A Day in the Life...

NEW BLOG!!!!

2011-04-18T16:43:00.004-05:00

KandE Productions has a new blog! Be sure to update your links and readers!

We'd love for you to continue following us here!

The URL is: http://www.kandeproductionsonline.com/blog

Come on over, leave a comment and let us know you are out there!!

We can't wait to hear from you!

Conley....part 2

2011-03-10T06:54:00.001-06:00

Conley...

2011-03-06T20:31:00.002-06:00

O...M...G.....SERIOUSLY!!! You have my permission to continue stopping back to this post to bring a HUGE smile to your face!

There is more to come of Conley, but I couldn't wait one more second to share this image!

ENJOY!!

Sam and Kent

2011-02-15T07:13:00.000-06:00

Nile

2011-02-04T13:54:00.000-06:00

Sweet, sweet little 4 week old Nile could not have more content...seriously!!! He is such a calm and relaxed little guy that I could have just cuddled him all day!

See....I told you! Now you want to cuddle with him too don't you?!?!

This was a special request for his mommy...

Look at those eyes!!!

He was so good, he even acted out the words I asked him to...

Nile, do the running man...

Now do the Superman...

Smarty pants....now let's see SO BIG....

OK, ok, enough already, you are kinda starting to show off a little!

Nile's mom told me his big sister was so excited for Nile to get his first professional pictures taken, she had been patiently waiting for me to arrive. :)

I am pretty sure she could get anything she wanted with that sweet little look! :)

Nile - I am still boggled by your ability to go with the flow! You are one cool dude and I can't thank you enough for letting me hang out with you all morning and capture every ounce of your sweetness! When can we hang out again?!?! :)

AJ

2011-01-28T10:09:00.002-06:00

Little Mr. AJ turned one!!! He LOVED being upside down and was such a little giggle box!

I don't know what it is, but I totally love capturing drool....weird? Perhaps, but I'm not stoppin' capturing it anytime soon! :) I love that it just captures such a specific point in time and it just makes me laugh that little kids have no control over it nor do they care that they leave a trail...

Check out that drool....seriously...it has some momentum behind it!

Love those two little teeth peeking out from the bottom!!

This one was mommy's special request for her big boy...

Want to see more of sweet little AJ? Visit our facebook page here!!

AJ - It was SO great to see you again!! You are one sweet little boy! I loved that you weren't afraid to share some of your kisses with me sweet sweet little guy! I can't wait to continue to watch you and Cohen grow up together! So many fun times ahead!

Scheitler family

2011-01-12T22:09:00.001-06:00

Isaac

2010-11-20T17:07:00.002-06:00

Isaac was born on an island! What you ask?!?!?!? Yes, he was born on the island known as Ames, IA on August 11, 2010! For those of you that don't remember, that was the day of the floods in Ames and the city was an island all surrounded by water.

I think being born under such crazy circumstances has made him a pro at dealing with anything. His parents say he is such a laid back little boy.

I wonder what Santa will find for this little boy all ready to celebrate his first Christmas!

His mom said he is usually full of smiles at 5am! That's a little early for this girl so his session was a little later than that, but we still got to see some of those sweet smiles!

I mean seriously....how cute is this?!?!

I love this little family moment of Isaac flashing a coy little grin and mommy and daddy having a moment of their own!

Isaac - You were such a little trooper!! I can't believe everything we got to try with you! Thank you for being so sweet and lovable!! I can't wait to continue to watch you grow and continue to capture all your sweetness!

Bad, bad blogger...

2010-11-19T00:08:00.004-06:00

Dear blog,

I know you have been neglected. I fully plan on getting back into the swing of blogging again, but we are doing everything we can to keep up and the blog has had to suffer neglect in order to get everything else done...you know, like taking pictures and getting them all packaged up and delivered. :)

If you are feeling the need to see some of our recent sessions, please do visit our Facebook page here for more recent images!

See you soon! (Don't give up hope, I WILL BE BACK!!)

Karen

Esch family

2010-10-24T19:18:00.002-05:00

I was so excited to meet the Esch family because I wanted to witness Gabriella and Eva's relationship! The girls' mom purpose for the session was to be able to capture the special bond they share...

and it was sweet, oh so sweet to watch it unfold before our eyes! They were so sweet, gentle and just plain giggle boxes with eachother.

Whenever I can capture a child by their parents legs I grab it because I love the story behind it. It is such a precious memory to have years down the road remembering the days when your daughter was just too shy to go off by herself....but not shy enough to still be her silly self. She just needed the comfort of dad's touch to encourage her....oh the love!!!

Gabriella....you are a beauty!!

SO many emotions here! I can hardly contain the excitement I have over this image....the joy on each of their faces as they bond with their family is just priceless!!

Esch family - It was SO great to meet you! You are a beautiful family and I am so happy we were able to capture all the love you have for one another! Someday, I can't wait to meet the rest of your animal family.....seriously, the thought of your zoo makes me grin ear to ear!! No matter the travel involved, I've got to meet the goats! :)

Liam

2010-10-23T17:16:00.003-05:00

It was so fun to see my little vintage Liam again. No matter how many years I am photographing Liam, he will always be burned into my mind as the little boy who wore the most amazing pair of vintage jeans on his 1 year session....they were his daddies!! I loved them, I still love them, and I love the story behind them.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and I was SO excited that I got to see him for his 2 year session as well! He has grown up SO much and I loved getting to know him all over again! I am in major love with this next image!! It is so sweet, calm and serene.

This session was all about Liam, but I couldn't resist this shot when I saw him with his daddy....pure sweetness!

We had so much fun discovering all the areas of the play equipment!! His eyes lit up like I have never seen when I asked him if he wanted to go find the slide...ahhh, yes, playing is soooo good!

Liam - You are a sweet sweet little boy! I am so happy I got to spend more time with you and learn all about what you love these days! Thank you for having so much with me and giving me some of the sweetest looks!

Long family

2010-10-23T16:43:00.003-05:00

What do a field corn eating/spitting contest, a bloody nose and buzz lightyear all have in common? Tough one huh? Keep on thinking...

They are all elements that made the family session with the Long family complete!

We were having some sweet Mommy and Cody time when we heard Daddy with Brody and THE scream. You know, THE scream that you know its not going to be a pretty sight scream. When we got within viewing distance we saw a sad little boy with a bloody nose! i didnt think a recovery was possible...but he defied all odds and came back to give us this picture!

While we were waiting for the recovery Daddy and Cody had a field corn throwing and spitting contest...I'll witness this contest any day if i can capture this! (check out the little piece of corn in his hand :)

And now you are still wondering how Buzz Lightyear fit into this session? No pictures to prove it, but Buzz kept Cody's tummy happy with treats!! Buzz is such a helper, I love him! :)

Long family - thank you so much for coming out and letting me capture your family! im not quite sure how you found the time in between keeping up with 2 busy little boys, but i am so glad it made it to your ppriority list...i had a great time with you!

For all you blog followers- Lindsey is the one who made Eric's rockstar birthday cake back in March....make sure to call her for your next birthday....she is awesome! To see more of her cakes visit her here.

Masin family

2010-10-19T01:45:00.000-05:00

Boys, boys, boys! Where there is a family of 4 boys, there is a lot of football! They all got padded up and hung out at the football field with us! Lookin' pretty fierce huh??!!?

They are all at different stages in their football careers and I love that they all share the love of the sport! I cannot even imagine what the transportation and game schedules must look like, but it has to be so much fun watching their "Boys of Fall"

Josh was a freshman last year when they won they state championship!! He got to be on the U of Nebraska field and breathe the air. Such a cool experience! Jake, Max and Paul are patiently waiting their turn….looks like they are ready!

And we couldn't help but capture a little camaraderie...

Boys - I know, I know, I know we woke "someone" :) up from a restful sleep to shoot this session, but I am SO glad you came out to the field all padded up! It was so fun to capture this time in your life....the years go fast and I know someday you will look back at these images with such fondness...and some laughter too I am sure!

Kids....kids....kids

2010-10-19T01:32:00.001-05:00

Everywhere! Count them….7 of them! I seriously could not stop laughing at the sheer number of them….5 boys, 2 girls. So many, they can’t even all fit in the same vehicle…..and that is where I crumpled up and just laughed and laughed and laughed. I mean seriously, my mind just cannot wrap around the organization required to keep everyone fed….much less cleaned, clothed and entertained! So I just resorted to laughing WITH Stacie and the chaos of having so much on her plate!

Miss Ava is the youngest at 1 year old and she has a whole entire team of caretakers. It is so obvious that all the kids are absolutely smitten with her and she is showered with love every day.

I think Ashlyn has learned a thing or 2 from the boys. I was totally shocked when she pointed out a bug on me. I was fully expecting her to freak out…NO WAY!! She totally wanted to see it closer AND she was the one to touch it and get it off me!

(New favorite picture alert!! Doesn't she rock the serious/I've got attitude face?!?!? LOVE it!!)

With a crew full of boys this was bound to happen...

Surprisingly, we were more than half done with the session before it happened! Now that is some impressive self control boys!

Holy buckets kids…thanks for hanging with us as we worked our way through everyone! You are a good looking crew and it was so great to hang out for a bit! I hope the sugar high we sent you home with didn't send you bouncing off the walls the rest of the day! :)

Keller family

2010-10-15T18:27:00.000-05:00

Oh…my…goodness!!! We thought it rained on us a lot at the last session…. HA!! Well, it turned out that we hadn’t seen a downpour until this session! Don’t worry, the downpour started when we were at the location that was the furthest from our cars! Turns out we can all run pretty fast! :)

(you can see the rain coming down if you look real close at their shirts!)

People, clothes, cameras all wet! Oh well, everyone kept their spirits high and we didn’t let the rain get us down. No one was allergic to water so we carried on!

Meg has curls, curls, curls! And look at those beautiful blue eyes! Beautiful!

Evan was a cool dude. We had some fun playing with the grass...

Elsie was getting ready to celebrate her 2nd birthday! Meg told us that she thought she was going to get a cat….she already has 3, but she thought she was going to get another. I asked Meg to spill the beans…was she really going to get a cat? Nope…3 was enough :)

Keller family– Oh my gosh, you guys get the KandE Productions award! Thank you for all having fun with us and totally being open to being out in the rain! Trust me, it was really all worth it, we were able to capture some great moments in between all of the chaos!

Korth family

2010-10-15T17:53:00.000-05:00

Oh my….this is the part of the day where is started to get interesting!! See……

RAIN attempted to hamper our efforts, but the Korth family persevered! They are a strong group and we loved getting to know them in between the rain delays.

Want to know what was extra special about this session? When we originally scheduled it, we were only going to photograph the kids because their daddy was off with the military. BUT it turned out he was able to come home the very day we were there for pictures!! He got home at 2am and could not have been more happy and smiley on picture day despite the rain!

Have no fear, we were still able to capture some super sweet moments…

Taylor was totally up for anything I asked him to do. He even agreed to help me get his sister back out of the van for a few more pictures. The sweet brother that he is totally succeeded!

Well....maybe I should have said he was up for was I asked him to do MOST of the time....hehehehe!! Love this picture, it cracks me up!

Lily is a smart little cookie. Perhaps I had to use a little Skittles bribery throughout the session. I mean…remember it WAS raining…I couldn’t blame her in the least for needing a little sugar fix to make it through. BUT, I also couldn’t help but laugh when I gave her Skittles one by one, she continued to ask me with each one if she could hold the bag :) She stayed persistent, I stayed strong! I am in LOVE with this capture of her wrapped tightly around daddy's leg...

Liam little Liam…such a trooper!! At one point we were literally holding a reflector over him to keep the rain away from him! Such a sweet little guy!

Korth’s – It was SO great to meet you this year! I am so, so , so happy that we were able to capture your family pictures! Thank you for taking time out of your short time together to hang out with us! We loved that we were able to capture these moments for you!

Schamp family

2010-10-15T17:32:00.000-05:00

My oh my….I am having a tough time swallowing this. Connor has changed FAR too much for my liking since last year. His cheeks…those squishable, kissable, squeezable toddler cheeks….ARE GONE!!

I mean he’s still squishable, kissable, squeezable (if you can catch him) and all, but times are a changin’ and he’s growing and his cheeks are disappearing.

