Photography

12.25.14

Christmas Cookies with Friends | Our Story

Merry Christmas Everyone! I thought I would post about a tradition I see a lot of people partaking in, one which we have up until this year not ever attempted. If you know me you might understand, but my kitchen is MY space…I know that’s terrible, but I have a hard time letting my kids in, I EVEN have a hard time letting my husband in! It’s my happy place, my zen place if you will. I know it’s terribly selfish of me, and honestly it’s mostly because I like to make things up as I go along and having others in the kitchen who want to know what to do, or what comes next doesn’t really work with that method:-) BUT I have vowed to bring my kids in more often this year and as they grow, I mean we want to raise boys who LOVE food, appreciate where it comes and the work that goes into their meals, but also I want my boys to KNOW HOW TO COOK. I mean really, my husband and I learned to cook together (I see the irony here) but how great would it be to send my boys out into the world as GREAT cooks?

But really, you did not come here to read about my crazy kitchen ideas! You are probably more interested in seeing what my family, and THANKFULLY our friend’s family did in said friends kitchen! Our friends happen to also be our neighbors, we are renting the house we live in from them, and building our new house right next door! Again an aside, I am on a roll today! ANYWAY, we ventured out to a Christmas Service, and then headed back to their house to bake and decorate Christmas cookies with our kids! I am so glad we did, my boys LOVED it, and since I have vowed to not bake until my new kitchen is finished it was PERFECT!

Aaron made the dough ahead of time, as well as the frosting so we were ready when we walked in at um….730pm, my kids NORMAL bedtime! Tom rolled out the dough for the kids and they started cutting!

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We had Candy Canes, Trees, stars, stockings, gingerbread men, and of course the traditional Christmas football helmet! That one was funny, but ALL the kids made at least one of those:-)

I am SO thankful for friends of the social media crowd who remind me to take pictures with my face in them! AND for husbands who offer to take one with the BIG camera. We were total DIVAS and made him take a million before we approved, but whatever, he offered:-)

Then we decided to take “family” pictures and my boys photobombed hers while her husband was busy cleaning up:-)

Ahh That’s better and ACTUALLY her family:-) in all their silliness!

AND here is us:-) I am SO thrilled to have this image! Even though I could totally put the above cookie making images in our album and it would tell the story of our night, I LOVE LOVE that there are these images of both families involved so we can have those to look at for years to come!

From our family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Like MY STORY and want me to tell yours? Do you need new family images to tell that story on your walls, or in a book on your coffee table? Are you looking at your kids and wondering, where the time goes, and how they got so big? Do you want to celebrate who THEY are RIGHT now? I would love to tell YOUR FAMILY’S story, and CAPTURE YOUR LIFE! Send me an EMAIL, and we will grab a coffee and get to know each other!

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12.18.14

The Peterson Family | Coloma Family Photographer

This session is an old one, but I had to include it in my massive blog catch up because, well, it’s Beth and her family! Many of you already know Beth, she often accompanies me on sessions, as my assistant, my organizer, and my second set of eyes. She has helped me capture families and now weddings the entire time I have been in business. So it is such a joy to capture her family each year:) We should plan it better and capture our families in spring instead of fall, but what fun would that be!

We gathered the whole family and headed out to Coloma, which has a great state park complete with stone ruins, a river, and just beautiful scenery all around.

I love Beth’s creativity and choice of spots, she is always encouraging me to try new places and get off the beaten path:). I love that! This stone ruin is SO amazing, and the light was just right! Little Miss A was NOT so sure she thought that niche made a good seat! The rest seem happy with her placement:-)

She was quite the trooper for a few, but then was just feeling a bit too unsteady…SO we moved her down, and then of course she didn’t really want to be a part of the group:-) Nieces! SO fun! As often happens with kids, if you let them do their own thing their joy and personality comes out and you grab the best pics, SO who needs the family to be ALL together? Not me I would rather capture those great grins! Miss A LOVES life!
She REALLY wanted to show me her shoe:-)LOVE how the light dances in her bright brown eyes!

We always try to get one grandkid capture for the grandparents. They don’t all have to be looking at the camera, but they ALL need to be in the pic:-) Pretty sure my Daniel was refusing to sit at this point AND Miss A wouldn’t let go of that rock!
After the groups and LUNCH, I grabbed some individuals of the kids. I NEVER exclude individuals from photo sessions, they are SO important to capture. I mean kids grow up SO fast, and you WANT to have record of what they looked like at each season of life. When Beth saw these she remarked, “MJ looks SO old here” When she saw this past year’s image, she again exclaimed, “She looks SO old!”, SO I sent her this image again, and she couldn’t believe how itty bitty she looks here:-) Yet another reason to PRINT your images!
I couldn’t resist this. These two…they might be closer than the big kids…but it didn’t start out this way. They used to scream and cry at each other! They are only a week apart, and I love the way they love each other now!

I love to tell stories:-) And use images to help tell those stories…I would LOVE to capture your family and tell YOUR story, CONTACT ME today so we can grab a cup of coffee and start planning your session!

