I'm not going to lie...I was a bit nervous going into this session.  You will soon see that there were 6 little ones...under the age of 7!!!  I had envisioned them all going complete opposite directions with me trying to chase them down for at least one photo.  Well, they exceeded our expectations by a thousand percent.  They were all so well-behaved and absolutely precious.  I soon realized that having 6 little ones can make for some chaotic times, so doing a family outing that includes getting your photos taken probably didn't seem like such a big deal. ;)

The best part of all of this is that we shot Kris and Megan's wedding about 9 years ago (I believe) and we went to school with Megan at IWU.  Since they've been married they have been traveling here, there and everywhere to accomodate Kris' role with the Marines.  It was absolutely wonderful being able to catch up with them after all this time and see the wonderful road life has taken them.  Kris and Megan...I hope that we get to each other again-much sooner than later.  Thanks for giving us this opportunity!  Hugs to all of you!

Yep, 6 of them...from left to right-7, 6, 5, 4, 2, 6 months.  I'm still amazed! ;)

Such a beautiful family...

Isn't he a doll??

These girls are going to have the best of times together...love it!

Love this one...

Well, where do I begin?  As I sat down to write this post I realized that I didn't have an actual direction with where I was going to go with it.  The past 3 weeks have been crazy.  We were in Colorado for a week.  The following week I had a number of sessions and emails to follow up on from being gone the week before.  The plan was to email a bit every day in Colorado, so that I could come back to a work week and not a catch-up week.  Well, Claire getting sick for the first half of vacation threw those plans out the window.  So, the first week back left me doing a lot of busy work with little time to edit.  Then there was last week...we have a little kindergartener in our household now.  

While it was supposed to be a week of excitement, anxiousness, and tears (for me ;) it became a frustrating mess that I had not anticipated.  Without going into great detail, it was crazy.  Due to my photography schedule and an after-school program that I thought was going to work out, I realized that there was no way half day kindergarten was going to work with our schedule.  So, with a lot of phone calls, a lot of running around and many moments of mommy guilt, Gabe is now traveling to school with Jeremy in the morning for full-day kindergarten.  Thankfully, he is ready for it and was very excited to know that he will be traveling with Jeremy to "daddy's school."  

The craziest part is the fact that Jeremy is teaching kindergarten art after having taught high school art for 6 years. I still can't believe it.  Due to budget cuts and being the lower guy on the totem pole, he is now in a whole new arena.  One of the reasons Jeremy has continued to teach was for benefits.  I guess you could say this change has been difficult (especially since his certification is for middle school-high school), but we will get through it.  And, we know that God has a special plan for us even in the midst of this craziness.

Now that I have shared too much information, I want to say that there is lots to come.  Thank you so much for being patient with me during these crazy, unplanned, 3 weeks.  I am trusting that life is going to settle down a bit, so that we can get back to our normal routines.

There are many a times while documenting our wonderful families where I just want to hang out with them for a while after the session...especially this family.  Some of these faces may look familiar from Aaron and Andrea's wedding last September.  We had such an amazing day with them last year that we knew this time around was going to be just as great.  We laughed a lot!  Even in the midst of the crazy heat, we enjoyed catching up and capturing them.  Rogier family...thanks again for giving us this opportunity.  It was so very worth the drive!  Hope to see you all again soon! Hugs to you...

We drove to Kentucky for this session.  Andrea's parents own a lakehouse and they all find themselves there many times throughout the summer.  Andrea's dad would live there if he could.  It truly is a haven where they can enjoy life together.  It only made sense to do their family session there...too many memories to cherish.  

We started at the field across the street.  The water was a pretty busy place that day, so we stayed close to the house.

I totally remembered what was said at this point to get the expression above...memories. ;)

This was quite the workout and the boys loved it!

Two of my favorites from the session...

Aren't these boys precious...my goodness!

This dinner bell belonged to Andrea's Grandpa...such an awesome heirloom.

This truly sums up their session...lots of good laughs with truly amazing people.  Again, so good to see you all!

**There is so much to do now that we are back from vacationing.  However, I knew that I wanted to share our trip with you and knew that it may never happen if I didn't do it now.  There is too much beauty in Colorado not to share, so bare with me...  ;)

Jeremy and I have always shared a love for the outdoors.  When we first started dating, we took every chance possible to be outside.  However, now that we are all grown up our time outdoors is somewhat shortlived...partly because we work, partly because we have kiddos, partly because of time (living in the suburbs requires time to drive to the great outdoors ;).  So, when we started planning our trip to Colorado we knew we were ready...more than ready.

