You Are My Mate for Life

My friend Alison loves geese. She has numerous art prints of them hanging in her home. She told me once that she loves them because they mate for life. I thought that her honest enjoyment in them was so special that it engraved in my memory. So, being stuck in my apartment due to a North Carolina snow that shuts down EVERYTHING, I was all about killing the boredom. That usually entails me dragging out my camera and driving my dogs crazy. The first day of the snow was grey, overcast, hazy and just downright dismal. The second day gave me exactly what I wanted: sharp, bright sunshine on crisp snow and brilliant blue skies that remind me of the way ice tastes. The Canada geese that had spent the night sleeping and floating on the pond outside my windows were brave enough to walk fairly close to my patio. I was also trying out a new lens...okay, so it was new to me! I took these fotos and immediately called Alison, so excited I could barely be understood...in fact, I think she asked me to repeat myself about 3 times at least! I really enjoyed the results of this snow-stuck day. And I hope Alison enjoyed them just as much, too.

All The Pieces Together...Form a Family

Family. What does it mean? Is it the people you are related to? Is it the people who take care of you? Family....is the people who love you. This family is creating their own family. They asked me to do their holiday fotos and I was excited about getting to know all of them a little better. Both the girls and the boy are Mom's...but the baby-on-the-way is theirs together. The girls personalities remind me of my sister & I when we were young...just because we were sooooo different! Just the ways they stood together showed their own attitudes. And I had to ask them to stand closer together....I received the typical teenage eye-rolling. Go figure. I loved the fotos with mom & the girls, "The Boys" and the 3 kids together. But, I think my favorites were the ones with Dad & Mom together, arms wrapped around her tummy, cradling the new family member with love's embrace.

Meet Me in St. Louis!

St. Louis. How do I describe a trip that was as fascinating as this one? I stepped off a plane on the day after Christmas, after a 5 hour snow-bound, forced layover in Chicago O'Hare Airport to meet a friend whom I had never met face-to-face. She & I had been friends via email for 3 years...shared family stories, tears and frustrations. We were on our respective cell phones as she told me how to navigate Lambert Airport. I remember walking thru the hallway to leave the airport and screaming into my cell as we both realized that I had found the right exit. She laughed because she said "I know where you are! The guy in front of you just turned around at the same moment I heard you yell!" We hugged and laughed...and so started a really awesome trip. All the places we went to...they didn't cost a thing. The riverfront, the Arch (we did NOT go to the top...it was sold out), Anhueser-Busch Brewery tour, Union Station. We hung out, grilled out, visited the local watering holes, friends came by to meet me because they had all heard about my trip and drove around A LOT! I made new friends, celebrated my birthday and brought in the New Year of 2010 in Fenton, MO. It was a trip that I wouldn't have missed for the world. *Tipping up my glass to all the great friends I now have in STL!*

5 Strand Cord

I am always happy to do fotos for this family. And this day was no exception. In my opinion (IMO), part of being a good fotographer is being able to see opportunities when they suddenly occur. As we were trying to figure out how we were going to do the family foto, I noticed that Dad was sitting on the floor with the youngest one resting in the crook of his legs, secure and happy. I immediately told him, "Stay just like that!". I started snapping fotos of an adorable baby being protected and held by his father. Dad's hand resting on his son's tummy, the look in his son's eyes...and soon enough, the other 2 children wanted to be part of it, too! Mom was so surprised to see what I was shooting...but she rushed to move all the assorted family gear that was stacked in the foyer so that I had a clear background! We did the family fotos right there, on the floor of the living room. And I couldn't have been happier with how they all turned out. The pictures I described above were included in the previous post's gallery on my Smugmug page. This post is for the family, the fotos of "The Boys" and the fotos that Mom wanted with the youngest. Those fotos Mom wanted were the first ones she really had done with herself and the youngest...I think they meant a lot to her and it meant a lot to me that she asked me to do them. So much love...part of God's plan.

The 3 Musketeers

Huge, expressive eyes. Lovely faces. And energy to spare!! These three have appeared in my blog before. And it's a pleasure to watch them as they are growing up. Being a single female with no children, it fascinates me to watch their parents interact with them. The incredible patience, the smiles in the face of chaos and reciting the Rosary with all of the Mysteries on the way to Mass on a Sunday morning. I love being around this family and these 3 kids. Helping the kids to get dressed, finding the pair of shoes under the couch and convincing this cute little girl to smile when she really doesn't want to smile at all! All these things have really made me appreciate all the things it takes to make a parent. Not sure I'll ever have a child of my own, but if I do, I want to take the best of all the great parents I know.

Red, White and Black Haute Couture

Don't you want a dress like this? And shoes like that? Okay, maybe a grown-up version, but don't you LOVE the colors? I got such a kick out of this outfit and the young lady wearing it! She simply makes you smile. She giggles, laughs, smiles like there's no tomorrow. She makes me realize that each of us needs to take a page from her book...live like there is no tomorrow. Smile, laugh, enjoy, savor, smell, hug, look, giggle, feel and breathe in every moment. How many times do we get too caught up to stop and appreciate the people, life and world around us? So, take a moment today....and ENJOY!

The Boldness of a Strong Family

All smiles...this family had them all session long! And hugs, kisses...a plethora of love comes from this family. A solid relationship blooms into a marriage bears a child becomes the love of life. In reality, this is the reason we are on Earth...the people we love whom we build our lives around. Parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends...all are the foundations that we build our worlds around. The people we rely on to make us smile, cause us to laugh and helps us wipe up the tears. I hope that each of you have the kind of people in your life that bring you up, no matter what life throws at you.