solstice frost.

dec 22. 5 am, we're up, and soon on the road. we drive through small central valley farm towns and watch the sun light up the earth.

it's 27 degrees in yosemite. bridalveil falls is mostly ice. the ice breaks off and crashes on the rocks, thundering across the silent frozen valley.

brother half dome framed by bare branches and yellow grass.

this awe-some place can be felt so fully and condensed in this winter; this crowd-less time.

we spent a good hour just crashing the ice on the frozen river with sticks and rocks. now that's fun.


we were cold. it was good, just to be cold and hike around by our lone selves, see the frozen waterfalls and feel the stark wild of the land and the barren restfulness of the season.

merry winter.

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO YOU! (and a year in review..)

dear family and friends, merry christmas! now, tis the season of awesomely detailed family christmas letters....and we wanted to get involved.

since 11' was the first year we spent as the casper family we thought we'd get domestic and send out a “christmas card,” complete with family photos and indulgent updates, but in our own unconventional yet loving way: thank you, internet. sorry, postal service. (photo above: neighbors in town really know what christmas is about.)

(we've been doing our own decorating...) it's been a whole year, another rotation around the sun!

(our latest family photo) is every one feeling reflective?

we are, and here are some of the year's highlights...(there were so many wonderful pictures to illustrate..) we saw many mountains (carson pass, ca)

enjoyed the prospect of a baby, and all of the learning and research that comes with it...


(us, being goofs) explored together...

(tyler, on cool tree...just know that for every upside down photo there was me, dolly, trying really hard to flip it...) went to yosemite a few times, and will probably enjoy another trip before the year is up...


(4th of july) enjoyed holidays..
(hike with the beatty's in utah) appreciated many different awesome waterfalls...


read lots of good and interesting books...
(belly and salt flats...) made the trip to utah and back three times in just over 4 weeks... phew.



(mammoth, ca) did more hiking/camping...
and more hiking/camping....

(zucchini bread) and probably lots of cooking/eating, our favorite.


(taken from the sac airport tower...) tyler loves birds, airplanes, radio waves, the sky.



(concrete slides we found, with cardboard sleds...) we're continuing to explore roseville, to find whatever coolness it might have. we might know the town better than most natives now.

(tyler and teddy at denio's market) and dont forget the thrifting....


(wendy, teddy, me, willow.) or the green grassy forest where we play with our cousins...



(teddy's 4th birthday) we made trips to the sea.. ...and desert and city and forest....


pretended the neighbor cat was ours...


we GOT MARRIED xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo may 21 2011 (tastiest cake ever, made by my sister jessica)

did some backyard gardening (with future hopes to encroach upon the deity of the front suburban lawn...)

rode many miles as a family...



(alyssa came to visit 9/'11) got haircuts in the garage...


played in the winter sun...

(8/'11 lehman caves) went underground...

did more camping and kayaking


greeted every new season and change in our lives

and found a lot of love.



we went on a lot of different road trips/camping trips in the past months and saw a lot of beautiful places, we've visited with our families, and grew together in our own. a baby boy will be here beginning of march and we are very, very happy. we send out our love and hope that everyone enjoys a peaceful and blessed year to come.
Mosiah 3:8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

we are thankful for the Prince of Peace, and the tidings of comfort and joy He brings.
JOY TO THE WORLD, LET HEAVEN AND NATURE SING.
love, the caspers xoxo

nesting, maybe, and the boys, plus names.

tyler and teddy. teddy loves ty, and it makes me inexplicably happy to see them happy together. (at tyler's sister's house in october.)







this is a photo of a photo of the growing baby boy. looks like an angel. he and i are both growing very well.



sorry this is upside-down, but it's the best tweedle-dum belly you've ever seen, while we were painting. baby portrait.








tiny dusty flower-like forms on a leaf. tyler insists it's some toxic mold. he could be right.





who wouldn't want this helper around? he and i both know there is something really satisfying about sucking a bunch of crud up and hearing it crunch through the hose.






the baby's journal; i write in it occasionally, like when he's kicked me awake. i write things about me and ty, so at least the voices of his twenty-something parents is preserved. he'll just always see us as "grown-up," or "big," or "old," and not young once like him, etc etc. i'm sure he'll enjoy it when he's older. ... some of the last entry: "dear baby boy- so, the ultrasound we took last month indicated "male." and we love that. (((exit: up until then i told every one i was having a girl, so the ultrasound was a fun event...))) we sleep in my cozy bed, belly round because you are growing so well- tyler keeps his hand on my belly, and you kick, kick, kick. how could this be? we are all so very happy to have you near.....




(before pic.) ...the last couple of days we have been painting your and teddy's room. the previous color was an abomination, and now, it's not. it'll be easy on your baby eyes. painting is a chore though, no lie...




(during. teddy's mustache is, for reals, from a blended chard drink.) ...at this point we're naming you lincoln- we hope that's okay. i personally think it's a pretty cool name- strong, unique, american (baby, i am enamored of all ideals native to this wild, free, and beautiful continent, particularly american transcendentalism and the LAND.) ...




(after. the color is a little deeper in the day light, but a job well done i'd say.) ...tyler is also related to a. lincoln, and it doesnt hurt to mention that we admire this noble man's life. for me, the name lincoln evokes the feelings one gets from counting rings on a log, or big and small towns....."


more to come about our research into home birth, teddy, and the family christmas card done e-style. xoxoxo

small wonders...

(i am grateful for what I am and have. my thanksgiving is perpetual. it is surprising how contended one can be with nothing definite - only a sense of existence...my wealth is not possession, but enjoyment.. henry david thoreau)

after (above photo). so much more space to try to dig in a little deeper and harvest more. i've adjusted to suburbia, at least much more than this summer. i know that we can still live unaffected by what's around us with extra diligence and creative resistance.
tyler and i ripped up ugly old plants. with my honda. it might've been excessive, but it was wholly satisfying.
expansion of body. miracle. so cozy in stretchy clothes. only three months left or so, and it's been a peaceful, wonderful time. yoga to connect with the growing, creating body, and what my body is capable of. to become aware, and see inside. (the proclivity of our regeneration.)
(yellow coral fungus.) grows out of the pines needles. no misnomer here.
placerville with m, a true friend, and dinner with her family.
this guy/gal really loves to chomp on my rose. he/she has been there for about two weeks.
foggy walk, water's smoke. the maples scatter gold the on the ground. we love a good fertile mushroom hunt.
hard to indentify, but clearly loving the decaying toyan leaf.
nothing like a good ramble.
dinner at the folk's. bonny and sean think this photo is clever. it was a cozy evening of chirades and the like.
tyler and teddy both like to examine long pieces of grass, exploring near roseville.


wendell berry said that to treat life as less than a miracle was to give up on it.
my thanksgiving is daily; perpetual. a bouncing, healthy four year old with a fresh perspective, and who offers the best of companionship; a mate who listens, entertains, contributes, and is nothing less than a bright, shining light in my life- callouses on my hands, celebrating the every day, feeling life inside of me, growing up within a large family in the woods. et cetera infinitum.