Teaser

This year I've taken quite a little break from photographing anyone other than my own children.  But when one of my oldest and dearest friends asked if I would do her little guy's 2 year photos, I just couldn't say no.  However, being 2, little "E" could say "no" just fine.  He was not very interested in having his picture taken by this strange lady he only sees a handful of times each year. Anyway, I thought all of my 4 readers might get a kick out of seeing our first attempt at a portrait of this adorable little family.

Beautiful...

Last week, I had the awesome privelege to visit with my girlfriend Val and her family in the Pacific Northwest.  Isaac and I flew out last Thursday and were met by Val's hubby, Andy, at SeaTac.  It was late, and dark, but I really appreciated getting to know this guy who had to be really cool to have married my bestest friend. Val and I stayed up way too late talking, but it was totally worth it.  We hadn't seen each other for over a year!


Friday, Val and I and her two girls, along with little Zac spent a lazy day visiting this cute little town nearby. It definitely had a great view from the pier.

And it was certainly a great place to let the girls run off some energy. 

Then we stopped at this cute little ice cream shop where I was forced to eat a waffle cone against my will.

Don't let me fool you though, I would drive back just to get another one.  You could smell the waffles cooking all the way down the street.  Yum!

I think Carolyn and Abbie enjoyed their ice cream too.


We had such a fantastic time.  I love that I got to spend so much time with Val's family.  I've met them, of course, and I feel like I know them, but really more from talking about them than to them.  But now, her family is my family.  Carolyn and Abbie are such great kids.  And Andy and Val are great parents and really fun people.  I am so blessed to have such an awesome woman as a friend and I feel even more blessed now that I've gotten to know her family better.


The area where Val lives is gorgeous, a photographer's dream! I missed the view from the bridge on the way onto the island because it was so late and dark, but I cerainly didn't miss it the next day.  I can't imagine getting to see this view every day.

The trees are awesome!  They seem to just stretch up forever.

And don't let reports of Washington rainy weather fool you.  I actually took this shot in the rain (you can see a couple of drops) but it's such a soft rain you hardly notice.

I love warm beaches with white sand, but there is something so awe inspiring to me about rocky beaches like this.

They are certainly fun to explore!

Andy joined us Saturday and showed me around his part of the navy base.  That was really cool, but I kept thinking, that Kevin and the boys would have loved it.  So, maybe we'll have to all come back someday.


After the base, we also went looking for tulips Saturday afternoon.  I've never been a huge fan of tulips, just not my favorite flower, but I think I may have changed my mind.

We had such a wonderful time.  Leaving was pretty tough, but I was ready to be home with my family.  Hopefully I'll get to go back with my whole crew sometime, but until then, I've got some great memories.  Miss you guys.

Fall photos

You know that old saying, "the best laid plans..."  Well, that was how I felt today after my attempt at a photo shoot for my kiddos.  The day was gorgeous: blue sky, lots of sun (not always great for photos, but there were enough clouds to make a go of it), warm enough for just a sweater and no rain.  So I found some fallish sweaters for the big kids and went to town looking for something for Isaac (I had a gift card specifically for this purpose).  We struck out at Walmart, so I used the gift card for family essentials and found a cute sweater for my guy at Target. 

Then we headed off to the lake.  I had done a shoot out there a week ago that the scenery was awesome for.

However, I forgot to take into account the torrential rains we had last week. Of course I think my kids are adorable so anywhere will work, right? Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the rain decimated the leaves on the trees and filled the lakebed with water.  This shot was no longer possible.  That was REALLY sad, because I love it and I wanted it for my kids.

But we made do. I stood below this dock to take pictures last week, today the water came right up underneath it.  There was no standing below it today. But Micah definitely seems to be at home on the water, doesn't he?

Here, we found a little bit of yellow still left on the trees, but JJ appears more interested in the stick he found than in any photo shoot.  Maybe that's why I absolutely love this shot.

Chloe is certainly growing up to be a big helper. 

She's such a big girl and she's really sweet to her little brothers (most of the time).

Isaac is getting big too, big enough he stayed awake and happy to sit for the camera with his big sister.  Aren't they sweet together?

We had a great time out together despite the rough start.  And it was a great day to be outside even without any picture taking.  I hope we have a few more days like it this year before it gets any colder.  I just love fall.

Weekend photo shoot

I did a shoot for a friend of mine and her family this weekend. It was something we'd been planning to do for a while, but our schedules had not meshed until this weekend. So I left my kids with Aunt Jody for an hour (she already had her 4 and Kelly's 2), and took off down the road for a quick shoot.

Anyway, Amelia's been begging to see her shots all week, so I thought I'd send her a little teaser until I finish the rest. Of course you all can see them too.

These kids are adorable and they were so fun to shoot.

Justin and Amelia have been married since just before Chloe was born. And they still look like they have a lot of fun together!

Almost there...

Well, this week I will be 37 weeks pregnant. I keep telling myself that I'm not ready to have this baby boy yet, but really, it wouldn't be so bad for him or me to have him now. Those last few weeks are always the longest, but I'm trying to be patient and wait on God's timing.

