a movie star here :)

we had dinner by the Sandy river, at the restaurant where I'm going to have my reception, huh Bill?!

on the Sandy river, my beautiful momma

pretty backyard, pretty view

the tradition of the "after-shopping" fashion show lives on, started by yours truly, of course!

Sandy river!

baby & mom

Now begins the "Man Cave" portion of the blog...so, while the entire family was up in Oregon, the boys decided that the Home Theatre room downstairs needed to be converted into the "Man Cave." They pretty much did that themselves anyways, segregating the girls out of the room for video game sessions, retreating to the Man Cave after dinner, etc.

We leave, with lots of joke for what the new Man Cave would include, but no one (ok, none of the girls) actually believing anything would happen.

THEN.

Bill takes it to an entirely new level.

I return solo, maybe a month later, and ta-da! New downstairs (yes, the Girlfriend room is being re-done. sad day.)

Refurnished the room, including paint and carpet. New HD plasma screen, anyone? Custom-made pool table, which was delivered the day before I left...so much fun! Bill & I practiced our pool skills...awesome. I missed the poker/card table delivery, but I guess that just means I'll have to come back up!

bummer. blogspot is totally messing with the colors on these photos...so I will upload them to flickr too! hopefully they will be better there.

http://flickr.com/photos/leahmariewasson

King? :)

What a wonderful summer vacation! We had so much fun :) Thanks a million, Bill & Mariah...can't wait to come see you again!

song of the week: Everything I ask for, The Maine ...

outsides.

in so many ways, these pictures describe my summer. which is weird, because I haven't ever really been a landscape, outside-type of photographer. I've always been a people person, focusing on relationships, stories to tell, expressions to capture.

but somehow, in these fields and open skies, I feel like I capturing me.

oregon fields.

arizona botanical gardens with dad :)

biking through oregon countryside

mm. my favorite spot on campus on all time. I have spent so many hours reading, photographing, thinking, even dancing (yes!). I'm not sure I will be able to handle winter without this garden.

prescott!

dainty pink flowers & prickly cactus thorns.

early mornings.

dusk in provo.

song on repeat right now? so long, so long: dashboard confessionals. yup, I'm bringing it back old school style & its goooood.

Yes, I'm a Wasson.

if I could hope for one thing, it is to have a family exactly like mine. as awesome, as crazy, as fun, just as incredible.

my family is the one that arrives late. late to church (we're the overflow), late to a wedding, late on trips unless the grandparents are driving us to the airport and hussling us out the door.

we're the family that listens to preschool music or harry potter on cd in the car.

we're the family that has saturday morning chores, and if friends are spending the night, yes, they help out too.

we're the family that insists on feeding you, even if you just stopped by to drop something off.

we're the family with a game wall. an entire wall (ok, half) full of board games, card games, and pretty much every game in-between.

we're the family that will never own a cat, or any other animal besides fish.

we're the family that speaks English and Spanish, scrambled up between the baby saying gibbered-up Spanish words, Brenna translating for non-speakers, and mom catching the tail-end of conversations.

we're the family with computers. Macs, to be specific. and on that note, three or four candy-colored Mac shells in the garage, a couple regulars, Dad's laptop, and the kids' computer.

we're the family that fights over books. yes, literally. we have a library that is continually evolving and growing, starting with Brown Bear, Brown Bear board book to mom & dad's college teacher books.

we're the family with a routine. dinner is always, always a family affair. the baby goes down at 8 with a book & bottle, brenna is in bed by 8:30, the kids by 9.

we're the family that covets sunday morning brunches with mom's homeade waffles & dad's huevos rancheros.

we're the family with art. giant framed photos of dad's photos, tio's art, abuelito's art, and of course, more photos from dad.

we're the family with oversized red couches.

we're the family that hosts and entertains. all. the. time. work swim parties, family events, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and every one in-between. oh, and other people's family events, birthdays, and graduations.

the family that set up the giant projector for rockband at christmas. and lotr. haha

we're the family that has something green on the table for every meal, no exceptions.

we're the family the hides Shamrock bullet popcicles in the fridge so they won't get eaten. because in my family, you can dibs and label all you want, but doesn't matter if the person who ate it couldn't read. or was Mom.

we're the family that matches. we match for photos, sometimes matching dresses, ties, etc. we pretty much always coordinate for other outings as a family.

we're the family that has the girls do the boys hair. its just always worked like that.

we're the family with nicknames, ridiculous ones especially for the littles. Ryan = RyRy, Jr., Spartan, etc. Brenna = Chippie, Chip, Bren-dog, BD, etc.

we're the family that always gets a real, giant christmas tree.

the best thing? we're all best friends. literally, totally, 100 percent, each to one another in our own way, but all best friends. and I absolutely adore it.

tastes.

mm. yummy tastes of pictures. and I can't seem to keep them in any type of order, so I'll just explain them as I post them :)

jen & i spent a saturday afternoon shooting, so much fun. she is such a gorgeous girl, and such a wonderful model. I just can't get over it!

my precious little sister, who is almost 12! our family took a day detour to Sedona, one of the most beautiful places arizona. love her

in bend, oregon. one of my favorite vacations ever. my lil baby ryry, my darling brenna. so much fun.

hahahahaha! this picture accurately describes our Fourth of July Prescott trip, Wasson-Marsh style. the boys bought air soft guns, and by boys I mean Erik (18), Hunter (19), Alex (12) and Parker (12). they went a little crazy at our property, army-style, and it was absolutely hilarious to watch!!! I acted as "War Correspondent" and went out in the field, which was dangerous. no seriously. the littler boys convinced my daddy to go out (he totally couldn't resist). hence, this photo, which i adore :)

my favorite boys!

song: fuzzy blue lights, owl city. describes me right now more than i could say.