Sneak Peek...The B Family!

First of all...I need to say a big thank you to the K family for use of their barn in these family shots. I've wanted to shoot there for some time but just haven't had the right opportunity. I'm so happy we got this family out there! They have 2 really beautiful old barns and I very much enjoyed getting to use them! THANKS!!!

And I was super excited to shoot this family because they were up for about anything and we had beautiful weather! We did the barn, some field shots just before sunset and studio. We tried to get some of the two little ones at the end but they were pooped from their long day...we did get a few shots, though, in spite of sweet little A looking at me like I was crazy when I told her to say, "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!" Even at 18 months she has been swayed to the other side...but man is she cute! Thanks guys!!

Sneak Peek...Miss A

I'm supposed to be getting all my food prepped for tomorrow...or you know, dusting my house...but this is way more fun! Miss A came all the way from Minnesota to see me this morning. Her cousin was the star of the blog last week so she thought she'd take her turn this week. Miss A was very sweet and seemed to love being my model! I told her mom I'd quickly put up a sneak peek today because I may not have a chance to get their gallery ready in the week I usually take due to the holiday and my vow to spend quality time with the family this week! So...here she is...what a doll!!

Sneak Peek...MY kids!

I took these a couple of weeks ago but have not had time to do anything with them. I think we'll be using one of these for our Christmas card this year...although, that can always change! :) Here are my kids...so excited to be in front of the camera AGAIN!

Meet Little A...Sneak Peek

I had the great pleasure today of photographing our new little buddy, Mr. A. His mom and dad are very good friends of ours so he is very special to us. C and A found out three months ago that A's birth mom had chosen them to be his parents. How cool is it to get to pick your own parents! His birth mother made a very wise decision, and I believe God is already blessing all them in a very real way. A is going to grow up in a loving, God-fearing home knowing that his life is celebrated by so many people. I am so honored to get to be part of his life and see him grow up. And, of course, I could not wait to get him in front of my camera. He was a tiny little peanut and just wanted to keep his eyes open for the first hour or two. After that, we got the house nice and toasty and he crashed...just the way I like them! Enjoy your sneak peek...and congratulations again, C and A! Love you guys!

Sneak Peek...The S Family!

You may recognize the sweet little girl in these pictures from the Hallween Contest...she was the ladybug winner! She brought her mom and dad in yesterday for a try at some family Christmas pictures...and brought Gigi along to bring out those adorable smiles!





Three generations...so sweet!

Senior Sneak Peek

Yesterday we braved the chilly weather to finish K's senior pictures. She toughed out the cold, and we ended up with some amazing shots. We trekked around Copeland-Montezuma looking for great light and unique locations. Our favorite was a field of CRP right before sunset. K has been so much fun to work with as one of my senior reps. I'm still in disbelief she's a senior (can't imagine how her mom is feeling!) but am proud to know her and call her a friend. Enjoy this quick peek...I'll have a slideshow up within the next week.

On the other side of the camera...

I shared last week a few pics from my side of a photo swap with a fellow photographer. We met on KU's campus to do photos for each other. Originally we were going to do each other's families, but we decided to not take the kids that weekend beacause we knew it would be busy. So, we just did pictures of Travis and I to celebrate our 10th anniversary! It was so much fun and we are thrilled with what we have seen so far...take a look! http://joy-theblog.blogspot.com/

And, here's one more of Sarah and her family...thanks again Sarah. It was a blast meeting you and doing the photos! I hope we can do it again!

God Bless America

Today our grade school put on a small concert for our local veterans. The program honored the best among us, those who, at one point in their life wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America " for an amount of "up to and including my life." The colors were presented, the National Anthem sung, the Pledge of Allegiance recited. I even got choked up as I looked around our humble gymnasium and saw everyone's hands over their hearts and the brave souls we call our veterans with a proud look on their faces. I don't think it was pride in what they'd done either...it was more pride in seeing these young children learning to love America as they do; pride in seeing the community come together to honor those still serving; pride in a flag they'd fight to defend even today, no matter what age has done to cripple them. THANK YOU just doesn't seem like enough...and it isn't. Today was a demonstration of the greatest thing we can do for these veterans: teaching our kids what it means to respect and honor our flag, our country.

Meet Molly!

No, Molly is not the name of my new camera. Though I think she deserves a name too...(seriously...LOOK at these pictures!). We got a new puppy this weekend. Travis has wanted a hunting dog for almost as long as I've wanted a Golden. So...somehow we are getting both almost at once! My new puppy will be here in less than a month. I think it will work out beautifully and our dogs will be best friends. Molly is a German Shorthair mix and we think she's beautiful! Hopefully, she'll be a great hunting dog too. The kids are already in love with her. Maddie was walking around calling her "Wawwie." I've got to record that! I should be working on a ton of other things right now but decided Molly needed a proper introduction. (That, and I didn't get to play with my new camera much this weekend so I had to test it out!) So, here she is...Miss Wawwie!

Sneak Peek...Session Swap

On Saturday evening, Travis and I met up with Sarah and her family on the campus of the University of Kansas. It was gorgeous! Lawrence in the fall is just stunning. I miss it so much!! We graduated from there 8 years ago so it was fun to be able to have pictures taken on campus. Sarah's family was adorable...thanks so much for swapping! I hope we got something you can use...here are just a few. I promise we got a few with eye contact! It was great to meet you and your family...we will definitely have to do this again!

Portrait Party Sneak Peek

I had the extreme pleasure of meeting so many new and wonderful people this past weekend. Anne and Randy graciously opened their home to host a portrait party. We were able to capture 6 families in total. The weather was gorgeous, the leaves were perfect, and everything went very smoothly. I had so much fun and truely enjoyed meeting everyone. I will have your galleries ready this weekend, but, for now, enjoy your sneak peeks!

We have a winner!

I had a busy weekend and am still trying to catch up this morning. But I had to come on the blog and announce our winner from the Halloween Mini's! Little Miss Ladybug received the most votes...her momma will get a $25 gift certificate to use on a future session!!

I had so much fun for my birthday weekend. Travis and I drove up to my sister's on Saturday morning and watched the 2nd half of the Sunflower Showdown at her house. Afterwards, we met up with another photographer and her family for a session swap...I'll share some from that session later this week! Saturday night we went to Stanford's Comedy Club...so much fun! Sunday afternoon we spent at the lovely home of Anne and Randy doing a portrait party for 6 families. It was the most beautiful fall day you can imagine complete with a picture perfect yard. I'll be sharing sneak peeks from those sessions starting tomorrow.

We got home around 11 last night...today will be catching up on laundry and obsessing at the computer to make sure I have some printable images!!! Check in later this week for some beautiful sneak peeks!