Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Bryan and I. May it be full of spookiness, fun and sweet!

Family: The Careys.

We found it! It's got a beautiful backyard with a little creek. A sun room with a fireplace. A kitchen so big and earthy looking it makes me swoon with joy. Stairs that are incredibly gorgeous. A breath room that we can read in with the fire going. The best part is how open the floor plan is to give it a great flow. Can you believe it has ALL of this?!

Alright, I guess I should confess the truth. This is not our home. This is the Carey family's home. Their brand new home! When Mollie asked me to do some pictures of her family and her in their new home, I was delighted. What I didn't know was that their new home is the dream home Bryan and I hope to build one day. It was absolutely beautiful. What made this home go from beautiful to gorgeous was the personal touches that Mollie and Jeff put throughout their home and the personalities of them and their boys. Did I mention they have two ADORABLE little boys, Joseph and Nate, who have an immense amount of energy? When Bryan and I got out of our cars, both of the Carey boys were standing in the doorway, jumping up and down, and welcoming us into their new home. I was instantly in love with them. I loved how much they made me laugh throughout the session; they would stand behind me and make their parents laugh by being goofy. They guided me to the creek and showed me some of the neat things they liked to do. They even showed me how cool they were when riding their bikes.

Cute and sad story: while the boys were riding their bikes, Nate's bike fell apart (see some of the pictures below). I captured a picture of how devastated he was when it fell apart. It was quite possibly the cutest, sweetest, and saddest of emotions I have experienced at my session. He was such a trooper, gave Mollie a hug, Joseph gave him his bike (sweet kid!), and was in no time laughing and riding Joseph's bike.

All in all, the visit to the Carey home was a success. We found our dream home, laughed a lot, had our hearts melt by the adorable boys, and formed four friendships! To Mollie and Jeff, you have a gorgeous family and home; your boys are quite precious! I hope you enjoy my favorites.

I will be posting a sneak peak of my costume tomorrow, but definitely stay tuned to next week as I will have some great Shots from the Weekend and lots of family goodness coming your way!

Happy Friday!

Babies and Kids: Ryenn and Riley.

I wish I was seven again. Why you ask? So, maybe, just maybe, I could dress up in CUTE outfits like the ones Ryenn and Riley had on! When Ryenn and Riley stepped out of their car, I was completely in love with their outfits. What made me love these two even more was the fact that they were polite, they didn't fuss or complain once (seriously), they would do exactly as I asked and they were so sweet to one another. I should add that it was in the 40s when we did their session and as you can see they were sporting skirts. Yet, not a complaint of the cold slipped either of their mouths. So, by the end of the session, I was in complete awe by these two girls. I hope if I ever have two little girls, they turn out like Ryenn and Riley because these two were so sweet! Lisa, I hope your family and you enjoy some of my favorites. I'm sure you know this already, but your husband and you are completely blessed to have two adorable girls like Ryenn and Riley!

Family: The Mercers.

I thought, this was going to be a challenge. Four kids. Four adults. The cold weather. It would all be a challenge. I had the opportunity of doing a BIG family session with the Mercer Family last Friday. Ken and Margaret with their two adorable girls, Madelyn and Lila, flew to cold Kansas City from warm California. They were visiting Mike, Renee, and their two precious boys, Alex and Brady, for the weekend! When Renee contacted me about doing a session with all of them, I kept thinking this was going to be a challenge. I had to get all four adults and all four kids to look my way when needed, to get them situated the way I wanted them, capture their personalities, not to mention have all four kids battle the VERY cold weather that day.

However, they were the sweetest family, and they made what seemed like a challenge become something very easy and fun! I had so much fun getting to know each of them, and the kids were full of energy despite the very cold weather that day! If you can't already tell through my favorite pictures from their session, they are a gorgeous family and their kids are ever so precious! I loved their outfits! Not to mention, it melts my heart seeing how happy kids get from feeding the ducks some cereal or playing on a playground. It reminds adults to see life through their eyes: fun, full of life, and enjoying the little things that can make you happy! The Mercer children did just this for me that day.

To Mike, Renee, Ken and Margaret, I hope you enjoy some of my favorites below. The rest turned out just as fun and cute!

Happy Wednesday!

Spooky.

