The Foster Family

I recently had the immense pleasure of photographing some dear friends, John, Shannon and Tanner Foster.  We met the Fosters through church at West End Baptist.  They joined the church at the same time that we did.  They also stood with us at our wedding and we absolutely treasure their friendship.  In the coming weeks, the Fosters will be heading overseas as missionaries.  We will miss them dearly but are blessed to be knit together with them as believers.   Shannon is also expecting their second baby boy in December.  What a time of transition! 

Meet Tanner.  It's hard to believe he will be 2 years old this December when he welcomes his new little brother to the world.  Tanner is all energy and loves to run and explore.  It was fun to watch him enjoy his time outside, completely oblivious to the crazy girl snapping pictures.

Tanner loves Thomas the Train.  It was so cute to hear him say "choo choo" as he played.

Tanner has a unique and precious relationship with both his mommy and daddy. It is so sweet to watch John and Shannon parent.  They both have their own styles but they work together so nicely as they train up their little boy.

I love to see how couples relate to each other, especially when their children are occupied! :)  John and Shannon have not lost the sweet playfulness of a couple in love and it was a pleasure to try to capture some of their sweet moments together. 

A quick family portrait :)  Can't wait to see the newest little peanut come December!

I wanted to capture at least one picture of Shannon's cute baby bump.  She's such a cute pregnant mama!  John couldn't resist getting in on the action and wanted to get a picture of his sympathy bump as well!  Hysterical!

John and Shannon~
Thank you for letting me take up some of the rare "free time" you have to take some family pictures.  I hope you enjoy these images and the memories that they seek to capture.  Todd and I have greatly enjoyed getting to know you and treasure our friendships with you.  Thank you for sharing your lives with us!  We are so excited to see all that God has in store for you and your growing family as you embark on this new part of the journey together.  We love you guys!

The McQuail Family

I recently had the privilege of taking pictures for some friends of my sister, the McQuail family.  Most of the family lives here locally and those who do not were in town for the weekend so it was the perfect opportunity to pull the entire family together for some family photos.  The family asked me to simply capture shots of the family visiting and playing together at the grandparents' home.

Katelyn, Pop, Nana, William, Caroline, and Bryce (in front)

Meet Katelyn.  She is so easy-going and has a lot of fun playing with her daddy.

Katelyn wanted to play hide and go seek with her daddy.  It was a lot of fun to watch them interact.  It's obvious they have a very loving relationship.

Meet William, Katelyn's younger brother.  William did very well during my time with the family.  He is such a content baby.  It was fun to watch him explore the world around him.

This is Bryce, the eldest cousin.  Bryce loves to be in a picture and was always smiling for the camera.  He is very loving and gentle with his sister, Caroline, and both of his younger cousins.

Meet Caroline, Bryce's younger sister.  

She has such a sweet smile and really enjoyed being able to play outside.

Nana and Bryce together.  Nana has such a sweet relationship with each of her grandchildren.

McQuail Family, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to meet each of you and for entrusting me with your family photos.  I hope you enjoy seeing these pictures and I hope they do justice in capturing the sweet relationships within your family.  I had a lot of fun meeting and spending time with each of you!

A Gilman Father's Day

I've been biting my nails, waiting to post pictures from a fabulous photo shoot with the Gilman Family.  If you don't know the Gilmans, you should, they are a really great bunch of people!  We did the photo shoot about a month ago and Hollie was hoping to get some good group shots that could be used for a Father's Day gift for Michael. We had to work hard to keep it a surprise and planned the shoot on a day that Michael would have a meeting.  Unknown to us, he would throw a slight wrench in the plan by making plans for Hollie that same night too!  {panic!}  With a hustle and bustle in our step, we were able to slip in a photo shoot near their home and have them all back in time for dinner!  It was pretty close though!  Michael, Happy Father's Day.  I hope you love the pictures.  You have a beautiful family who loves you very much! Thanks to each of you for letting me invade your evening for an hour or so. I had a blast!

Meet the Gilmans! 

They are seriously a zany bunch! :)

The kids were naturals!

