California Cousins

My life has been so crazy as of late I haven’t even been able to find one free minute to blog. I want to try to catch up right now so these entries will be a little shorter than usual.

Monday afternoon I spent a couple of hours chasing four energetic cousins. We met at the girls’ grandparent’s house (good friends of my family’s) and took pictures on the fences, by the shop, and surrounded by the chickens. The boys live in California and were intrigued by the big cows and funny looking little chickens. With a one-year-old and three energetic “big kids” it was a challenge to get all four of the kids in one place at one time, but we still managed to get many fabulous photos:

Kicking Cousins

Maddie was more interested in the chickens than the ball game

I love this one!

Sisters

The moms and dads joined us for a few quick snap shots

Once the shoot was all over, the dads (and Michelle) got out the four wheelers. Maddie LOVES to ride! It's so cute to watch her.There are so many great pictures it was awful to choose so few! Thanks so much Tina and Michelle for asking me to take these pictures. And thanks Jared and Brandon for jumping in there! Have a safe trip home, Paulsons! God bless!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

"I wish there was a way to record children's laughter," one mom stated. "I know, there's something so soothing and peaceful iabout their carefree ways," replied another mother. Laughter truly is good medicine for the heart which means that there were plenty of healthy hearts at Abby's fourth birthday party.

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of following around my favorite people: little people. Not just any little ones... royalty. I had so much fun following the clanking of little plastic high-heels and, of course, the hysterical laughter of these gorgeous princesses. There were also a few handsome young princes in attendance, making the party even more fun.

Mary, Abby's mother, is so creative. I tell her frequently that I believe she is super-mom. There were children ages 1-7 present, obviously a large age gap. Did this hinder Mary's creativity? Not in the least! When the children arrived they each made their own "masterpiece," which they then framed and hung on the wall to dry. Next, it was time for a story. Super-mom had taken pictures of each child in attendance (e-mailed to her by the other moms) along with their favorite things to do and made a book. Each page had a different child doing their favorite things with what they like to do written as the story. This book was one of the kids take-home gifts; a book with them in it. Wow!

This would have been enough to exhaust most people, but the fun was only beginning. Dennis, Mary, and her parents (who hosted the party in their home) had made three cardboard buildings for the kids to decorate with paper and markers. This was followed by delicious finger foods and cake. And what a cute cake it was! Abby had requested it have a princess that looked like her; long, curly blond hair, blue eyes. The princess should have a pink dress with green polka dots and the side of the cake should say Abigail. This cake fit her description to a T and was adorable.

After some pull-string-pinata fun the kids dashed outside to play with chalk, bubbles, and other fun games. After snapping a few pictures of this action it was time for me to take off.

The party was a blast. It made me look back with fondness at all of my own princess parties, of which I have had many through the years. Not only did I have fun, but those little kids made for some great photos. Here are a few:

Arts and Crafts

Princess Abby's Cake

Brenna approaches the boys

Prince Jackson

Princess Maddie during storytime

Arianna's not too sure about that hat

The face says it all...

Cake time!

Queen Abigail and Prince Sammy LOVE cake

The Dazzling Princess Riley

A little birthday actionDennis and Mary, thanks so much for asking me to photograph the party. I had lots of fun! And Happy Birthday, precious Abigail! God bless you all!

Fabulous Four

"It's my birthday today, Miss Olivia," Abby promptly informed me as Mary handed her the phone. "I know sweetie, I called to wish you a very happy birthday!" was my enthusiastic reply. After listening to her plans for the day, I ended our phone call with the promise of a fun birthday surprise that afternoon.

Oh, did we have fun today! We played around the house and worked on her box (my present to her) before heading to the park. Energetic little bodies raced across every square inch of that playground leaving behind them a trail of giggles and smiles. Later, Ms. Karen came over for and surprised us with a visit. What a special treat! Mom stayed and talked with us while I fed the girls. More playing followed our meal of rice and carrots.

