A quick peek a Miss T...

I guess you could say this is part 1 of 2. We got rained out during this session, so we're meeting in 2 weeks for more. We're headed out for some fun, funky stuff for next time. But here's a few from this last session! (And yes, her skin really is that perfect!)

I can't wait for next time!

What an honor!

I got a call recently from a fellow photog. She said her entire family would be in town (something that doesn't happen too often since they live in Utah) and asked me to do group shots of them. It was such a fun shoot - I don't usually work with such large groups (and they can be pretty unpredictable!) But they were really up for anything and we had some fun!

The girls together

6 of the 7 grandkids - and my favorite shot from the shoot!

The kids (there were 7 total) hadn't seen each other in a few years so they had a ball playing together!

I was really honored that they chose me (it's always nerve-wracking taking pictures of other photogs!) If live in Utah or you just want to check out some of Catrina's work, here's her website: http://www.kneesandtoesphotography.com/

Luscious Lily

Seriously - this little girl is so adorable I just wanted to kiss her chubby little cheeks all day! I love babies - especially when they are so cooperative! (And yes, she was a great little model - happy to hang out in the fluffy beanbag or play with her mommy!) Here's one that I absolutely love, but if you want to see more of my favorites, click on the slideshow!

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

You may not recognize the name of the organization, and I hope you never need to. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) was organized in 2005 after one of the co-founders lost her little boy. Their mission is to provide bereavement photography free of charge to parents experiencing the death of an infant or small child through illness, trauma or stillbirth and to help them begin their healing journey. Over 5,000+ photographers worldwide volunteer their time, energy and talent to this noble service.

My own personal interest in NILMDTS began last year when my best friend lost her son Noah preterm. They couldn't find a phtographer to come to the hospital to photograph his birth, so they have pictures that her husband took on his cell phone to remember him by. I think about that a lot and wish I lived closer so that I could have been there for them. But maybe I can help another family going through something similar.

The NILMDTS organization is primarily for babies past 25 weeks gestation, but also helps families with terminally ill children of any age. You'll receive an on-location photo session with your child, retouching, a DVD of the images and a slideshow - all at no cost to you.

Hopefully you'll never need to use the NILMDTS team, but if you do, we're here for you. For more information, visit www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org.

Kourtnie & Scott

Aren't they adorable? They were best friends from pre-k through first grade, when Scott moved away. He recently found her through MySpace and they've been together ever since! Talk about a fairy-tale story, huh?

Happy 4th of July!

Ok - so the 4th was a couple of days ago! We've been so busy here that I didn't get a chance to post these the other day. Better late then never, right? We have had a great holiday weekend. Lots of parties and picnics with friends and family! The kids have had a blast too - the like nothing more than getting to hang out in the water all day. Meg has decided that my sister's jetski looks like a giant bumblebee - and what's more, she claims it's "my bumblebee" now. So it looks like we'll have to get a jetski for Meg when she gets older. :) Here are a few snapshots from the weekend I wanted to share!

The girls enjoying ice cream cones in their wagon

Teagan's attempt at playing badmintton

Colin loved squirting his sisters with the squirt guns!

Colin jumped on the jet-ski as soon as they brought it down to the lake!

And the girls climbed on as soon as Colin got off!

I've also had a few people e-mail me with questions about my point & shoot camera. I use a Canon A720IS. As you can imagine I did a lot of research before buying one and this one came out on top (I should also note that I'm a canon girl - I think their products are great and like that I can swap cards between cameras.) The A720IS is reasonably priced, has manual controls and isn't so small that it would get lost easily (yet still fits into a pocket pretty easily). It also has some of the best image quality available from a P&S. Of course it's still not close to a dslr, but there are times I just don't want to lug my giant cameras around.