It's a tradition of ours. Pumpkin carving that is. No matter how busy we are, we make sure we visit the pumpkin patch and carve a pumpkin. We're big on celebrating holidays. Bryan's favorite aspect of Halloween is dressing up as something crazy or funny. This year was his choice of what we were going to dress up like. He chose well! I will be giving you a sneak peak of parts of my costume Saturday. However, my favorite aspect of Halloween is feeding my sweet tooth. I love chocolate and sugar. I know. It's bad. I feel like from October through February, it is my right to be excused from eating healthy. Again, I know this is bad. It does not help that I watch the Food Network while editing and this week is full of yummy Halloween treats. It's torture I tell you.

I got a bit side-tracked with the sugar talk. Back to pumpkin carving. This is a favorite of ours to do every year especially Bryan, which makes sense since he is doing most of the work. I, however, love making delicious snacks with the pumpkin seeds. I love food. What's new. So, I decided to make a batch with cinnamon and brown sugar and another batch with Worcestershire sauce and chili seasoning. They turned out quite delicious and all of it was gluten-free!

Enjoy some shots I took of our fun night of fall festivities.

Newborn: Baby Logan

As I walked through the Stockwell's front door, there he was in Janae's arms. He was sweet and handsome. He didn't fuss or cry. His feet made my heart melt. He had the cutest sleeping positions. Every inch of him was adored by Tyler and Janae. Baby Logan was welcomed into this world exactly two weeks from today.

One of my favorite things to witness as a photographer is watching how much parents can't get enough of their precious newborn baby and are so happy being a family. Tyler and Janae are two people who fit this perfectly. I loved watching how they interacted with Logan. Not to mention, the love they showed to one another. I have to send a special shout out to both of them for being amazing parents who trust me as a photographer and person. As you can see in two of my pictures, I did some shots with Logan wrapped in a blanket in one of the shelves of the bookcase. Logan was only a week and half old when I did this session, so for them to trust me and actually let me do this was just plain amazing to me. It made me love them even more! Don't worry though because we were all just outside the picture frame ready to catch him incase he rolled over!

Tyler and Janae, I hope you enjoy some of my favorites below. They turned out great, and I hope you are having so much fun with your precious little angel! He's adorable and is going to grow up to be one handsome boy.

Shots from the Weekend.

Passions. The dictionary defines it as a powerful emotion or object. I have many, but I have five that pretty much define the person I am. I adore anything art and photography, children of all ages, helping people, being with my friends and family, and food. Yes, food! Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE food. All kinds of food. I think in another life, I was or will be a chef.

This weekend I got a glimpse of what it would be like to be a chef. To be a Paula Dean, Rachel Ray, or Giada De Laurentiis. I have been so busy with photography sessions and other aspects of my life that I am unable to cook homemade meals all the time. Well, Bryan and I decided not to let that happen this weekend. Aside from meeting and photographing the adorable and beautiful families, enjoying the gorgeous weather, running errands, watching movies and reading, we got the chance to make some of our favorite comfort foods. I saw an episode of Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals where she made a Florence-inspired meal. We altered some of the recipes, but OH. MY. GOODNESS. did it turn out to being delicious! If you go here, you can get the recipe for her Spinach Fettuccini with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce and Puttanesca Tomato Salad with Fried Capers. I promise it is simple to make and delicious and full of flavor to eat. You won't be disappointed. Last night, we decided to use some of the leftover pasta sauce from the previous night to make more of the pasta and accompany it with acorn squash. I used some butter, brown sugar, and syrup to add some sweet flavor. It made a delicious desert! Overall, this weekend was fabulous, and I can speak for our stomachs and say they are VERY happy!

Stay tuned this week as you won't want to miss out on some CUTE families and a newborn baby!

Happy Monday!

(PIctures were lost due to some complications. Sorry!)

Family: The Bojanskis.

Oh. My. Goodness. This family is adorable! Ava and Chase melted my heart on a Thursday morning. Ava was my kind of a girl. She was cute, had the most adorable outfit on, and loved her little brother as it showed in the pictures. She is going to be a great big sister! Chase gave me some shy smiles, had a face that makes me melt in a puddle, and had shoes that would definitely make Bryan jealous (they were the cutest cowboy boots)! I imagine dressing my kids someday in the same kind of outfits as these two were rocking! Chuck and Jamie are an amazing couple. They know how to have fun and laugh together, and they know just how to make their kids smile! Ava and Chase adore them, and I can only imagine this family growing closer and closer over the years! Chuck and Jamie, I hope you enjoy some of my favorites below. You have an adorable family, and it was my pleasure to meet and photograph all of you!

Happy Friday! Stay tuned next week as I have more eye-candy headed your way! Have an awesome weekend!