As promised, here’s my second niece that will be graduating in 2011, another senior this year!  Doesn’t she have gorgeous eyes?!  Well, they both do - and they’re beautiful as well, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.  I have lots more to edit and I will be posting those.  However; I had to come and share this one first - I just love it.  I hope you do too Tess.

You know, I just had to share even if embarrasses Tess - she’ll understand when she’s older and has nieces of her own . . . . . I hope.  Anyway, she was always so happy to see me when she was little.  She would come running to me, with arms outstretched and yelling, “Aunt Taren. Aunt Taren.”  LOL  Never failed to warm my heart.

See ya’ later!!

Crazy!!  I’m just amazed that my twin nieces are seniors this year.  I still think of them as three year old flower girls at my wedding - oh yeah, they were THE cutest flower girls EVER!!  :) And now they are beautiful young women.  How did THAT happen??!! Anyway, I’ve been working on their senior pics, but I wanted to show just one for now.  I’m showing Molly first because she’s older . . . well, by a few minutes anyway. LOL  Here she is. Just gorgeous!

See ya’ later!!

Recently, while I was in Iowa, I had a few photo shoots.  One of my shoots involved my nephew Lucas, and his lovely girlfriend Rachael.  They were so great and up for anything.  And it’s pretty obvious that there’s some adoration there.

Thanks guys for everything.  I actually have a few more pics that I love, but I had to narrow it down or I would never get them posted.  I hope you like them as much as I do.

Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever posted that many pics in a post before.  And I’ve got more photo shoots to work on - guess I better get back to work.

See ya’ later!!

I’m baaaaaccckkkkkk . . . in case you missed me! LOL   We took a road trip during Memorial  Day Weekend to see my family in Iowa, and we just returned on Monday.  It was a LONG drive . . . especially with two littles.  Whew!  I’ll definitely need a year to recover to try again I think.  The whole family drove up together, Brad flew back after just a couple of days, and we snagged my Mom and brought her home with us.  The kids did great on the drive there and the drive back, I was pleasantly surprised.  It was a hard trip, but they were both troopers.  It helped that we had lots of things for them to do, lots of snacks and we *tried* to have unlimited patience . . . . . . “tried” is the key word! LOL  Kasen could not have had more fun with her cousins, and Holden had quite the time as well.  It was the first time that everybody had met Holden except for my nephew Lucas, and of course, my Mom.  They were as smitten with him as he was with them.  He definitely fits right in!

Everybody was so great and I was able to take LOTS of pictures, which I will share later on!  I’ve been crashing early since we got back home since I haven’t been feeling well.  Brad and Kasen were sick on the way there, and they were kind enough to pass it on to Holden and me!  Mom was getting sick before we got there and now she’s a little under the weather too.  It won’t be long before we’re all running at full speed again!

Here’s one picture until I can post more!  Here are my beautiful nieces, two of which will be graduating from high school next year.  It just shocks me.  And my youngest niece is thirteen (the one in the middle).  Where has the time gone?  They have always been beautiful young girls, but now they are gorgeous young women.  What a great family I have!

See ya’ later!!

After school yesterday, we met one of Kasen’s friends, and her Mom, and her cousin, at the park.  It was fun all around.  After Kasen and Carson played for a bit, I was able to talk Carson into letting me take a few pics.  She was a real trooper, even after a nasty fall on the brick steps.  Ouch!  Even after that, I was able to get some more great shots of her.  It wasn’t too terribly hard, she’s absolutely gorgeous.  I sometimes forget how much I enjoy photography, until I get to just play and take random pictures.  It is so much fun for me - trying to capture all the faces that little ones make - and capture on film how magical childhood actually is - seeing the world through their eyes . . . . and stunning eyes she has too.

Here’s the amazing Carson ~

I have more of this little beauty, but these are the ones that caught my eye first.

See ya’ later!!