Meanwhile, Megan asked if she could do some more maternity pix of me, so I of course obliged. As soon as Kevin got home tonight, she and I took off and left Kevin and Jody fixing dinner while BJ took charge of the little ones. We were only gone about 1/2 an hour and we had dinner ready to cook when we left, so don't feel too badly for them.

We tried out a couple of fun places for shooting the pics, this was actually in the neighbor's backyard. I thought it was sweet.

This shot was out on the edge of town. It may have been the first time I've ever just sat in the middle of the road, but not a bad idea for a fun photo.

My favorite photo from the whole day. I don't know why, I just love it.

Swallowing my Pride

My SIL, Megan (she happens to be another aspiring photographer in our family) and I were talking about the new baby a couple of weeks ago and it occurred to me that I've never really had any pictures taken of myself pregnant. We've got a couple of shots from Chloe's shower and when we moved in. As well as some shots in the middle of my pregnancy with Micah, but never any intentionally pregnant pictures. So we decided it was time I got over myself and let her take some really pregnant pictures of me. I suppose I would be pretty sad if I didn't have any to look back on some day.

So last week, we decided to try to get some shots of the family together, not real posey, but just being together. Unfortunately, our husbands had plans to get out on the river, so we didn't get as much time as we wanted, but we did get a couple of cute shots.

Picking apples for my boy.

Jadon needed some encouragement.

I love this one of Kevin and me. Just as a shot of the two of us it's pretty neat. Not to mention the fact that it's pretty gentle on the big tummy.

This may be my favorite shot of the day. Would you believe that my 3yo niece actually took this?! I just love the perspective! I may have to copy her composition someday. LOL.

A very long weekend

I have to say that this was a particularly busy weekend for me. Father's Day weekend is always a little hectic around here, as it often coincides with Chloe's birthday and Kevin's family reunion is always held on Father's Day. The Rodie boys also play in a Sunday afternoon softball league that often causes us to hustle off from the reunion as soon as lunch is over.



Of course I had to complicate all of that with my own busyness this weekend. I shot a wedding at 3 on Saturday, and then I had the dumb idea to agree to do a class reunion at 7 the same evening. In my defense, it was very difficult to turn down a job which required about 20 minutes of work and several hundred dollars worth of print orders. Especially since I was driving right past it at the exact time I was needed. Really, who wouldn't have taken it?


Anyway, the wedding was fine, despite the oppressive heat. It was actually a little better than either the day before or after, so I was very thankful for that at least. I also drank about a half gallon of water in addition to eating a half a bottle of Tums. I really enjoyed the shoot I had with the bride and groom before the reception. This is my absolute favorite shot.


The groom's sister is also a photographer, so she took over after dinner at the reception so I stopped for a quick bite to eat and high-tailed it over to the lake for the class of 1954's 55 year reunion. Who knew that this many people would show up for a reunion 55 years later?


I can't say I really enjoyed shooting the reunion or the wedding as much as shooting kids and families; I certainly wouldn't want to do it everyday or even on a regular basis. But it sure is a great way to supplement your income a little.

A preview

In the interest of making this holiday week just as crazy as possible, I had 2 photoshoots today. Kevin was off in a deer stand somewhere blowing out his eardrum, so I got a babysitter and went to work. The kids and I are leaving for my parents' house on Monday for the week so that leaves me with a whole bunch of work to do either tonight and tomorrow, or to procrastinate and wait until after the holiday. Hopefully, I can get a good start and not feel too guilty for leaving the rest until next week.

But, I digress. The whole point of this post was for the preview. This little guy is sooooo adorable. His mama and I have been friends since high school. While she was feeding him in the middle of the shoot, we were reminiscing about her first date with her husband, or rather, how she asked him to our Junior Prom. His response was something noncommittal "sure" or "I guess," something along those lines. But 10 years later, this is what comes from "I guess"

I think that was the best answer he could have ever given. Just look at that face!

What an Awesome God we serve

Last weekend I had the great privilege to photograph the wedding of a friend of mine. They actually got married about 5 years ago, with a justice of the peace. They have since had two beautiful girls, but a very difficult marriage. Our pastor offered to do a rededication ceremony for them some time ago and they decided that they really liked the idea. When Elisabeth first approached me about being her photographer, I really wanted to do this for her, but I was unsure. I am by no means a wedding photographer, but I told her yes anyway.
I am so thankful I said yes. The ceremony was short and simple, but beautiful. Joy permeated the room. There were only about 30 or 40 people present, but every one of them was there to celebrate the awesome power of God evident in the lives and marriage of these two people. I feel completely inept trying to describe this in words. I'm much better with images.

Not to be outdone

I got a new lens yesterday. I love it. No really I love it. I actually used the phrase, "It's sweet." I have never, ever said that about anything other than sugar-filled recipes or sweet babies. Like this one. She's sweet too. I think I like her more than the lens. I'm not sure though. It's close.