Jacque and Gus {engaged}

this session will definitely go down as the coldest and quickest session to date! These two came from Boston to celebrate Christmas...after a few flight delays, nothing was going to stop them from getting to their destination, so they rented a car and drove through the storm rather than being stuck in an airport. Determination? I think so! :)

What you are seeing in the following images is true...that is snow, and are four bare hands, and those are two people WITHOUT their winter coats on....in the snow - did I already mention we were IN the snow? Determination? I think so! (In case you were wondering, the photographers weren't as brave and had full-on winter gear on behind the camera!)


I LOVE these next two! They just make me want to sing "Baby, its cold outside".


But honestly...how stinking cute is that snuggle?!?! LOVE it, love it, love it!

Jacque and Gus - our time together was FAR too short, but it was still a blast! We loved that you were just wild and crazy enough to trust us that an outdoor engagement session would be a great idea in the middle of December! :) You two are awesome! Can't wait to see you again!!

Oh where oh where have we been?

We took an unannounced cyber break! This fall was crazy wild beyond belief and we cannot thank all of you out there for making it such a success! We had months of non-stop activity and this last week we crashed...HARD! We crashed so hard that we even lost touch with the internet....and for those of you who know us, you know that is a HUGE change for us! Thank you to all of you who waiting patiently for me to return your emails and phone calls....thank you, thank you, thank you! And if you haven't heard from me yet, please send another message my way!

Don't worry, the rest of December did keep us plenty busy with order fulfillments, 2 weddings and a few photo shoots...we didn't slack off too much! But we are now back and refreshed!

You know what else, (and I can't believe I did this), I didn't bring my camera to ONE Christmas celebration! I have NO pictures to share with you from all the celebrations we had! I told you we crashed HARD!

Luckily we did have an engagement session last week that I will be sharing shortly! Hang on! More images on their way!

Happy Birthday Dad!

(This is going to be a long one…buckle up and hold on for the ride!)

We had a surprise birthday party for my dad on October 11. No, your eyes are not failing you, I said October! And I am just now getting around to blogging it! YIKES!! It has been more than a little crazy around here the last few months! But we are happy to say we survived it all and have finally downloaded all the birthday pictures!

The whole family came home for the weekend. We all had various excuses for being back, but we knew all of us being back and no mention of dad’s birthday was the white elephant in the room. I quickly went into damage control and decided to have a “pre-surprise party, surprise party” ☺ We went and bought a cake and had everyone go to his brother’s house where we came out with cake, screamed HAPPY BIRTHDAY and gave him his gifts. It worked like a charm because he totally bought it, hook, line and sinker….SCORE!

The next day was the big party! Here he is driving to find everyone waiting for him…

It was a costume party of sorts. We called it a “Where’s Waldo” party and everyone had to dress up like him. Basically that means wearing camouflage, mesh shorts, graphic t-shirt or more camouflage. Check this out….you can’t make this up…the above is what he really wore that day! Camo hat and graphic tee. Hehehe!

I’ll admit it, dad is an easy target and he is often the brunt of many jokes. I won’t go into all the dad stories here, but please ask me next time, we’ll have story time. ☺

I think this next set-up was a little dig at his hunting skills. They found the Christmas deer in the shed and gathered up as many arrows as they could find. This little number welcomed him to the house. :)


He has this slight obsession with flash lights, carabineers, and fanny packs. (Yes, I said it, fanny packs!!!) Check out the fanny pack I found in his camo closet! It’s practically a body bag, it turned into Punk’s house for the night! I’m going to say it again, you can’t make this up! I was nearly reduced to tears laughing so hard after I found it!


Notice Laura’s carabineer necklace! We searched the house high and low to find every carabineer we could. It was hysterical!

Uncle Kirk was in charge of the margarita machine all night. Whoa, with him in charge, the night went blurry quickly! ☺

This was the best outfit of the night… (I have no idea how Uncle Kirk ended up with the tablecloth shirt by the end of the night…but he’s modeling it in this picture).