Ally is growing up and has opinions on her hair. It was her request to get it cut and I think it is so adorable!! Ally showed me he pretty painted nails and I asked her if she painted them. Nope. She’s growing up, it was a professional manicure and pedi for her birthday! O…m…g!! Yes, her parents are fully aware, they are in trouble. :)

We had some fun playing in the water…..like lots of fun….Connor came out soaked! But I love the moment that was captured!

I couldn't help but resist posting this picture....what in the world do you think Eric and Ally are talking about?!?!

Ally and Connor - Ally, it was SO much fun that you were open to all of our ideas! I especially loved that you came up with some of your own! I just love how much more comfortable you have become with us! Connor, you are one busy dude! It’s no wonder your cheeks (yes, I am obsessed with them) have melted off…you are on the go too much to take time to eat!

Brockhaus family

2010-10-11T19:35:00.002-05:00

‘Tis the season for Poncapalooza 2010! OH YEAH!! We always look forward to our weekend of Poncapalooza….it is wild, crazy and always a guess for what the weather is going to do.

The day started off beautiful for the Brockhaus family on the golf course.

We have seen the boys multiple times so they know all of our tricks, but it has been so fun to get to know them and be able to joke around with them. In fact, I’m pretty sure they like the banter because I know they purposely try to act like picture day is cruel and unusual punishment….but really they just like me to call them names when they get all dramatic on me. And they also like to threaten me...he was ready to take me out! :)

But...they couldn't keep their antics up for too long...

Brockhaus’ – SO happy we were able to see you this time even if the threat of a party attempted to keep us from seeing each other! :) We loved being able to capture you at your home away from home. Such a great idea! Already can’t wait until next year!

Noah

2010-10-11T09:53:00.003-05:00

We love, love, love to see families over and over again and hear all about what has happened since we last saw them. But one of the best parts of seeing families again is that the kids remember us. Noah was no exception. I saw him from a distance and got down on one knee and as I was exclaiming his name with excitement he came running full force at me and wrapped me up in a big bear hug…..LOVE!

Noah brought along his grandpa and we had so much fun capturing their interactions….priceless!

I am also SO stinkin’ excited about all the family moments we caught…

Noah - You are such a sweet boy and mature far beyond your age! You made it so easy…..scorpions!! :) We can't wait to see you again!

Landon and Lauren

2010-09-27T12:42:00.000-05:00

We had such an enjoyable time with these two! Landon is such a handsome guy! I mean seriously...hello Mr. Model!!

Lauren is all girly girl and a total riot to be around! She is SO SO SO expressive!

Landon loves football and didn't hesitate to take a break from pictures when Eric asked him to play some catch. :) He then humored me and stopped to take this image. :)

Lauren got to visit the AG store this summer and bought the look alike doll with her chore money! She is smitten with her!

It's no secret that I am obsessed with sun flare and I was like a giddy little school girl when I took this image of them! Ahhhhh.....LOVE!

More images of these sweeties can be found here.

Landon and Lauren - Oh my goodness, it was SO great to see you two! Landon, you are a such a stud! Eric loved playing football with you! I'm not a very good catch partner, even though I did surprise you with my spiral! :) Lauren, I am at a loss for words to describe how much you have changed since we last saw you. You are a true beauty and so very much fun to be around, you are so good for the soul!

Paige and Cash

2010-09-15T20:35:00.004-05:00

We love seeing Paige and Cash each fall and we always LOVE how eager they are to get their picture taken. It was especially fun this year because Cash totally came out of his shell since last year! His little voice made me giggle each time he had something to say.

The relationship that Paige and Cash share is just priceless....seriously!

At one point Paige said, "Cash, kiss me", and he was totally on board....UNTIL he realized that he had already kissed her a few times and this was the result...ummmm....a slight head collision! Can't you just hear the groan coming out of Cash's mouth?!?!?

Paige and I have a tradition that she always brings a special item to photograph all by herself with my camera. This was her special pony this year...

Paige and Cash - Our time with you just gets more fun with each passing year! You two were 110% rockstars! We are so lucky that we get to share your life with you! Thank you for letting us capture these sweet moments for you!

Christopher and Kyler

2010-08-30T22:30:00.000-05:00

These boys' grandma contacted me and asked if I could take her grandson's pictures while they were visiting. I thought HOW FUN that a grandma is setting up a session. What I wasn't prepared for was how stinkin' AWESOME the session would be!

Christopher literally ran from their truck directly to me and gave me a hug! I knew the only place we were going was in a positive direction from that point on! He was so sweet the entire time!

Even at the very end when I was playing on the playground with him, he was so sweet and acted like we had known eachother forever. He insisted I go down the twisty slide with him so I shimmied my way up to the top (camera in hand) and was fully expecting him to go first and I would follow. Nope! He absolutely expected that I go down WITH him. So he hopped on my lap, I held him with one hand, held my camera up in the air with the other....and screamed the entire way down with him...it was a riot!

Kyler is Christopher's little cousin and he was just as sweet and happy as Christopher....jackpot!!! I mean seriously, could a girl get any luckier?!?! Look at that smile and blue eyes? Need I say more?

He was so happy the entire time....and stayed that way through 4 outfits!! I'm telling you, I didn't know how to react...the boys were out of this world!

Christopher and Kyler - you can come back and hang out with me every week! You make me happy and make me smile from ear to ear! You are 2 very sweet boys and I now TOTALLY understand how you have your grandma wrapped around your finger! I am SO happy she shared you with me, I enjoyed every second of our time together!

Drake

2010-08-30T16:46:00.000-05:00

OK, hold on, let me wipe a tear before I fully get into this post. (sniff, sniff)

(This is Karen now "fully" composed)

Drake is ONE!!!! AHHHH!!! When did that happen?!?! It seems like just yesterday that we met him for his 3 month session and now he's ONE an on the go!!

Drake got his new rockstar haircut just days before his big 1 year old session and I am obsessed with it!! Yes, (tear), he looks like SUCH a little man with it, but man alive it doesn't get any cuter does it?!?!

We had some fun one on one time with mommy and daddy...

And no session would be complete without a family snuggle!!

Drake - Little man, how we love you! Your initial stranger danger had us cracking up. I mean, come on, even you know that your terrified screams were perhaps slightly unfounded right?!?! :) No worries buddy, we knew you'd warm up....and warm up you did! Thank you for showing us your awesome belly laughs and signature wide open mouth laughs and screams! We love how expressive you are and can't wait to see you in 6 months!! The count down is on!

Keatin

2010-08-14T16:48:00.002-05:00

My oh my, so much has changed in Keatin's life since we last saw her when she was turning one! She is now 2 and on the verge of becoming a big sister!

I have no doubt she will show her little brother or sister the ropes and instruct them on what they should be doing...alot. Look what she did at the session! Yep, she was able to get both her parents AND her dog on the platform swing! Would she get on it with them? Nope, she just wanted them all on it together while she observed. What a hoot!

She loves her dog Crimson and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual (even though she made him get on the swing above). Notice where Keatin's arm is for the hug? It didn't bother Crim in the least that she hugged him mid yawn! So sweet!

Keatin has ca...ca...crazy arms when she runs, it is hilarious!! She uses ever ounce of momentum her arms can give her. :)

Keatin - I can't get over how much you have changed since last year! I loved all your talking and directions you would give! I am so excited for you to be a big sister in December, I know you are going to be a great little helper!

Reed family

2010-08-09T21:32:00.000-05:00

Why not start out with a bang? I mean seriously this is so cute...I'm always a sucker for siblings holding hands and having fun!

Emily was ready to get going with pictures the second we stepped foot in their door. It wasn't long before we realized why...she had been watching America's Next Top Model and was ready to strut her own stuff. It was HILARIOUS!!! She was pulling out everything!!

Owen was the happiest little guy....he was busy, but he was so stinkin' happy, I just wanted to squeeze him!

Yeah, I said Owen was busy....but we could keep him from running away by placing him on his daddy's shoulders....and he was happy as a clam up there! Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he could sneak attack his dad's face????

Emily and Owen - You two were a pure delight! You know that you are kids and you could have at least given us a little harder time....we expect it :) You know....like refuse to take a picture, cry, temper tantrum....come on, give us some challenge to work through! :) Thanks for having fun with us and giving us all sorts of things to laugh about!

Mya and Mea...

2010-08-09T21:09:00.001-05:00

Oh how we love these girls! If you've been a blog follower for a few years, you already know that I LOVE their style! Man alive, these girls are always dressed in the latest fashion!

This time they were talking up a storm and it was cracking me up! My heart especially melted when they would say their own name or each others name and it would come out oh so clear. So sweet! What do you think Mya is thinking about as she looks at Mea? Oh to be able to read their little minds!

OK, confession time....I was SO confident when they all got out of the car that I WAS going to be able to tell them apart this time. Did I mention I was SO confident? Well...um...yeah, I stood corrected....oh man!! OK, next time....next time I will get it right on my first try! These girls are going to have ALOT of fun pulling tricks on people as they get older!

Eric brought out the fisheye to have some fun with the girls...they were a little curious why he was getting the camera within reaching distance. :) Notice the finger on the lens to the left??!?!? FUN!

How cute are all the expressions and interactions here?!?!

I have saved my most favorite image in the world for last....this one is screaming to be blown up HUGE on the wall!! I just love it so much, it would make such a big impact printed BIG....2 little girls in this big world...they don't have a fear in the world...only curiosity is all over their face. I mean, seriously, does it get any better than that?!?!?

More pictures can be found here.

Mya and Mea - I always seem to say Mya's name first and am now wondering if everyone does that or is it just me?!?! You girls have us wrapped around your finger and we always look forward to seeing you again!! I just can't get over how fast the time has gone! I think back to your first session when we were all in your pink room capturing your sweetness and we stayed there the whole session because you couldn't roll too far out of our reach. Now you are 2 and we were making tracks all over trying to keep up with you! WOW! I love that we have been able to capture all of your milestones! Can't wait until next time!

Neglected

2010-08-09T20:43:00.001-05:00

Hello faithful blog readers! I apologize for my absence in recent weeks. I have been a bit more active on our facebook page. If you want to see some recent sessions, check it out here!

I'm getting back into blogging SOON! Stay tuned!

IPVA video

2010-07-26T21:19:00.008-05:00

OK...so....we hope you find as much humor in this video as we do! If you saw my post on facebook on Saturday night, you would have seen a picture of us at Target buying all the Toy Story characters. We were prepping for the Iowa Professional Videographers Association (IPVA) annual shootout we had on Sunday. In a nutshell, our directive this year was to work with another company to create an advertisement for the IPVA.

Well, if you know us, we like to have fun....so we wanted to make the shootout lots of fun too! We had about 4 hours to write a script, shoot all the footage and voiceovers and edit the footage before it was show time. If you aren't familiar with the behind the scenes of video, trust me, it's ALOT to fit all of that into 4 hours!

We had SO much fun working with Eric of Nepo Productions out of Cedar Rapids to come up with the video below.

P.S. If you go to the IPVA website, we know our name is no longer listed and we don't know why...we are working on getting it back up there. :)

Cooper

2010-07-24T12:23:00.000-05:00

Good heavens, this is our 4th time photographing Cooper and everytime we see him, I just can’t get over how much he is growing. He is now 3 and ON THE MOVE! Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say that he’s ON A SPRINT! He is so very fast now and he knows that the idea he has in his mind is definitely better than what anyone else may suggest. :)

Looks like he's run into an obstacle huh?? NO WAY!! I think his face tells the story....and totally cracks me up!! I have a feeling his mommy and daddy have seen this face a time or two :)

He has the softest little voice that is chattering a lot, but I couldn’t always make out what he was saying because he was so soft and he was generally walking with his nose to the grindstone the majority of the time….like I said, he knew where he wanted to go! Pretty sure this is a response to one of my silly ideas....his face says it al!!

There were a couple of times I caught him repeating what I had just said and it totally cracked me up!

I am obsessed with this picture for a number of reasons. The first being that he is actually SITTING! If you know Cooper, you will know this is a rare moment! The second reason I love it so much is because it shows just how big the world can be to a little kid. I often focus on close up images, but I just love how this one captures his small little body in front of the huge trees behind him….LOVE IT!

He has quite the little imagination and he was having TONS of fun "in the jungle".

Cooper – Little buddy I loved that you gave me hug right away! You are one cool little dude! We love that we get to see you every year and capture your little personality! Can't wait to see again!

