This Family was just too Funny

Okay, so I will admit it, Christmas can make one a little cranky. You have a long to do list and you are just trying to check it all off. I was doing my best, when I got the sweetest e-mail from a woman about a gift they wanted to give her mother for Christmas--a Family photo shoot. Her sister would be in from LA and would I mind doing it on Christmas Eve? I got a deep laugh out of it. Then I thought, I know how my mother in law feels about my sister in law living in Utah, so, I will give this girl a call.

I did. She was awesome, we planned on the 28th. I loved them. We started out with a large Family photo.

However, since we had just finished a nice snow, and it was melting, I had the pleasure of getting snow from the roof falling on my head. It made for a good laugh. I told them it was part of my shooting style.

Snow aside, we did a little "funny" too.

And why not take pictures of the daughter that put it all together? Kristin and her husband were so cute!

Of course I loved their dog too!

In all, I think Mom was pleased with her Christmas gift this year.

Shoot us while we Shoot

The Tornoe Family is awesome. Love them and their dog. For their family portrait shoot, the weather was quite frigid.

I took a step back and told them that my goal is to capture you enjoying one another, not braving the Artic winds. With that, they thought and thought some more. Do you guys use the pool room? I had two excited boys, well, three if you include the grin on their dad's face...

We got some fun shots and details inside! They loved it and so did I.

Oh the bribing of Children

It's true, getting your picture taken is hard work. The Utz boy's parents thought if they took them to an outdoor train set up at Morris Arboretum, they would have it made! But alas, not with these guys.

They were so on to their parents. Who thought that a little lollipop negotiation by, yours truly, would work to produce smiles? Not just from the boys, the parents too!

So in the end, I guess the sugar high was what the doctor ordered for these kids. The dentist, not so much.

Perfect Fall Foliage

For the past few days I cannot get over the vibrant colors of the trees. Either my memory is failing me or I don't recall fall being this gorgeous. What I can tell you is that the Gilmartin family picked the ultimate Saturday morning for their shoot.

Fall Foliage aside, I do make jokes on how I get people to relax for photo shoots. Let's face it, who gets their picture taken everyday? But, I actually know Colleen from my book club. Which was a good thing and what I love about this book club is the fact that we actually read interesting books and have valuable discussions. So we have that in common.

As for Steve, men can be slightly more difficult to "break in". Now, Colleen and I have both hosted book club at our homes. I think the discussion segment is something that our respective husbands may want to differ with us on, in terms of it's possible "discussion". In fact, I think Steve was a bit nervous about me. As soon as I made a crack about me having a "gaggle of book club geese" over the other night which drove my husband to the liquor cabinet, this caused Steve and I to be fast friends. In fact, I think he wanted to get together with my husband to check out his cabinet.

Crazy Faces, a must with little boys...

Little boys just love their mommies.

Such a sweetie.

It was a fun day! I actually did get shots of the kids in their Halloween costumes. Charlie wants it to be a surprise, so out of respect, I will not post those. Maybe on 10/31 he will approve it...

Photos for Daddy!

As a special gift for Daddy for Father's Day, I had the fun time of shooting the cutest kids and their mommy. Having a son the same age, I know how they can be. We just let big bro take off and play. He had no interest in what we were doing. I was able to get some action shots of that guy--silly toddler.

Of course the baby was super awesome and sweet. She could have hung out looking nice for hours, well until she either got hungry or fell asleep. Heck, if she fell asleep that would have been so cute too. I could have pinched her cheeks off.

So super Sweet. Just loved her little Buddha belly and those big brown eyes.

Loved these sweet shots of big bro and Mommy

With Big brother in the background, mommy spends fun time with her baby girl. The sound of her giggle was super cute.