D Family

The first snow of the season is always pretty, even when that first snow is 6-7" of the HEAVY, WET kind that all comes down at once in less than an hour before a photo shoot!  It makes for for taking family photos a little chilly tho, especially when you factor in a brisk 32 degree wind blowing around you too!  I met this family of four at their home for a few warm, indoor shots, then we drove out to a neighboring barn for the rest. They were all such great sports, standing out there for a few quick photos when even I, in my heavy jacket, would have called it quits long before they did!  LOL!! ;o)  I'm glad they decided to stick with the original outdoor location plan, too.  I love their bright colors against the white barn siding.  And thanks, A & I, for putting up with the cold as long as you did.  You did great!!  :o) 

Welcome Baby R

A month ago I took maternity photos for this family, and yesterday I finally had the honor to meet beautiful Baby R.  Everything about him is so perfect and sweet; the tiny fingers and toes, the innocence, the big yawns, the new-baby smell.  Welcome to the world, Baby R.

Halloween Parade

Last weekend I had fun photographing our annual Halloween Parade for the wonderful organization that does all the incredible work putting it together.  A few of my photos were chosen for use in the local paper, too.  Here are just a couple of my favorites, highlighting a few of the little ones enjoying the morning!

Jasper and Sweetie

It was another gorgeous sunny afternoon for picture taking yesterday, and this time I met up with Jasper and Sweetie at their rural home in Wisconsin.  Jasper was full of energy, bounding here and there in search of mysterious scents.  After a few attempts at instructing him to sit and smile pretty, I just let him lead and I followed, much like I do with the children I photograph, and that's when I got these great shots. 

Sweetie was jsut the opposite, laid back and relaxed, as most cats are.  :)  And not that she needed any incentive to pose pretty, a few morsels of chicken were always daintily accepted! 
 

S Family

I met up with the S family this weekend to take some family photos for them.  It's been a year since I photographed these two brothers, and it was fun to look back and see how much they've grown.  The weather was beautiful after a week of typhoon-like wind and rain (well, almost!) LOL  We were even on the bridge at just the right time to watch a train go across.  The boys loved that!  





It's a boy!

This summer my daughters and I raised Monarch butterflies, watching them as they grew from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly.  We found one final caterpillar on the milkweed plants about a month ago and transferred him to our butterfly hotel.  Usually they spend about 10 days in their chrysalis stage, but for some reason, this one remained in this stage for almost three weeks!  I really wasn't expect it to hatch, but then one day, about a month after we found him as a caterpillar, he finally emerged as this beautiful butterfly!  My daughter asked, "Which way is Mexico, momma?" since Monarchs born in late fall make the long migration to Mexico or southern California.  She then decided that we needed to release him on the south side of the yard so he wouldn't have as far to fly!  LOL  Good luck on your journey, Mr. Monarch!

S Family

I met up with this little guy, Mr. C., and his family at a local park this last weekend.  We had fun feeding the geese, throwing sticks in the water, and playing on the playground equipment.  It was  gorgeous afternoon - probably one of our last as they're predicting snow flurries this week!  I haven't had a chance to edit all of the photos yet, but I picked out a few of my favorites to post here now.  Enjoy them, S family, and I'll be getting the rest to you soon!