Ashley

2010-07-16T19:23:00.002-05:00

We had such a great time capturing Ashley’s senior pictures! We laughed….oh boy did we laugh!

When Ashley was showing me her different outfits, she got to the purple “baggy” shirt. (cough) Excuse me Ashley, did you JUST use the word “baggy” to describe your shirt?!?! I mean, it was was stinkin’ cute and all….but not so much baggy Ashley! ☺

Ashley loves horses and goes to shows most weekends. We were only around the horses for a little bit with her but I KNOW she is going to be an awesome vet when she finishes school!

After we took this shot, her sister and uncle took 2 of the horses and as her uncle was changing the halter, his horse ESCAPED!!! Yep, next thing we heard was her sister yelling that the horse was on the HIGHWAY….YIKES! They chased it back into the yard and the horse had fun playing around and avoiding capture…..UNTIL the master of horses, Ashley, got into the mix. Within a matter of minutes Ashley had the horse captured and back in a halter. Thatta girl Ashley!

Just minutes after the big capture, she was poised and ready to get going with her session….still looking like a million bucks…Sheesh! I suppose if she can pull off making a “baggy” shirt look hot, what can’t she do?!?!

Ashley (aka The Horse Whisperer) - You are so sweet and we are so excited that you are going to be in Cyclone country with us next year! You have such a bright future and we wish you all the best!!

Leah and Allen

2010-07-09T13:58:00.000-05:00

We met Leah and Allen for a sunset session on Lake Okoboji.....ahhhhh, yes, beautiful! I'm totally lovin' the sunset flare on the right!! Yes, I am obsessed with sun flare!

(note the little creature to the left of Leah's feet! It's Wally!!)

Their session was even more exciting because they brought their new baby Wally along for the ride!! Do not view this next picture unless you want to fight off a severe case of puppy fever for the next week!

We met them again the next morning after sunset to take in some beach and green space time.

To view more images visit their facebook sneak peak here!

Leah and Allen - We so much enjoyed our time with you capturing your love story. You two are absolutely adorable together and we loved being able to witness your love and hang out! We are pumped for your wedding!! Hurry up and get here! :)
P.S. I want to steal Wally....I'm just sayin' :)

Jessica and Matt

2010-07-08T22:41:00.000-05:00

We met Jessica and Matt on a beautiful day for a walk around the park to capture their engagement pictures. See....picture perfect day!

I did a lot of paparazzi style shooting on this session....I think I had Matt a little concerned! :) I was doing a lot of hiding behind trees, leaves and flowers to shoot through them....trust me Matt, it worked! :)

We got this fun new chalkboard and had some fun with it. Cute, huh? :)

Jessica and Matt - Thank you for enjoying the afternoon with us! We love how laid back you are and that you trusted our ideas....crazy as they may have seemed! :) We are so very excited for your wedding! We are going to have a blast together!

Carsen and Ellian

2010-07-07T22:30:00.000-05:00

We had such a fun time exploring Carsen and Ellian's backyard with them! I think this picture says it all....it was so fun and we had a great time playing with them and just being goofy!

Ellian has a very best friend in bun hopper!

Peek-a-boo!!

Carsen got to try his hand at photography...pretty good don't you think!

Carsen and Ellian - Thank you so much for showing us all the fun there is to be had in your backyard!! You two are so sweet and we can't wait to see you again and race all around trying to keep up with you!

LaTonya

2010-07-02T09:04:00.000-05:00

I am seriously at a loss for words....I have so many thoughts in my mind, but I can't seem to form a complete sentence. Bear with the rambling as I attempt to begin to describe LaTonya. :)

Our friendship started WAY back when, I don't recall a year or grade in school when we met, it just feels like we have known eachother FOREVA! LaTonya was the one who always had it together in school...she was smart, she was athletic, she was beautiful, she was friends with everyone...she was LaTonya
!

Onto college we went in 1999 and we both ended up at the University of Northern Iowa. Our second year of college we decided we MUST move off campus. So off we went, 5 girls in a 2-bedroom apartment! It was an experience none of us will EVER forget! After a year, we moved again, but we got smarter and realized we didn't have to live like sardines....only 3 of us moved to a 2 bedroom apartment. :)

We had our fun and wouldn't trade our college experience for anything! We were young, we were naive and we LOVED every second of our time there. Before long, we graduated and moved our separate ways. Eric and I moved to Ames and LaTonya, well, she traveled....and she traveled and then she traveled some more! New York, Europe, Colorado, Australia, back to Europe and she has now made her home and started her real estate business in Denver.

Imagine my surprise when just days after my 30th birthday, the doorbell rang and there was my best friend LaTonya standing on my doorstep in Ames, IA!!!! She flew in for the weekend to surprise me for my birthday!!! All work was set aside and we hung out....just like the days in our apartment as roommates....it felt the exact same and we didn't skip a beat....I loved every second of it!

The day she was ready to leave, we went out for a quick little photo session. It was her first experience in front of the camera with me behind the camera. :) She really thought we were just going to the backyard for 2 pictures.....HA! Boy did I trick her when we went to the park and I wouldn't stop taking pictures! :)

LaTonya - I can't thank you enough for being the friend you are! I love that anytime we talk or see each other, it still feels like we are roommates and haven't missed a thing! You are such a great friend and I am so happy we get to share life with each other! Thank you, thank you, thank you for surprising me with the best present ever!!!!

Cali

2010-07-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

It has been SO much fun to watch Cali grow over the years!! She is now 2 and smarter and more independent than EVER!

Check out her hair!!! Those crazy curls and "the look" she gives sure are amazing! I was totally smitten with her!

This girl can make some serious tracks....she had us all over the park! Little Miss Independent has an idea and she goes for it, there was no persuading her otherwise....it had me cracking up!

At the very end, the water bottle came out to tame the mane and get her hair in piggy tails. Well.....I don't think I need to describe any further what she thought about squirting us....I think her face says it all!!

Cali - You are one smart little cookie and we LOVED hanging out with you and capturing this period in your life! You are just so sweet, I could have hung out with you all night! Can't wait to see you next year, I can't even imagine what you will have in store for us then!

Jen and Peter

2010-07-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

Sheesh, I don't think I should say anything as my words will take away from all the love I feel for the image above! Such a perfect day!

Jen is all smiles all the time....Peter has the sultry look down to fine science!! We had them looking at each other ALOT....why? Check out the smiles he can't keep behind his sultry serious face when he's looking at Jen! :)

See....I told you so...

Such a sweet moment between the two of them!

You can view more images from their session here.

Peter and Jen - I am soooo excited the weather held out and we were able to hang out capturing your engagement pictures for you! We are SO super excited for your wedding to get here Jen and Mr. Sultry! :) I can't wait to get the rest of your gallery to you, there are so many fun images, it was hard to pick only a few for the sneak peak! :)

Jack and Noah

2010-06-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

These boys’ grandma called and wanted to have a session with her 2 grandsons. The rain held off despite a few threatening clouds that tried to rain on our parade. The boys didn’t mind a few sprinkles so I went along with their carefree attitude and didn’t worry about it either. :)

Jack was FULL of ideas for me! In fact, his mom said that was rare for him to actually WANT his picture taken. When he was game for creating some surprise images for his mom and grandma we went and created some sweet pictures of him!

Noah is all boy! There’s no denying the fact that he would have rather been digging in the dirt than worrying about the pesky girl that was there trying to take his pictures. ) Check out ALL that dirt on his shirt and pants! I love it so much because it totally defines this period in his life.

These next two images just crack me up. As I looked at them I found myself making what Noah was saying...
Noah to Jack: "Jack, don't even think about it. That crazy girl over there gave this to ME"

Noah to Jack: "I am Monster, hear me ROAR" :) (I honestly have no idea what was going on here and had no idea this even happened until I was looking through the images....yes, I was the one that took this picture too! hehe!!)

Jack and Noah – It was so great to meet you and play for a bit! Jack, I loved all the ideas you came up with! You should be very proud of your creativity. Noah, I loved that you loved doing whatever made you happy! You two are very lovable little boys! Your grandma is one lucky lady!

Caden, Drew and Noah

2010-06-11T19:52:00.000-05:00

Caden, Noah and Drew

Oh my, oh my, oh my, good heavens, let me tell you how excited I was when these boys’ mom facebooked me and asked if we would take their pictures. Ummmmm….let me think for a nano-second….YES!

We first met these boys’ parents at their wedding nearly 5 years ago when we were the videographers for their beautiful winter wonderland candlelit ceremony. How quickly time has passed and they now have 3 beautiful boys filling their home with love. Love this image of the 2 newest additions being love by their mommy and daddy!

Caden was an absolute hoot to talk to. He talked to us EXACTLY like a farmer. I’m not kidding you, he was talking about models of tractors like it was completely normal vocabulary for a little boy.

Drew and Noah were still so teeny tiny at 6 weeks old. Their bond was so evident and so awesome! My favorite part of the session was when we had them laying next to eat other, their arms were always touching each other and occasionally would bop each other in the face, but it never phased either of them. You could tell they were definitely used to bumping each other around ☺

You can view more images here.

Tim, Sherri, Caden, Drew and Noah – It was SO great to see you again and meet your family. The boys are just so sweet! Caden, I would LOVE to go to a coffee shop with you and listen to you talk about farming all day. Can we call it a date? ☺ Can’t wait to see you again and see all that Caden will be teaching the twins!

Collin

2010-06-07T15:48:00.002-05:00

Sweet little Collin was just 6 days old when I captured these images. SIX days old!

I have no words, he is just so adorable....I will just let the images do the talking on this post. :)

Collin - Welcome to this world! Not only am I excited that I got to capture you so soon after your birth, I am so excited that God gave you to my great friend! That means I get to see you anytime I want AND continue to capture your sweet little face! I know your big brother will tell you all about when it means when "Picture Karen" comes over! :)

Reagan and Gavin

2010-06-03T21:57:00.000-05:00

Talk about being able to wrap someone around your finger….yep these two did it to us!

We had lots of fun with Reagan learning about cause and effect. Yep, we incorporate learning in our sessions….whatever it takes to find an attention span right?!?! Reagan would take the beautiful ~~weeds~~ flowers (see exhibit A in her hands) and throw them into the river from one side of the bridge and run to the other to watch them float by.

Gavin….such a handsome little man! This session was focused on the kids only, but how could we resist such a sweet shot of Mr. Gavin and his daddy!?!?! LOVE it!

How sweet is this of Reagan. I love the serene feeling about this image.

Ummmmm…..how can you resist? Too much, too much!

Here is Reagan……and the President or is it the Vice President? What? You only see one human in the picture? Oh sorry, let me explain….it’s the blanket…the blanket has been affectionately referred to by her parents as the President….or when the President is in the wash, blanket #2 (aka Vice President) comes out to play. I have a feeling that 10 years from now, they will all look back at this image with a BIG smile and a story that begins with, “remember when…”

Reagan and Gavin - You two are so sweet! It was so fun to meet you and play for awhile! Reagan, you are a bit too wise for your own good…you and Belle were the best of friends! Gavin you are a trooper and powered through despite your best attempts to tell us otherwise. Can’t wait to get the rest of your gallery ready for you to view!

Harrison and Vance

2010-06-02T22:15:00.000-05:00

Vance is SUCH a little mini-me of his big brother Harrison!

Vance is quite the little charmer!

Harrison....my oh my, just look at that face! How can you resist it?!?!

How about this family picture?!?!? I mean seriously, can it get much cuter than that?!?

I can't help but end with this next image. It just cracks me up because Harrison is trying to do a very sweet thing and Vance is having NOTHING to do with it!

(You can view additional pictures here.)

Harrison and Vance - We love you guys! Harrison, we love how much more comfortable you get with us each time we see you! Our little secret session was AWESOME....you rocked it Vance, you are growing up FAR too fast! You are so very sweet and we can't wait to watch you continue to grow!

Ben

2010-05-29T13:53:00.000-05:00

is ONE already!! When his mom asked if we could come take his one year pictures along with some family pictures, I said yes, with one stipulation, we wouldn't call it Ben's one year pictures, we would just call it family pictures! Why? Well, because I just couldn't believe he was already turning ONE!!! I just couldn't bring myself to believe it!

I couldn't have expressed my disbelief any better myself little Ben!

