Nope, this one is not another “catching up” post either. I am still planning on finishing that up, but here lately God has been laying certain things on my heart. I am not one to ignore what God has to say when he is speaking to me. Last night as I was looking through all of my pictures, I realized how special some people truly are. Theses are the people who leave foot prints all over your soul. They know your thoughts, they laugh with you, cry with you, and love with you. You share your stories, your faults, your hopes and dreams with them. You realize that no matter where life takes you, that in the end you will still have that person right beside you.

You see, out of all the wonderful blessings I have in my life I was not blessed with a sister. I think all women long for that companionship that only having a sister can bring. God placed my “sister” in my path several years ago and I knew from that very moment that he had given me a true blessing. She is an amazing person. Someone that I connect with on so many levels, someone that I can share anything with, and someone whom I love dearly, just like a sister should be loved. We have been able to raise our children together, sharing in each and every mile stone as mothers do. We have relied on one another when there was no one else to count on. We have spent many long hours discussing the wonders of the world and then there were the not so great things we discussed. J We have sought out each others opinions, advice, and views countless times. Our relationship is a stress free, safe, and comfortable place to hide! Not only is she an amazing mother and wife, she is an amazing photographer (yes, another thing we share).

Her work brings to life the things rarely seen. She has an eye for the beauty around her and captures it forever with the lens of her camera. So I guess my point with this was for one to tell her in a way her and I both would understand how much she means to me and to make others look around and realize what special people you have around you. Surround your self with people you love and love you back. It makes things so much easier. Life is too short to be unhappy. Tell those around you how much they mean, don’t just say the words, but show them how much they are loved.

Clone Troopers, Jedi, and Cowgirls.......Oh my!

I wanted to go ahead and do this post before time slipped away and it just seemed pointless to do it. We live so far out that when Halloween comes around we only buy candy for our selves. Oh, don't worry the kids still get to dress up, get candy, and get to scream the saying "Trick-or-Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat". We choose a few close relatives and also the few neighbors that we have and go trick-or-treat them. Luckily for us this year my best friend and her family were at the same place, so that we got to see all the kids. (My best friend is married to my husbands 1st cousin, so that is why we are sisters......makes all kinds of sense, right??) Anyway, here are a few of the photos I snapped of the kids. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween. Now the count down to Christmas begins!!! YEAH!!!

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Sleepless nights

I decided tonight that I didn’t want to do a “catching up” post. I wanted to relay all my thoughts, enlightenments, and love with all of you. I guess I thought by writing it down and remembering all of it as a whole would make it last a little longer. I have spent the last few nights with little to no sleep. I would love to say that all of those sleepless nights were for a good reason, but no not really. Until last night, I was actually thankful for last night’s long hours. Not the fact that my baby was sick but that I was there to hold, kiss, and rock that sick baby and make him feel better. I got to hold the now three year old that barley stops most days to even let me touch him much less just sit and hold him. But last night, in the dark with only the moonlight touching his little head, did I get to reveal in the fact that no one but me would do. That sleeping against me was the only sleep there was. As I sat there awake listening to him breath and feeling that little breath against my neck I remembered the first time I meet him, the first time I held him, and the first time we spent a night just such as this one, where only mommy would do. No, I do not like when my little ones are sick, but like most other mommies I like being needed. I like knowing that I am the one who has the magic kisses. That I am the only one who can hold them and rock them just the right way that they can find the rest they need. However through all of this I did realize how quickly their time as babies is slipping away. There are so many things I want for them, dreams that I want them to achieve, but for right now, just a brief few more years I just want them to be my babies. I am still my mother’s baby, even at almost 30, so I know that no matter their age, they will still be my babies, but my time of kissing boo-boos, rocking to sleep and singing the perfect lullabies are limited. So for now I will cherish and hold dear to my heart any sleepless nights I get to hold my babies. I will cherish those brief moments when a simple hug is all that is needed and I will hold dear those whispered words, of mommy I love you. Those are the things I will never forget and that make it all worth while.

The baseball player and the ballerina

Gosh these two are just too cute for words. I got to do boy stuff with Sam and then princess things with Miss Rylie. I am used to all things boy, but the girly stuff was such a fun thing for me. We brushed hair, played dress up, danced like ballerinas, sang till our hearts were content, and of course rolled around in the grass for a while. Their mom was wonderful to just turn them over to me. Joy I hope you love these pictures of your babies as much as I do. I look forward to many more sessions to come and being able to capture your babies growing up. Love to you all.

Kelly & Keldon

Keldon played t-ball with my oldest this past season and I had the pleasure of becoming friends with his wonderful mom Kelly. Kelly is one of the nicest people I know. You will never see Kelly not smiling. She is one of those people that make you want to smile also. Her son Keldon is a great little guy. He has such a great sense of humor. I knew before we got started what I wanted out of our session and when we were done, I knew we had gotten it. Kelly and Keldon, thanks so much for being willing to do what ever I asked. I greatly appreciate your time and energy. I can’t wait to point my camera at your beautiful faces again. I am looking forward to our fall session. Thanks again.

Shy Amber

Boy my family has been good to me. This is my other cousin. I have beautiful cousins as you all have seen. They have all been such sports to entertain me and let me practice on them. I love showing them off, because not only are they all beautiful, but they are kind, loving, and generally good hearted people. It amazes me that I was just eight when Amber was born. She was always my pretend baby while I was growing up. I have had the pleasure of watching them all grow and change. They have all made such amazing adults. Amber, well she’s the shy one. She is soft spoken just like my aunt, but you can tell by her smile that more lies underneath. When I look at her beautiful face I know that she is going to make a dent in this world and do great things.

