Family: The Hathaways.

I do not even know where to begin when describing the Hathaway family. They are sweet, adorable, beautiful both on the inside and outside, kind-hearted, loving, happy and an all-around wonderful family. The list goes on. I met Sally through a friend in Kansas City in which I was supposed to help her out. However, I never imagined the tables would turn and Sally would be one of the people I would be ever so grateful that I met. She has helped me a tremendous amount in getting the word out about my photography business and bringing new clients to me. I love how supportive she has been and the encouragement she has given me to follow my heart to become not only a photographer but a teacher as well. She is someone I will come back to one day and owe my sincere gratitude for her help and encouragement. Her husband, Brett, is a fun loving guy. You can tell upon meeting him, he thinks the world of his wife, Sally and his beautiful baby girl, Lucy!

Sally's mum, Susan, came along with them as she was visiting in town, which was a lovely treat! I get to photograph her husband and her with their grandchildren in late October, which will be so fun. You can tell when meeting Susan that she just about adores her grandchildren. I love the shot below of Lucy and her on the swing with their eyes closed. It is probably one of my favorites because it speaks volumes for their grandmother and granddaughter relationship and just how special it truly is.

Then, of course, there is Lucy. Sweet and beautiful baby Lucy. She has a smile that makes me stop, stand still and just melt in place. When I met her a few weeks back, I could not get enough of her. She was one of the few babies I have met who was instantly friendly upon meeting her and gave me some of her sweetest smiles. At the end of the session, I actually asked Sally, "Where can I get me one of those (in reference to Lucy)?" I was only kidding. Ok, I was partly kidding. She is really cute incase you can't tell in the pictures below.

Sally and Brett, you have a beautiful family that makes my heart bubble with joy! Seriously. I really enjoyed spending time with the four of you. Lucy is a doll, and I hope you both are ready to beat the boys off her as she grows up because she is absolutely gorgeous! I cannot wait for you to see the rest of the photographs. Enjoy some of my favorites below.

Happy Wednesday!

Shots from the Weekend.

What is your ideal weekend like? I imagine mine being one surrounded by good friends and family, good food, laughter, simplicity, and happiness. This weekend was like what I described. Bryan and I ventured to Silex, Missouri for his humongous family reunion. We got to sleep in BOTH days, which if you know Bryan, is about God's greatest gift to him...ever. I got to edit pictures of a family session I did last week (stay tuned), hang out with his sisters, help make a delicious Mexican feast, bake gluten-free brownies and cookies (who am I kidding, Bryan did most of the baking, I was the taste tester), visit with his brother, sister-in-law, niece, and Baby Savannah, watch movies and read and relax on Saturday which was pure bliss. The picture below of Bryan on the tractor pretty much sums up why we love visiting Liz and Rich (Bryan's mum and stepdad). We absolutely love being in the country and the quietness it sustains. If you ask Bryan, he might add the fact that he gets to do things like driving Rich's tractor. Boys.

We spent Sunday in Pacific with his mum's side of the family for the reunion. There were over 150 people (there were a lot of people missing!), good food, beautiful photo albums of weddings and other memorable events, and wonderful stories being told. At one point during the afternoon, I just stood still to take in the laughter, the happiness, and the fun that I was surrounded by. The pictures below explain why I absolutely love Bryan's family; they are fun, crazy, silly, sweet and kind-hearted and most of all...I can see every bit of what I love in Bryan in his family! It is times like this past weekend that make us miss and savor every minute we are home.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Check back this week as I have a family session of a baby girl name Lucy and her mum and dad that will make your heart melt. Happy Monday!

Hello Fall.

(Picture from the top of Shawnee Mission Park's Observatory Tower last October.)

It is the cool, crisp air like today and walking around the grocery store seeing people in scarves. Maybe it's when I look outside my window and see hints of yellow, orange and red peeping through the trees. It might be the sound of the leaves crunching as you walk over them. Perhaps it is the talk of hot chocolate and pumpkin spice lattes. I bet it is the thought of eating warm, apple pie or pumpkins seeds sprinkled with cinnamon and snuggling on the couch while watching my favorite movie. No, it has to be the excitement everyone around me feels talking about what they want to dress up for Halloween. It could be the scent of the cranberry spice candle. I am sure it is the decorations in stores for the upcoming holidays that somehow seem to arrive in a blink of an eye. It could be one or all of these reasons as to my excitement for Fall this year. I can not exactly figure out how time flew by in the past year, but somehow we are approaching the beginning of Fall and some of my most favorite holidays of the year! I look forward to visiting a pumpkin patch, carving a pumpkin, a visit to the Observatory Tower, photographing families and couples into the heart of Fall, dressing up for Halloween and celebrating Bryan's birthday and Thanksgiving with good friends and our families. To think, this time next year, I will be enjoying the beginning of Fall with my new hubby and be blessed with more moments in my life to be thankful for!

Happy First Day of Fall and Tuesday!

Shots from the Weekend.