All of you out there in blog reader land, please tell me I'm not alone and that you almost spit whatever you were drinking all over your computer screen when you saw that picture!

A little fly time with daddy....

I love, love, love this picture so much! Why? Because it's not only a picture of Ben, but a picture of Ben AND his Lady friend!

Oh...sorry, did that come out wrong? It's Ben and his dog friend NAMED Lady! :)

Ben - My oh my, where has the time gone?!?! You are such a sweet and goofy little guy! I know your big brother will teach you well! Your mouth and tongue are so expressive and crack me up! We are so lucky to be a part of your life and capture these little moments of you!

Sisters

2010-05-19T20:46:00.000-05:00

These sisters are going to surprise their parents with these images and I was so excited that we got to be a part of the big surprise! I'm told there will be tears involved!! YES!!! I have been given permission to post the sneak peak, but if you've happened across this blog and you know these sisters' parents....zip your lips! Mum is the word....they haven't let the cat out of the bag yet. :)

These sisters were called the popsicle princesses by their dad and they wanted to re-create the image before Jessica went off to eastern Iowa for work and Brianna goes out-of-state to college. How fun is that?!?! Here is the original image taken out the scrapbook....

Here's a fun re-creation! Oh yes, we took lots of pictures with the popsicles before they all melted, but I very much love this one!

The funniest part of the popsicles was when one of them bluntly said she remembered them tasting so much better when they were little. Isn't that the truth?!?!? Why is it that some things as adults just don't quite seem the same as they did when we were little?!?!

Sister LOVE....such fun!!

Jessica, Brianna, Katie and Cory - Thank you so much for inviting us to be a part of this special surprise! We are so excited to hear all about the reaction! You guys were so much fun and we loved how involved you got with coming with ideas too! YEAH! Can't wait to get your entire gallery for you to view!

Ella

2010-05-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

Little Ella was a fresh 9 days old when I was able to capture these adorable images of her!

Can you even believe that head of hair??? Good heavens, I was in love!

Ella was such a sleepy little girl! Once she fell asleep, she was totally oblivious to me and I had TONS of fun with her! Don't you just want to snuggle up with her?

Ahhhhhh!!! What's not to fall in love with about this image....the eyes, the hair, the sweet face!

To see a few more images of Ella, you can visit our facebook page here.

Ella - Welcome to the world!! You are one sweet and teeny tiny little girl! I loved every second of my time with you and can't wait to see you again with your big brother!

Deena and Josh {married}

2010-05-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

Deena and Josh were married on such a perfect and beautiful day! We loved being a part of their day and had so much fun hanging out with them, their dog!!!!, family and friends!

I started out at the salon with Deena...

While Eric hung out with Josh...

Hello sparkles!! These are the heels Deena wore...

It wasn't long before we got to meet Jez, their sweet, sweet little pup! Jez has the longest name possible. No, I'm not joking. :) When they registered him, there were all those little spaces for letters....so they used them all. Yes, I made them say his full name a lot because I just liked hearing it...I couldn't help but laugh.

Love, love, love this capture of Deena and her dad hugging while Josh smiles on...

Then there was the candy table that was nothing short of complete awesomeness! Seriously, it brought me back to my childhood. Everything that I fully indulged in as a kid was there...Pixy Stix, Pop Rocks, ZOTZ! Seriously, do you remember ZOTZ??!?! I had totally forgotten about them until I saw them sitting there, they brought a huge smile to my face!

Complete with adorable labels!

This image of their first dance totally sums up Deena and Josh. That look on their face is the look they had all day. They are completely, madly and deeply in love with each other and it was such an honor to be able to capture their story for them.

Deena and Josh - You two are a complete delight! We knew after your engagement session that your wedding was going to ROCK....and it did! We loved every second we were with you and capturing every little moment. Thank you for inviting us to your wedding!

Gabby & Drake

2010-04-29T22:10:00.000-05:00

We were SO very excited for this session!!! Gabby was walking since the last time we saw her AND she was now a big sister! We had a lot to catch up on!

She is just the happiest little girl...

These pictures of Drake might make you think he was a sleepy little boy....HA, not even close! His mom told us just the day before she couldn't get him to stay awake. The day of the session, he must have been so excited at the thought of his first photo shoot, he wanted to stay awake. But we did get him to shut his eyes just long enough to capture the sweet "sleepy" newborn images. :)

We haven't shown a behind the scenes picture in awhile.....it's time for another reveal! This one is just TOO good not to share! (Don't kill me Megan!) But seriously, check out the shades on mommy trying to get her girl to giggle....I LOVE it!!

Gabby and Drake - Oh my goodness, what fun to see you again Gabby and meet you little Drake!! We have been so excited for this day since your last session! The day finally came and we were so happy to be able to capture these milestones in your life! We cannot wait to watch you continue to grow up together!

Drake

2010-04-27T05:31:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned how much we love, love, love capturing kids and watching them as they grow right before our eyes? The last time we saw Drake he was completely confined to the area where we put him.....not this time! He is on the MOVE!!!

One of his new fast moves is how fast he can grab what you are holding...so much so he was sure trying to figure out how he could get his fingers on all the camera buttons. :)

The love in Drake's life right now is his dog Skinner. I LOVED watching their relationship, it was so cool! Drake is totally used to Skinner and when Skinner would bark, Drake would just slowly turn his head to see where his dog was. When Skinner would walk around Drake and hit Drake with his furry tale...no fuss from Drake just a little head shake and he was on to the next thing.

I am obsessed.....OBSESSED with that picture of their feet! I love that Skinner is Drake's best friend and I love how this captures Drake's age right now with his BFF! :) Yes, I'll take a 20x40 print of this! (Yes, those ARE True Religion jeans!! Quite the stylin' little guy huh?)

Drake makes the best Elvis lip EVER! Don't get too distracted with the Skinner nose in your face...too funny!!!!

Good heavens....how do I even begin to comment on all the cuteness below? Adorable hat, rockstar boots and sweet baby jeans to boot....I've got nothing!

Drake - Ahhhhhh, you are awesome!! You had every right to scream, complain or even fuss a tiny bit after all the different things we tried, but you were just too sweet! Thank you for letting us hang out and play with you for so long....we loved seeing you again! You are one sweet little dude and we can't wait to see you when you (gasp) turn 1!!

Zaylee

2010-04-21T20:16:00.000-05:00

Zaylee, Zaylee, Zaylee, where do I even begin with your post? :) Zaylee played a REALLY good game of hard to get....I'm telling you, it was an incredible game! I love the above picture, but we could have had about a thousand pictures just like it. Why? Because she LOVED having either her mom or aunt by her side at all times. She's a lover!

She was willing to go down the slide by herself though. Check out the look on her face! It totally cracks me up! It almost looks like she's about to do something she shouldn't be!

And last but not least, you just have to melt over her little coy look here! Check out the sparkle in her eyes!!

Zaylee - You definitely made us work to win your smile, but guess what? We did it!! :) We loved looking for ducks with you and playing on all the equipment! We can't wait for you to see all the smiles we snuck out of you when your gallery is ready!

The Sitzmann family

2010-04-17T16:22:00.000-05:00

You might recognize some from this post in the previous posts. We had such a fun day of photographing all the little families that make up the big Sitzmann family!

At the end of the day we made it out to the family farm to have some fun with the whole group!

It was perfect timing as it was Barb's birthday....what better way to celebrate than with all the people you love surrounding you?

I love this image that Eric captured of the girls!

And this one of little Tristan and his grandpa is just too sweet for words!

Sitzmann's - What fun it was to be back out at your farm again! Your family has grown so much and we loved capturing all of the kids' little personalities!

Mason

2010-04-16T21:07:00.000-05:00

Mason has a whole ‘lotta people that adore him! His parents are first on the list. How sweet is this family snuggle! LOVE it!

His cousin’s are next on the list and man alive, you should have seen all their faces light up when they saw Mason coming down the hill towards us! Wowza! He is little Mr. Prince Charming! I just love how he's playing hard to get here...we all know he is loving EVERY second of their attention!

Mason wasted NO time getting his play on in the playset….and there was no shortage of cousins to help him climb and play!

As with all 2 year olds, taking pictures is at the bottom of their priority list and we just let Mason do what he wanted. We played football, golf, went down the slide and fell off the swing. (Don’t worry, it was the best of all falls and he recovered like a champ! )

Mason - Little Mr. Independent, you are one busy little man! It was so fun to watch you and all your cousins….you are sooooo very loved! It has been so much fun going through all of your pictures and finding all the ones where we caught you flashing that adorable smile at us! You may have thought you were speedy and avoiding us....not so!! We had a few tricks up our sleeve too little man! :) Ross and Amanda - so great to see you guys too and capture you with a photo camera! You have become a regular in front of our video cameras at weddings, it was a fun change of pace! :)

Ellensohn's

2010-04-15T20:44:00.000-05:00

These guys jumped out of their van and I was loving all the teal and brown I was seeing! Recently I have started this obsession with teal. I have no idea where it came from, but anything teal my eyes just can't get enough of!

Then I spotted little Tessa with her blonde hair barely peaking from behind someone’s legs. She was not digging any attention from me at all. But have no fear, by the end we were BFF’s and she wanted to make sure that we were going to go out to her grandparents for the big family picture. Score! ☺

I kept reminding the kids to let us know if they had any ideas that they should tell us. So we were in the middle of doing something and Eric interrupted and said he wanted to try something. He explained it and I said no fair, because that was going to be my next idea. Then Ashley also said she was going to suggest the same thing! So we all called dibs on the idea….

WELL……as you can see it didn’t work out so well and we all agreed that it was Eric’s terrible idea. ☺ But I did make sure to take a picture just to have proof of the failed idea. Eli couldn't even stay laying down for the torture, he's already sitting up in this picture!

Then their dad started coming up with ideas….BUT you won’t see any of them here because all the kids’ vetoed them before they had a chance to come to fruition!

Ellensohn’s - So glad we were able to get together and capture your family! What a crew you have! We loved how all the kids had fun with us and started getting into showing us their own ideas! Loved it! Ashley – can’t wait to see you this summer! Leah – thanks for making me laugh so much, I loved coming up with ideas other than standing for you! Eli – I loved that you had fun with your individual pictures, you are awesome! Tessa – Gotcha! I knew we could win over that shy little blondie, you are very sweet! And you rocked it as an assistant for Mason!

Larissa and Tristan

2010-04-12T21:37:00.000-05:00

We arrived at their farm and before we even had a chance to scope out the property, Larissa was outside being our tour guide. Just as fast as she turned into our guide, she became a model and the star of the show!

Ummmmm….yeah, she did that all on her own! No joke! Isn’t that just a hoot?

Tristan is not quite walking yet….which means, he was stuck on his island (aka. favorite blanket), in the middle of the yard as he had NO interest what so ever in letting that pesky green stuff touch his feet. It also means he has no way to escape the constant love of his sister! Score for capturing the big smooch!

We always love to hear about kids’ favorite things and Larissa was happy to show off her mad hula hooping skills! Seriously…she had some tricks up her sleeve. I’m still not quite sure how she pulled off the 360 spin in the middle while keeping it going….no idea! Skills I tell ya, this girl has SKILLZ! ☺

Tristan was hilarious and would start cracking himself up. He got the case of the giggles so bad which meant that I got a case of the giggles and couldn’t take pictures for a period of time. It was absolutely hilarious!

Larissa and Tristan - What fun it was to meet you and hang out for a bit! I love the way you loved your brother Larissa! It has been so much fun going through all of your images and see you holding his hand in so many of them! You are a very sweet big sister!

In our prayers...

2010-04-12T21:22:00.002-05:00

This evening our hearts are very heavy as we attended the visitation of a close family friend. We are blessed to have traveled to Jamaica with her and her family 4 years ago where we created some very fun memories. We are so thankful we had the crazy idea to videotape all the adventures….yes swimming suits and all! What were we thinking recording 7 days where the main choice of clothing was swimsuits and the drink of choice was rum? Can you even imagine the footage we have?!?! We don’t know what we were thinking, but we sure are thankful we did it! It sure has been fun watching that video again reminding us of the good times and reminding us just how precious life can be.

We are so thankful we have the means to capture our personal life and the life of those so close to us. May this be a reminder to never be too tired to pick up a camera and capture those everyday moments in our life. No matter if you are a novice or a professional, capture the moments that are happening around you, you will treasure them for a lifetime! Sending our love to you, Klumps!

