Spring is here and that means capturing portraits in the tall grass, wildflowers and green trees.  I just love the transition when creation wakes up from the drab sleep of winter and everything is bright and new.  I’m also loving all these families that I’m getting to capture in the beautiful parks and wilderness that surrounds us!  I have been a bit busy of late but hope to bring some of my favorites from my most recent sessions with my amazing clients!  Seriously, I am a blessed girl!

Today’s portraits were captured just before Easter when things were just getting green and allergies were running high (for me at least!).  I had only spoken to Marie on the phone prior to our session but I was very excited to meet her and her two cutie kids!  During our two hours together, I felt very welcomed and that I’d made three new friends by the end of the evening!  This family is just fun to hang out with, whether goofing around, skipping rocks or all cuddled up together, you know they love each other well!  Look at the portraits, you’ll see it too…

Thank you Marie!  I so treasured our time together!

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If you follow my blog, you might feel like you know the Pagans, my cousins Jeremy and Kelly, fairly well.  I’ve been honored to capture many of their momentous occasions and we’ve watched this family grow from two to three to four.  Well, there is a set of cousins, Jeremy’s older brother and his family  (that live way too far away while he’s pursuing his medical degree) that we haven’t been able to visit with often, let alone photograph.  So, when they were planning on coming out to California to visit family over Easter, and the time frame coincided with Jeremy and Kelly’s scheduled family portraits, we changed it up and squeezed in some portraits of all of them together!  I just love these people so much and am beyond blessed to call each one of them family!!

 Look at these three cuties…

 Jon, Jen and their cutie…

Jeremy, Kelly and their adorable littles…

 I love their smiles!

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My beautiful friend, Beth, and her hubby make some cutie-patootie little red-haired babies!  They already have two little guys that melt my heart: the oldest, a soft hearted little girl that has beautiful red curls, and a two year old charming little boy that has the best flirty smile!  And now Beth and Ted have welcomed in a new baby girl into the family!  I was able to capture Ms. Madalynn’s portraits when she was just 13 days old.  This little beauty did not want to sleep but maybe 20 minutes the entire time I was there but rather was content to sit back and take this new world in.  Here’s some of the goodness we got that day!

 The proud big brother and sister!!

 Such a silly girl!

 And a great big sister too!

 I adore these three!

 The proud big brother!!

 Our little moment of rest…

 Cat nap over… time to party some more!

 Love this almost smile in this one!

 Such beautiful eyes

 One of my favorites!  I love the look she is giving to her mommy- pure adoration!

 Welcome to the world sweet Madalynn!  You are so well loved by many!!

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Ok.  I don’t know how I’ve missed sharing this session!!  Just after the first of the year, we captured Justin and Ashely’s engagement session while Justin was home on break from studies at Cal Poly.  This couple wanted to shoot in downtown Cottonwood and mentioned they wanted a “country” not “cowboy” atmosphere.  Luckily, one of my good friends also extended use of her property that lent for more of that romantic, country feel!  (Though it did include a ferocious rooster…)  We had some beautiful weather and were able to have great fun capturing these two and their sweet young love!  Seriously, they are adorable!  I’ve had the privilege of knowing them both for some time and watching their love grow and I cannot wait for their beautiful day in August!

 Ashley smiles the biggest, most beautiful smile when Justin is around.

 Such a fun duo!

 I love how comfortable they are in each other’s arms

 Beautiful ring

 One shot of the attacking rooster- he was a fierce fellow!

 One of my favs!  So sweet!

 LOVE!!

Congratulations again Justin & Ashley!!

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Joey and Erin are a beautiful couple I had the joy of meeting in 2011 when we captured their wedding in Lakehead at the House On the River.  They are such a cute, sweet, and fun loving couple and they, along with their family and friends, were a great joy to photograph!  Seriously, so much fun!!  I adore them!  So, this past Christmas when I got a call from Erin’s mom looking to gift a session to Joey and Erin for a family portraits, I was excited at the chance to get to see them again- them and their two cutie kiddos, Natalie and Maddox, too!!  We met up in the morning to take advantage of the kids’ happy times and the Lord gave us a beautiful, sunshiny day.  And, once again, I fell in love with this family!  I think you will too!!

 Joey is such a great daddy!

 And Erin is a beautiful mom!!

 I just adore this little girl!

 LOVE this capture- what an expression!

 Natalie had great fun reading to me- and was doing a brilliant job too!

 Maddox is rockin’ that tie!  Such cuteness!

 A beautiful family!!

