(And I’m not even talking about the birthday cake!)

It was so much fun watching these sweet girls during their first birthday session. For me, it seemed more like a play date than work!

Although a little tentative at first, these precious twin girls took no time to warm up for the camera.

The cake was a HUGE hit with one particular, bright-eyed sister… can you pick out which one?

Happy 1st birthday, sweet girls!

Sadly, this was the first Christmas we didn’t have our daughter home. I have to admit… it was a tough one!

I was doing just fine until the song “All I Want For Christmas is You” came on. I was merrily singing along until the following lyrics hit like a ton of bricks:

“Oh I don’t want a lot for Christmas….This is all I’m asking for… I just want to see my baby… Standing right outside my door”.

I was undone… I burst into tears!

(Now I know the song is referring to the opposite sex, but if you’re a mom, you get it. They will always be “your baby”!)

Don’t get me wrong, I was genuinely delighted that Taylor and Nate were able to spend Christmas with Nate’s family in the Pacific Northwest. It was just bittersweet because we would have loved for them to be here too! I remind myself that I have two sons and I would hope their future wives would desire to “share” the holidays with us!

I’m trying to catch up on some of my posts from 2011 and I’m totally being a sappy mom with this one! I photographed Taylor, Nate, Dillon & Dexter in Maryland when I was visiting them in October.

So if you’re reading this, Taylor… know how much you and Nate are loved and missed! xoxo

I photographed this amazing family in 2011 and just loved capturing the relationships between a mother, a father and their three precious little girls!

Thank you Travis and Wendy for allowing me to photograph your beautiful family.

They decided to combine their Mini Premiere Session into part Christmas photos as well as capturing their kids 5 and 7 old year pics.

I absolutely LOVE taking pictures of kids at this age. They are part shy, silly and many times totally uninhibited!

Thanks so much Marty and Debra for trusting me to photograph your beautiful family! (And for bearing the cold weather!)

(Actually, I am dreaming of a white Christmas… I keep telling my husband I would love to spend a Christmas in the snow!)

I have been photographing the White family since their first baby was born five years ago!

Fast forward to their adorable third little one and it’s a recipe for lots of FUN!

I just love these two pictures of Averi! They totally show her personality… very strong and determined!!

I think one of the best parts of being a portrait photographer are the relationships that develop and grow throughout the years.

Take Lyndi & Scott. I had the privilege of photographing their engagement session, their wedding, and now their beautiful baby girl, Aliya. How blessed am I?

Aliya just turned 4 weeks old the day of her session. She was so expressive and quite the little trooper!

Aliya’s dad is an amazing, gifted musician… my boys just about put him into the idol category! It was so fun bringing part of his world into their newborn session!

Thank you Scott and Lyndi… for trusting me to capture such treasured events of your lives.

I had such a blast photographing this amazing extended family. Grandma and Grandpa were surrounded by their children and grandchildren… and lots of love!

Their 5 grandchildren’s ages… well, this is where the crazy comes in… two 3 year olds, a two year old, a 7 month and a 4 month old!

Want to know the biggest hit of the session? My step ladder! Yep, it’s kind of like watching your little ones play with all of the wrapping paper, ribbon and boxes at Christmas instead of the actual toy… go figure!

I have had the privilege of photographing many of these grandchildren from newborn on up… I am so blessed!

Dont’ forget to take a look at their custom video at the end! I had fun mixing in some live video with the pictures!

Enjoy!

If viewing from an iPhone, iPad or mobile device, click HERE.

I was so excited for the opportunity to take Selana’s portrait for her upcoming Quinceañera! Her dress was absolutely gorgeous as was she. After “taking care of business” and getting her formal shots, we had a blast just playing around!

Congratulations, Selena, on this special time in your life! You are truly beautiful… bot inside and out!

{Take a peak at Selena’s video at the end of the post!}

If viewing from an iPad or iPhone or unable to play video, click HERE.

We then travelled the Kancamagus Highway where we saw spectacular views of fall foliage and enjoyed scattered showers that seemed to know just the right time to sprinkle and when to hold off… just for us! We hiked (I know, some of you are allowed to be amazed right now!) to Sabbaday Falls, Albany Covered Bridge and Lilly Pond.

I hope you enjoy a few of the images I took along the way!

You can imagine my excitement as I embark on a trip of a lifetime to New England in the fall!

My sister, Julie, just retired from 30 years of teaching. (Shout out to Julie… she’s an AMAZING teacher!) To celebrate this major milestone in her life, she has spent the last year planning a fall trip to New Hampshire, Maine, New York and Maryland. Of course, we didn’t want her to celebrate alone… so my mom, my sister, Becky, and my daughter, Taylor, are joining her! (I know… it’s a tough sacrifice, isn’t it?)

I’d love for you to join me as our journey leads us through breathtaking views of fall foliage, covered bridges and whatever our car (and my camera) discovers!

NEW ENGLAND TRIP {day 1}

My trip began Sunday, October 2 as I packed my bag (o.k… bags) and said my goodbyes to my family. I have to say, it was rather an unusual and abrupt start…

After rolling out of bed, I passed our new little family member, Maddie, curled up on a pillow on our floor. (We rescued this sweet little 2 year old Mini Schnauzer from the shelter… more on her later!). I just couldn’t resist… I curled up on the floor beside her to give her a little snuggle!

Knowing I had to leave in an hour, I excitedly hopped up to finish getting ready. However, within minutes of standing up, I experienced a sharp pain on my… um… (o.k., all pride aside)… my backside! The pain was intensifying as were my efforts to figure out what was going on. Then suddenly, I had the horrible thought that I was the victim of some sort of bite. I grabbed a flashlight and lo and behold, a scorpion was standing his ground right where I was laying!

What are the odds? I was due at the airport in less than an hour and just experienced my first scorpion sting… on my bum! I immediately searched out info on the internet as my husband, Neil, corralled the little pest in a cup. Most of the information was reassuring, saying there are over 60 different species in Arizona but only one that can cause problems.. the Arizona tree bark scorpion… “The bark scorpion is nocturnal, prefers to ambush its prey, and usually feeds on crickets or roaches”… eew!

I called the Arizona Poison Control Center (dreading the question…”and where did you get bit?”), and the kind, knowledgable gentleman on the line confirmed that it was a tree bark scorpion and reassured me that other than experiencing some extremely uncomfortable pain, tingling and numbness, I’ll be just fine. He also said that the worst part will be the next six hours… great, that covers the entire time I’ll be traveling, sitting on the airplane, sitting on my…

Well, I’m happy to say I survived the flight, although it was extremely long and uncomfortable! But the rainbow at the end of the “storm” was made up of beautiful fall colors from right outside our room’s window!

Thanks for taking the time to join me! More to come…