If you’re a Utah wedding and family photographer with three kids, a marriage anniversary, and a client roster that somehow stretched from coast to coast this summer, you already know: “how did that go by so fast” isn’t just a phrase, it’s a lifestyle. Every year around this time, I sit down and try to make sense of the last three months — and every year, I end up laughing at how much can happen in a single summer. This year might take the cake. Buckle up, because it’s a lot.

The Kids, In Order of Chaos Caused

Summer kicked off with a bang — literally. Brady broke his wrist and needed pins, which is one kind of adventure, and then turned around and turned 16, getting his driver’s license, which is a completely different (and honestly bigger) kind of adventure — mostly for me. Our summer looked a little different with a kid who couldn’t hit the pool or go wakeboarding and needed help showering. We survived it. We laughed about it. I will not be elaborating further.

Charlee, meanwhile, joined a new soccer team and is absolutely thriving. She also mastered the art of sleeping until 11am like it’s her full-time job, and by her own account, had the best summer of her life — including a solo trip to grandma’s and a week at church camp at UVU, complete with dorm life. Watching her come into her own this summer, more independent and more herself, was one of my favorite parts of the whole season.

Blaine decided one sport wasn’t enough, so he added baseball to soccer, because apparently free time is for other families. He had a cousin sleepover up in Midway with two full days of boating and fishing, and did every single camp we could scrape together the funds for — gotta keep this kid busy. But the real headline of Blaine’s summer? My lifelong 6:30am-no-alarm early riser slept in until 7:30 or 8am. We threw him a parade. Okay, not really. But we probably should have.

The World Cup Basically Moved In

On top of the usual summer chaos, the World Cup basically became a member of our household. We watched every single game as a family, had a poster up in our living room through the knockout stages, and collected every World Cup cup McDonald’s offered — don’t ask how many times a month we ate there, I already regret answering that question for myself. It became its own kind of summer tradition, and honestly, some of my favorite memories from these months are just the five of us on the couch, yelling at a screen together.

The Actual Job Part of My Summer

Between the wrist pins, the driver’s license, the soccer, the baseball, the camps, and the World Cup marathon, I also happened to have the busiest season I’ve ever had as a photographer. I photographed clients and friends back East, in California, all over Texas, and up and down Utah. Newborns, maternity sessions, proposals, families, missions, senior photos, a quinceañera, weddings, corporate events, and yes — baby announcements too. If you can name it, I’ve probably shot it this summer.

There’s something about a season this full that reminds me why I love this work in the first place. Every single one of those sessions was a family or a couple living their own version of this same beautiful chaos — their own broken wrists and driver’s licenses, their own soccer seasons and World Cup obsessions, their own “how did we get here” moments. Getting to be the person who shows up and captures that, exactly as it is, real and unposed and a little messy, never gets old.

17 Years, 18 Together, Almost 19 Known

And then there’s the big one. We celebrated 17 years of marriage this summer, which means we’ve been together 18 years, and I’ve known him for almost 19. Nineteen. Years. That still absolutely boggles my mind. Somewhere between the pins and the parades and the client sessions, that milestone is the one that actually stopped me in my tracks this summer.

Exactly How I Like It

That’s my summer in a nutshell — chaotic, busy, full, and honestly? Exactly how I like it. Okay, well, maybe next year we can tone down the chaos a little.

If there’s one thing this season reminded me, it’s that the real moments — the broken wrists, the early wake-ups that finally stopped, the couch nights yelling at a World Cup match — are the ones worth holding onto. That’s exactly the kind of moment I want to capture for you too, whether it’s a newborn session, a family gathering, or the wedding day itself.

So, how has your summer been? I’d genuinely love to know — and if fall is looking like the season you finally want those real, unposed, “exactly as you are” photos, I’d love to be the one behind the camera for it.

P.S. If we’re not friends on IG yet so you can keep track of my chaotic life, I’d love to be friends with you! @brookebakken