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12.11.14

Tree Hunt 2014 | Our Story

Do YOU have December traditions? Generally, I tell people I am not a traditions person, and we have trouble being consistent with traditions every year. BUT I married into a family that likes tradition, and so we have adopted a few, one of those being our Annual Tree Hunt. After we have had our fill of Thanksgiving, it is time for Christmas to start! SO decorations come out, and the weekend after Thanksgiving, we head out to find our tree! We missed last year due to our life changing trip to India, and if you follow me on FB you know that we are currently building a house, and living in smallish quarters. So this year we are again bringing back the Christmas branch instead of the Christmas tree. BUT we didn’t want to miss out on the hunt! So we all gathered and headed out to a new to us farm, only minutes from our new house! Pine Valley Ranch!

It was a little difficult for my boys to not actually get a tree, but in the end they were super stars and supportive of the others who were getting trees:-)

Holden found me a tree that is my favorite color, “orange” he was disappointed when we told him it was a dead tree. And Anya was SO happy to find a “y”, gotta LOVE kindergartners!

The ranch is VERY picturesque, and I would LOVE to bring a family back here for a lifestyle Christmas session! The trees and surroundings were awesome! They also have a fire pit and hot cocoa, and you can roast your own hot dogs:-) Of course the boys could not resist the pond, and finding SOMETHING to throw into it:-)

Grandmere and Grandpere were the first to pick their tree, I love, love little Anya “helping” carry the tree!

Next the Petersons found their tree finally one mom and MJ could agree on! The kids loved “helping” carry the trees to be measured and paid for…

I LOVE this tradition we have continued over the years, I think we started it our second year of marriage when Beth and Josh moved up here and we had our first house:-) I have captured it throughout the years, and I LOVE to look back at how we have grown as families! I love telling our story through images, and I would LOVE to help you tell your story! CONTACT ME today so we can grab a cup of coffee and start planning your session!

Do you have special traditions as you get ready for Christmas? I would LOVE it if you shared them with me!

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12.04.14

Baby B is 6 months! | Auburn Family Photographer

Babies grow OH SO FAST, it’s fun to capture them several times during their first year, to capture milestones and just watch their tiny personalities come out. I was SO excited when his 6-month session came up and Stacey asked if we could capture the family together as well, it was fall after all perfect timing for Christmas Card sessions! We did this session in Old Auburn, I just love all the locations available right in a small area:-) You can capture lots of different scenery in great light!

As you can see Baby B is sitting up nicely and he doesn’t think I am as funny as before:-) But those cheeks, those eyes, and the beautiful baby skin! I LOVE to capture all the little parts! Next time he will be 9 months and then a year, it’s gone by SO fast! As you will see in the pictures BIG Brother was a little more interested in my props and getting his picture taken than Baby B, but that didn’t stop us from grabbing some GREAT images:-)

This truck was perfect for fall! And for sitting in:-) Although the little guy isn’t so sure, Big Brother had fun “showing” him how to do it:-) Kids are SO fun!

Old Auburn has the stone walls of the beautiful courthouse, old red brick buildings, as well as some park areas, like I said LOTS of places to capture! I love how the outfits Stacey put together go with the surroundings! And the BOYS matching VANS! I love them!

Daddies are SO funny! Capturing the interactions is my favorite thing about families, just seeing how everyone loves on and relates to each other is a JOY!

Baby B, you have grown SO fast, it is a pleasure each time I see you and your family, until next time…when we will have to chase you around!

I love to tell stories:-) And use images to help tell those stories…I would LOVE to capture your family and tell YOUR story, CONTACT ME today so we can grab a cup of coffee and start planning your session!

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11.27.14

Happy Thanksgiving | Our Story

Thanksgiving in our family is a FAMILY day, a FOOD day, and just a relaxing no expectations day. Except we expect GOOD FOOD, or at least I do 🙂 In the history of our little family Thanksgiving has always been an important day. It was the day after Thanksgiving in 2005 that I found out I was expecting my first son, AND it was Thanksgiving day of 2008 when we announce to our families that our second little guy would be born the following summer;-) SO although we have no major announcements this year, we have SO much to be thankful for and we are looking forward to a nice day with me in the kitchen (my happy place) with Tom’s sister, AND the boys BBQ’ing the turkey.

BBQ’ing the turkey is our one tradition we never alter, the rest of the food however changes year by year. I can’t help myself, I LOVE food and trying new recipes. SO every year we scour Sunset Magazine, and now Pinterest or my favorite food blogs, and plan what will be on the menu. This year I am making my Homemade Hummus, this awesome BRIE appetizer, our newest favorite roll recipe, THIS stuffing (my only non-tested recipe this year), AND possibly if we can handle it THESE cookie bars. We will also have veggies, fruit, potatoes, and another pumpkin themed dessert. The turkey is brined, ready for the boys to put it on the fire. I’m already anticipating the yumminess!

What are your traditions? What dinner items are YOUR must haves? I love to hear how others celebrate! I believe each story is SO important, YOURS is something unique to you and your family. In this age of Pinterest, and social media we can sometimes get caught up in everyone else’s story and feel like ours doesn’t match up. But that is NOT true. YOUR story is yours, it’s what you make it, and it is special, you might feel like it’s messy, but I think it is unique and beautiful, embrace it, and love it.

From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving! Now go make memories, and enjoy your blessings!

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