Brad & Daniele

We had a fun time with these two! We took these at one of Daniele's favorite spots - Central Market in Lancaster. It's a beautiful area with lovely, old architecture, cobblestone streets, fountains, and lots of fun little nooks and crannies. :)

Daniele was a little uncomfortable with having a camera (well, two cameras :) ) pointed at her, but it was fun to see her and Brad start to relax and just enjoy being together. In fact, that's one of the biggest reasons we do engagement sessions - it's a time for us to get to know the couple better and to make them feel more comfortable in front of the camera - all preparation for their wedding day!

Here are some of my favorite shots from our engagement session!

Miss Denver Fair!

I was excited to see Miss M, one of the seniors I photographed won the title of Miss Denver Fair recently. Congratulations - it is well deserved! :)

You can check out her pictures here:
http://bonnie-cbportraits.blogspot.com/2008/07/she-made-my-job-easy.html

Miss S

This was another fun senior shoot! Miss S is very easy-going, and was always on the look-out for good places to take pictures. She brought her cousin along, and the two of us had fun trying to make her smile. :)

Here are a few of my favorites...

Showing off some 'senior flare'



Gorgeous light!





Gotta love signs! :)

We caved...

Yes, we did it - we finally caved. A new little tiny member has joined our home. Little "Kiwi" was found by my sister abandoned on the side of the road.

Savannah loves animals - she makes pets out of bugs, poor thing. My kids have never had a pet, and while a BIG part of me didn't want an animal to take care of, another part of me felt guilty. Aiden has been asking for a kitty, and Savannah just loves animals so much - I felt like that was an important part of her I wasn't able to nurture. My husband and I had talked, and while we never decided we'd get a cat, we did come to the conclusion that they are probably one of the easiest pets to have.

So, I said a little prayer, not asking God for a cat, but telling God if he wanted us to have one - it would basically need to be dropped into our laps b/c I certainly wasn't going to go pick one out at the pet store.

So, my sister calls us last week, going on and on about this sweet tiny 4 week old kitten she just found that needs a home. Oh my... I told her to go ahead and bring it over and we'd have a trial run for a few days to see how it went. If this cat wasn't friendly and cuddly - we were not going to keep it!

So, the kitty came to our house...and I guess you could say the rest is history. My kids adore him (her? We still can't tell! - hence the gender neutral name 'Kiwi'). He's the first thing they think of when they wake up, and by far the most played with toy they have. :) He is cuddly, loves people, always wants to be held, not afraid of the kids - and super cute. :)

I can't say that I 'love' this cat or anything - basically I just love what he does for my kids. To see them love and care for something apart from themselves is beautiful. I know we made the right choice when I see my son, unaware that anyone is around, hold the kitty and kiss him on the head and say quietly "I will always love you."

cheaper by the dozen...almost...

Well, this was the largest family session I've done to date...11 people! I had a great time with them though - such a beautiful, fun-loving family!
I was a little anxious for this shoot, especially since it was supposed to rain all day - and there is only so much you can do with 11 people indoors. But, thankfully, the rain stopped soon after I got there and we were able to go outside for pictures!
I had some fun ideas, and they had some too (the tree picture below was their idea with my twist - and I love it!). I really love being able to capture people interacting with each other, laughing and just expressing true joy. Those are the moments that are so fleeting, yet so special. Several of the pictures below depict that...and are therefore my favorites (but don't worry, I also got the "smiling at the camera" shots). :)





Dad was behind me in this one, doing something...I have no idea what...I probably don't want to know! :)








This is Amanda and her boyfriend - she surprised her mom with this family photoshoot. Such a great gift!

It finally came...

Well, I knew in my head it was coming, but it always just seemed so far away. Even though I had heard how tough it could be from other parents, I wasn't expecting it to be as tough as it was.

Our day finally came - Aiden's first day of school. He was a little anxious, but overall, excited - as you can see by the first two pictures. But, the fear of the unknown got the better of him and as we were about to leave his class he started crying and begging us to stay. THAT was one of the hardest moments for me. I knew he would love school once he got used to the environment and routine, and the only way to do that was to experience it.

He's been in school for 7 days, and now he loves it. In fact, today (Saturday), he was wandering around the house bored and said "I wish I had school today!" :)





Aiden is on the far right...this was right before he started to panic...I think he is starting to get pretty worried here... :)