Off to college...{Family Session}

Saturday I had a nice little family day. After taking my lil' ones to see the annual holiday parade, we met up with my mom & little brother for some family portraits.

...catching up in the sunshine...

My bro has been away at college since September & was home on Thanksgiving break, since his senior portraits were done, he's changed his style a bit. We also celebrated his 18th birthday while he was home.

...and he's all grown up...

...a Momma & her boy...

...sharing a few laughs...

...our Momma...

Thanks for everything Mom. I'll have the rest of your images ready by the end of the week. ♥

Oh how they grow..{Family Session}

and grow, and grow!

This is my second year photographing the Beautiful B family. I love watching families change & children grow.

...2008...

And they've grown...by 2 feet.

...in their beautiful new home...

...Little Miss M, now 2...

...& Mr E, growing so fast, almost 4 months...

...and when our families grow, our hearts grow even more, lots of love here...

...Mr E is ready for Christmas...

Thank you for a great session, even if the wee-ones decided they didn't like me too much. You guys are beautiful. I will have the rest of your images for you soon.

Crafts, a recipe & sunset {My Life}

If you read my blog, you've probably figured out that I enjoy doing almost lots of domesticated things. Be it digital or paper scrapbooking, painting, sewing, crafting, cooking & anything else that I decide sounds like a lot of fun.
One thing I really enjoy, is getting to pass my love for creating on to my children. I believe that it shows them how to take joy in the little things in life & not worry about the even smaller things (like cleaning or making messes, folding laundry). At each holiday or changing of season I try to find some itty-bity friendly crafts to envolve the weeones in.
For Thanksgiving, last year we made a pinecone turkey centerpiece for our table, the feathers were hand prints cut out of paper that Anna had painted. This year, I again chose a turkey project & we also made a "Thankful Tree" as a family project.

...painting the hand print leaves we would eventually cut out...

...up close with our leaves, each family member got 4 leaves on the tree, 2 of each hand...

While our leaves were drying, we got started on our paper bag turkey. I cut out the feathers & used the hot glue, but Anna was a huge helper. She got to crumple all the newspaper stuffing & tell me where to glue things.

...Our finished turkey, nice & plump, if he was real, he'd be very tasty...

...adorning our entertainment center....

After dinner Sunday evening, we sat around that table & talked about things we were thankful for. I wrote on everyones leaves, then we hot glued them to the tree trunk we made out of foam core & paper bag. We had a sack of acorns that Anna collected at the park & used some of them to embellish our tree.

...some of the things we are most thankful for...

...Anna proudly displaying our Family Thankful Tree...

One of the things we are thankful for is our home. We live on a beautiful piece of property & get a full on view of Mt Shasta, every time we look out a window or door. It's peaceful (except for the 40mph wind we are having tonight).

...The sunset from my back-front door...

Another thing we are thankful for, is the fact that we have food & get to sit down together every night for dinner. I've reverted back to bi-weekly menus, planned out every 2 weeks. Not only does it help me, because I'm not scrambling at the last minute trying to figure out what to cook, it also allows me to try new recipes & foods, as well as keep our diet fairly balanced.

One of the goals we have is to have at least 2 new dishes during the 2 weeks. This week we had several...if I search the cookbooks & am hungry, we end up with more than 2 new dishes...well I must have been starving when I made this last menu, because we have about 7 new recipes on the list. Tonight we ate Crock-pot Philly Cheese Sandwhiches & Paradise Cran-Applesauce (both were new recipes) although we have Philly Sandwiches on occasion this recipe was super easy & very tasty. The Cran-Apple Sauce was YUMMY!

Not really sure exactly which magazine or edition it came from, but the page looks something like a Taste of Home (or one of their sister mags) recipe. I only made a 1/2 batch, just in case we didn't like it. A full batch goes something like this:

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries --- 1/4 cup water --- 8 cups sliced, peeled cooking apples (I used Granny Smith & I didn't peel them) --- 2 cups sugar

--In a covered saucepan, simmer cranberries & water for about 20 minutes. Press through sieve or food mill & return to pan. Add apples; cover & let simmer for 35-40 minutes, or until apples are tender, but retain their shape. ( I thought it looked really thick here, until I added the sugar then it got all jelly thick & mmmm) Add sugar, simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 8-10 servings

It was SUPER yummy. Sweet at first, then tangy at the end. It's going on my fall/winter cooking list for sure!