Well, the beginning of our trip was off to a great start until Claire came down with a fever.  We knew right away she wasn't feeling well because I can count on my hand the number of times she's been sick in her little life.  What we thought was being tired, overheated quickly turned into a little girl who had a bug of some sort.  After day 2 of having the blahs we took her to urgent care.  We were told she had an ear infection, so we were sent home with meds thinking this would be the end of it.  Well, we couldn't get the medicine down her.  As soon as we tried, it came right back up. :( So, the next day we went back to the urgent care...this time seeing a different doctor.  He didn't see any signs of an ear infection. What? And lo and behold, while we were there she started picking up some energy that we hadn't seen over the past 3 days.  The doctor agreed that this didn't seem like the signs of an ear infection, but gave us some new meds to try to be sure that it wasn't.  By the next day...day 4 into our trip, she was starting to act and feel a bit more like herself.  The downside was that we camped out (in our rental house) for a few days trying to get her back to normal which left us with 3 days to absorb Colorado.

Day 1 for me was hiking Mt. Bearstadt.  I had hiked Pikes Peak a few years back and was excited to be able to hike another 14er while we were there.  I guess you could say that I have found a new addiction.  There is something about being up in the mountains overseeing some of the magnificent beauty that God has provided for us.  I was in complete awe...

This was how our hike started out.  We were hoping for sunny skies, but the way the clouds were rolling through...I didn't mind.

This was about the half way point...about 2 miles with a 1500 climb in elevation.

Loved the little flowers along the way...

The view from the top.  I'm not gonna lie...I didn't train in a way that totally prepared me for the hike we experienced.  Pike's Peak was a 13 mile hike to the top, so I thought 4 miles up...shouldn't be too bad.  Well, you'll see that that the last mile or so of the hike was more like being on all four's climbing over rocks.  It was rough, but I loved it!  There is something to be said for climbing a mountain and overcoming obstacles along the way.  Sure, I was sore the next day, but there were no regrets...not one.

We made it to the top...and this is how we knew. ;)

I hiked Pike's Peak with Jeremy's dad...glad we got to hike another one together.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents!

L to R: Jeremy's brother, Josh, Jeremy's Aunt Donna, and Jeremy's dad.

The rocks to your left...yes, that is what we climbed over the last part of our hike...hands and knees.

Absolutely amazing....

I really could have stayed here all day...

This was our path slightly below the peak of the mountain.  There was somewhat of a trail...

These pile of rocks are found as you are moving up (and down).  Over time people have placed rocks there recommending that you hike in this direction. From there, you kind of made your own way up and down. ;)

About 8 miles later...we finished the climb.  Due to a hit in elevation, the whole crew didn't make it up.  However, the effort was made and the reward was still sweet.  Here we are trying to get the mountain in the background using the car as the tripod.

Day 2 was a trip to the Royal Gorge...wow!  That's all there is to say.

This bridge is a suspension bridge which means you can see it move when the wind blows which means multiple times of having heart failure which means...craziness!

This was near the beginning of the bridge.  Once I realized what she was doing I put the camera down and started to panic. ;)

It was warm, but these hit the spot!

A pretty amazing view...

People have actually tried this??

Yes, there were cracks like this throughout the entire bridge. Yes, I had to breathe through the walk across and back.  My heart beats faster just thinking about it.

I wasn't about to ride in that...no thanks!  The bridge was enough.

Day 3 involved leaving Colorado Springs and heading north to check out Estes Park next to the Rocky Mountain National Park.  All I can say is that we will be going there again.  Wow!

These little guys came right up to us...

Yep, we got to see a number of these guys too.

Many rainbows showed their face that day...

I'm kind of proud of the next two shots.  They were taken while we were driving back down.  Believe it or not, they were sharp...and sharp where they needed to be.  I didn't think the angles were too bad either. ;)

So, there you have it.  Our trip found moments of relaxing, being parents, visiting family, enjoying scenery...enjoying life.  

There are times when our weddings feel somewhat like a get-together with friends.  This was definitely the case with Mark & Becky's wedding.  A few years back, Mark was a groomsman for Jeff and Heather's wedding.  We fell in love with everybody that day, so when Mark and Becky contacted us for their wedding we were overly excited.  The day has come and gone and we are left with the memories that we knew we would experience with these wonderful friends.

Mark and Becky were married in Wisconsin near Lake Geneva.  It was such a beautiful location that has held many memories for Mark and Becky over the years.  Their day was filled with blue skies that held puffy clouds (and a random rainfall ;) and temperatures that were rather comfortable compared to the days we've had this summer.  Overall, their day was perfect...every detail was carefully thought out and fell into place just as it needed to be.  Mark and Becky...we wouldn't trade your day for anything.  Thanks for choosing us to be the ones who got to celebrate with you.  Hugs to you both...    

Love those first moments...

The beautiful bride...

The love they share is a pretty obvious thing... ;)

If only you knew that groomsman on the right...  Dan-o-ramic--you make us smile! ;)

I don't think we could've planned this moment any better...

They love their Uncle Mark!

It is hard to say what this conversation was, but my guess is that they will get a good laugh out of this.

And, here we are...can't wait to see the 4 of you again! ;)