Ali

Wow. Look at her. Look at Ali. She's got beauty AND brains, and that doesn't happen very often. Ali has gorgeous red hair, piercing hazel eyes, and listens to science pod casts in her spare time :) She's going to be an engineer and plans on working for NASA one day. I have no doubt she'll get there.

Taking photos of Ali reminded me of me at her age - quiet, reserved, uncertain, but so much to say and so much to give. She'll be a senior this year, a year to remember. Make the best of it Ali, I know you will.

I'm kind of speechless, I'm sort of in awe. I have a logo. It seems so surreal.

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You know, I always knew I wanted to be a mama, and my dream came true, two times over. I'm twice blessed for these angels on earth. Then I wanted to stay at home with my kids, more than anything. I was granted this incredible wish last year and I thank my husband for making this possible. If I only had a year at home with them then I would make the best of it, and we did.

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At 37 years old I discovered another "dream". I didn't know I wanted to be a photographer, too, until last year. I just didn't know.

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And it wasn't until today that it all seems real, when my logo was created. Thank you to the wonderful and patient Tara Staton Designs for creating something that feels so authentically me. And thank you to the two wonderful friends who tried to help me first, who tried to create something from nothing because I had no idea how to express myself in that way.

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I sorta wanna cry, is that weird?

A few more...

Here again is Ivory, Cheyanne, and Tanner.

Gorgeous Siblings!

Take a look at these stunning siblings! This is Ivory and her younger brother and sister Tanner and Cheyanne. Mom suggested a gorgeous location and I'm so glad she did, it was beautiful!

I had a lot of fun photographing these three; the little ones have so much spunk and smiles that lit up their faces. Ivory has some experience modeling and it showed. Her and Mom taught me a few things about posing - thanks ladies!

Check back later for the individual photos. I can't wait to process them!

Sam and "Little E"

These are my incredibly gorgeous and vivacious neice and nephew, Elizabeth and Sammy. Elizabeth's nickname is "Little E", but she's not so "little" anymore J & J... Not fair, I know. I've taken lots of candids over the years of these two, but this was my favorite time spent with them behind the camera. We worked with very little open shade so not as much variety as I'd like, but it was fun chatting them up: we talked about Elizabeth's favorite Sponge Bob character, Patrick, Sam's favorite position in baseball being the pitcher (because he's closest to the batter there), Sam's handful of grass to feed the grass carp in Grandpa's pond, and how Elizabeth is able to achieve motion blur with her camera.

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Their little brother Ben was on the run just about right when everyone got there. I should have taken images of him first; with each session I learn something (more than one something actually) and with this one I learned TAKE PICTURES OF THE FASTEST ONE FIRST!! I hope to catch Ben some time soon, he's got an incredible face that I want all of you to see. His heart is gold as well and it shows up in his kind eyes.

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Man, are my relatives gorgeous or what?!?!

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Oh, one more important thing - my daughter Rachel and Elizabeth are BFFFFFFFFFFF - seriously. I've never seen two girls that young so closely bonded, like they were friends in a past life. It's really something to see.