Baby E is here - {Newborn}

Baby E made his debut! He is such a little cutie. Congrats to Mom, Dad & Big Sis.

Here are a few of my favorites from yesterdays session.

...Miss M was such a big helper...

...almost sleeping...

Thank you again for letting me photograph your beautiful family.

Just catching up...{Weekend Fun}

It was quite an eventful weekend for us.
{Saturday}
Saturday morning, hubby and I loaded up the girls, stroller & lots of stuff, and headed out for the Photowalk in Jacksonville, OR. It was the first time I'd ever done something like that, and we both decided we should do something similar every month. It was fun being a tourist & exploring someplace new.

...we met up with the group in front of Bella Union, a resturant, these are 2 of the first things I captured that beautifully warm summer mid-morning...

...then broke out into smaller groups (there were about 15 photographers there) and started walking. We stopped and there were TONS of bees on these flowers...

...on our way back to the group meeting place I thought these were interesting and the lily, beautiful...

{Sunday}

Started out just like anyother Sunday, we got up, got the girls up and ready, & went to church. Afterwards, joined my favorite family for my cousins 19th birthday, which also ended up being somewhat of an engagement party. **CONGRATS** Around 3pm a wildfire broke out about 40 minutes drive from where we live (next section). It added to the beauty of the summer sun setting. I just couldn't pass up the beautiful colors that were being painted across the sky.

...swather...

...the view from 'home'...

...Murray & Huey...

{Monday}

The aforementioned wildfire, was still burning, rather hot from the looks of the Ice Caps forming. We could see huge plumes of smoke from our area, which is on the west side of where the fires are burning. So we took a drive...which just so happened to lead us to my Pa's house, which is considerably closer to where the fire is.

...as we're driving, getting closer to the fire...

...passing through part of the burn, it was on both sides of the highway at one point....

...we watched the boarade planes & choppers drop for about an hour, a view from Pa's place...

A crazy and eventful couple of days. Ready for some fun this coming weekend, we'll either be heading out for a camping adventure, or going back to Pa's, so hubby can be a releif driver for a couple water tenders.

I heart Faces--Foot Week

I frequent the blog I Heart Faces, and every week they have a photo challenge. I've decided to enter this weeks challenge...which doesn't include faces, but feet.

~I heart my lil' Twinkle Toes~

--Product Spotlight--Storybooks

Product Spotlight for July is Storybooks. What an awesome way to document your session. Not only do you get to have a beautiful keepsake, but you have something you can carry around and show off.

..a double page sample, this was used in a Signature Storybook...

Storybooks come in a variety of sizes, from the 6" Softback, Brag Book, to the 10" hard bound, Signature Storybook, which lays flat, eliminating the interior gutter.

...a single page example...

When you order one of my storybooks, I want it to be about you, so I will ask that you send me favorite quotes, funny moments, descriptive words, and anything else I think will benefit your layout. No 2 books will be exactly alike (unless of course, you're ordering multiples!)

Storybooks make great gifts as well...grandparents absolutely love them.

Book your session today, so you can get your own custom designed Storybook with a 10% discount, just mention this blog post when booking your session!

A new lens...

...is the prize!

Jodi, over at MCPActions Blog is hosting a giveaway this week! Woohoo!
To enter, click the link & follow her instructions there.

This would be an awesome win!!!

Happy 4th {My Life}

Hopefully everyone had a great 4th of July holiday. I know we did. We kept it pretty low-key, neither of us are really the crowd of people type.
We started our morning with pancakes & just hung out for a while. In the afternoon, we took a drive down to check out a campground, with the intention of staying there for a picnic lunch, but meanwhile, both girls were sound asleep in the car. Taking advantage of peaceful naptime, we drove back into town to a local park and had our picnic there.

...our first family picnic...

...sleepy girl, just waking up from her nap...

...the little water bug...

...after trying to get herself a drink from the overly tall fountain...

After lunch I did a little mini-session with my kids, since I've been hearing complaints that there are no photos of Gracie girl, gracing the walls of relatives homes. Their bows were my mid-morning project. They are so fun to make, and the girls are adorable in them.

..."Buggie" 2 years -- Baby Gracie almost 5 months...

...Twinkly Toes (I'm pretty sure my hubby thinks I'm crazy!)...

That evening we took my hubby's grandma to ice cream and to the local fireworks show.

...and again this year, we sat with a light directly in front of our view...!

Riding Bikes & Haircuts {My Life}

Life our my house is full of toddler mischeif and baby crys, so it is never dull. It seems, now more than ever, that time is moving so quickly. Baby is already going to be 5, yes 5 months old..AGH! Anna is quickly approaching 2 1/2.

Gracie has learned to roll over, and over, and over, and over, along with attempting to scoot. She's eating baby food and cereal now, then spitting 1/2 of it back out. She's our little spitter, I can't remember a handful of times when Anna spit up, and a handful of times when Gracie hasn't!

...she gets quite ticked off to get stuck...

Anna has learned to ride her big girl bike, she's rather quick on the tricycle too, but the bike...woohoo. Last night was her first adventure off the back patio. We took her around the block and she made it the whole way all by herself, without crashing once.

...starting off...

...about 1/2 a street into her ride...

...we did have to stop 1/2 way through for a water & photo break...

After her bike ride, we dropped daddy off at home and us girls walked down to visit FumFum & Bill'd, which is short for Grandma & Bill. Anna & Bill had a water fight, we played on the swings then walked home. It was muggy and getting cloudy. I loved the contrasting colors of these clouds, it was so beautiful.

About 15 minutes after we got to our house, these little clouds got a whole lot darker, and caused a bit of a light show. We've had more lightening this year than I can remember having in a while.

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The other adventure of our day was Anna's first solo haircut. AHHH! On Wednesday night I trimmed her bangs and gave daddy's hair a buzz. Well little miss independant thought she'd take care of her hair all by herself!

...Little Miss, getting her lip-stick on before heading to town for a few things yesterday morning...

...& the Little Miss, after 'Hair a-la Anna'...

So thankful it was just her bangs, no telling what she would have accomplished in a few more minutes.... Ahhh, life with an adventurous, curious, independant toddler...