Boston Beauty

What can I say other than...wow, you are one gorgeous girl, Boston. These are some of my new all-time favorites right here. I just love them! Seriously, Alisha, you need some BIG photos in your house of your drop dead gorgeous children. If you don't, I'm printing some big ones for my house! haha

Malachi

Remember cute baby Jordan? Well, she's got a big bro name Malachi and a big sis named Boston. I was going to combine Boston and Malachi's peek into one post, but there were just too many I wanted to share, so stay tuned for Boston's peek coming very soon.

I've photographed families and seniors at this truck, but I've been dying to take a little boy here, and Malachi was so perfect--such a sweet, mellow and fun little boy. Thanks for such a wonderful time, handsome little guy!

Sweet as a Whisper

To spend a few hours soaking in beautiful baby Abby's sweet spirit and countenance is something I won't soon forget. She was so patient with us as we loved on her with all sorts of poses and accessories.

My oh-so talented friend Shannon of Shannon Morgan Photography let me in on this shoot and I couldn't be more grateful. I feel so blessed to know her--she's always been so generous and helpful to me on my photography journey. Thanks a million, Shannon!

And I wish you could all meet Abby's parents. They are a ray of sunshine and such an example of courage and love. You can read more about beautiful Abby and her parents at Shannon's blog, as well as get a peek at some of the gorgeous shots she got.

Thanks again, Shannon, Lexi, Lance and most of all, Abby. ♥





Ah, that smile. What a doll.

Meant To Be

This sweet family is so meant to be. XOXO

Sunday Snaps--Crazy Week Edition

This week was the kind of busy that made my head start spinning every time I sat down to my planner. It was a really good and productive kind of busy, though, which made it so worth it to me.

Will and I switch off, and I was in charge of Family Home Evening on Monday night. We had Costco pizza and hot dogs for dinner and had a lesson in the car on our way out to my all-time new favorite photography location for an activity of "run around with daddy." I want to do a happy dance every time I think about the family I'm going to photograph there this Thursday evening. It's going to be awesome! But anyway, I wanted to check out the lighting and such and got a few shots of Magnet playing with the kids. My kids are so lucky to have such a playful, happy, strong, kind and loving dad. Happy Father's Day, Magnet! We love you!

Aside from the day-to-day busyness of motherhood, what kept me especially on the go this week were the three photoshoots I had, all of which are in the queue for a peek here on the blog. I'm still editing my cousin's wedding photos, though, so I definitely have some catching up to do!

We've had some blah weather, but luckily it hasn't stopped my kids from playing out back. They love our backyard, and I'm so grateful. All we have is a little mini-tramp and some odd and end yard toys, but they can entertain themselves for hours out there. Cuties.

Magson's speech is starting to take off. One of the things I picked up on this week was him singing the first line of "I am a Child of God" over and over again. He's been singing this mysterious song for weeks now and today I finally figured it out!

Maggie is just sweet to the core and so willing to help me with anything. Her imagination is soaring and I think she would love it if we could all just live her imaginary world all day long.

On Saturday Magnet's Aunt Julie and Grandma stopped by for a fun visit. My kids love them!


I hopped in a picture this evening. I wanted to get a snap of Magnolia in the gorgeous dress Aunt Julie brought by, but unfortunately she just wanted to get in her jammies and conk out. She sure looked cute at church today, though. Thanks, AJ!

Finally, I must give a Father's Day shout-out to my dad because he is simply the best of the best. A man full of integrity and honesty and complete selflessness, he is flawless in my eyes. A flood of happy and loving feelings always comes over me whenever I think of him. I love you, Dad!

Life in Moments

I can't tell you how much I love these pictures! They are so full of light and life to me, and I think they are especially beautiful in black and white.

Sunday Snaps--Monster Post Kick Off!

I've had so much on my mind lately, I feel like words are about to explode out of my hands!