I couldn’t figure out why he wore a tablecloth….until I asked and this is what I found out. (are you ready, this is a good one!). It was one of his co-workers and he said that dad wears this red and white shirt to work (apparently more than he should!) and they have nick-named it his table cloth shirt! Of course we had to go find it and bring it out for the party.

Check out the evidence I captured here!! Yep, it went a tiny bit out of control (I told you, the margarita machine never stopped) and people decided it would be a great idea to TP the trees in the back yard. Oh my, yes, these are all grown adults!

If you’ve hung on this long, I’m impressed! There’s the party in a nutshell! Thank you everyone who came and made it SO much fun! And thank you Kirk and Patty for hosting the impromptu pre-surprise party! Whew, it worked perfectly!

Some blog love for the dogs

We realized that the dogs have definitely been missing out on the blog love for the last few months. Let's put an end to that tonight!
Punk is doing GREAT! He had his final check-ups and everything looks good! YAY!
Here is our naked Punk chewing on a bone...

We just couldn't stand having a naked 2.9 pound dog running around with it being so cold out...so we got him some pajamas! Doesn't every dog need some pajamas?!?!

There, isn't that better? Doesn't he look warmer? :) Honestly we were totally cracking up over this. It was the best $5 of entertainment we have bought in a long time! He owns the pajamas when he walks around...he kinda has a girly prance going on...silly boy!

I know this next picture is terrible and blurry, but I cant help but post it...it's the only one I have of the back of pajamas...how funny is it that they are made with a tail hole?! And check out the leggings on these 'jama's! What a hoot!

Oh and there's a little blog love for Maddoxx in there too...she's bringing her orange ball to me to throw it for her.

I promise this is the last one...but seriously have you not gotten a great laugh out of these pics?!?!

Our poor dogs, we just can't help ourself!

Hey Black Friday party people!!!

The day is here!! Who's awake? Come on, it's time to get a nice hot cup of joe and hit the road!
KandE out...call us, text us....let us know where to go!

Dean family...

I know I have talked a lot about cold sessions recently, but I'm going to go out on a limb this time and say this is definitely the coldest outdoor session yet! Whew! There was A LOT of talk about hot chocolate with this family!

I LOVE this image because the boys totally came up with this on their own. We love it when families get involved like this! They told me that they wanted to do a huddle and then go out for a pass...right on! Huddle up boys! You guys are awesome!

How cute are these kids?!?! I can definitely work in the cold anyday when we can get kids to cuddle like this! Absolutely adorable!

Have you noticed the boys' rockstar haircuts yet? I am a total fan! I'm not sure how long they will stay around as it was done for the state football tournament, but if it were up to me, I would say they were here to stay!

Check this out....hey Dean's, betcha didn't know we got any of just the 2 of you huh?!?! We're sneaky like that...

Dean family - Thanks for keeping the session hopping and hanging outside for as long as you did! You are a bunch of tough cookies! Oh yeah, and I'm still trying to get over what a small world we discovered it is! We'll be in touch soon!

Big day in our house...

somebody is celebrating their 1st birthday on Tuesday!!

Little Punk is ONE!! Holy cow - after all we have been through with him it seems like he HAS to be at least 5! I can't believe he's only been a part of our family for 10 months! Whoa! (His "gotcha" day is in January.) Good times in our house!

We can't imagine our life without the little guy being part of it. He definitely makes us laugh on a daily basis...it mostly revolves around the fact that we can't believe how dumb he is! I'm for real...Maddoxx is very smart, and I had NO idea that a dog could be equally as dumb.

Punk has no clue that there are dangerous things in this world. Case in point...check out the video:


Thank goodness Penny just happens to be Punk's girlfriend (no worries, all parties involved have been fixed) and she is SO VERY tolerant of Punk because he has no clue that he should be afraid of a 50 lb. dog as compared to his 2.1 lb. self. Ay, yi, yi...

Happy 1st Birthday Punk!! Let's hope this next year is a tad (ALOT) more healthy than the last!

(Punk is accepting any and all puppy treats on his birthday, we are hoping to get him to 2.5 lbs. before long!)

Kuhl family...

