The Barnhill’s are not only a wonderful repeat client for me, but friends, so it is always a pleasure to spend some quality time photographing them!

Avery and Logan are a sweet set of twins for whom I have a super sweet spot for.  They also happen to attend preschool with my daughter and their mom is the famous Allison Barnhill of Handmade by Allison (now Allison Barnhill Designs), so we already know each other pretty well! That makes our sessions really easy - and Avery and Logan definitely like to play  (although I HAVE to wear my running shoes to keep up with Logan!), so it’s always a fun day in the park!

I met up with them at Quiet Waters Park on a sunny afternoon for a little fun and Avery and Logan were ready to go! We ran around and got some super cute shots of the kids and the entire family together. After our session I joined them for a quick lunch at McDonald’s before the next shoot I had scheduled that afternoon. It was super sweet of Avery and Logan to let me tag along for lunch! I even heard that after our session Avery asked when I was coming to take her pictures again, so I consider that a compliment! =)

Here are just a few of my favorites from our session:

THIS is Logan’s ‘cheese’ face - hilarious!

Logan is always good for a laugh - he is a happy and funny little guy!

Aren’t they a cute family!?

I love this fun moment between Allison and Avery. Nothing like a good tickle!

Now, this is Logan just being his sweet self - isn’t he a cutie?!

Avery and her Daddy - I think that’s some more tickling in action there.

I do try to get some individual shots of parents when we do family sessions - like I said in my post yesterday - there are plenty of couples who don’t photos taken together since their wedding day! I love this one, with Allison’s hair blowing in the breeze!

I don’t know what Logan was doing here, but it was too funny. Avery was freezing (her hands were SO cold) and there’s Logan showing me his tummy!

I love this one of them together. Both Avery and Logan can be serious and pensive, but seldom at the same time, at least when I am with them….this captures that perfectly….or maybe they just didn’t want to share the red chair? hmmmm….

I’ve got a sweet spot for these twins and I LOVE this snuggle that Logan is sharing with his Daddy - sweet.

And another sweet moment with Mommy…

And I just LOVE this one - Avery looks like a little angel here.

Thank you guys so much for letting me spend the afternoon with you taking photos of your wonderful family! It was delightful, as always and I can’t wait to come do another session. Next time I’ll bring my BIG bucket of goodies for Avery - she’ll be in heaven - and play trains with Logan!

Tonight I am going to a cocktail party celebrating the launch of the new Allison Barnhill Designs name and website (check it out if you are in the market for your wedding paper goods or any other types of invites you might need - her stuff is amazing!), which should be a lot of fun! I am looking forward to taking some photos and enjoying some cocktails while my kids are with their grandma for a few hours - woo hoo!! I’ll be sure to share some photos with your tomorrow or Monday of the festivities!

Thanks for stopping by!

This family is one that I am so thankful for having the opportunity to know. Not only are they my (new) clients, but more importantly they are my next door neighbors and friends with whom I am so very grateful to have!

Kathy and Mike have a set of triplets with whom I am in love - and all three of them have very different,  distinct and delightful personalities. When we first moved here, they seemed so little, but now that they are getting older and go to school with my daughter, they don’t seem so small anymore. They play with my girls often and we walk to school together when the weather isn’t too icky.  And then they got an extra gift about a year and a half ago - a baby sister who I’ve never seen without a smile on her little face!

Needless to say, I was flattered that Kathy asked me if I would take family photos for them! They are such a wonderful family that it was an honor for me to do this session. Kathy and Mike are two of the hardest working, loving parents I know, and I was so glad to take them all out to the park to run around and have some fun as a family before Mike had to head off to work. Kathy did made it VERY clear that she really didn’t want to be in any of the photos, but I finally talked her in to it (after harassing her about it for a few days prior to our session!), and hope that she is glad she did. Kathy and Mike have a big wall in their living room filled with beautiful black and white photos documenting years of their family history, so I really focused on getting some great black and white images for her wall….and these are some of my favorites.

This is Mick. I LOVE Mick! Mick has a great smile and is full of laughs - he has a great sense of humor. Mick is just one of those kids that I have fallen in love with, which makes it really special to me that I was able to get some really great shots of him at our session! He was in a good mood when we met up for our session, so I started with him, and I was SO thrilled with how well I was able to capture his happy spirit!

This is Jack. Jack is the most serious one of the triplets. He is kind and caring and this kid has a serious voice! He sings like an angel (his dad, Mike is a musician, so it’s not out of nowhere!) and is part of a children’s choir that I would love to hear sing sometime. Jack is going to be a really amazing man when he grows up and I can’t wait to see what he accomplishes through his life.

And Grace - Gracie is like a ray of light. I LOVE this photo of her - it is so spontaneous and cute. Gracie is a girl who knows what she wants…she already has a ‘no boys allowed’ policy in her room! LOL! Gracie is the only reason I still have Girl Scout cookies in my pantry - because, seriously, who could say ‘no thanks’ to that face?!

Now, for Marty, the littlest family member. I swear, I have never seen this girl without a smile on her face. And not just a smile - a smile that is contagious! It’s actually scary, because I think she is quite an imp! She certainly keeps Mike and Kathy on their toes! But gosh - she is so cute!

Aren’t they cute!?

Can you imagine having triplets? I can’t, but I really do love these guys! Mick was a real trooper for this shot - he was just laughing down there on the bottom of the pile!

I love this shot of Kathy with Mick - so sweet.

Kathy and her sweet kids (Marty was not really into it at this time, so I just got the triplets in this one!).

Aren’t they a cute family?

After we got the shots we wanted I rewarded everybody with some big, sticky, super sweet lollipops - with mom and dad’s permission, or course. The kids were in heaven, but they sure were messy by the time we left the park!

Can you see the ‘imp’ in Marty?!

And I LOVE this shot of Kathy and Mike. Can you believe that they had not had a photo taken together since their wedding day?! I’m so glad I got a couple of them!

Kathy and Mike - THANK YOU so much…. For being amazing neighbors. For allowing me (and my family) to be a part of your lives. For all your hard work. YOU are wonderful parents raising wonderful children and you should be proud! BIG HUGS!

In the fall I do a lot of family portrait sessions for the holidays. It is always a fun time for me - catching up with friends and families that, in most cases, I haven’t seen in a year.

But that is not the case with this wonderful family, since we have preschool in common. I actually go pretty far back with Mark and Amy - before any of us even had kids - so it is always fun to catch up with them! This is the first time that Mark joined the session, and I have to say that I am so glad that he did - it is important to get the WHOLE family every once in a while, right?!

We headed out to the park to get some fun, relaxed family photos, despite the kids not feeling their best that day. We started with a few ‘informal’ shots of the family, for which Patrick was totally goofing off for….but I think it adds so much character to the pix anyway! Then we just let them run wild around the park until they ran out of steam (and Daddy had to get to work!) - LOL!

Here are a few of my favorites of this awesome family….

Elaina is quite the serious girl sometime - which is what I think I like about this photo.

Patrick is so funny - he was so happy to run around and play with sticks - such a boy!

Mark got Elaina laughing really good here….

Isn’t this expression hilarious!?

I love this ‘mommy’ moment that I caught - it’s so cute!

Every time I see Patrick I can not get over his BLUE eyes! I did not do ANYTHING to this shot - they really are that blue!

I have not idea what they are doing here, but it makes me laugh every time I look at it!

A pretty shot of mommy!

And the handsome daddy!

Aren’t they a cute family?!

Mark and Amy - thanks for letting me play in the grass with your family again this year! It’s always a blast! See you soon! HUGS!