One in a Million

I could stare at this sweet boy forever. Of course, his baby blues stood out from the moment I met him, but it took me awhile before I realized how incredibly special they really are. Both of his parents have brown eyes and mom is fairly certain she does not carry the recessive blue gene. That truly makes this little man one in a million. We braved a bit of the Pacific Northwest drizzle and sacrificed some great heels to the mud to get these shots, but how can you not go all out for a one in a million kiddo?

Cutie Patootie

Ummm... melt my heart. Personality just oozes out of this little cutie pie - who happens to be one of my most favorite little models. I've been photographing her since she was born. Singing, dancing, and telling her mommy how beautiful she is - that's Miss Helaina. She had us both laughing the entire time.

Meet the Kelly's

Some sessions are just easy and this was one of them. When a family can laugh together and smile as much as the Kelly's you know they've got something good. For me, it's the little things that stand out and make me smile - the kids still getting squeamish when their parents kiss, the entire family going to high school football games together, Mom in the background making faces to get Justin and Jen to smile, Justin and Jen smiling at mom in the background making silly faces, Jen staying with Justin while he had his senior pics done, being goofy together. All of it just says "family" to me.

They say a family that plays together stays together.I agree, but I also think a family who laughs together also stays together.

I know there isn't one perfect family, but I also know love and connection when I see it. They might be riding in separate cars or sitting in different sections for those football games, but the point is they are all there together. They have common ground and some common talking points. As parents, Brian and Traci still have a foot in their kids' world. And more importantly their kids like it that way.

Thanks Kelly family for giving all of us with young ones something to shoot for.

The Brahmer Clan Part 1

Have you ever read a book and just wanted to jump right into the pages? I felt that same way as I walked into the Brahmer household. Kids running everywhere, a scrumptious buffet spread out on the counter, and love apparent. I felt like jumping right into the Brahmer family. This past week three siblings and their spouses gathered for a bit of a family reunion at their parents beautiful home along the Washougal River. Their clan included 6 kids under the age of 3, lots of laughter, and spontaneous renditions of favorite children's songs. Can we build it? YES we can!!

I'll be blogging more on this wonderful family, but today is Everley's day. This girl knows how to rock life to the fullest. Whether it's water, rocks, climbing through playhouse windows, or making silly faces. Life does not pass her by. Mom and Dad were simply amazing and kept our session fun and filled with smiles. They'll be welcoming baby number two to their family in a few months.

I Wanna Be Like You

This family epitomizes cool. They own an amazing day spa, dabbled in creating a neighborhood cafe, work in real estate and if that wasn't enough they totally sealed their personal coolness factor by becoming true urbanites. They left suburbia for... The Pearl. When I first heard what they were doing I was jealous. Really. Really. Jealous. No one but the coolest people on the block could pull off such a gutsy move and their year was amazing. Restaurants, culture, shops, and neighbors - everything was within walking distance and at two years old their little one already knows the Pearl like it was her own personal playground. Did I mention I was jealous?

Haley and Taylor are more than cool. They are pretty amazing parents too. Some people just "get" it and they definitely fall into the "getting it" category. Whenever I see parents stooping down to enter into their children's world it makes me smile. As busy parents with a lot on our plates, it's so easy to rush around, try to get everything done and expect our children to follow, smile for the camera, and happily move onto our next important task. When in reality all our children want to do is explore their world, point at goldfish, and find one more amazing rock. And you know what? That's okay. It's more that okay. It's beautiful, and Haley and Taylor get that.

Love, Love, Love So True

You know, the camera rarely lies. When people love each other, it shows. And me and my camera, we LOVE families who love. This family is all about love. The smiles flowed easy and didn't stop even when my camera was packed and ready to go home. With a smile as wide as the Mississippi, Beckie glowed as she watched her babies pose and interact. I couldn't even begin to get Little Miss to stop smiling. When I tried for a pensive dow-eyed look she just looked at me and laughed some more. And then came Marley. I'm not sure I know of a dog who is more loved than this guy. I wish I could have bottled the smile of pride a boy gets when he is walking the most amazing dog in the world. With all of that going on and with a family as amazing as his, how could Aaron do anything but smile as well.

Leaving High School With More Than a Degree

The funny thing is most of you will see these before she does. And when she does see them it will be the first time she's been to my blog. Welcome to blogland, Angela:)

This lovely family is the result of a high school flame that never died. Who knows, maybe it was in English class while trying to figure out which one of their teacher's eyes they should be following, or at a pep assembly while singing I'm an Eagle Born, or in the cafeteria while gnawing on a cheese zombie, somewhere across the halls of Hudson's Bay Brad spotted this blonde beauty and they've been together ever since. And now they've created more blonde beauties to make my camera happy.

Happy soon to be anniversary Brad and Angela. May your love never fade.