What fun it was to see this family again!! The last time we saw them was their wedding 2 years ago and we were the videographers. We were so excited when they contacted us and let us know they had a baby and wanted us to capture their family of 3 with photography this time around!! We always love to hear what the couples are up to after their wedding and this news was so fun to hear!

Meet Cali...

She is 4 months old and is just so tiny! When we got to their house she was still napping. She was so happy despite the fact that not only did she have to wake up, but she had to wake up to 2 new faces in the house too! How sweet is this of daddy and Cali?!?! Love it!

This next one makes me laugh so hard! I LOVE the look Cali is directing towards her dad! Isn't it priceless?!?! I have a feeling that there is a lot more where that comes from!

Check it out...we got brave! We all got bundled up and headed outside. Totally loving little Miss Cali in her coat!

Kuhl family - Thank you for having us back to capture your family and sharing Cali with us! It was so fun to catch up again, it's amazing how quickly 2 years can fly by!! I LOVED Cali's machine gun noises....hilarious!!

Clayton family...

we met this family at their house. They have a gorgeous porch that my camera was begging to take pictures of, but unfortunately mother nature had another idea for us...it was just too cold for any porch time. Hopefully next time around we'll be able to make that work! It didn't take me long to get over the porch when I walked in their beautiful home...so welcoming, warm and cozy, completed by the voice one year old Will.

Will is such a ham with a particular liking for hats. OK, "like" is not the right term, Will LOVES his hats! He knows exactly how to flip them on and off too, it is just a hoot to watch! Here was the favorite during the session...see Will in the background?

It wasn't long before we were off to the Botanical Center. Will got a little cat nap in on the drive and was ready to rock and roll once we got inside.

He was so funny about his smiles. He'd give us a BIG smile and a half second later he was serious again. It was so stinking funny to watch him do it over and over again!

Clayton family - Thank you for inviting us to your home to capture your family! Will is pure sweetness and I wish our time didn't go so fast. We wish him the happiest first birthday! I hope he has a blast diving into his cake! :)

Kristopher {Class of 2009}

We traveled to their log cabin in Winterset to capture this senior. Wow, what a beautiful and perfect setting! I know we only heard a few stories about them and their home and all the goodies that go along with it, but I wish we could have heard more! We loved hanging out, traveling the countryside and hearing all about your life!

Kris had already scoped some areas out and this is one of them...a suspension bridge! I admit, I was screaming like a girl once I got on the bridge and it started moving...I'm telling you, it was MOVING!! I was happy to let Eric take Kris across and let them do their thing. I stayed on solid ground and smiled from a distance. :)

The location was awesome and the light was even better! Loving it!

One of Kris' hobbies is riding dirt bikes. We captured him in his full gear and then had him RIDE! It was totally sweet and I kept cheering for "1 more jump, 1 more jump!"


Peggy, Kris and Manny "the cat handler" - What a joy! We could have stayed around talking for hours! We enjoyed every minute of our adventure with you! Kris, your jumps did freak me out but it was so fun to watch you catch so much air! Manny, you rocked the cat handling! I am still cracking up when you tried to pick up the one by the bike :)

Too much computer time?

I'm not sure, but I think this next story indicates we have spent a bit too much time on the computer in the last few weeks!

Eric is going through some paperwork right now and he dropped a sheet of paper. Want to guess what his first thought was?? Are you ready for this?

"Ctrl + z" (Yes, he really admitted this to me!) hehehehe

For those of you who use keyboard shortcuts, you will understand that to mean "undo". Yes, ladies and gentlemen, his first thought was a keyboard shortcut to undo what had done. ...there was nothing electronic about what he was doing...it was just going through paperwork!

Yes, I think this means we have spent a tiny bit too much time attached to the computer!

His conversation with me is continuing as I type...he is now talking about going on vacation - "Ctrl +S" Yes, save that! Or transporting himself to someplace warm "Ctrl + x" then "Ctrl + v". For those not into keyboard shortcuts, that is cut and paste. :)

I think he might be losing it....help this man get a grip! No really....help!!!

