Shaye "Open Up"

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!!! Remember when we had a session with Shaye to create images for her new album coming out?!?!? Well……IT’S OUT!!!


I swear I was like a little kid on Christmas morning when she gave it to me!! I ripped the plastic off as fast as I could. And then I was greeted with that pesky little sticker that seals CDs closed. You know the ones I’m talking about…the ones that NEVER come off without a little frustration! Ok, ok, ok, I finally got past the sticker and opened the case in all her beauty! I think I wanted to cry out of excitement for Shaye that all the pieces came together so perfectly!!

The images, the artwork, Shaye’s music all together in a little 5x5 case! It's beauty to your ears and eyes!

And look what we found in the thank you’s….our names!!! Shaye, you are too sweet!!


You have to check her out! You will soon be able to buy her CD at www.cdbaby.com! In the mean time you can hear a sneak peak on her MySpace page.

Last word I heard is that she will be playing in Ames at the half shell on July 3. Go see and hear her in action, you will not be disappointed! You can also hear her first release "Open Up" on Channel Q 105.1!

Cali

turned one on the very day we photographed her! Her parents agreed they weren't quite sure where the time went! Remember meeting her when she was only 4 months old?

She sure has grown up in the last few months! How adorable is she?!?!




These animated images crack me up! They just sooooo scream, "I am one year old and I am on the MOVE!" I love how she drops the flower and walks a few steps before it occurs to her to turn around and see what happened to it. It 100% cracks me up!


How very sweet is this family time we captured?!?! I love, love, love how Cali is giggling soooo much she can't help but lean into her mommy and daddy can't help but smile at his sweet girls! Come on, where is the collective awwwww from everyone...go on, I'm listening. :)


We haven't done an outtake in awhile and I found a new favorite so I have to share. The girls are taking care of their hair....with a little help from daddy! Oh my goodness....such sweetness!!


Little Miss Cali - We were so excited we got to celebrate the morning of your birthday with you!! You are definitely a go-getter and had so much fun running around with you and capturing you smiling soooooo much!! You are totally adorable and we can't wait to continue capturing you as you grow up! We can't wait to hear more about your 1st birthday cake...we hope the report is a very messy one!

Common thread

All of these share a common thread....believe it or not, they really do!! I know 4 of them seem like an easy match, but all 5 have something in common. Stay tuned for more to come!

It's been fun mom but...

it's time for you to go back home! We can't keep up this pace for any longer!

In case you were wondering if we fell off the face of the planet....have no fear we are still here! We just haven't had much time behind the computer to answer emails.

In the last 4 days this is what we have ALL accomplished...
- finished prepping and sanding the house
- replaced all the trim on the garage...and caulked it all (that was a 100% fiasco, but I won't go into all the gory details)
- painted the exterior of the house and garage....TWICE
- removed and washed all the shutters
- trimmed all the hedges...and when I say trim, it was more like an Edward Scissorhands trim
- cut down a tree...not a big one, but it was definitely twice the size of us!
- replaced all the window well covers
- painted the exterior doors
- washed the interior and exterior of every...single...window in this house
- and here's the kicker....we even busted out painting the kitchen!!!
F...O...U...R days all that was accomplished...this insanity cannot be made up!

Eric and I started these insane tasks, then mom came on day two and then Matt and Laura totally surprised us on day 4 and that's when all common sense went out the window and we decided it would be a fantastic idea to start painting the kitchen!

Thank you soooooo much mom, Matt and Laura! There is no way we could have gotten this all done without you, but seriously I'm not sure how long it is going to take to recover! It's been so much fun and we LOVE the finished product...but it's time for life to return to normal....that is, if there is anything normal about our day to day life! :) We love you!!

P.S. we did take a really great self portrait of all of us in our finest paint clothes, but I can't get it to upload and this girl is far too tired to troubleshoot. Goodnight!

Little Brody...

Brought his entire family to Ames for a fun little session. He brought his mom and dad and all 4 of his grandparents!! Excuse me, I mean he brought "Dabe" and his three other grandparents. ☺ His Grandpa Dave told us that Brody takes the shortcut and leaves all those pesky extra syllabus out and opts to call him simply "Dabe." I loved it when I heard it come out his mouth myself, it was so stinking cute!! I love this little slice of life we captured between "Dabe" and Brody!


He was the happiest little guy throughout the entire session, he was having a blast showing off his mad walking skills. He even brought out a new kind of walk that no one had seen before. It was hilarious! I suspect it may have been an effort to keep up his low riders, diaper Elmo made a few appearances and I died laughing each time it did! This was the walk and funny little face he made to go along with it. Hilarious!


I am in 100% love, love, love with this next image! This is what we LOVE to capture....have I already mentioned love a few times? But in all seriousness, this is something Brody will be able to look at 20 years from now and just smile as the 6 most important people to him right now are all looking at him, laughing with him and loving him with everything they have! We love to capture emotion and this is exploding with it!


Another moment frozen in time that I have fallen in love with! I love how hard Val is giggling and how Brandon is looking at her, it is just so sweet and I wish every couple in America could have this exact moment in time frozen for them. How can you not smile when seeing the pure joy on their faces!?!?!?


Thank you Brody for having so much fun with us! You only gave me a heart attack a few times when you wanted to get to those “bubbles”! You are adorable and I say you are totally rocking the curls!

Brad and Lizzy {Class of 2010}

Wow, this session rocked in more ways than one!! They came all the way from Omaha and I was terrified of what the weather was going to do. Honestly, all forecasts indicated RAIN, RAIN and more RAIN! Guess what happened? No RAIN!! We spent an awesome 3 hours with them laughing, hanging out and having so much together!




I totally love senior sessions when their car suddenly turns into a closet AND dressing room! I know the session is going to rock our socks off when we see that! And this one didn’t disappoint! The closet was even complete with a cowgirl hat....yeehaw!!! I'm lovin' it!


Lizzy, needed no direction…she was a total natural! Anything she did was just plain cute!


Brad, you rocked it! You too were natural. We said, be cool, and you were totally cool!



I'll leave with a little brother/sister sword fight sans the swords. It was more of a prairie brush fight! :) Yep, we encouraged such behavior, we sure did!


Lizzy and Brad – thank you for making this session so much fun for all of us! You guys are too much fun and I wish we could have just hung out all night! We wish you all the best as you go into your senior year!! Enjoy every second of it!