THE LASKY FAMILY || FAMILY SESSION

I love working with families and I love watching kids grow up and have kids of their own. This is the daughter of a family we have known since we first moved to Illinois almost 17 years ago. {WOW, that's a long time!} I've known her for many years and I got to take their family pictures last year in the FREEZING cold. This year it was much warmer, but not without it's challenges.

They had been working all day on a house project and were running late, one of the kids couldn't get their clothes out of the room they were in, dad wasn't able to get there at the beginning, sisters arms were too cold, so mom gave her jacket to her.....and YOU GUESSED IT, they turned out great. I try really hard to keep my cool during pictures and help work out all of the challenges that I know come with pictures. I know how stressful it is when you have something planned and your day doesn't go as you would have liked. I know it's A LOT of work to get family pictures taken! I just want you to know that I'm on your side, that I get it and that I will do everything I can to help ease the stress of family pictures!!

These kids were SO fun to work with, dad wasn't there yet, so I said, no worries, let's start taking some pictures of each of the kids.....oh man, some of them are funnier than others. This "dabbing" picture happened before I even knew what was going on....he's a sneaky one!!

Then we got the kids all together just as the sun was setting and got some adorable ones with just them.

Dad got there just in time to grab one of the whole family. It might not have been the ideal year for pictures, but it's always fun to look back and say, "remember that year that (blank) happened?" I love how photos help us remember those important family memories, both the good and the bad.

Thank you for trusting me to capture your family again this year. Thank you for making it work. I promise that these memories are worth the investment!!

THE SOLIS FAMILY || OUR ADOPTED FAMILY

Since moving to Illinois almost 17 years ago, we have rarely been able to travel home for the holidays. It's too expensive and too much hassle to take everything home with us. One of the first years we lived here we became friends with the Solis family and have been included in their family events for many, many years. It's just normal now that we are part of the holiday planning and it's weird when it doesn't work out for us to be with them - like the year my mom died and we were in Utah for the funeral.

These pictures were taken in an open field right next to her sisters house on Thanksgiving day. We planned to just snap a couple pictures to get one for a good print and a Christmas card. I LOVE how the colors all go together. I love the golden sunlight and the beautiful field. It was a great day for late November and I'm so glad we were able to capture these beautiful photos for her family.  I even sort-of got natural pictures of the kids.

Thanks Solis family for adopting us and making us feel just like family!!! <3

CHRISTMAS MINIS || THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!

I love shooting photos outdoor, in the natural light. I love the soft beautiful glow of the sun. I love the beautiful open fields and natural settings.......but honestly October and November were the worst weather months we've had in a long time. I think I had to re-schedule 75% of my sessions. It rained and was yucky and gross almost EVERY weekend. I was getting so tired of not having sunny, pretty weekends. SO, I decided to try some indoor mini Christmas sessions. I got some studio lights and dug out my Christmas trees and made a cute little studio in my living room - good thing I wasn't having Thanksgiving at my house, because it looked like a photo studio!

I LOVE how these turned out, the Christmas lights, the cute little kids in their jammies, the dressed up fancy pictures, I loved everything about them!! They turned out better than I could even imagine. I'm so grateful to my sweet clients who trusted me to capture their adorable kids.

My friends Rachel and Natalie brought their kids over for me to use as models to be able to make an advertisement. Their kids were naturals and we had a great time trying out all different outfits and props!

I had three more sessions of Christmas Mini's and this might be my FAVORITE picture of this year.....the jammies, the baby, the light, I LOVE all of it!! The rest of them are pretty awesome as well. Next year, I'll have to start them earlier so I have time to do more, it was such a fun way to capture these adorable Christmas memories!!

THE JUDD FAMILY || AND THE FASHIONISTA!!

I had the BEST time with the Judd Family at their family pictures!! It was a little chilly, and it's always an adventure when you're working with this many kids, but we had a great time!! I grew up in a big family and I remember many years going to get family pictures, but we never took individual pictures, just a picture of the whole family together and sometimes one of just the kids. I love trying to capture the kids individually and get a glimpse of their personalities. These kids were SO fun to capture.

Some of the kids were not as excited about pictures as others, but I always have a few tricks up my sleeve to try and get them to cooperate. {they don't always work, but usually I can get them to relax and just play with me, which sometimes makes them forget that we are doing pictures}. One of them did NOT want to cooperate, but once we started twirling and showing off her cute fashion, she was ALL for it!! I love the relationships I get to make with these kids. I loved working with them and watching them relax and enjoy being with me, and I loved capturing their genuine smiles.  As you can see they are all SO CUTE and they have the best personalities.

Thanks Judd family for letting me capture your cute family pictures this year. Thanks for playing with me for a few minutes and for looking so AMAZING, I can't wait to capture your family again!!

We also got some GREAT family shots....some of my VERY favorites!! I love the red with the black and white!!

And a couple adorable ones of mom and dad!!

AND the best part was that I went to her house last week for a Christmas party and they were hanging up on her walls.....made my photographer heart SO HAPPY!!!!!!