Before we knew it, bedtime had arrived. Time for tubbies and jammies! Abby had a wonderful day today. Many times throughout the day as she would accomplishment something out-of-the-ordinary or do something exceptionally well I would exclaim "Abby, you are acting like a four-year-old! A three-year-old wouldn't have done that, but now that you're four..." She would then smile, pleased at the prospect of being "so grown-up."

We had a wonderful day enjoying this fantastic weather. Praise God for fantastic four-(and two, little Ally)year-olds! Here's the gorgeous no-longer-three Abigail:

An End of Summer Adventure

A freezing gust of wind splashed across my face as I walked to my car this morning. How hard it was to recollect the miserably intense heat of the previous day! Yesterday afternoon I had the priveledge of shooting the entire Sexson family. The girls are frequent subjects of mine, as I tend to not be capable of resisiting the urge to attempt to capture their gorgeous smiles and priceless personalities. While Kim loves all of these pictures with a passion, it's long been a desire of hers to have me photograph the whole family. Not only does she want a great Christmas card but her spacious dining room walls seem an incredibly inviting place for displying her handsome family.

Their pictures turned out incredible! Shoots of more than three people tend to be more difficult because of closing eyes and other involuntary (and sometimes voluntary) functions. I must say, though, that I was working with a family of troopers yesterday. It was nearly 90 degrees outside and the wind was blowing ferociously; neither of these conditions are great for a photo shoot. In addition, their shirts were not only black (obviously the warmest color possible) but long sleeved. Other than a few complaints when asked to unroll their sleeves the girls did great. I am amazed at the happy people I was able to work with considering all the elements working against us.

Concerned with the wind we decided to start down at the creek. This ended up being the location for the majority of our photo shoot. It was just perfect! So unique and beautiful. Also, how wonderful to have such incredible pictures on your own property? Sexsons are also blessed to have incredible neighbors, the Peacocks. Mr. Peacock has built the neatest little shack for over night stays. The stairs in the pictures are also his handiwork. There are several more amazing props and backdrops on their property that we used, but there are way too many pictures to put them all on this blog.

Here's what the last day of summer provided us with:

The Handsome Couple (It's no wonder their girls are so beautiful!)

I LOVE the lighting in this picture

Can you tell they love those girls?



Priceless



This shot was not originally part of the shoot. During a break Mickynzie and Brenna were outside with me and I snapped a few shots of them. The results? Five or so incredible pictures! It was hard to choose just one.


We got another one with all the girls looking at the camera, but I am crazy about Brenna's wink in this one



Mimi joined us at the end for a few three-generations pictures
Sexsons, have I mentioned that I love you guys! Thanks for giving me the priviledge of capturing your beautiful family.

Special Thanks:

The Peacocks-Thank you so much for letting us use your awesome shack and gorgeous property. Our shoot would have been lacking without these fabulous backdrops!

My Mom- not only is she incredible for coming along on most of my shoots, but she has saved the day on more than one occasion. Down in the creek bed I ran out of memory so she ran up that long flight of stairs to get my card. Lo and Behold I had forgotten the card! Mom had grabbed my stuff to save me a trip inside and had not seen the card. I didn't think to check for it and, well, the rest is history. Sexsons live 45 minutes from us so getting the card from my house was out of the question. "My computer! I can put them on my computer!" I realized. We both ran to the van only to find that, yes, the computer was there but the cord that connects the camera to the computer... at home. NOOOOO!!! Our shoot was no where near finished. Disaster? Not with mom there! She sped to Wal-mart, ran through the store, raced back with a brand new card. What can I say? My mom's incredible. Thanks so much, Mom! You're AMAZING!

Adoption

It has long been a dream of mine to adopt. Five years ago my cousins Matt and Larisa adopted a little boy and a little girl from Africa. Four years later, my Aunt Wanda adopted a beautiful daughter from China, followed by a second gorgeous girl the next summer. The same summer Mike and Wanda were picking up their second daughter, Matt and his dad were in Africa picking up three more Africans, this time all boys. Watching the beautiful adoption process instilled a longing in my heart to experience that same joy.