Needless to say, I've been awful about documenting everyday life around here, and it's starting to get to me; it wants to come out! A huge chunk of my world revolves around photography, yes, but on Sundays I'm going to ignore the part of my brain that says I can only post my best work on this blog. So, those of you who come here to see me showcasing my photography, don't come here on Sundays! There will be some pictures taken by me, some not, and hey, I might arise from the land of invisibility and get in a picture or two myself!

Now on to what we've been up to!

Here are my girls with with some of our favorite little people in the world! It seems like every other minute Maggie is saying, "Mommy, I'm missin' Livie and Ava." That, of course, is code for "Can we invite them over?" Luckily they live in our neighborhood because they like to get together lots!

Awhile back I wrote about Magson and his obsession with vacuuming our house. It is amusing and annoying all at the same time. Luckily he's becoming more and more content to just grab a stick and pretend he's vacuuming with some pretty rockin' sound effects.

Our Maggie graduated from preschool last week! Before one of the mom's read off the names on the certificates, she'd spotlight each child and have the kids guess who got to come get their certificate next. Above is Maggie realizing that she's being spotlighted.

Here were some of her clues:

Favorite Color: pink, purple, white and grey (Almost every girl said pink! It was pretty funny. I also think it's funny that these four colors have been Maggie's favorite for at least a year now--so official, and random!!)

Favorite Song: Hey Stephen by Taylor Swift (All the other kids were saying these darling church songs like "I Love to See the Temple" and "I am a Child of God." Leave it to Maggie to pick a Taylor Swift song!)

Favorite Preschool Field Trip: To the old school (Old school: Kindergarten)

What she wants to be when she grows up: A mom (Yeah!)

Now on to my sweet baby girl! She is two months old, pushing three! It's funny, I think often moms take the most pictures of their oldest and then start dwindling off with subsequent kids. I think it's been the opposite for me; she is one seriously photographed babe.

Backing up to when she was just a month old, here's Magnolia with her Grandma Rise (pronounced Risa) who is beyond wonderful with my kids. We are so lucky to have her so close. I couldn't even begin to tell you about all the things she does for us.

One of the best things about having babies is that my mom always come clear from Germany to help me. I don't know what I'd do without her and truly cherish those beginning weeks of caring for my babies with my sweet mom by my side.

This is a bad picture of Magnolia, but don't my dad and Maggie look cute? My dad has been able to make it (again, clear from Germany) for each of the kid's blessings. It's so special to have him there standing in the circle. And Magnet gave Magnolia the most beautiful blessing. One of my favorite parts was when he talked about her caring spirit. He blessed her to seek out and to help people in need, and talked about her countenance of happiness. That last bit I already know to be so true about her.

Oh look, there's Liam and me the day of the blessing! I really do want to jump in more pictures.

We tried taking pictures of Magnolia in her blessing dress, but she was having none of it. My mom crocheted this dress for Maggie when she was blessed nearly five years ago and I loved seeing Magnolia getting blessed in it! What a doll.


Well, that scratches the surface of what we've been up to lately. And I feel so much better. My hands no longer feel like they're going to explode. :) Happy Sunday. Oh, wait. It's Monday. Off to bed!

Her Smile

It occurred to me that this blog has yet to see Magnolia with her eyes open. Ta-da! And while I posted a newborn gassy smile a while back, you've also yet to see a genuine smile--again, ta-da! This little angel baby has me melting everyday. I couldn't have asked for sweeter. She sleeps all night, rarely spits up, and just seems so content to be with us. I love how my heart keeps making room for more love with each child.

There are so many pictures of her that I'd like to share, but blogging is much more time consuming for me than I'd like...maybe if I were less of a perfectionist about it, sigh. I would like to start doing posts every Sunday that include snapshots of what we've been up to. No formal photography, just us. We'll see if I can start that on up.

Jordan Mattie

Sweet little Jordan is one gorgeous baby! I couldn't get over her wavy and thick black hair! I thought she was particularly beautiful against all the whites and tans we used during her photoshoot. And she was awfully talented for a two-month old babe--holding her head up like a champ! I couldn't believe it and was not expecting that!

I can't wait to photograph her big brother and sister in a few weeks!





With Father's Day just around the corner, I especially loved this daddy daughter shot. ♥