One of my favorites from the day

Let's all look at Jake! :)  

Mother-Daughter time

Isn't Casey beautiful!  She loves ballet.

Holden had me laughing throughout the shoot with his antics

Jake loves baseball and has quite an impressive hitting ability...seriously!

Happy Father's Day Michael!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dads out there!  Being a Dad is one of the hardest jobs around.  I think many dads do not fully grasp the impact they will have on their children--for good or for bad.  A Daddy is the first hero of their son or daughter.  I think we all look up to our Daddy's, or want to.  As a daughter, a Daddy is her first "date" and admirer.  She learns about love from her Daddy.  A son, I think, learns how to be a hero from his Daddy.  When you see children, look at their Daddy.  More often than not, I believe, a son will end up very closely mirroring his Daddy as he grows up and the daughter will grow to date and eventually marry someone that very closely resembles, at least, aspects of her Daddy.  All of our Daddy's are humans and therefore can greatly miss the mark of our expectations, but aren't you thankful that we have a Heavenly Father that shows us the pure love of a perfect Father!

 This is my Dad, with me, on my wedding day

When I was a little girl, I remember the safety that I found in my daddy. He worked as a car salesman and would often work well past my bedtime.  However, I was never able to sleep until he got home.  My mom would tuck me in at my assigned bedtime and I would lay there....waiting.  I would know it was getting close to the time he'd be home when the smell of fried chicken began to invade my room.   I would get out of bed and stand by my window, lifting up the blind, and wait for his car to pull into his parking space. As soon as he came in, I would get back into bed and drift off to sleep because when he was home...all was right with the world.  I told my dad about this around the time I got married. He was amazed!  I think he felt loved to know I had done that all those years ago but was also astonished that he had never known. 

Do you have special Daddy memories? 

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Cameron Photo Shoot

I'd like to introduce you to my brother, Cameron.

He is 16 years old and I think he gets taller every time I see him.  My youngest brother, Cameron was an unexpected precious surprise for my parents.  Before Cameron, I was their youngest and I was in high school when he made his arrival!  How's that for a surprise!?

For this shoot, we headed to Carytown.   I love the area and was thrilled to take Cameron there for some photos.  We started out about a block from the old Byrd Theater and stopped at some store fronts along the way.  Our city has such rich, diverse history!

There are some fun delis around Carytown and I would love to come back and sample their food!

Cameron was not too entirely amused yet but I really loved the vintage painted sign on the building at this great deli near the Byrd.

By the time we made it to the Byrd Theater, Cameron was slowly beginning to warm up to the camera and it was neat to see him beginning to enjoy having his picture taken.

Amazingly enough, none of these pictures were posed.  I'm telling you, the boy is a natural! :)

It was right about now in our walk that a gentleman stopped and waited for us to take pictures.  By the looks of his tanned skin, rough lines in his face from a difficult life, and his tattered clothes, we assumed he must be homeless.  He seemed to be slightly disoriented but was gracious to stop for us while we took a shot.  He said when he didn't want to mess up anybody's pretty pictures and that he knew to stop for a picture when he saw such fancy equipment.  He was such a sweet man.  Cameron was very intrigued by this man, tried to give him all that he had at the time, which was a ticket stub to the movie that we had found on the ground in front of the ticket office.  This seemed to confuse the man but he was even more shaken up when Cameron gave him a long, "family" sort of hug.  You know the kind I'm talking about, the long, heart felt hug that you give to your family because you love them and are sincerely glad to see them.  By the man's expression, it seemed as though he probably hadn't had someone reach out to him in such a real, heartfelt way in a long time.  It was such a precious moment.

My brother is truly the most loving and genuine person I think I've ever known and it was such a privilege to get to take pictures of him!

While We're Waiting

While we're waiting on Father's Day picture reveals, I thought I'd share some pictures I have taken recently of my own children and our friends.  Just trying to capture the every day activities as we live out life.  Hope all is well with you and yours.  Have you snapped a picture today?

My son loves a good apple! 

He looks so grown in this picture

A friend's little girl playing with a fun sprinkler 

and trying get all of the adults wet too

I love how his little belly hangs out over his board shorts