Today, I was blessed to experience the joys of adoption. This afternoon at 3:00 PM Domino, Henry, and ?? James became Mertyle, Gertyle, and Henry Weber. As I clutched them close to my chest my heart was filled with excitment. They're finally mine!

Alright, alright. I wouldn't REALLY name my children Merytle and Gertyle (no offense if someone adores one of those names). M.J. and her family have been raising four kittens for the last two months. Their mother abandoned them when they were only four days old. Her family took on the challenge of helping the kittens survive by bottle feeding them for nearly two entire months. Wow! In actuality there were six kittens in the litter but Kenzie, Brenna, Shay, and Kim volunteered to help out by adopting two into their family.

In all seriousness, I do plan to adopt some day. I truly do think that adoption is amazing and desire to make this experience part of my life. I've just decided it'd be best to wait a few years. So in the mean time I'll be enjoying these cuties...

The first glance of their new home

Gertyle wasn't phased by all the strange new sights and smells. After looking around for a few minutes she curled up in the back of the cage and, well, you can see for yourself...

The "big kitties" weren't quite sure what to think of the new kittens

Hoodie felt it her duty to make sure Mertyle's an okay addition to the family

Here's little Gertie again. Isn't she just way too precious?

One Big Happy Family

Sunday evening I got to have some family style fun with Rob, Lisa, Megan, Ethan, and Chelsea. We started at my house then went to the tunnel of trees. Right beside the road is a bright green field (I took some pictures of Kenzie, Brenna, and Shay there, too) that is perfect for pics.

After shooting some amazing pictures on the dock, we finished our session with some casual shots by the barn. We had a great time and I am crazy about these pics. What a handsome family!



Don't you run through a field with your family every day?




I love this one!


Thanks so much Fosters! You guys are great. Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I have. God bless!

What God Intended Sisters to be...

"Can I have one of those things?" Shay asked, leaning out of her carseat to watch Mickynzie shell pistachio nuts. "Me too!" Brenna piped up. I peeked around my head rest watching to see how Mickynzie would react. Would she eat the nut she had already shelled or would she share it with her sisters? I should have known the answer. Carefully biting the nut in two, she proceeded to put the first half into Shaylee's mouth before handing Brenna the remaining piece. "You girls are such sweet sisters!" I exclaimed.

Kenzie, Brenna, and Shay are like sisters to me. I started watching them when Mickynzie was two and Brenna was nine months. Kim and Denny allowed me the priveldge of witnessing Shaylee's birth. Needless to say, these girls are extremely precious to me. Yesterday afternoon I was given the opportunity to spend cherished time with them while capturing their priceless "sister moments." There were way too many beautiful pictures! Kim, I'm rewarding you for waiting so patiently by posting more than four pictures. I love these girls!














I saved my absolute favorite for last

Alyssa and Lorina's Sister Pictures

Two more of the six. Alyssa and Lorina are graduating in December with myself, Mary Jo, Emily (went to the fair with me and is also my cousin), and another friend, Leticia. We went to the duck pond this afternoon to snap their graduation pictures. They are going to send out a picture of the two of them rather than pics of them alone. We got so many great ones! I had a really tough time choosing. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of two of my favorite people:







Thanks for giving me another excuse to put my new camera to use. I love you guys! Can't wait to graduate with you in two months!

Family Fun at the Fair

Dad took off work, Dave and I took the day off of school, and Emily woke up early after working a night shift for a day at the State Fair. Dad and Dave spent most of their time looking at ... guess. THE AUTO SHOW!! Emily and I wandered around trying to find a neat exhibit or show. Most of our time was spent walking and talking. It was so much fun to spend time with family and to take a break from my usual schedule. Here we are at the Texas State Fair: