Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Today I am especially thankful for my spouse.  This year our family has been through our fair share of challenges.  But through thick and thin he has been right beside me.  I am blessed beyond measure through our marriage and am eternally grateful to our Creator for bringing us together over 14 years ago. 

 

Wow! God has blessed us with four beautiful and healthy children. They fill my heart with unspeakable joy and our house with laughter (and a little chaos)! I am thankful that God has entrusted these gifts to me.  It is a blessing to be called mother.

 

Other things I am thankful for:

-My Savior

- our extended families.

- our church home, Crossroads Christian

-photography and Reflections

-a new doctor! and our health

-great schools and incredible teachers

-friends

-freedom and those that keep it that way

-scrapbooking

What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?

i heart faces workshop

I really don't know where to start....I came across i heart faces from Pineapple Princess some time before they announced they would offer their first workshop. I knew it would be something great to attend. I called a fellow friend who recently began a photography business and told her we should go together. She was VERY intested, but the dates of the workshop conflicted with a family birthday event.

I was hesitant to go alone. Meeting people for the first time...blah blah blah. Not knowing exactly what to expect, etc. But it was just too convenient considering it was right here in Dallas. So I was eager to sign up and didn't wait!

The Meet and Greet Thursday night was very casual and low key. It was really interesting hearing about how Angie and Amy met and began i heart faces. I was also encouraged to meet one of the photographers we would be working with D'Ann Wright. She was so sweet and easy to talk to. Like many of us, she's a wife and mother too. I loved hearing about her recent trip to Italy to photograph a wedding. WOW!! It sounded incredible!!

On Friday when we arrived at the Arboretum the "Tamron" guy was there to assist us in borrowing lenses for the day. And to be completely honest with you, I didn't expect to be impressed. I'm a Nikon girl. I've only bought Nikon lenses. They're expensive, but sometimes you get what you pay for. HOWEVER, after using a variety of lenses throughout the day, I was more than impressed. Amazed is more like it. I couldn't find ONE reason not use these myself. I couldn't resist the temptation and made a purchase before the weekend was over. My new love is the 70-200 mm 2.8 lens.

I owe much thanks to the "Tamron" guy as well as Pete Lacker. Thank you both for your patience and willingness to share such viable information!! Speaking of Pete, the time spent with him was priceless. He is brilliant, but also very down to earth. He didn't mind getting "down" to our level. Please check out his work...it is simply stunning,

As some of the others probably mentioned, we also worked with Amy Karp in regards to wedding photography. We enjoyed our afternoon. Taking pictures in a beautiful location with a beautiful bride. We even went so far as to have her get in one of the water fountains. FUN!!

Here's some of pictures from the weekend...

Thanks Amy and Angie for a wonderful workshop!!! I'm looking forward to the next one....maybe in Amish country??? :)

Autumn Beauty

i heart faces photo theme this week is Autumn Beauty.

This was taken at the workshop this week.

We learned tons and had a GREAT time!!

I love all the fall colors the kids are wearing in this picture.

I love the fact that they're eating suckers that weigh as much as they do!

And I especially love the little guy on the end who is taking a lick from a sucker that is not his.

TOO CUTE!!

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up....

Actually, I've fallen BEHIND and I can't seem to get caught up.

I cannot believe it's been a week since I posted last.

YIKES!!

I attended the i heart faces workshop this past weekend.

We had a super crazy great time.

And I learned so much my head is still spinning!!

The three photographers that we studied under were simply incredible!!

D'Ann Wright, Amy Karp, and Pete Lacker.

They were UH-MA-ZING!!!

I'll post some pictures from the weekend later.

And now that I'm back home there's lots of catch up going on.

Kate had a TERRIBLE asthma attack on Friday which landed us in the ER

most of the evening. She's still recovering, but returned to school.

We saw our pediatrician yesterday and she is sending us to a pulmanologist.

And I'm swamped with pictures that still need to be edited.

There just aren't enough hours in the day.

For now, I'll leave you with one of my favorite images from the weekend...

This beautiful red head is the daughter of Brooke, one of the girls I met at the workshop.

Her name is Temperance.

And she is simply adorable!!

The Walley Family

I took pictures of this family last week.

And this little boy has some killer eyes!!

There's more pics on the Reflections blog.

I CAN'T WAIT...

In five days I'll be headed to....

...and I can't WAIT!!!

The Ladwig Family

These are just a few of the pictures I took of this sweet family

I had a hard time deciding what to post.

There are many more on the Reflections blog.

The Martinez Family

I spent some time with my dear friend, Colette, and her sweet family on Saturday.

Here are just a few of my favs...there's more at Reflections.

I'd love to know which one is your favorite...

YIKES!! I'm Falling Behind and Can't Catch Up!!

It's a crazy time of year to be a photographer!!

But, I'm loving every minute of it...

...well except all of the editing.

THAT's what becomes overwhelming.

I've got a crazy week ahead of me.

Four sessions this week...so it might be a while before I post again.

SO.....before I get even more behind with posts,

here are some picutres from Ethan's birthday party a few weeks ago.

We had a little party for him in Houston.

Complete with a bounce house and tons of kids.

And I have one MAJOR confession...

I didn't make his cake.

Yes, you read correctly.

My SIL ordered a cake for us, since we were coming in from out of town.

Oh well, enjoy the pics...

I tried to get a picture of the kids in the bounce house.

Ethan did not enjoy.