Happy Holidays!

As most of my readers know - this is my first Christmas with my new family. And along with a "blended" family comes unusual schedules when planning holiday get-togethers. This year, we had the joy of celebrating Christmas with Boyd's family 5 days before Christmas! Here are a few happy moments of the kids opening gifts...

Billy was SUPER pumped to get this humongous Star Wars lego set...

He got a COUPLE others as well!!.. While one of Caitlyn's fav gifts was a "Color Me Gemz" jewelry box... (more pics on that below)


Grandma gave all the grandkids their very own 'lock box' - Caitlyn barely put hers down all day - AND she even got a cool "eye glass" as she called it...


After all the kids had opened their gifts - it was time for the annual pic of grandma and grandpa with all the grandkids (and the boys couldn't leave out their new guns!!)...


One last gift for our nephew Connor - his very own Sock Monkey (which I think he named CoCo)... As you can tell from the photos, he wasn't too happy with this at first (he dislikes any kind of gift that isn't a toy, especially clothing!), but he warmed up to it pretty quickly! ;)




And that Color Me Gemz jewelry box Caitlyn got? We spent some much-enjoyed time coloring that the next day - we had so much fun I even got a "You're the best stepmom ever!". Talk about melting my heart!





I couldn't have asked for any greater gift than the love of my new family.

Here's to hoping you get everything that warms your heart and brings you joy this holiday season!

Fun in the Sun & Snow!

Despite the sub-zero temperatures we are experiencing here in Northern Wisconsin - this last Saturday was actually a beatiful sunny day in the 30's - perfect for getting outside and playing in the snow. I met up with my good friend, Christina and her family at the always popular Irvine Park in Chippewa Falls. These guys were GREAT! Not once did I have to direct them - they just had fun and the moments came naturally - which made my job a whole heck of a lot easier! Thanks so much for letting me come 'play' with you guys!!





I love this picture...they played "peek-a-boo" with their son around this tree - and he could NOT get enough!!!...


Love the look on his face here as he watches mom & dad steal a kiss...

Their favorite Christmas gift...

My good friend Dawn and her husband Mike are extra-blessed this Christmas... they gave birth to their first child together, Evan. This little peanut was just 19 days old in these photos!
During our short time together, there was lots of laughter, a few tears (Evan got a little hungry), and lots of love for their new bundle of joy...






Dawn & Mike...I'm so happy for you two! Evan is perfect - and your love and appreciation for him radiates. I'm honored to have captured some of these moments for you. I love you guys!

Delight

As promised from my last post, I wanted to post a few more shots of this precious little one... I can't stress how wonderful it was having the opportunity to photograph this family! They were so good at interacting with Clayton and just so darn cute!

Thanks again guys! Enjoy your sneak peek!! =)

Cutie-pa-tutie Clayton

This is just an oh-so-small sneak peek from a little 'session' I had last night with this cute little guy, Clayton. Don't you just want to kiss those cute little cheeks?! I could have definitely spent more time photographing this little bundle of joy. He was such a doll and barely fussed at all!!



And for you photo/camera geeks out there - this was the first time I shot a session in RAW! It will make the editing results much better - but will also be a bit more time consuming as I figure out a new process for saving...editing...saving again... But so worth it! =)

I'll post more photos later this week!