NorCal Tough Mudder 2012 - Northstar at Tahoe

Last Saturday, the Tough Mudders converged on Northstar-at-Tahoe for a 10-mile mud run!  Some of last year's team members ran again -- my dad, my brother, uncle Mitch, and our friend Dennis.  New this year were several cousins, who came through with flying colors!  (And lots of mud!)


I'll post more on Facebook, but here are some highlights...

 

Almost at the end of the course...my parents were glad to see each other :)

 

Getting ready to run up the Everest obstacle

 

Jason and Chris...haha, they made it look so easy...

 

Ready to help the rest of the team up

 

My dad and Bekah

 

Group shot before the final obstacle (just in case we lost a few to the electroshocks!)

 

The final obstacle: Electroshock Therapy.  Of course Chris went through airplane style for maximum shocks.  :P

 

Dennis

 

Bekah

 

Last obstacle down!  Muddy and very happy!

 

 

Getting their official orange headbands after crossing the finish line

 

Tough Mudder style: mohawk (well, faux hawk) and the turtleneck headband (prevents sunburn).

Dennis is one of the strongest guys I know...after running ten miles and climbing 20 obstacles, he still had energy for this...

 

 

Joan (Dennis' wife) and my cute mom!

One of the shoe donation piles

Very proud of all these tough folks!  :)
 

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer

Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Carla and Kevin were married on Saturday!  It was last fall when we got together for their engagement session at UC Davis, and now the big day has finally come...I've been looking forward to photographing this wedding for quite a while!

I've been sitting here trying to narrow down a huge collection of photos from this wonderful day, and it's really hard!  So here's just a sneak peek to begin with, and a more complete blog post will be on its way in a couple days.  Enjoy!

Kevin and Carla's "First Look" on their wedding day.  Love the anticipation on his face!

 

And on her face...

 

It's wonderful to see my cousin so happy. And my new cousin, her husband!

 

Then we went to the Capitol grounds and spent a while there...I can't think of many better places to photograph a wedding party!!  Green grass, flowers, filtered sunlight, and trees of all shapes and sizes.  Can't wait to share more of these.

 

More later!

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer

Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Yosemite - Ostrander Lake

A few weeks ago, some friends and I got together for a backpacking trip to Ostrander Lake in Yosemite.  Such good times!!! My family and I have backpacked in Yosemite for many years, and this is one of our favorite places to go when we just want to relax and have fun.  So I figured it would be the perfect place to take friends!  I know there are way too many photos here, but hey, I got tired of trying to decide...  :)

 

Rachel stalking a chipmunk

 

Chris brought TWO boxes of mangos!! And pineapples!

 

We ate well.  Really well.  Really, really well!  This is Jay's amazing mango salsa...it went on some fabulous fish tacos.

 

Of course.  ;)

 

This trip was heavy on photographers...hehe... ;)

 

Our amazing camp chef!

 

Rob's "Steri-Pen" -- which I may be investing in soon -- way faster than iodine.

I love seeing the Milky Way up here.

 

 

 

Sunrise

 

Chris says "every rock has a center".  He found the center of quite a few of them. ;)

 

Some very happy feet by the lake...but you can see the storm clouds rolling in...

 

...and yes, it rained, and I dug a whole lot of little trenches around the girls' tent.  It worked.

 

Drying out by a massive campfire the guys built.

 

God is so good...the rain cleared up and we had a beautiful sunset!

 

And the good food continues...we had caramelized apples on oatmeal the next morning.

 

And the rain came back.  This is our "pathetic" face.  (We weren't really all that wet.)

 

But then it cleared up for the hike back out...

...and we found a field of beautiful wildflowers...

 

 

 

Took a visit to Washburn Point.  I never get tired of this view!  Here are Vernal and Nevada Falls in all their late-afternoon glory.

 

Chris, being Chris...

 

Last light on Clouds Rest (beyond Half Dome)

God's beautiful creation always leaves me awed, with a renewed sense of my own smallness.  And grateful that the one who made all this -- just by saying "Let there be..." -- wants to be with me and have adventures together every day.  Simply mind-blowing!

If you want to see more photos, you can check Facebook...I have more to post there.  :)

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer

Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook