laura and ben

These two are very sweet together. They will be getting married next year and wanted to get some engagement photos done now. We met up during the Art Festival downtown and then headed to the park. Ben is in med school and on top of that is a lover of magic. When he popped the question he was in front of all of her friends and did a slight of hand magic trick with a rose that produced the ring!! I thought that was pretty unique! I love to hear the stories of how people met and how they got engaged, they are usually so unique and fun. I also understand that her Grandparents had never seen him until they saw the photos from the engagement session, they approved!
Best of luck to the both of you in your upcoming life together and I hope you have a marvelous wedding.

keeps getting cuter by the minute

This little man is getting cuter and cuter by the minute. He has amazing dark skin and dark eyes and a wide mouth smile that you can't help but smile back at. He is adorable, and a little prep to boot! That would be momma's doing. Grayling came down to see me about a month ago so we could do some 3 month photos at the studio. He smiled and giggled the whole time, except for a little bit when he needed a fresh change! I'd be quite mad too! Nikki has fallen right into the mom mode of her life and it is a beautiful thing to see. I can't wait to still be friends with Nikki in another 28 years and see Gray grow up. It is a blessing to have my job and I truly do love watching my friends lives unfold.
love you both!

Ronan

I love this little guys name. Ronan. Sounds like he would have been friends with Zeus back in the day. A ruler of some sort, god of prairie flowers. Ok, sorry. I'm suffering from a summer cold and I think it is going straight to my brain. This Ronan is six months old and in love with flowers! We had a little mix up at the park, I was waiting by the pond, they were up cruising the rose garden. Once we met up and got things going it was all fun from there. I really loved how when he got his chubby little hands on a flower he was often times more enthralled by the stem then the colorful petals, either way they made him bounce with excitement! It was a joy meeting all of you and I hope to see you again in the future so I can see how Ronan has grown!

Oliver and Charlie

I am loving all these little boys I am getting recently! It is making me want one of my own!
Meet Charlie and Oliver, two more beautiful boys sporting the long hair. I'm rather obsessed with little boys with long hair, I love it. I'll probably mention that every time I have a session like this. Oh well, get used to it I guess. Anyways, I got to the park and it was one of those hot, hot days where the air itself is thick. They were being so good, I couldn't have asked for it to start off any better. Well, with that mentioned, I had to wait 15 minutes or so for my camera to de-fog from the heat! It's so annoying when this happens. Once the lens fog was finally gone I got some beautiful shots of them. They were so good and so happy the whole time.

three amigos

I FINALLY got my friend, the amazing makeup artist, Jen, to come down to the park with her two boys. Understand that I have been trying to do this since the baby was born....he's creeping up on two soon. Ok, beyond that, these three are beautiful. Turn your head, stunning. I love the long hair on the boys, and Jen is one of the strongest women I know. She is such an amazing person who is driven in her goals and on top of all of that is an amazing mom to boot. If you ever see her you should stop and breath in her strength. We took all of these photos for a surprise for Dad, he is going to love them!

Its a girl!!!

My brother and Kim had another girl!! She is so incredibly adorable and I am an aunt for the third time. Her name is Dylan Zoey. Its so very exciting to be here for all of this. I was living away when both the other girls were born and growing. I missed those first few years with both of them so it is very exciting to be an active part of Dylan's world. I love to just hold her and stare at all the faces she makes when she sleeps. I finally saw her eyes open yesterday, I hadn't seen that yet since she has her sense of time totally backwards. Sleeps all day and wants to rock and roll at night. Ty and Kim love that. Here are a few photos of Dylan. The first two are the day she was born and the rest are from the other day.


"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for"
~~anonymous





with her Grandpa J.

hutch loves michelle

Hutch and Michelle are really funny. Hutch may be one of the most funny people I know. I also know he doesn't like clowns, especially blue ones with wooden bodies. Anyway, these two came to town about a week ago for a quick photo session for their engagement. They are getting married next spring. Hutch is from the lake, so I've been blessed to have gotten to know these two over the last few years. We've all gone to the Okoboji winter games, been boating, had bonfires, but no camping, Michelle doesn't camp. ever. She prefers the four seasons, I know lots of girls that don't do the camping thing, she's not alone on that one. I'm very happy to see these two getting married and was thrilled when they asked me to do an engagement session for them. Hutchie loves her so much, he showered her in kisses all day, it was quite cute.

bluest sky is having a baby!

so think back to last year. The bluest sky. These two were married last fall and are now happy parents to a new baby boy. I figured I should get on the ball here and put up the belly photos before the new baby photos. (I'm a bit behind these days, sorry!) I met with Bridget one day and then the three of us met up on a later date at the park. Bridget, whom I like to call mother earth is nothing short of adorable. These two are so much fun to photograph. They are in love. Love photographs really well. The sky on both nights was awesome, the first night it was similar to the sky in the Simpsons and the second night a storm was rolling in and we finally stopped shooting after it started to rain. I love these photos and I can't wait to meet the baby that was in the belly.

much love to you both on this wonderful moment in your lives.

the little man Mason

Mason brought his parents down to see me a few weeks ago, his dad and I have known each other for a number of years now. Dad runs the Port on Lake Panorama, if you've never been you should give it a try, the tiki bar is quite fun. Thats a whole other subject. Mason was fantastic on the shoot, but when he was done, he was done. We did managed to nab quite a few cute photos for his first photo session before he called it quits.
enjoy!