Larson family

Holy moly these boys are mini me's of eachother! Little brother Blake has definitely learned a few things from his brother Riley! Mom says he has even more spunk than Riley...these boys take "busy" to the next level! I love how this image captures their family and never having a dull moment!

Check out their eyes! HELLO blue!


Well, it's all fun and games until the little one falls IN the lake! Yes, we had a "first" happen during this session. The setting was so idealic and perfect...until disaster happened! Blake got a little too close and he fell right in! Good thing his mom was one step ahead of us and had a change of clothes all ready to go!

Check it out...you would have never known we had a lake mishap right before this shot if I didn't let you in on the little secret. :) But on top of that I think that image takes priceless to a new level! I love Riley sticking his tongue out and check out Blake drooling!! Hilarious...just another day in the life of having 2 boys! You can never predict what will happen next!

Larson family - I know you are excited to see the sneak peak...hope you enjoyed! As always, it is great to get together with you guys! I cannot believe Blake is already walking, no, I take that back, running!! It seems like just yesterday I was taking pictures of him at your house as a newborn!

Peterson family

braved the cool October temps and brought the family (including Annie the lab) for a family session!

We walked ALL around the park and scaled the hills....once, but I think Annie managed to lap us at least 3 times over. She was a happy camper in the wide open spaces!

And even happier when she emerged from the lake half black! Check it out, she even caught something on her tail!

Little Miss Charlie arrived in her super warm and comfy pajama bottoms...I admit I was a bit jealous and was wishing I had those on too! After a quick wardrobe change we were ready to rock and roll.

Charlie was in control and she got to choose the direction and places we stopped at. :) She was a big fan of her mom's arms, so let's just say this girl got loaded up with candy for keeping her feet on the ground. :) hehe!! I don't think she needs to go trick-or-treating this year, I think her sugar levels will stay spiked for awhile!

Peterson family - It was so fun to hang out (despite the chill!) Charlie was such a sweetie and I loved listening to her talk to Annie...those little voices get me everytime! The sparkle that came out in her eye for the candy was just hilarious! We can't wait to see you next time in the country!

Sleeper family

I called this family "the house divided" when I saw them all in a different football jersey. Funny how the color matters more to a 4 year old than the team, which was the case for Noah. :) (Looks like dad is teaching Noah a thing or two about the game!)

This is definitely the time of year to include the family pets in the shoot! I came heavily armed with dog treats to get them wrapped around my finger...but they were so good that I totally forgot I had pockets full of treats until they were ready to leave!

Noah was game for anything! He went along with every suggestion we had...he was a rockstar! Then we asked him what he thought about having the adults take the sidewalk and us climbing the big hill and having a "no adults allowed" photo shoot with him...he was ALL for it! Surprise mom and dad, check out what we captured during the secret shoot!


I love this image of discovery. Do you see the little lady bug that landed on Noah's finger? He is quite interested in it! I love how intensely he is looking at it...such a curious boy!

Sleeper family - what a perfect day we had for your session! You all (including the dogs!) were such a joy to be around! Noah did GREAT and did a fabulous job of putting up with my "one more shot" promise when all he wanted to do was get to the playground. He practiced some very good patience skills with me keeping him from his ultimate goal!

Thomas {Class of 2009}

The weather tried to keep this session from happening...we said no way! We found the long johns, stocking caps and gloves and we were good to go! We as in Eric and I...Thomas didn't have the luxury of the get-up we were able to wear...he was kicking it like it was 70 degrees out. Yeah, it was only in the 40s!!

Thomas is a budding pilot who almost has his full pilot's license! He's almost ready to fly SOLO!! Wait, I'm not sure you heard me....S..O..L..O!! Whoa!
We were talking about how I don't think I could go up in the plane's he's been flying, they are just a bit too tight of quarters for my liking! Then he said, "yeah, it's a little different experience. You actually feel the wind" Um, no way, you can definitely count me out of that experience!

But I was more than happy to capture all the excitement on the ground!

Thomas, Brian and Paul - It was so fun to meet you at the airport for this shoot! Thanks for teaching me all about this new world of aviation! We wish you the best on your final exam and future as a commercial pilot! Have fun flying the friendly skies!