Little Rosemary

Babies are the best!! I love to just follow behind them and watch them as they explore everything around them. Rosemary is such a sweetie. She wants to know where everything is and how she can get into it. We had such a good time, just playing and laughing. Rosemary made it easy to snap a few good ones of her. She is just to cute to not take pictures of!!

Grayden

Fun, fun Grayden. Can’t you see by looking at him how much fun he is? I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with this fun little man and his mom. Grayden and I had a lot more fun than mom did I think. I think Ashley thought we were nuts for playing around in the grass. Thanks for being such a good sport Grayden and for sharing your infectious laugh with me. Can’t wait to see y’all again soon.

Grown up Tiffany

Here is another cousin. Tiffany is also just starting her grown up life, thanks for letting me capture some images of the “grown up” you. Love you and I can’t wait to see all the great things you can do.

Beautiful Erica

This is my baby cousin, who was kind enough to let her aspiring photographer cousin spend hours taking pictures. She is such a beautiful person inside and out. Erica is full of life and smiles. She has had some tough patches but always manages to resurface on top. Erica has her whole life laid out in front of her. She knows what she wants and doesn’t have a problem going after it. Thanks cousin for spending the day with me and I can’t wait to do it again very soon. Love you.

Cathing up

So I have really been trying to decide what to do about all the catching up that still needs to be done. I thought about doing one large lump post. That just really doesn’t appeal to me. I learned so much and had such a good time those first few months. Each of my sessions are special to me, but those first ones I will hold forever dear. I can still look back at those pictures of the wonderful people I captured on film and remember their nervousness, their love for the ones they hold dear, their excitement, and their happiness that they were willing to share with me for the short while they let me into their lives. Not giving each one of them their own space seems unfair to them and you both. I want them to feel important and know how much I enjoyed spending time with them. To you all, I want you to be able to see just a piece of what I see through my lens. I want to share each person or families smiles, laughter, and love. So I guess this means you all will have to put up with a few more post of me playing catch up.

Tiffany & Branden

Prom is such a fun time. Of course it’s been like 11 years since I have had the pleasure, but I always thought it was just such a magical night. Since it has been so long and I don’t have any little girls that I will get to dress for this occasion I was more than pleased when Tiffany gave me a call and ask for me to take her and Branden’s pictures. They wanted something a little different. We got to spend about an hour together, just walking and talking, while I snapped a picture here and there. I thought they just looked so great all dressed up and I hope they had a great time. Here are just a couple, I would have included more but there just wasn't enough room to put all the ones I liked!!

Meet Kerstin

I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with her and her wonderful mother. Kerstin is an amazing eleven year old. She is so full of life, smiles, dreams and she doesn’t mind sharing a bit of it
with you. Kerstin was very willing to do what I asked of her and had a lot of good ideas of her own. It was so fun to spend time following her around with my camera. I mean look at all that beautiful red hair, who wouldn’t want to take her picture. Also, a big thanks to her mother, Cindy. She was so helpful and willing to play assistant. Thanks for letting me spend the afternoon with you both and I look forward to doing family pictures soon.

And baby makes....five!!!

My dearest friend was expecting her third child and even though she is a whiz with a camera, you can’t very well take pictures of yourself, your belly, two other children and your husband all by your lonesome. She asked me to come spend some time with them and help capture this wonderful time in their lives. I was so thrilled. This would be one of my first with my new camera and it made it all the more exciting that it was my best friend. April is a beautiful person inside and out. She has a beautiful family and I love them all so much. To be apart of this exciting time even for just an hour or two is such a gift and honor. I hope I gave her images she can cherish for years to come. I hope that she can look back at them and remember all the excitement and happiness that comes with a new baby. This family was such a pleasure to shoot. They were so easy to work with. Always willing to do what I asked of them and not too many complaints were heard. I got lots of smiles, laughter and love from them. You can see how much they love each other and how much they are looking forward to meeting their new little guy. I hope you enjoy! (Baby Liam arrived April 13. Weighing in at 8 lbs, 21 in long, and a head full of black hair) Congrats momma and poppa!!!!

Man this playing catch up is tough. I am only adding a few of past photos and it is so hard to figure out which ones to post.

Any who, in my last post you got to meet my mom, now I would like
for you all to meet my husband. He is such a gift and a blessing. God knew it would take a strong man to live with and love me. He knew that this man would have to be some one I could not only respect but who would respect me. In this man I would find kindness, love, morals, and strength. This man would give me room to grow, help lead me down the right paths, show me things I had never seen, and yet keep me grounded. My husband is an amazing man. He never ceases to fascinate me. He can make me laugh when I want to cry, pick me up when I am down, and makes me believe that it will be alright, even when it isn’t. On top of all that he is an amazing father. He never fails to be there for our boys. Weather its playing baseball, video games, or talking things through, he is always there for them. He will go above and beyond to see them smile or hear their laughter, even if he has to make a complete nut out of himself to get it. In turn the boys think he walks on water. They look at him like all kids should be able to view their fathers, as their hero. They want to do things just like dad, they want to look like dad, they want to work like dad, and are always on his heels. And yet their dad patiently deals with his toes being stepped on. He seems to have an answer to every little question asked and a reason for those questions that they don’t understand. Now before all of you get sick, with all the love being dealt out, he has his faults. They are few but still there none the less. However, the few faults he has are worth suffering for the man and father he is.

My mom

Something a little different, meet my mom. She is a wonderful, loving, kind, dependable, brave, strong, unselfish person. She makes me proud to call her my hero, best friend and mom. My mother has had some major medical issues to overcome (not going in to) but, thanks to God she has survived them and became a better person because of them. To see all that she has gone through and still find the time and energy to be a part of my boy’s lives, just makes me respect and love her more. You can see how much they love each other just by looking at their faces. I am so glad and so thankful that I have been able to share my children with her. It makes her happy to be with us and me happy just to watch the three of them interact.