Portraits of insanity: the 2012 edition...

Round four of the annual Ivins family photo shoot took us up Provo Canyon, which is unbelievably, over-the-top gorgeous in the fall.  

And as luck would have it, the leaves near Aspen Grove and Sundance exploded with color and bedazzlement that very week -- likely a personal thank you gift to us for spending our summer hugging their brothers and sisters in the Pacific Northwest.

A little granola humor for you there.

My former roommate and now fellow MBA wife, Madelyn Wayment, followed my crazy crew around and worked her magic -- capturing our antics with a perfect eye.

Thank heavens she has kids of her own, because many a photographer would have curled up into the fetal position after about ten minutes thanks to my photophobic children.

To be fair, you take a little boy, place him smack dab in the middle of nature with its abundance of twigs and dirt and pebbles and rabid animals, and he's bound to run wild -- no matter how many methods of bribery you attempt.

If we'd let him strip down to his diaper, he would have run into the woods and never come back.

 Oh Jamesy.

All things considered, we were thrilled with how the photos turned out.

Madelyn gave us all the photos from the shoot, and I have to admit, the outtakes are among my very favorites.

Nothing quite like trying to smile while both your children are screaming bloody murder...

Forced family bonding = my forte.

 In the end we bought them lollipops at Sundance because despite their naughtiness, we kind of love them a lot.

Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go hibernate until next year's battle portrait session.