This & That...

I can't fall asleep tonight for some reason, so I'm up at the wee hours typing away, talking to you blogging world. :)



I've been reminiscing a lot this summer, about my childhood. I keep hearing all of these 80's songs or 60's songs that take me back... I just loved summer as a kid! I grew up on a big piece of land and my cousins lived about a 1/2 mile down the road, so us kids got to play together a lot. Chelsi, Sasha & I would make up dances to music and we always had the radio on! "Turn that radio up, for that sweet sound, hold me close never let me go..." Sorry, I got carried away just then!

Anyway, I had a great childhood! And I have so many fun memories. I'm truly grateful that my parents worked so hard to give my brothers and I the gift of a rich childhood... rich in friendships, rich in connected family, and rich in putting Jesus at the center of it all, giving me a clearer perspective of what matters.


We've been having a great summer so far with the kids, soaking up all of their cuteness! :)





This is a tree house out at my dad and step-mom's place (above). Isn't it cute?
And here's Selah playing with her Granddad on the slide...


Jude's kind of past the Thomas the Train phase, but we still had fun going on a train ride last weekend. :)


And finally, when we were down celebrating Father's Day with family, I noticed our old trampoline out in my dad's side yard. I had forgotten about it and overlooked it sitting there the past few years. My brothers, Dad and I all ended up out there jumping around and we had such a great time remembering all the fun "tricks" we did on the trampoline (14) years ago! Oh my goodness... I started jumping and just had to flip. I wondered if I could even do it, and it was like riding a bike... I must have done 30 flips. :) We were laughing a lot. I forgot what a work out it was to jump around for an hour too! Family snapped these photos of Matt & me and I just love the memories they bring back...
Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Baby Evan

Little baby Evan is a baby I love to hold! I've seen him a couple times since he was born and I just can't get enough of his sweetness. He smells like a perfect little newborn.

Look at this face... this shot needs a caption. :)








A kiss from Dad.

Rachel & Josh: Portland Wedding Photography

If you remember Josh and Rachel from their engagement shoot, they were the couple that loved to laugh together. Laughter, as expected, was a big part of their wedding day. They have amazing family and friends, and it made for a truly fun, relaxed wedding! And didn't they pick such a great color scheme?

(For those of you who love photography, we shot this entire wedding indoors without flash. The 5D Mark II rocked. The sanctuary had a black ceiling, and the ceremony was mostly candle lit, so I didn't think it made sense to have flashes going off all over the place distracting guests. I obviously bumped my ISO up quite a bit, but I was impressed that the grain/noise wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.)

I was so happy to get to be a part of this event and I'm so glad Rachel & Josh asked me to capture it. Blessings on you two!!




The guys cracked me up with their kung-fu pose...

Katie & Zach: Engagement Shoot

I'm really looking forward to Katie & Zach's wedding this summer! I can already tell it's going to be fun! We're going to take their wedding portraits downtown Portland on their big day, so they wanted to mix things up and do their engagement session in a greener setting. And Katie showed up looking so beautiful in her dress and heels.
I just love love how these two interact. They're definitely best friends!

So Free

When I was growing up we had horses and I loved it! I loved all things horses. I use to spend hours in my room tracing pictures of horses. And my friend Jeana and I would ride horses in the pastures by our house, and even got so brave as to ride bareback and slide down the necks of our horses to dismount. It was a lot of fun. Eventually life changed and we didn't have horses anymore and some years went by before I got on a horse again. One summer I went with a friend to Sunriver and we went on a trail ride and I ended up with a wild horse that took off running from the slow paced trail group with me holding on for my life. That spooked me enough to not want to ride again. Since then I've only been on a horse one or two times to my mother's dismay because she eats, sleeps and breathes horses. :)

Anyway, this weekend we were down visiting family to celebrate Josh's 30th birthday and just as we had arrived at my mom's house in the evening, her friend Jennifer went out to the pasture and was riding her horse bareback. I had to take some pictures. I also snapped a couple shots of my mom's horse Pia (the blond hair horse).







This is Pia.







And I just liked these two random shots. :)

Chair for Sale

I'm selling my sweet chair I bought last year for some photo shoots. I only used it a hand full of times. I debated recovering it in some really cute vibrant color and using it for kid sessions this summer, but I realistically won't have the time to do it with my busy schedule. Rats, because I love a project!
If anyone out there wants it for $50 let me know.

Gotta get me some gold foil pants!

Ok, so I'm ready to join one of these random dance groups! Where do I sign up? Only, I want to dance to an 80's Michael Jackson song! :)



Speaking of Michael Jackson, this is so random, but Josh wears white socks to work a lot of days with his dress jeans and black dress shoes. His co-worker Dan often calls him Michael because of it. But now he just says, "Ow!" (in classic, high pitch MJ voice) when he spots Josh's almost daily fashion trend. Cracks me up!

Lauren & Family

I love shooting at new locations and love when I show up for a shoot and am surprised by so many great little spot to choose from! This family lives on a really pretty piece of property and have lots of space for little Lauren to run and play. She loves to be outdoors and was so easy to photograph. Here are some of my favorites.














"Catch you guys later!" :)