Reese Got Baptized!

And you know I was there to capture every moment with my camera! Chelsea did ask me to record the day mind you, so I was, at least, less crazy to some around me. I was also honored to take some "before" shots a few weeks prior to the big day. Reese is so beautiful! Must take after her auntie (because I'm so beautiful you don't even have to be a blood relative for it to spill...wow...even I can't finish that sentence)!

Right before and right after...I always get the best seat in the house. I love Chelsea's teary eyes. I felt the same way with both my boys. It's such a phenomenally spiritual experience to see your children make their own baptismal covenants.

My most favoritest thing about our Reese is what a tomboy she is. You've already seen how drop dead gorgeous she is but this girl likes to get dirty and play ball. She's the star on her baseball team (not to brag or anything) so it was no surprise that her party theme was baseball, complete with Cracker Jacks, cotton candy, hot dogs, and peanuts. So fun!



My ballers were there too. In fact, they were the subjects of the majority of my 400+ pictures. I can't help it! It's an illness. And just to keep the peace in the family, we split the difference in team loyalty.

I originally wanted to put these pictures on first. I had. Then, I wanted to make them all big and pretty. Blogger did not want them all big and pretty and deleted them all. So I had to start over. Grrrrrr blogger.

Congratulations Reesie! We are so proud of you sweetheart!

Hi. How Ya Doin'?

Ummm, I have a million, trillion things to blog about. Piano recital, dance recitals, Trevor's trip to D.C., Christmas, vacation to Washington and on and on and on. I also did 3 photo shoots. But I don't feel like getting all the pictures together. For some reason, when I switched to RAW on my camera, I have gotten super lazy with pictures. Plus, I end up taking way, WAY too many pictures and the thought of sifting through them is just too overwhelming. It's like, which grain of sand is the sparkliest? I need to slow down my trigger finger when I'm behind the lens! For instance, I have over 600 images from Washington. Really?!

Instead, I'll share two images. One from Carson's baptism photoshoot. I love this. I'm going to make a poster and hang it in his room. It fits him. He is prone to the grumps and we talk a lot about having good attitudes and whatnot. I found the quote on pinterest (my new humongous waste of time).







The next one is my favorite from the last newborn session I did. She was so tiny. I'm so baby hungry (by the way, I'll be starving in that department for the rest of time...until I'm a grandma. BOO Trevor!).

Familias

Tis the season for family pictures! I wanted to give a shout out to my buddy, Jamie (check out her other work here), who does our pictures every year. We did these in October, but I didn't want to post them until our Christmas cards came out ;-)

After I took pictures of baby Anistynn, Matt and Courtney had me back up to Santa Clarita for their family shoot. It rained that day, hard, and was so freaking cold. But we bucked up and did it anyway. Super short shoot (say it 5 times fast)! But everyone was smily and cute and it was easy peasy lemon squezzy. Why is my family the only one that struggles to get everyone looking and smiling at the same time?

A couple of weeks ago Chelsea asked me to do their family pics as well. They are beautiful and so it makes me look good!

Namesake

I'm named after someone. Her name is Marie. She was my grandma's bestie. I picture them arm in arm window shopping in heaven. There's shopping in heaven right? I wish so much that I had a picture to post of her. But I do have a picture of the newest namesake. Anistynn Marie, my little brother's 4th girl! On a side note, he's such a good daddy to little girls. I'd like to think I played a small roll in that, along with my 3 other sisters (but he got to handle my drama for much longer than the older 3). 4 sisters, 4 daughters, it can't be a coincidence. Anyway, I hope she takes after her mommy in looks, her daddy in athleticism, and her auntie in humble witty sarcasm (that's me).

Family

This post is going to be rushed. I really wanted to post these a while ago. Remember Sunny? Of course you do. Well, they wanted me to come take more pictures. Yes please. But not just of their family. All the families who have adopted children from Dean, Lyla, and Alice's birth mom were getting together and wanted one ginormous photo shoot. YES PLEASE! What an honor to be able to meet each one of these precious little people. I wasn't expecting much, after all there are 11 of them (not a typo, 11)! I was blown away though. They were awesome. So well behaved and so polite...all of them! The older kids were so good with the little ones. I was amazed at how well they all accepted each other. I really couldn't get over the lack of chaos though! Best behaved kids ever. Want me to really blow your mind? The oldest is 10. 11 kids in 10 years. There, your minds are blown.

The "L" Family

The "B" Family (came all the way from Texas!)

The "M" Family

(Sunny-why didn't we get one of just your kids?  Ah, well, you and the Ricker are just as cute!)

I'm Back

And more behind than ever. Life sans the Internet is a sad life indeed. I felt so out of touch with the world. And the world (slightly less impacted) was out of touch with me. But I'm here now. I didn't really miss much. Just the first day of school for the boys, the first day of preschool for Abby, 9/11, Abby's first dance class of the season, the house we live in foreclosing, so that we have to move again (stinky Landlord). So, really, nothing worth mentioning.

I did borrow some studio lights from my buddy, Jamie, and took some pictures of my babies. And not to brag or anything, but they are really attractive people. I'd like to think (and blatantly suggest to the citizens of earth) that I had something to do with that. I did grow them myself.

In no apparent order (besides their age),

















And in case you were wondering, when taking pictures of a two year old, reinforcements are a must. This was my attempt while the older three were at school. Didn't work out so much.