Ringing in the 30's!

2010-03-29T19:47:00.000-05:00

Wow, we can hardly believe it, but our 20's are almost behind us and our 30's are nipping at our heals! Eric only has about 5 hours left of his 20's!

We started ringing in his golden birthday...30 on the 30th a little early. If you've been reading our blog for a awhile you might remember the last time I tried to make Eric a birthday cake and I consulted google. :) Google told me I could take a cake mix and a can of pop and have myself a perfect cake. Well, yes it worked, but I wanted something much better for his golden birthday!

I contacted Lindsey Long from City Cakes and she totally saved my butt! I ordered a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting....YUM!!! She has a whole list of flavors and desserts, but I knew strawberry cake would have Eric drooling....and I was right!

She even surprised me when I picked it up with 4 adorable cupcakes so we could indulge a little early! How rockstar is that?? Seriously, just put your pans away, turn your oven off and email Lindsey at lindseyllong {at} gmail.com and she will hook you up!

We can hardly wait to dive into the cake tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Eric!! I am so excited that we have spent all of our 20's together and I can hardly wait to see what is in store with us in our 30's! I love you and am so thankful you are part of my life every day!!

P.S. Wondering why we have been MIA from the blog? I have SOOOO many pictures of what we have been up to and I do plan on updating the blog with what's been going on! Stay tuned!

P.S.S or is it P.P.S? And yes, that is a 10x20 print hanging on our wall of Maddoxx! :) We are dog crazy, it's true!

Baby AJ

2010-03-10T21:31:00.000-06:00

I promised more images of Cohen and AJ and here's to following up on my promise! We were soooooo excited to find out that Cohen was going to be a big brother and we were even more excited to be able to meet little AJ!

I could not (and still cannot) get over how much of a mini-me AJ is of his big brother! SERIOUSLY! It totally felt like deja vu.

I love little AJ's tiny hands wrapped around his daddy's fingers....and I'm fairly certain AJ has done a very good job of making sure his daddy and mommy are totally wrapped around his finger! :) (See exhibit below)

Wouldn't you agree? :)

If this image is any indication of years to come, I think they are going to be the best of friends!

I cannot believe that we first met Cohen when he was 6 months old and now look at him!! Such a handsome little guy!

Cohen and AJ - What fun it was to see and meet you! I know Eric loved playing legos and b-ball with you Cohen! AJ, you made my heart melt...more than once! You two are such sweet little boys and we love that we are able to capture these moments in your life!

Brothers...

2010-03-09T20:49:00.000-06:00

There is no denying these 2 are brothers!

Cohen at 6 months old back in 2008...

AJ at 2 months old in 2010...

They even do the same squishy lip thing-a-ma-jig!!! When AJ started doing it, I about tipped over!

More to come of these 2 cuties! Stay tuned!

Deena and Josh...

2010-03-09T20:22:00.000-06:00

are the most laid back, sweet, and completely IN LOVE couple in the universe....seriously! We had such a great time hanging out and capturing their overflowing love for one another.

We can hardly wait for their wedding day...although we are a bit concerned that we will never be able to get them to tear their eyes off one another long enough to look at the camera! There is going to be a lot of this...

Or this...

Likely, a whole 'lotta this...

They are such a beautiful couple and would not stop doing the cutest things...

(see, I told you!)

We made it outside for some cute snuggly shots too...

Deena and Josh - You guys rock! We loved spending time with you and capturing all the love you share! You two are so sweet not only to one another, but so sweet to us! We cannot wait for your wedding day and to share in your special day with you!

T-shirt sale!

2010-03-01T20:48:00.003-06:00

What??? That's right we are having a t-shirt sale!! Weird right? We're photographers, not t-shirt designers. Well....sometimes we need to step outside the box and do something a little different.

Want to know a little secret about Eric? He likes to draw. Give him a piece of paper and pen...yes, I said pen (hey, I never said he was normal...he likes to draw with a pen, not a pencil) and he will have drawings all over a piece of paper complete with shading...he loves to shade objects.

Anyway, it was time to make KandE Productions t-shirts for the upcoming softball season so Eric took a little different approach to drawing this time and drew with his mouse in photoshop and came up with the little diddy on the t-shirt! Fun huh?

We love the t-shirts so much we wanted to offer a little t-shirt sale so you can have a little piece of Eric's artwork too! Buy a sweet KandE Productions t-shirt and get some free prints on your next session with us!

HURRY! Our order is due to the printer by this Friday, so you don't have much time! Get going to the ordering site here.
PASSWORD: tshirt

These t-shirts are AWESOME and oh so soft and comfy. Nope, they aren't Hanes t-shirts with a vinyl logo...no way! These are super soft and comfy American Apparel t-shirts in Galaxy Blue complete with a white screen printed logo and text.

What color is galaxy blue? It's super sweet! I would describe it as the perfect happy medium between teal and navy...have no fear it's not super bright, just a nice beautiful darker blue. LOVE!

Mya and Mea

2010-02-21T18:23:00.001-06:00

My oh my, a lot has changed in the last year! We first saw Mya and Mea when they were 6 months old, then a year old and now they are 18 months old and busy as ever!!

Mea...

Mya...

These two are just soooooo adorable together! We were cracking up because there were times where life wasn't fair and they both NEEDED what the other had....but when we tried to go into another room with one and not the other, there was no separating them. We got about 3 feet down the hall before she was calling for "sissy, sissy". :) How sweet is that??

Did you notice how I didn't use names in the above story? Well, I thought it might get easier to tell them apart as they got older....YEAH RIGHT! In fact, I'm fairly certain it is getting even more difficult! My saving grace was that Mya decided to do a head first dive off the couch the night before and ended up with a little red mark on her nose. She was fine save for the mark which meant we could actually tell them apart...only if the side of her nose with the mark was showing! :)

I just cannot get over how identical they are....it is just wild! I love this image....no there's not a mirror involved. :) It is Mya behind Mea or Mea behind Mya. Why can't I tell? The nose is in the wrong direction. :)

Check out their accessories! These girls are ALWAYS on the cutting edge of fashion. Here they are sporting their skinny jeans and rockstar necklaces. Seriously too much to handle!

I love to compare images and show how much things have changed. This image was from the family snuggle a year ago when they were 6 months old...

And this is what a family snuggle, in the exact same location, looks like 12 months later!

Mya and Mea - You girls are awesome! We so much love to watch you two interact, in fact, I'm fairly certain we could watch you interact all day and never be bored! You two are quite the entertainers and we love that we are able to capture your life! We can't wait to see you again in August, we can't even imagine how much you will be talking by then!

Will, part 2...

2010-02-11T19:37:00.000-06:00

What fun it was to see Will again! The last time we saw him he was just barely crawling, but not too interested in leaving us in the dust. Yeah, I said "the last time". This time Will showed us the ropes and was the director of the show! :)

He is one tough kid and loves to wrestle and play with footballs, basketballs, balls of any kind....and so we did! He attempted to wrestle the wall one time and I about lost it I was laughing so hard. The sudden and direct impact with said wall did not phase him in the least.

Would you believe that in between all that we captured this? Oh yeah, it's true!

We even found some time for some mommy and daddy lovin'...

But it didn't last for too long :)

And then we were off to the Science Center! Whoa! What a fun place! Will gave us the tour....he seriously knows his way all around that place!

This ball was borrowed from the air station. :)

I am obsessed with this next image! As much as I want to take credit for it, I've got to give it to Eric....this was his sweet capture. I LOVE the interaction captured between Will and his mom! Love, love, love!

Will - Oh my goodness...you have grown into such a little man and oh how we loved to see your independence. You are such a sweet little boy and we know that you are going to be an awesome big brother to your sister! But can we let you in on a little secret? We think she may not be ready for full contact wrestling for a few more years! Keep on keepin' on little man, you have a bright future!

Will....

2010-02-09T21:11:00.002-06:00

More to come of Will....but I couldn't wait one more second to post this one of Will for his parents to see!

Trust me when I say, if you would have been with us, you would have never guessed that Will stayed in one place long enough to look this relaxed! He was a busy little man and I am completely smitten with this image!

More to come soon!

Louis....

2010-02-09T18:46:00.004-06:00

Here are a few more of little baby Louis for you to enjoy!!

Louis is our cousin....ok, ok....I guess if you get technical, Louis is our second cousin...but a sweet, sweet cousin none the less!

No matter how he's related, we love him lots! As if the post below wasn't enough, here is a sweet little close-up. Love those squishy lips!

He had the cutest little sneezes and I couldn't resist the whole little body shake here!

9 days old and look at those eyes open and wondering all about the world around him!

While Louis and I were working hard....look what we caught Eric and Oscar doing...lounging!

Love, love, love this family image!! Oh my goodness....such cuteness in Oscar's smile and boy oh boy what do you think Louis is thinking?!?!?!

Louis - Oh my goodness what fun to capture you in your first days in this world!! You are just soooooo sweet!! You are a very lucky little man with a family who loves you like crazy! We loved watching your big brother as he watched you, such sweet moments!!

More to come....

2010-02-02T18:23:00.001-06:00

but I couldn't resist posting this one before all the rest!!

Meet 9 day old Louis!

Bogue Boys...

2010-02-01T17:14:00.000-06:00

Oh how we love these boys! Do you remember when we were first introduced to their cuteness? And then Weston grew up before our eyes...here!

Oh boy...and now he's on the RUN and happy about every second of it!

Before too long, it was Weston's nap time and time for a session with his brothers!

Love the background? Well, you can't have one unless you are ready for some serious shopping and hand crafting. :) Yeah, what you are looking at in addition to those irresistable faces is a headboard handmade by their daddy with antique yardsticks! It is pure awesomeness!

The boys humored us by agreeing to a "secret session", where we all whispered and didn't let mommy and daddy know what we were doing. :) I'm sure that mommy and daddy's absence had nothing to do with me telling the boys, "Should we surprise mommy and daddy with some pictures BECAUSE I BET THEY ARE WALKING VERY SLOWLY AND WON'T GET TO THE KITCHEN BEFORE WE ARE DONE" :) Nope, I bet they were not clued in to hang in the back of the house by the change in volume in my voice. :)

Surprise mommy and daddy....look what we did while you took so long to find us in the kitchen!

I'll leave you with one last image of the 20 minute napper....yeah, that nap I talked about? It didn't work so well!

Boys - Those great big hugs you gave us before we left will hold us over until we see you next time...you are too sweet! Thank you for showing us your awesomely huge puzzles and for showing us your awesome new bunk beds! We loved seeing you again and thank you for welcoming us with open arms, you guys are awesome!!

Where have we been, what have we done?

2010-01-28T19:13:00.000-06:00

There are no excuses world....well maybe a few. :) But the truth is this fall hit us harder than we could have EVER imagined....EVER!!! We had a blast, but when late December hit, the months of fall and all the late night editing finally caught up with us and we crashed....crashed hard!!

So here we are in 2010 and already looking towards February....wowza!! We are more excited than ever for what KandE Productions has in store for 2010! We do hope that you are part of the fun and excitement coming up!

In the meantime, I feel like we should take you on a little journey of our last month of non-blogging...

We survived the first blizzard of the winter....

scooping our way around our corner lot and double wide driveway! Yep, the snow blower decided to not start at the exact time there was an accumulation to take care of. That was fun. Blizzard + Corner lot = not a match made in heaven!

There was this....

Oh, you don't see a picture? Yeah, remember the crash I mentioned above? Well, the crash happened over Christmas and we didn't take ONE picture over Christmas.....not ONE! Our bodies just couldn't lift a camera at that point. Yikes! News Years Resolution #1: take pictures of Christmas 2010. OK, Deal.

We survived another blizzard....

Just in time to get home and sleep a couple of nights before waking up to the house being 50 degrees! So this happened (yes, just so happened during the days of the worst wind chills in years!):

Yep, the time came to replace the furnace and air conditioner. What an adventure that was!

Oops...timeline got out of place...the day before that happened, we had just purchased new flooring for our house. Timing is everything isn't it?!?!?

So this happened:

The day that happened I was stuck in the bedroom with the 2 dogs and I didn't think through my day very well. That included lunch time. I was able to make it to the pantry from the bedroom without disturbing the installers. Guess what lunch was? Cheez-its and Honey Nut Cheerios....didn't see that coming did you!?!? The 3 of us dined on a gourmet lunch for sure! We were happy when they left! Do you think Jimmy John's would have delivered to my bedroom window? I contemplated calling and asking.