There are so many leaves falling right now and it does finally look like fall . . . . . well, for the most part.  We even have some beautiful orange and gold trees to admire.  It doesn’t *really* feel like it too much, not when it’s still in the high 70’s and low 80’s, but I’ll take it.  Since I’ve been wading through these leaves every week while walking Kasen to her Mother’s Day Out class, I decided I would bring my camera and get some cute shots of Kasen.  I imagined Kasen throwing the leaves in the air, laying on the ground with leaves all around her, jumping in a big pile of leaves, and so on and so on.  Welllllllll, that didn’t happen.  I didn’t get ONE of those shots that I had anticipated.  However; right before we were heading for the car, I ran into a friend of mine leaving the church.  She watches two adorable children during the day and she was walking them to the car.  She asked if I could take a few pictures and of course I was willing:  cooperative subjects - check, cute clothes - check, gorgeous curls - check, big beautiful eyes - check.  Yep, a happy accident turned into these sweet photos.  What fun it is just to play with no agenda in site.  I’m very pleased with the results.

Here is the lovely Miss “B” ~

And here is her adorable brother, Mr. “S” ~

I do love the inquisitive look of little ones - I think he’s wondering what on earth am I doing here. LOL

See ya’ later!!

I got to meet Peanut, the dog, today.  Sooo precious.  My friend and her son came over for a super speedy photo session.  She wanted just a few quick snaps of her son and Peanut together before Peanut grew too much more.  However; I don’t really think there is a huge chance of that happening! LOL  She’s only five months old here, but she still isn’t going to be a big bruiser by any means.

You can really tell how much Caleb adores his new puppy, so sweet.  Here they are Deb, hope you like them!!

See ya’ later!!

New week, new contest.  At least this week I’m not struggling to get my entry in before the contest closes.  I’m a day ahead!!  Wooohooo!!  And for those of you checking, still no news on the baby.  We are eagerly awaiting the call though!!

This week’s photo contest theme for the kids entry is “Let’s Hear It For the Boys!” ~ Must be a photo of a boy or boys. No girls allowed this week!

Don’t forget to check out all the other cool entries at I Heart Faces

This is one of my very favorite boy shots - it’s our cousin’s son.  The camo hat, his gorgeous eyes, and that sweet grin just make the picture super special to me!

For my adult entry - the same theme goes - “Let’s Hear It For The Boys” ~Must be a photo of a man/men. No ladies allowed this week!

Don’t forget to check out the other great entries here~ I Heart Faces

This picture was taken at the end of a photo shoot and little “Z” was tuckered out.  He’s snuggling his bear and Daddy is snuggling him - too precious.  I adore the look on Dad’s face - you can tell that he is totally smitten with his son.

See ya’ later!!

I’ve been gone a while because we’ve been so busy working on the house, getting ready to travel, decorating the baby’s room, and spending a lot of time with Kasen before the new baby arrives and she actually has to share the spot light!

No news yet about the baby’s arrival.  There is a doctor’s appointment today, so maybe we’ll know something by tomorrow.  If we’re lucky, we’ll know something this afternoon.  Whatever the case may be, I’ll let you know!!

No post is complete without a picture, so here’s one of Kasen and her new buddy, Scott.  He is the son of a VERY dear friend of mine - she actually introduced me to Brad, so I’m forever indebted to her.

See ya’ later!!

It’s time again for the weekly photo contest - this week’s theme is “silhouettes” -  I’ve been dragging my feet on entering because I have so much to do to get ready for the baby.  We received a call this morning and “K”  informed us that little guy may be arriving earlier than expected!! WOW!!  I’m guessing it’s time to get all of our suitcases packed for the long drive ahead!!

Here’s my entry - I took this for a senior picture.  Her church is very important to her, so we wanted to incorporate that into the photos.  I really do love how it turned out - she was twirling and holding her hands in the air.  Don’t forget to check out all the other incredible entries at I Heart Faces