Just a few hours before this next sitting we were about to call it off and reschedule...rain was in the area and it was not looking promising. But the sitting was to celebrate a mom's birthday. Having the opportunity to capture all her grandchildren in one picture made the decision to try and squeeze the sitting in before winter descended an easy one. Amazingly the rain stayed away until the very end and all the kids had so much fun playing together in the fall leaves. The age range of the kids made for capturing quick moments before a few would become less than interested in sitting on a lap. What was wonderful about this family is they were so easy going and really up for anything. They were all just thankful the family was together. It was an incredible sight seeing how much fun the cousins had together. Once again, I had a hard time narrowing down to favorites so I choose a few from the very first pictures I took that capture the laughter and love the kids shared throughout the sitting. Then I wanted to share one image of each grandchild and a few with the grandparents. I decided each mom deserved a special image...one mom worked hard to coordinate all the families schedule with mine (and one rained out sitting a week earlier), another was a major trooper having the youngest one in the bunch (never easy w/ cold, wind, feeding & nap times) and the last had to drive across town after a long day of teaching just to arrive as we finished up...great women! And the last image is of the birthday girl with her husband of 46 year. A wonderful couple that I feel fortunate to have met. I enjoyed every minute with this family! Happy Birthday Barbara...It was a pleasure meeting you and your wonderful family!

Not sure how it is already the end of October! The weather this time of year always makes things very interesting...lots of finger crossing hoping the scheduled sitting hours are in the small rain-free windows we get between the downpours. So far the rain gods have been with me this year and most of the sittings have been dry. This next little guy was a unsure about how the morning would go when a strange lady arrived w/ big black cameras. He made his mom a little worried that he drag his feet the entire time. But I never worried. All boys like to play, it just has to be a little more on their terms. When we started off in the sandbox smiles started emerging and we were off. I LOVE boys with their trucks and tools! And hugs for mom...I really love the image of the big embrace. This little guy LOVES his mom! Such a great morning much fun was even though we had grey skies above.

I have been looking forward to photographing this next family for over a year. I photographed them in the fall of 2008 and one of the images from that sitting still remains a favorite of mine...
The following year, this little girl was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma. It is incredibly difficult to fathom how her and her family's life was turned upside down. I reached out to her mom and offered to photograph their family but her mom really wanted to wait until Katie was free of her feeding tubes and treatment. They have spent the past 3 years battling the cancer and this year Katie was diagnosed cancer free. I was so excited when her mom emailed me to schedule a sitting. I could not wait to see this little fighter again in person. And she definitely did not disappoint me. She is absolutely incredible and I really struggled narrowing down all the images of her to my most favorites. I am really lucky to do what I do and connect with little inspirations like Katie...and her mom, who so gracefully soldiered through her little girl's treatment sharing the highs and devastating lows on Caring Bridge. I hope these images bring them all many smiles for years and years to come!!