OOPS...OK, so maybe this timeline is completely backwards! Let's talk about the week before the crash....this happened:

Yep, 10 inches were donated to Locks of Love. It was a lot of fun to make the donation right before Christmas and know that I was giving to a stranger!

Just to keep this fun, let's jump back into the timeline at about the time of the flooring install. We had to move all the kitchen appliances. That included the fridge with a water hook-up. As our luck would have it, the saddle valve for turning off that water line would not turn off. It involved water spraying all over the basement for a bit and a trip to Lowe's, but Eric got it replaced....it didn't involve a call to the plumber! That was fun.

In more recent days, Eric has spent hours on the roof scooping the snow off....is winter over yet?

We did get a new fisheye lens and have been having fun with that. So when all else fails it brings us good comedic relief!

(Don't let them fool you, that is love....all love!)

Well, I believe that brings us up to date just in time for 3 photo sessions happening this weekend! We can't wait! More updates to come!

Kara

2009-12-07T20:18:00.000-06:00

is such a little sweetie. Within 2 minutes of meeting her we learned that she has her own schedule and it's not a rushed one and she is a master negotiator! The apple didn't fall far from the tree in her house given her parents' professions!

It had taken her hours to get down to half of her pop tart before we came. However, before the session could start she negotiated for 5 more bites. hehehehe!!! I'm pretty sure she only ended up taking one more bite, but it cracked me up that she wanted FIVE more...not one, not two....but five! Kara is one funny girl!

Want to know what she wants for Christmas? An octopus! That's not a typo....to the surprise of us and her parents she announced that an octopus was on her list of items she hopes Santa will deliver. Hmmmm, I wonder what Rudolph would think about transporting sea life?

I asked her if she could go get her favorite book. Given exhibit A above (she's on her own timeline), her daddy happily found his way up and down the stairs before she even knew he was gone. I'm so glad he found her favorite book because I am in LOVE with the family time we captured above!

I love them even more because the days of mommy, daddy and Kara only story time are limited...see exhibit C below...

Kara is going to be a big sister by the end of the month!! Not only do I love that image because it represents so much anticipation it also captures so much love in their family...Kara is just being her silly little self and her parents are loving it!

Kara - We had so much fun capturing your silly little self! You are so full of life and we loved learning all about you and your most ambitious Christmas list! You are going to be SUCH a great big sister! We can't wait to see you again!

Connor and Madeline

2009-12-06T19:36:00.000-06:00

worked very very hard to help their parents get their Christmas tree all decorated before we came to their home for their family pictures. Don't they look like they'd be such great little helpers?

Connor was little Mr. Social Butterfly! Oh my goodness, he welcomed us instantly to their home and never stopped making us feel welcome! At one point he even planted a big 'ol kiss on my cheek! He helped us create a little surprise for his mom while she was out of the room. Surprise, it's little Connor Claus!

Madeline was pure tiny sweetness. She really didn't know what to think of Eric...it got to the point where we just had to have Eric hide because she would look around the room until she spotted him and then just scream....and they weren't happy excited screams. I have to admit, I thought it was hilarious! But look, once we got Eric hidden behind a blanket, she was good to go!

This next outtake is just too good not to share! Do you think Connor spotted Santa behind us?!?!?! :)

Connor and Madeline - I am so glad your mommy called us and asked us to capture your family! We had so much fun learning all your favorite ornaments and all the goodies that came in your Advent calendar! We can't wait to see you again!

Thoughts and Prayers

2009-12-01T18:08:00.001-06:00

Please keep the Anderson family in your thoughts and prayers. I just received a text this morning with the most awful news. Susan Anderson very suddenly and completely unexpectedly passed away in her sleep last night.
My mind went spinning, how is this possible? I still have her emails in my inbox, her order was just delivered last week. She could not have been taken from her family and friends already.

And then I was quickly reminded why we love what we do so much. I am so thankful that we were able to spend an hour with their family last month and capture these moments. At the time, these moments seemed simple and normal, now they are priceless moments captured for a family to treasure forever. It brings a smile to my face now knowing that I kept Susan and Barry hugging for just those few extra seconds so that I could get "just one more picture". This is such a great reminder and I will forever continue to have families "hug it out" in honor of Susan and a life taken far too soon.

I do have to share a story about Susan in my very short time of knowing her. The majority of our "conversations" took place via email....and trust me we shared a lot of emails! But the one thing that always stuck out to me with her emails is that she never signed off as Susan. Her sign off was ALWAYS, "Love, the Andersons" I'm fairly certain it wasn't an automatic signature line, I truly believe she signed every email that way....as her family. It always made me smile.

To Barry, Jacob, Joel and the Ponca famly - Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this very difficult time. We are forever grateful you have invited us into your families and loved that we were able to capture these very special memories for you. Hugs to you all!

Baby Drake

2009-11-21T16:41:00.000-06:00

invited us to his grandparents house to capture him and all his ~~hair~~ sweetness!

Seriously, can his hair be any more awesome??? I was quite obsessed with his hair and couldn't get enough of it!

I'll give you one guess to figure out what is going on in the image below....

He's already teething at THREE months old!!! Holy buckets, he is wasting no time at this growing up business!

When Drake's mom showed me this hat I nearly melted to the floor with excitement...can it get any cuter than this?!!?!

Want to know the best part about this hat? When I showed his Nana a preview of this image in the back of the camera, tears came to her eyes. Yes!! I am a sucker for emotional reactions to our images....show me the tears, yes, show me the tears! :)

Such a funny juxtaposition...a little baby wearing a skull and crossbones. Drake you are one cool little dude!

Guess what else I am a sucker for? Spit bubbles!! I love that Drake is going to town making bubbles and his parents are bustin' a gut....such a small moment in their life, but oh so sweet!

Drake - Little man you are so sweet and I am so happy we got to meet you and hang out for a bit! There is no doubt about it, you are certainly surrounded by love and we loved being able to capture it. We cannot wait to see you in 3 months....but dont' grow up too fast on us!

Baby Lyla

2009-11-21T15:45:00.004-06:00

was just 6 weeks old when we got to meet her for the very first time. Oh my, she is pure sweetness and oh so teeny tiny!

Remember her mom when she was full term and her parents were patiently awaiting her arrival? Little Miss Lyla was quite comfy and tested her parents' patience while she was in no rush to see the outside world. Judging from this next image, I'd say she's pretty content with life now. Doesn't it just bring a sense of calm over you seeing her so content with her little grin? I love it!

Speaking of content...look at her on her mommy's shoulder after a feeding....oh.....my......goodness!!!!

This next image cracks me up...

This is just for Lyla's daddy....he came up with the idea and I think it's stinking adorable! This is just the beginning of her love of golf!

We are told she doesn't spend too much time in her nursery, so we had to capture one of the fleeting moments she was in there! :)

Sara, Tod and Lyla - What fun it was to meet little Lyla!! I still can't believe she didn't crash for hours after we left! She was a true rockstar and handled the entire session like a pro. We can't wait for her to show off her skills again next time around! Thank you for always letting us share in the special moments in your life, we love that we can capture these moments for you!

Photographering day...

2009-11-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

is what Evan called this day when I asked him if he knew what we were going to do that day. Photographering day....yes I like that word...I think I need to start using it more often!

Love this moment captured between sisters...

This was a surprise session for their dad/grandpa….and what a fun time we had with the surprise! I really don’t know where to start as it was like one big comedy act. Perhaps this will give you a little idea of what happened...

We had kids flying through the air, kids on the ground and everything in between....including a dog between legs! Perfect chaos makes a session so memorable and fun and brings about plenty of laughter!

Jim and I had to come to an understanding that when I say "1 picture," what I really mean is about 10. Jim didn’t know that about me. And I didn’t know that Jim would take the idea of 1 picture so literally. Eric refers to it as fuzzy math Jim, I am glad you came around to our fuzzy way of thinking. J.

Jim said he had a pitch fork and we said American Gothic the KandE way?

Jim has always wanted a family picture of his family on the elevator and that is why we were invited out for the surprise….but he also had a vision of his family walking in the field. (Sorry Jim, you can't see the surprise image just yet!)

Notice the kids never stopped flying through the air!

Never.... :)

To all of you…whoa!! What a wild and fun time we had out at the farm! I am happy we were able to contribute to the kids' high sugar levels after naptime! :) Thanks for inviting us, we loved hanging out and capturing your families!!!

Gabby

2009-11-02T20:47:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness what an exciting day it was for us to meet little Gabby!!! Why so exciting you might ask? Oh boy, we always say that one of the best parts about what we do is that we get to capture families as they continue to grow! We love love love it when families come back year after year (or month after month!). Despite the fact it reminds us that we are getting older, we LOVE to see how much the kids have grown!

We had never met Gabby before, but we did know her mom and dad from when we captured their wedding back in 2007! Be still my beating heart....they now have Gabby and wanted us to capture her 6 month portraits! I cannot tell you the joy in my heart when I received that email!

Little Gabby tried her best to put on her serious face for much of the session....but don't worry, we coerced some pretty sweet smiles (or some great funny faces) out of her!

Don't cha just want to go squeeze those lovable cheeks?!?!

Gabby's parents tried to tell us that she couldn't sit for much more than a few seconds all by herself. Check out daddy making sure she is OK...

Oh my, Gabby definitely proved them wrong! She sat by herself for such long periods of time, we were beginning to wonder what kind of story her parents tried to tell us :)

Want to know the BEST part of the session????? They told us that Gabby is going to be a BIG sister in about 6 months!!!! Oh my goodness....what a GREAT session!!

Brandon, Megan and Gabby - Oh my goodness how great to see you again and capture your family!! We are so excited you have stayed in touch and asked us to capture your growing family! We loved our time with you and getting to know little Miss Gabby and her incredible sense of fashion!! :) Can't wait to see you again when Gabby turns 1 and is a big sister!! YAY!!

Email not working

2009-10-28T18:30:00.002-05:00

OK, what better time for our website contact form to stop working except in the middle of our busiest time of the year?!?!

We just realized this week that people who have tried to contact us through the "Contact Us" page on our website have not been getting through to us. All those messages seem to be lost in cyber space....ahhhhhh!! We are not ignoring you...promise! The cyber elves just seem to be very hungry lately and need our mail.

SOOOO....if you have used that form on our website and haven't heard from me, PLEASE send me a direct email (karen [at] kandeproductions.com - that still seems to be working) or give me a call at 515.231.4857.

Thorpe family

2009-10-27T19:42:00.000-05:00

What fun we had with Tyler and he had no idea we were capturing all sorts of great images of him! He did give us a few funny looks as we were running all around, but he soon went back to doing his own thing.

I have a feeling Tyler's mom and dad see this look many times a day and I am so happy we were able to capture it forever!

What a stud don’t you think??? Totally GQ!!

It wasn’t long before we started family pictures and he was totally cheesin’ it up! It was cracking us up because when we were just capturing him, he was totally oblivious to our camera’s, but the instant it was family pictures he was fully aware of the camera in front of him.

This next image is too funny! None of us had any idea what he was doing, but he was being a total actor and I could barely capture this because I was laughing too hard!

Thorpe’s – Tyler was a total rockstar! It was so great to see you guys! We loved hanging out with Tyler and capturing him just being his cute little self. We are so happy we were able to capture these little moments in your life.

Liam

2009-10-27T07:49:00.000-05:00

Liam stole my heart about .02 seconds after we met him! The instant I said hi to him he showed me his adorable smile and it never left his face the rest of the session.

Liam, you made it too easy for us!

Boy it's hard to tell why he's so happy all the time...I bet he doesn't get any of that from his parents. Oh wait...pretty sure the above image describes Liam's family perfectly....soooo happy!

His parents tell us the only time he loses his smile in a day is when it's bedtime. Can you blame him? This little guy LOVES life....how unfair to have to shut your eyes and miss some of it. I always say that sleep is overrated...I think Liam is on the same page too!

He is getting ready to celebrate his first birthday party with all of his family in about a month...I can't even imagine how much bigger his smile can get when he see's so many people that love him all in the same place....lucky little man!

Liam - Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing all your sweetness with us! We could have easily spent all day with you. Our time together went way too fast! We are so excited to see you again! P.S. Enjoy your birthday cake!!!