It wouldn't be a day in my life post without on image of little Grace, who at 9 months can walk, crawl up on the couch, & jump on the cushions. She loves to play hide & seek, music, dances well, & will clap along to Patty Cake & Itsy Bitsy Spider. She is also learning some sign language & can use the words more & all done. The little miss Determined is such a smarty pants as well, it's hard to fool her if there's something she really wants.

...taking a break from jumping on the couch...

Needless to say my hands are FULL & I love every minute I spend with the little munchkins. Now back to enjoying my quiet mommy hour, editing & desiging Christmas cards for my fabulous clients.

A perfect day for family {Family Session}

Yesterday was beautiful! Perfect weather, although chilly, for family portraits.

...we visited a couple different places on the ranch, Grandmother Willow was one of them...

...Mom & Dad sharing a few laughs & lots of love...

...one of my favorites from our little adventure...

...trying something different...

...my most FAVORITE image from our session together...

Thank you for a great session. ♥ you guys. I'll have the rest of your images ready for you this week.

It's was a chilly afternoon...{Family Session}

...but it was a wonderful day for family portraits. We finished just as it started sprinkling rain.

...a beautiful family...

...we got to shoot at their home, and it was gorgeous...

...they still have lots of fall colors still hanging in the trees...

...we hiked up the little hill & visited a couple different places...

...beautiful smiles...

Thank you for a great session. You have a beautiful family. I will have the rest of your images ready for you by the end of the week.

It's November... {Specials & Product Spotlight}

...and this is posting later than normal.

I've been fairly busy over the last few weeks with portraits & holiday planning. I am not offering any specials for the month of November, except the November 11th, $111.11, which was offered through Facebook. If you haven't friended me yet, be sure to do that soon, I will periodically have specials & offers only listed there.

Holiday Portrait pricing is still in effect & a link to the price sheet can be found at the top of the blog. Holiday Pricing is valid through the end of December. I will not be taking Holiday sessions after December 12th, & orders placed after December 1st will incur a $20.00 rush fee to be gauranteed delivery by Christmas.

{Products} Speaking of Christmas, I offer several different items that make great holiday gifts. Keychains, calendars, dry erase boards & photo books just to name a few. Gift certificates also make great gifts.

There is still some time to book a Holiday Mini-session that includes customized Christmas cards. Prices on mini-sessions start at $65.00

Enjoy a great day!

3rd session--JMK {Family & My Life}

My 3rd session yesterday was my own kids & my family. I enlisted a bit of help from my sister for the ones that I'm actually in (which definately gave us lots of laughs)

...my little family...

...one of my most favorite images of the girls together...although they won't ever look AT me...

...the little cuties again...

...of course, we all can't look at once...

...the cousins, Lil' Fuzz Head, Bugs & B (who really doesn't have a nickname)...

I'm sure there will be more 'Holiday' inspired photo sessions with my girls over the next month, in search of the perfect image...it's always much easier to get those images for my wonderful clients.

Thanks for your help Am.

the 2nd of 3...Cute Couple...{Portraits}

My second session on Saturday was for some dear friends, whom I've known for a long time. They were lots of fun to shoot, we had lots of laughs. Even the 'FurKids' were well behaved.

...enjoying a little time on the swing...

...then we spent a little time on the porch, before bringing out the kids...

...and everyone got into their gear (Bruno, although not matching, decided to sneak in the photo too)...

...out for a walk, enjoying the fall scenery...

...sharing more laughs & lots of love...

Thank you for a great session, you guys were wonderful. It was lots of fun to have some laughs with you. ♥ I will have the rest of your images for you by the end of the week.

1st of 3...A Family of Three {Family Session}

It was a super busy day for me yesterday. I did 3 sessions. I started off the morning doing some family portraits for my sisters family. It was still a bit chilly out when we started, which didn't make for a very cooperative little boy, but overall we got some great images.

...he somewhat decided to go along with getting photos made...

...but it wasn't very often...

...he had, had a scrunched up face with super squeezed together eyes, I asked him to relax a bit & just smile like a nice boy...

...up in the tree, freezing, but cooperating at least...

...it was good to see them smile so much...

I will have the rest of your portraits ready for you by the end of the week. Thanks for a good & chilly morning.