The Melton Family: Christmas Session

Ms. Melton was Tori's 5th grade teacher a couple of years ago - and one of my first portfolio building clients. She has two amazingly adorable daughters - and we did a 'not so christmas' Christmas session over the weekend.

I hope you enjoy!

They loved the Santa Chair!

There was also a white carriage that we 'borrowed' for a few moments:

Loved how their outfits matched!

You want to know how you get a young 'un to smile? Tell them not to smile....then grin at them like an idiot... ;-)

My favorite... they are such a beautiful family!

This was after the session... mom and I were visiting while the girls were playing on the rocks... I got two amazing photos that I loved!

Mom saw this one... she was sitting so perfectly....and I called her name... and she looked at me.

Thank you so much for letting me spend time with you - I always love hanging out with the girls - they are hilarious!!

Thanksgiving Vacation

We spent four precious days with Brad before we came home. This will be the last time we see him for several months. We rented a home through VRBO.com - and had a wonderful experience.

The owners were amazing - they called to check on us as we had several hours of driving to arrive - and the property manager called to see if we needed anything while we were there.

There were quite a few memorable moments...

Getting up the hill into the garage the first night on an icy driveway....we slide back, into the snow...and had the good luck to have someone drive by that helped us push it out. We ended up using the water hose as a 'rappelling' rope to get the girls and I into the house before Brad attempted the driveway by himself.

Listening to Tori tell Sarah: Look Sarah - those are mountains!! And that's SNOW!!!
And then pointing out every bit of 'snow' for the next hour...

Listening to Brad tickle the heck out of Sarah...and then Tori ...and listening to Tori try NOT to laugh in the usual 'teen angst' manner...

Walking in the snow in Taos...

Enjoying warm soup with Brad and Sarah (Tori was still snowboarding)..

Stretching a 7.5 hour drive into a 12 hour drive because of frequent stops on the way back... finding a park and playing for half an hour...

Watching Brad say goodbye to a sleeping Sarah....telling her he loved her...hugging Tori, and telling her to not grow too much....the drive back to the military facility, holding hands...and hugging him tight before driving off in tears.

I'm just one of several thousands of families who told their soldiers goodbye the last few days.

I was recently asked, by Kat Cooper who writes a blog at the Chron.com, to give her one word that I thought of when I thought of "Deployment"... my response: Sucks.

It does.

It sucks to have to remember to take out the trash, cause he always does it. It sucks to have NO one to hand off the boisterous 2 year old to at the end of the day. It sucks to have to go to bed at night and miss him.

It sucks.

But I support his involvement in the United States Military. We re-enlisted just a short time ago - and it was done after very long, careful consideration to what it would mean. He might have been the person putting the signature on the paperwork, but being part of the military is a 'family' issue. We knew a deployment was a very likely possibility - but there are some men & women who were created to defend our country. I think my husband is one of them. He is an amazing man, a wonderful father, and an incredible husband....and he is an American soldier.

I'm going to be working with our military unit's Family Readiness Group in collecting care package items and sending them to the soldiers in the early part of next year. If you would like to participate - please contact me directly - my information is at the bottom of the blog.

Here are SEVERAL photos from our vacation, in no particular order:

The C. Family Session

Mom saw photos from one of my recent sessions - and touched base to talk about what she wanted. We found out we are both military wives, and we are both always trying to catch up with all of the stuff that comes with kids, and husbands, and...yes, deployments. Her husband has done a couple, and she survived, and gave me some WONDERFUL ideas to help the girls make it through the next few months.

The kids are Kelsey, Colton, Amanda. They were alot of fun...and made us work for the smiles a bit.

I have to confess...there was a 'little' bit of torture going on...


I got a couple of smiles when I least expected it....she was actually getting a rock out of her shoe...


And she had that 'senior' look down to a 'T' already... *grin*...



Colton didn't do so bad himself either....can you believe he's only 7??



This ended up being my favorite image - because in 15 years, when all of them are off at college...or where ever life may find them....this image is going to be priceless. I loved how they were hugging daddy...



Thank you SO much Amy for inviting me to photograph your family. I truly enjoyed meeting all of you...and must say...you've got your hands full!