Handsaker family

2009-10-26T19:39:00.001-05:00

Oh heavens I don’t even know where to begin! Cash is a talking machine! He had us laughing so hard! One of our favorite words he pulled out was “Peace out”…seriously, Cash you just said that??? What a hoot!

This picture makes me laugh so hard! The expressions on their faces are just priceless!

Another behind the scenes shot…this is what you call up close and personal and Cash wasn't afraid!

Paige certainty didn’t forget her stint as my assistant last time we saw them. She came prepared with her favorite subject Brownie this time. She had many ideas for posing Brownie ….so we took him all over!

Miss Paige is the only person besides Eric that I have let touch my new 2 week old baby! Yep, this new camera I refer to as my baby...and Paige got to take a picture with it! Check out her mad skills!

Handsaker’s – The kids are growing way too fast! I cannot believe how talkative Cash is! I’m not sure how you ever get anything done around the house because I think I could just sit and listen to his comedy act all day long! Thank you for being so patient Paige waiting for your picture of Brownie to get posted! How cute does he look hanging out in the perfect spot you found for him??? :)

McGill family

2009-10-25T11:50:00.000-05:00

We were so excited to get this session in! After all, it was canceled because the kids were sick….but 24 hours later we were back on and ready to roll!

I couldn’t resist their shoes….pink high tops and Keen’s…can it get much better??? How adorable is this…they are all holding hands on top of it….ahhhhhh!!! Cuteness!

This picture of Tucker is nearly too much for me to handle! Seriously buddy you are killin’ me!

Gage is such an awesome big brother to all his siblings…but when we witnessed this next interaction our hearts melted. Gage totally let Tucker have the upper hand in a quick game of wrestling…and Tucker thought he was the coolest little dude while Gage just let him keep on believin’. And that my friends are what big brothers are made of!

I LOVE this capture of the boys playing football!

Maggie and Addie in all their sister sweetness...

As we left Gage pulled out the sweetness card again when he said “See you next year.” Sure thing Gage….see you next year for Poncapalooza 2010! It’s a date!

McGill's - Whew....way to be strong and fight the bug each night to be strong enough during the day! I still can't believe it worked out! It was great to see you and hang out with the kids and capture them in all their cuteness! They rocked it!

Anderson family

2009-10-22T17:46:00.000-05:00

You guys get the award for strongest of them all! I was sporting 4 layers on my top half…while these boys were sporting the one layer you see! Jacob was even caught pulling his sleeves UP!! Sleeves up, as in bare skin touching the chilly air!! (Note the image above....crazy kid!)

I love this dual view of their family. This was my vantage point...

And this was Eric's view (that I am in love with!)...

The boys loved playing with their football and we loved capturing them doing one of their favorite past times!

Anderson's - I am so happy you were able to join us for Poncapalooza this year! It was a joy to meet you and hang out! Even though our time was quick, the boys did a great job of coming up with fun ideas when my brain was too cold to think anymore! Thanks for making it so fun!

Kessenich family

2009-10-22T17:33:00.000-05:00

I’m pretty sure the theme for the next several posts is going to revolve around the strength of everyone out in the chilly temps! But holy buckets it gets even colder as the sun is going down as was the case for the Kessenich family!

Jack was a super trooper and I swear he was completely oblivious to the temperature! It worked out perfect for us to have a “secret” session with him! He totally ate up the idea of surprising his mom with pictures she had no idea about. Surprise mom!!

Lillian was definitely feeling the temps, but she did a GREAT job in between clothing changes warming up in the van.

Isabelle was on the same train of thought as Jack….she wasn’t feeling the cold! She was even coming up with ideas that she wanted to try! I love it!!

I couldn't help but post this next family image....What's the matter Jack? Was it something I said?

Kessenich family - Wow, that was fast and fun! I'm still amazed you managed a clothing change with the temps and timeframe....you guys rock! :) So great to see you again!

Brockhaus family

2009-10-21T19:39:00.000-05:00

They have added to their family since last time we saw them….welcome to your inaugural session of Poncapalooza Zin!! We were so happy you could join us!

They busted out their Husker gear and we hoped for the best that it wouldn’t shatter our lens’! Ok, ok, I kid, I kid. J

We took the Cornhusker fans to the corn field…giggle, giggle…but how could I resist???

Nathan just passed his Hunter Safety course a couple of weeks ago and we loved that he wanted to incorporate all his hunting goodies into the session!

And here's a behind the scenes peak at what Eric looked like taking the picture...

I feel like I need to make a disclaimer for the above image. The gun was verified to be un-loaded. Both Eric and his dad gave him permission to point the gun in that direction. Being the good student and hunter he is, he was not so sure of our idea. But the resulting image sure looks cool!

Jacob’s love for football has not faded since last year! P.S. Don't mess with him. I did call him a Punk a couple of times....but have no fear....I made sure I was within easy running distance to the car in case he felt he needed to tackle me for such actions...I had a "safe house" all scoped out!

Brockhaus family – So great to see you again and meet the four legged members of your family! I think we need to come back when it’s backyard party season again! You guys have QUITE the set-up!

Meet Tick

2009-10-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

We met Tick as part of Poncapalooza 2009....you'll get to meet his family later. But this post is dedicated to Tick and Tick only. Why? Because we will never forget Tick.....he kept us shaking our heads in disbelief.

Never in our life have we met a dog who required quite as much love as Tick did! From the instant he was let out of his crate he was all about requiring love...it started with a hug...

It quickly led to a face full of kisses....

And then it turned to downright begging for a little more love...

Was it something I said Tick? Don't be mad.....really you were quite sweet...it's just that we have never seen such a needy pup, I couldn't help but call you out!

Schamp family

2009-10-19T19:38:00.000-05:00

Started off Poncapalooza 2009 with quite the chilly session! Most of the snow had melted by the time their session started. It was still pretty chilly and Ally and Connor were quite the troopers! (Notice I said "most" there is still evidence of snow by their feet!)

I love the way Ally and her dad are interacting in this image....so stinking cute!

Connor has grown up SO much since last fall….he’s now a talking machine! We are told he can spot an excavator from miles away so it was only appropriate we stopped by one that was only a few feet from the road. Once he was standing on it, his answer to everything was “excavator.” Connor what is Eric holding? Excavator. Connor, what is your favorite food? Excavator. Like I said, he LOVES excavators! And from the looks of this next image, he is in complete awe of them!

We did manage to leave the excavator behind and find his sweet little smile...

Ally is still as sweet as pie and started out hiding behind her daddy’s legs. It wasn’t too long before we got her warmed up and she was chatting it up with us too. Then she started really getting into the session and even agreed to use her hood as a sweet accessory......lovin' it!!

We tried to get in plenty of family snuggles to keep warm and we were told that Ally is the snuggle bug of the family….check it out….yep I would have to agree!

Schamp family - Yay!! We got the session in ….thank you for braving the cold temps with us! The kids did such a great job! I cannot believe how fast they are growing up. I really hope it is nicer out next time so we can have more time to just chat...I need to hear more about Ally's life as a photographer!!

Laug family

2009-10-18T18:41:00.002-05:00

It’s another growing family! We saw Harrison last summer and now Harrison is a big brother to Vance. Little Vance is only 4 weeks old and oh so sweet and tiny!

Harrison has grown like crazy since the last time we saw him!! He was a total ham and we were having a blast being totally goofy with him!

I love this sweet family picture of everyone loving on little Vance...

And then it gets better....I imagine Harrison is saying "OH MY GOODNESS I am a BIG brother!"

Laug’s – What fun it was to meet little Vance and more of your family! Vance was such a little trooper out in that wind….what a sweetheart! I cannot believe how outgoing Harrison was…I loved that he acted like we see him everyday!

Kristen {class of 2010}

2009-10-13T20:46:00.000-05:00

Before we even took our first picture Kristen’s teeth were chattering! What happened to fall anyway???

But it wasn’t too long before she was totally rocking the session, she was a total natural in front of the camera!

I saw the sun coming through the trees and I just knew I had to capture this image! I love it! Sun flare? Yummy, yes please!

This is the point when she wouldn’t stop doing cute things and we couldn’t stop capturing them…I was loving it!

Kristen - We had such a great time with you, it is a session we won’t soon forget! After all it will go down in history as the first session combined with an animal rescue! Beyond the rescue, you are beautiful and we are so happy you chose us to capture your senior portraits! We can’t wait to get them all ready for you to see!

The great cat rescue of 2009...

2009-10-13T19:54:00.001-05:00

I am finding it very difficult to put into words just how funny this story is. Here is my feeble attempt…just laugh, trust us, it was hilarious!

We were shooting Kristen’s senior portraits (blog is coming soon) and we were down by the river when I noticed a cat coming up towards us from the river. Admittedly, cats kind of freak us out. We have only had experiences with cats when they act sweet and then either whack us (yes Gizmo, here’s looking at you!), or they start hissing. Our dogs don’t hiss. Barking I can deal with, hissing scares us.

So anyway, Kristen was very brave. Perhaps it was because I was begging Eric to rescue it, we HAD to, it had a Home Again tag on its collar. Our dogs have Home Again tags and I would be devastated if someone saw our dogs loose and didn’t call us. Both Eric and I didn’t jump at the idea of attempting to grab the cat…so why not put our senior in charge?!!? Kristen was a great cat wrangler and totally got the cat in her arms.

Then it was my turn….I had to get close to the cat to read the phone number….GULP. I just said I had to get close to the cat….close, as in my hand by its face….you know, the part of the cat that HISSES!

“Nice kitty, nice kitty, oh you are a very, Eric, dial 515, nice sweet , 231, lovable kitty, 28XX, oh good kitty. WHEW! OK Eric, you got that phone number?”

Yep, he did! Brave Kristen is still holding the cat at this point. No answer on the other end. OK what do we do now? Bright idea from me…just put it in our car until we can get ahold of someone…I didn’t want it getting away. Eric gave me the questionable look…you really want me to put this cat in our car? I know in the back of his mind he was thinking about the time I maybe got a little upset when he hit the side of our garage with our month old car….yep, the same car I wanted him to put this lost cat in. But it was all in the name of an animal rescue, it was OK!

Here is where it all gets a little dicey….

Kristen passed the cat off to Eric. Remember, we don’t know much about cats other than they have claws, hiss and swat at our face. So how does Eric hold the cat? Close your eyes to imagine this visual…it is sure to crack you up! He held the cat straight out in front of him to ensure all legs were out of touching distance to his face. Imagine a new daddy carrying a baby with a dirty diaper….there was no cuddling happening!

At that point I turned around and kept going with Kristen’s session. And the next time I looked back, I saw the car door open and Eric CHASING after the cat…..hehehehe!!! It escaped! At that point another lady started feeling back for this obvious novice cat handler and got the cat back in her arms and she actually knew how to hold a cat. Eric then called the number on the tag again….and he got an answer!!! BONUS!

The conversation went like this:

Eric: Is this Troy?
Troy: Yes
Eric: Hi Troy, my name is Eric and I am calling because I have your cat
Troy: Oh Miss Kitty is out? Well, she knows her way home, she’ll come back
Eric: So you want me to let her go? (Completely baffled by what has transpired in the conversation)
Troy: Yeah, Miss Kitty knows her way home

The great cat rescue of 2009 = FAILURE!! After all, Miss Kitty knows her way home.

Thank you Kristen and Brenda for helping in this crazy adventure! It was certainly a session to remember!

Handsaker family

2009-10-11T18:28:00.000-05:00

We always love to see our cousins and were excited to be able to capture the Handsakers again!

I am in love with this family picture...how can it not just bring an instant smile to your face?!?!

Layla has a full time job trying to keep up with her little brother who is one determined little boy. Actually they are both very determined little kids. We attempted a hug…we had one who was determined to GIVE a hug and another who was determined to ESCAPE the hug. I’ll let you decide who was who….

It all ended with Layla saying, “Brother, why are you so crazy?” hehehehe!!

How great is this interaction that we captured? Oh how cute, Cooper is so excited to be running with a stick of leaves. So excited his tongue is even out….

Uh oh….(I spy a collision in T minus 1 second)

So is that what retaliation from a hug looks like for a 2 year old?