Friends are priceless. This is what has been going through my head for the past week. My friends are my second family. The ones here in Kansas City and the ones who are spread out all over the US and overseas. They are the ones who have stuck by me through everything, wiped away tears, seen me at my best and my worst, and have been there to pick me up when I thought I have hit rock bottom. They are the ones who I always feel comfortable with and who love me for being my goofy, kind-hearted, and lovable self. With that said, this past week has been one amazing week thanks to Bryan and my wonderful friends! (Most of my family and Bryan's family live in St. Louis, so it makes it hard to see and be with them for occasions like my birthday.)

Here is a recap of my wonderful 25th birthday celebration last Wednesday. Bryan arranged for us to have dinner at Zest, a wine and bistro restaurant that had the snazziest interior decorations I was swooning over! He even made sure Zest had a gluten-free menu (oh the joys of being a Celiac). We celebrated by toasting with champagne and enjoying a delicious dinner outside on their patio. After dinner, we headed to Mickey's (now Saints) to meet our friends for drinks. There are quite a few events that happened which made me ever so happy on my birthday: birthday wishes from friends and family, taking pictures of an adorable baby boy, receiving lilies and an external hard drive (which I had been saving for!) from Bryan which I spent five minutes squealing and jumping for joy, and spending the evening with our good friends. You must know by now, I love food especially cake! I could eat it all day and everyday. Seriously. This is where my amazing friends, Martha and Kathleen come in. As soon as I left for dinner, they went to work baking delicious gluten-free cupcakes! Love them! So, of course, when they presented me with them that evening at Mickey's, I about died. Literally. I have been cake deprived for three months, so naturally, I ate four of them. Can you blame me?! They were so good! Overall, I loved every moment of my birthday!

As if this was not enough of an awesome week, Bryan, our good friend, Ashley, and I hopped on a plane to see our dearest friends, Susie, Sean, and Holly in Raleigh, North Carolina. What a gorgeous town! I adore Nicholas Sparks writing and his work, and most of his books take place in North Carolina. He was not joking when he describes the scenery of the towns in the state. Beautiful. Holly was the sweetest hostess as she made us feel right at home! Friday night was stayed up until 4 in the morning talking about anything and everything and drinking wine. Oh I miss college and Chi Omega for this very reason! Saturday, we met some friends of ours, Spencer, Jeff, and Jim, and drove two hours to go to one of the two training facilities for the Olympic. (I should mention that we met a few Cardinals fans who worked and lived in North Carolina. We loved it!) We spent the afternoon white water rafting which was a thrilling experience. Sean, Susie, and Bryan spent most of their time in the water than in the raft as the rapids were quite large, and Ashley even got a few wounds from being thrown overboard. Surprisingly, I was able to stay in the raft; I think that was due to me gripping the boat for the dear life of me. However, zip lining was a different story for me. I was doing fine until I got to the top where my heart was pounding, my knees were shaking, and I had tears forming in my eyes. Did I mention I have a fear for heights? That was about the time my friends and Bryan were cheering me on to take the leap and so I did! Afterwards, I was filled with happiness and pretty proud of facing my fear. We spent a majority of the evening laughing at our pictures below, drinking and playing games that made us laugh until our stomachs ached and we had tears in our eyes, and celebrating Ashley's birthday. I am going to quote Susie who said, "I wish we had a bad time so I was happy to leave instead of being sad." This is how we all felt when we said our good-byes before going to bed. I have said it before and I will say it again, I have some of the best friends a gal could ask for!

(P.S. The pictures below were with my point and shoot. I wish I had my SLR, but these ended up being pretty good!)

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Happy Monday!

Babies and Kids: Baby Tim.

I met one year old Tim and his mum, Lisa during the afternoon of my birthday. I couldn't pass an opportunity to photograph this adorable little boy, so I accepted, of course. I should begin by mentioning LIsa is an absolute sweetheart as she remembered it was my birthday, so she brought me some delicious cookies from a bakery in Kansas City! (What did I tell you; I have the sweetest clients!) As for Baby Tim, I do not have words to describe how much I enjoyed spending time with him and his mum on Wednesday afternoon. Prior to my session with him, it was mentioned by a friend that Tim has a nine month old girlfriend named Lucy (who is a doll and I get to photograph her mum, dad, and her in October!), and he will pretty much make my heart melt. Well, as soon as I saw him, I was in a puddle as he surely did make me melt! He is a heartbreaker full of personality. No, seriously. In the one hour I spent with him, I saw him cry, smile, laugh and squeal ever so loudly, take control when he wanted to walk with his mum, and even show me his silly side. Oh and his crawl is quite possibly the cutest thing; he has one foot down and his other knee in the air. Did I mention he is a heartbreaker?! I cannot express how much I enjoy and LOVE photographing babies and little munchkins because they are too cute for words with their expressions! Lisa, you have your work cut out for you; TIm is going to be one handsome boy as he grows up! I hope you enjoy my favorite photographs below; I cannot wait for you to see more from his session.

Bryan and I are Raleigh bound as we are visiting our good friend, Holly, with other friends of ours! It's been awhile since we have all spent some quality time together, so we are looking forward to this weekend getaway with them. Not to mention, after six years of dating, this will be Bryan and I's first time on a plane together and his first trip to North Carolina! I am stoked! I'm sure I will have some great "Shots from the Weekend" so check back Monday!

Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!