Memories...

This is one of my favorite pictures from my childhood. It's a picture of my older brother Matt and me, I'm pretty sure it's from 1983. I would've been 3 1/2 & Matt would've been almost 5. Isn't he the cutest boy?! I have a lot of memories from this early part of my life, actually. And Halloween always makes me think of a couple of good ones!

1. Around this time one year, when we were living in this little neighborhood, there was a big rain storm. It was surprisingly still warm outside, and all of us neighbor kids ran out into the rain and played in the street. It was so much fun to get totally soaked and not be freezing cold. I remember coming into the house after playing and there was a warm fire burning in the fireplace, and my mom was curled up on the couch by the large front window. I'm sure she'd been watching us play right there in front of the house. It was that wonderful, cozy fall feeling, and the joy of being a kid all wrapped in one! (It's crazy to think I'm the age my mom was now!)

2. The other memory I always think of around Halloween is going to my Grandma Gayle & Granddad's house after mid-week evening church. Their walkway up to their house was always speckled with slugs (just like my front step is on fall evenings today!) and when we'd approach their warmly lit home, I'd often see them in their living room with the lamp on, reading. That time of year for Halloween Grandma Gayle would always give us dried bananas, and dried pears & apples from her orchard. She always had a bowl of these on her dining table too.

I feel so blessed to have had such a special childhood, rich in family and friends, and I hope my kids have the same!

Thank you Dad & Janet for emailing this photo to me! :)

My Little Cowboy, Princess Fairy, & Pea Pod

Josh's office is having their annual Halloween Party today, so the kids were excited to put on their costumes to go! My Grandma gave the kids all sorts of adorable dress up clothes last year for Christmas, so I told them they could pick a favorite to wear for Halloween this year. Jude wanted to be a cowboy, and Selah a princess fairy. She technically is wearing lady buy wings from last year, but when I told her that she informed me they were princess fairy wings. So yes they are! :) She's such a sweet thing. I love how her little mind works! And Jude reminds me of my brother Matt at this age... I believe he was a cowboy for Halloween about this same age... hmmm, I'll try to find that photo of Matt and me from this same age and post it on Monday.

I bought this Pea in the Pod costume for Jude when he was a tiny baby but never used it... so five years later I'm so excited to finally get to use it! Benjamin, you are so cute I could eat you, my plump little pea. :)

Happy Friday!

Yum...

One of my favorite fall/winter snacks is frozen blueberries with chocolate chips! (We pick an insane amount of blueberries every year and freeze them, so I think when the cold weather hits I feel a little bit of blueberry pressure every time I open the freezer and see all of those gallon bags staring at me! Gotta make sure they get eaten before summer comes! Oh the stress! Ok, not really stressful. More like, oh the blueberry-chocolate bliss!) :)

I'm usually not much of a chocolate person, but I love fruit! And there's something about the frozen berries that makes the chocolate cold and "crunchy" and it's a winning combo! Yuh-um.

A fabulous fall day...

Brooke and Geoff have a beautiful piece of property and I always enjoy getting to shoot out at their place and spend a little time with them and their adorable family!

Their girls are so cute! Molly just celebrated her first birthday! And look how much Lauren has grown since this shoot... {Click Here}!

Brooke & Geoff, it's always a treat to photograph your beautiful family!

Next Spring...

...they will become a family of four!! I'm so excited for them!!

I always love getting to photograph Sophia. You can pretty much just say, "princess smile!" and bam, she whips out her melt-your-heart smile. :)

She will be a great big sister and mama's helper!

I loved the setting that Shannon chose for their pictures. Ah, fall!

Congratulations Shannon and Matt! I love photographing your sweet family and can only imagine how precious this next little one will be! :)

THE Allie Rae

This summer and fall have been extra fun because for the first time ever, I've had an intern. And not just any old intern, but the fabulous, makes me laugh so hard I want to pee my pants, Allie! :)

She's been shooting sessions and weddings with me, we've been editing together when we can and meeting for tea, and she's growing her business beautifully! I'm so proud of her and her amazing talent.

I get sad when I think of her not palling around with me one day, because we just have too much fun shooting and working together! I think I would put her in my pocket and keep her forever if I could. :)

Go check out THE amazing Allie Rae and leave her some love (in the form of a comment) on her blog!

http://www.allieraephotography.blogspot.com/

And Allie, here's to:

Me getting lost when driving us to... anywhere

"Allie's Field"

Our pathetic lap top bags

"Nice!"

"Perfect!"

:)

Nathaniel: 6 Months

I love when clients become friends. Josh and I, and our kids, just adore the Coleman family! They are just the sweetest family. And Josh and I find that we end up laughing a ton when we're with Drew & Marisa. I'm thankful for their new friendship.

As promised here are 6 month photos of their precious Nathaniel.

I love these family pics...

Nathaniel: 3 Months

You may remember handsome Nathaniel from his newborn shoot. Well, Nathaniel is 6 months old now! BUT I totally forgot to post his 3 month pictures! Can you even believe I did that?! So it will end up being a fun treat for you to see his 6 month photos in the next post, because you'll get to see him grow and change overnight! I meant to do that...right? :)

Posing for the camera can be down right tiring!

And I thought I'd end with another little time travel. This shot is of Nathaniel as a newborn...

...and here he is at 3 months.

He is such a cutie!! Ok, his 6 month shoot will be up next. :)

Life should be fun!

Matt & Jess work hard and play hard. They know how to have fun! I love that every time I photograph them, it's more like photographing their family playing together! It makes for such sweet, active photos. My favorites... :)

I love Tyler's laugh and cute face!

Gavin is just sooo sweet!

I was shooting a few last photos at the playground, right before we were finished, and I was shooting at 6400 ISO and wide open... I like the late evening feel of this photo.

And lastly, I just loved this final photo. I think Jessica's laughter is beautiful. And doesn't this photo just totally capture this season of life with little kids? It's such a sweet season, but also can be an exhausting one. But if you and your spouse can keep moving forward, united hand in hand, leading and carrying your little ones along the way, and allowing joy & laughter to be a part of your lives... you're golden! :) {The joy of the Lord is my strength.}

I had so much fun getting to play and shoot pictures with you guys! Thank you for such a fun evening!