Brother needs his space to work (note picture above - the face of DETERMINATION). He is without a doubt going to be quite the little worker bee. He does not see his age or size as a barrier of any sort. While we were there he saw a wagon filled with pumpkins that needed to be in another location….so he moved it…the weight of it didn’t phase him in the least. He wanted to pick up a ladder so he could get to his slide…so he attempted to pick it up. It didn’t get anywhere, but it didn’t stop him from giving it a try…nothing is going to hold this boy back…watch out world!

Layla perfected her bridge while we were there….seriously…perfect bridge don’t you think? It is so cool to watch kids master things. I never thought how weird it is to get your arms and hands going in the right direction to make a bridge. We could see her little mind working to figure it out….and that she did!

Handsakers - As always we love to come see you guys and spend time with the kids….Layla’s thoughts and Cooper’s one track mind always crack us up! We love you guys and are so blessed that we are able to capture these moments for you!

Shae

2009-10-11T17:24:00.000-05:00

Brought her whole family for pictures!

She LOVED flowers! I think she might be taking after her Great Grandma Leona! Seriously, she was not content unless she had fistfuls of flowers! It was so stinking cute!

I love that little kids have no clue if they have a face full of hair or not. As long as they are doing something they enjoy, life is perfect….and we think so too! We love to capture the true essesce of life at each stage….pretty sure this does it!

Shae – Thank you for bringing your whole family to Ames to hang out for while! You are such a little sweetie! The hugs you shared sealed the deal!

Brandon {class of 2010}

2009-10-11T17:15:00.000-05:00

Whoa….could it have been any colder for your session?!!? I’m not so sure! Brrrrrr!!!! You rocked it none the less!

There is nothing like keeping a smile on your face despite being in the middle of freezing cold drizzle….ah yes, just keep dreaming of those Florida beaches!

The sun did eventually shine through and the shivering came to a stop….thank goodness!

Lookin’ good Brandon!

Brandon – Thanks for sticking it out with us! You rocked the session and we can’t wait to get the rest of the images to you!

Diehl family

2009-10-09T21:01:00.001-05:00

When Sam greeted us at their door and was ready to give us a tour I knew we were in for a good session! He and his brother were totally ready for us to come and even had many of their favorite things picked out to show us....it was awesome!

They love their guitars...this family of rock stars!

Sam is the builder in the family. He had THREE K'NEX systems built and fully functional and it wasn't long before we showed us his model of General Grievous....with Sam's eyes! We absolutely love when kids get creative with us!

Cade is the animated one....and boy oh boy he didn't disappoint! What a hoot he was! But I just have to share a moment of peace with his beloved blanket. His favorite part of his blankets are the tags...I love how worn they are! Such a great memory for Cade!

Don't worry he brought his animation out before too long...

A sweet moment of brotherly love...

Diehl family- Thank you for inviting us to your home! We loved that the boys were totally into the session and shared all their favorite things with us! We had a great time with all of you...hope the hot chocolate warmed everyone up after we left!!

Grant

2009-10-04T14:45:00.000-05:00

I’m not quite sure where the time has gone, but Grant is already TWO!! He is such a little man now. His haircut and height make his seem sooooo big!

Nothing slips past this little guy, in fact he was quick to tell me daddy was the one who got paint on the grass….busted daddy!

And then he showed me how he could climb his fence! Yes, my heart about jumped out my throat when he started the climb….but I captured it anyway! Check out his expression….priceless!

This one is definitely my new favorite and it kinda makes me want to cry...it is just too sweet! This is after Grant came back down the fence from climbing and his daddy was there to "high-five" his big boy accomplishment! Oh....my...goodness!!!

Grant – You are breaking my heart by growing up so fast! Seriously, it feels like just last month I came to your house to meet you as a teeny tiny little baby! And now I’m watching you climb fences and play jokes on your mom! You are a one cool dude and I am so happy that I get to share in your little life!

Ryker

2009-10-04T14:18:00.000-05:00

Little Ryker came to see us for his one year old portraits and boy oh boy we have never seen a little one crawl as FAST as Ryker! He is a master crawler! Want to know his secret? Hand skates! Yep, hand skates! He uses these plastic toys in his front hands and is able to slide them along while his legs do all the work….genius!

His parents told us that he rocked hats until he discovered he could pull them off. We were able to to still sneak a couple of pictures in with his hat….pretty sure it can’t get much cuter than this!

Towards the end of the session Ryker started showing off his lung capacity….we’ll be the first to admit, he’s got a strong pair! J There is nothing quite like discovering the power of your own voice! Sometimes Ryker and his daddy have contests to see who can be the loudest….and we loved it!

Ryker - We loved your hand skates….you are too smart for your own good! Thank you for making us laugh so hard over your mad crawling skills. Seriously, I think you could definitely rival some walkers with your speed! We can’t wait to see you again!

Sadie and Justin

2009-10-02T19:09:00.000-05:00

came to Ames for some engagement session fun! They knew how to work the camera....for sure!! We had so much fun walking all over the park, learning more about them and hearing about their engagement!

They were having so much fun being goofy and we were having a blast capturing it all!

The funniest part is that at the time they got engaged, Beyonce's song, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," was getting some serious radio play. At the time I remember talking to Eric about all the couple's out in the world who are about to get engaged....I said, the guy has to hate that song! I know I would totally be the girl singing that song non-stop! Well...in Sadie and Justin's case...it wasn't so much Sadie singing the song...it was Sadie's mom!! I love it!! Without further ado, the RING!

Sadie and Justin - Oh my goodness we are so very excited for your wedding! We are going to have a BLAST capturing all your love! Have so much fun with the rest of the planning!

Madeline...

2009-09-29T21:36:00.001-05:00

was all smiles for us the minute we walked in the door! Like, ridiculous amounts of smiles especially since it was an evening session!

Her eyes and smile (gosh, I think I could just talk about her smile all day long!) were just about too much to handle!

It wasn't long before we took off for the park for a little family fun. Ummmm, can it get much cuter???

Her mom and dad said that the instant she hit her car seat after our park session she was out like a light! Guess we wore the little punkin' out!

Jared, Abby and Madeline - Thank you for inviting us to capture your adorable family! Man alive Madeline is so stinking sweet! Pretty sure you may never be able to say no to her for anything...those eye's are going to be her secret weapon! :)

4 girls and a boy...

2009-09-28T20:21:00.000-05:00

Ha! I don't know why, but the title makes me giggle! Little Connor was the highlight of all his cousin's eyes!

The two oldest girls, Taylor and Regan are sisters and were a hoot together. They were so goofy and pulled out some great one-liners that had me cracking up!

Gwen was the bravest of them all and jumped right up to the plate to be the first one to have her pictures taken! Her sister Charlotte on the other hand wasn't so sure about the idea of having her pictures taken.....at all. But it wasn't too long before she was all warmed up and totally hamming it up with her sister! Check out the little dancing queen walking with her sister...

Such a sweet little moment between sisters...

I love how Charlotte has her whole hand around Gwen's thumb...adorable!

Oh my Connor you are loved soooo very much by soooo many girls! It's a tough life you must live little man! We haven't pulled out a behind the scenes in awhile and I think it's time to show you another because Connor is too funny here! Check it out, he is doubled over complete with his hands over his eyes...he is SO done with picture day! Check out Charlotte too...she was soooo done too!

Were you afraid it was all over? Nope, we got them all pulled back together with a little pep talk and we were back and happy and clapping in no time! Way to go team! :)

Taylor, Regan, Gwen, Charlotte and Connor - you guys are AWESOME! What fun we had hanging out with all of you and getting to know each of your personalities! Such a fun group....when can we hang out again? :)

Hartwick family

2009-09-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

There has been a common theme with our families lately....they are growing! The Hartwick family has grown by another girl since we saw them last fall!

There is sure to be lots of sugar and spice at their house with THREE little girls growing up!

I could not believe how much the girls have grown since last year! They warmed up so fast and we had so much fun sharing secrets with them. They were so sneaky and we got a whole 15 feet away from all of their family to capture some "secret" shots. They were so proud to be smiling for a surprise for their mommy and daddy, it was so cute.

As with all little kids, secrets are only as safe as the length of time it takes to get back to mommy and daddy and they were sure to spill the beans about all their smiling right away! "SURPRISE", here are the secret shots!

How adorable are these socks and shoes?!?! I couldn't help but have an image showcasing only the accessories!

Hartwick's - What fun to see the extended family and capture all of you this year! Little Layla sure has fantastic older sisters! Oh the squeezing and love from them to her was too cute! Thank you for letting us share in the life of your 3 sweeties!

Sara and Tod

2009-09-19T21:45:00.001-05:00

are expecting their first baby in just TEN days!!! Yes, I said the big arrival will happen in just ten days!

Ladies, I tried to do everything to get Sara to look at least 7 months pregnant....I failed and we can all be jealous that she is 39 weeks pregnant and looking like there's no way she's ready to deliver! :)

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned that we LOVE what we do? Oh maybe I have? Well, we LOVE what we do and it's session's like this that remind us all over again! We captured their wedding just a year ago and now we had the honor of capturing this next big event in their life! LOVE!

(I'm fairly certain they are pretty excited about the arrival of the little one! How cute is that picture?!?!)

Back to Sara and her teeny tiny itsy bitty little baby bump....

Tod, Sara and baby bump - Oh my goodness, we are so excited to hear the news of the arrival! I still remember the text message you sent when you found out there was a baby on the way and I can't wait to get the next text with the super duper exciting news! We are sooooo excited for you guys and can't wait to meet the little one!

Renuad family

2009-09-16T20:17:00.001-05:00

The day we captured them was almost a year to the day since the last time we captured them...it was the perfect example of how crazy September weather can be! Last year it was sooooo cold and we were all in jackets, vests and stocking hats. Not this year! It was a beautiful day and there was no way we were bundling up!

I love how relaxed this image of the kids is! They are each in their own little world and I'm diggin' it.

Grace is beautiful! She was so awesome and totally brought along great ideas! We loved it so much that she was so involved!

Garret loves his sports! He brought along all the sports gear and we told him to imagine he was trying to create his own trading card! Pretty sure this one might fit the bill perfectly!

Owen, Owen, Owen....is a go getter!! I'm not so sure he ever stopped to catch his breath! He was being so goofy, telling jokes, making faces and just being a kid at heart. This image of him totally cracks me up!

Renaud's - What fun to see you guys again and see how much the kids have grown in the last year! The kids did a great job and we had a great time goofing around with them! What a hoot! Go Cyclones! :) Gotcha boys!! hehe!

Cooper

2009-09-16T19:28:00.000-05:00

is definitely the spitting image of his parents! I about melted to the ground when I saw Cooper get out of the car and had a haircut to match his daddy and color that matched his mommy! Soooo stinking cute!

He was so busy and could not explore everything at the park fast enough...he kept all of us on our toes!

Cooper, Cooooooper, Coop, Cooooooooooooper....I can't even begin to imagine the number of times 4 adults said his name during his session. Thinking about it now just cracks me up....man alive, poor little guy had to be thinking we were the craziest people on the planet!

Cooper - Thank you for being the cool little dude that you are! It has been so much fun watching you grow from the very first time we saw during the snow storm when you were just 6 months old! You now have us chasing you all around to capture that sweet smile and we loved every second of it!

Kellen family

2009-09-14T21:03:00.001-05:00

Oh my, oh my....my cousins came out to play with us! They never fail to crack me up and this evening with them didn't disappoint! One of my favorite things is anytime we see them, the first thing out of their mouth is "Hi guys!". The tone is always relaxed and as if we see them everyday, we love them!

They were complete goofballs so we thought why not try out their acting skills? They seriously brought their "A" game.

Here is their best impression of being bored while on the photo shoot. Bored?!?!? Can you believe it, bored with KandE?!?!? Who knew that was possible right?!??

They quickly snapped out of their acting roles when we talked about the end of the session and the ice cream we had promised them all along!

We all dug in, some of us more than others as you can see!

You see why we saved the ice cream for last? :)

Kellen's - We always love to get together and it doesn't happen often enough for only living a few miles apart! Thank you for letting us capture small snippits of your life and sharing the lives of your boys with us! What a joy!

Lost dog...

2009-09-14T17:38:00.000-05:00

I received an email from Home Again today of a lost pet in our area. Many of the lost pet's don't have a picture so I haven't been posting them. This one has a picture so I am posting it...keep an eye out for Dudley!