 …and a little crazy face time…

Through our session we made our way to the playground where we got some great candids of the kiddos having fun!

And a couple still very much in love…

 Thank you Joey and Erin for sharing your family with me yet again! I simply adore you guys!!

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The McIntoshs are a sweet family that I met last June when their adorable little man was only months old!  When Kayleigh called me earlier last month to schedule portraits for Jensen’s first birthday I couldn’t believe time had passed that quickly!  She was planning a party for both her birthday babies (she shared almost everyone in the family has a birthday this month!!) and had planned doing a theme of the Disney/Pixar movie, “Up” , one of my favorites, for Jensen and Marin!!  I was excited to play around during our session adding in some elements for the invites!  And, since we were documenting Jensen’s first year, of course we had to have a cake smash!  We got some fun portraits!  Here are just some of my favorites…

 Isn’t she the cutest??

 Peek-a-boo!

 I adore these cuties!!

 This bug wasn’t feeling too super the day of our session but was a champ!!  However, we did get good pouty faces too!!

 Beautiful momma!

 …and cake time!!

 What mess??

 A good time was had!

 And sister got to get a little of the treat too!!

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I was privileged to meet Jerret and Heather a couple years ago when some of their family purchased a gift certificate for infant portraits of their first little baby, Ms. Brooklyn.  Almost two and a half years later I got yet another email from their cousin, LeighAnn, saying that the Goodales were expecting their next baby bundle and that the family wanted to gift a portrait session to them again.  I was so excited!!  At the end of December, we got to meet together again, now with their handsome little man a part of their family.  This little family is one of the sweetest and Ms. Brooklyn is such the adorable big sister!  Here were some of my favorites we captured that day…

 Heather had brought along her wedding dress to get some portraits of Brooklyn in it.  These really turned out fun!

 Adorable!!

 Sweet sister kisses

 This little man didn’t want to settle down until the very end of our session but once he did, we got some great shots of his cuteness

 One of my favorites right here!

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This next family is one that is special to me!  I’ve known them for many years and each time I’m invited to capture their family portraits, we have such a fabulous time!!  Lots of laughing, some inside jokes, and stinkin’ cute kiddos!!  Who wouldn’t enjoy themselves??  Ryan and Andrea are now quickly approaching the arrival of their newest little one- like any week now- but we captured these just after Thanksgiving (I know, I know… still playing catch up!!…) while they were up visiting family.  So, I figured that I’d better share these before their family increased by one extra bundle of cuteness!!  Here’s some of my favorites…

 Future GQ

 Miss Katy fell asleep on the way to our session and wasn’t quite ready so we got some snuggles with daddy

 There’s that beautiful smile!

 Love looks good on them.

 Beautiful momma!!

And my ultimate favorite, though hard to pick…  Such a joyous family!

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I know this one is quite overdue… but how fitting that I should get to share it on Valentine’s Day!!  This couple is one very special couple to my husband and I.  Calvin and Paige both went through our youth group and even begun dating in their high school days.  We got to watch their love for the Lord and for one another grow and mature and are excited to see these two begin their life as husband and wife in just a couple months.  As a photographer,  I was honored to capture their senior portraits, ecstatic to capture their engagement portraits and am anticipating (ie: super excited about!!!) their beautiful wedding day in June!  These two are so cute and just too much fun!!  We captured their engagement portraits during one of the best weeks for fall color in November… the following week, all the leaves had dropped and were faded!  Check out this cute couple~

 This was a funny one they wanted to do… Save the Date!!

 And what session is complete without a Captain America shout out?  Love these two!!

 Such cuteness!

 Fun in the leaves

 I love, love these two!!  So excited for you both!

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Just a few days after Thanksgiving, my great friends, Matt and Jenn, had their second little baby- a wonderfully handsome bug named Barrett.  Oh, how I love that name!  And how I love him!!  He really is a sweet snuggler… and those cheeks??  Adorable!!  We were able to capture his first portraits when he was just a week old (my favorite time frame for infant portraits!!) and he was a rock star.  Everyone is smitten with him.  Though, none more so than his beautiful older sister.  These are just a few of the adorableness that was captured that day!

 Such sweetness!

 My great friend Jenn is an amazingly beautiful woman!  I loved capturing the joy that she infuses in others.

 Holy smokes, those eyes!

 See what I mean about those cheeks??

 Beautiful girl!

 For work, Matt wears a tie daily.  I loved getting to use this prop for his little man!

Congratulations Matt and Jenn!  I am so very excited to finally snuggle this little guy!!

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