DON'T Smile!!!

My session tonight with the Davis family was so much fun and ended up being a parenting lesson in the fine art of reverse psychology!  :)  Lala is a family friend (in fact, was my mom's best friend since childhood) and her son Brian is my age.  He now has a daughter Kelsey's age, and Lala wanted to do a group photo session of the family.  Brian schooled me in the use of reverse psychology to get Elizabeth to show her winning smile by demanding that she NOT smile at all.  It was so funny and we took some great pictures.  She is a such a sweet little girl, so smart and talkative, and I had lots of fun with her.  The whole family is special to us and I am grateful they trusted me to take their pictures.  Lala, Lynn, Brian, Amanda, and Elizabeth-- thanks for letting me hang out tonight and snap some pics!  I'm so glad we did it.

Mother/Daughter Time...

Tina's a coworker of mine and she had asked me to take some pictures of her and her mom while her mom is in town this summer.  I had done a fall shoot of Tina and her husband this past year.  I was so honored to get to spend an afternoon (that was, thankfully, cloudy) with them and snap some sweet pictures of them.  Thanks, Tina, and Mom, it was great to meet you too!  

They're Just Summer Girls--

they wear their flip-flops, when they get together, the party never stops!  

My two babies... growing up too fast... radiant in red... winsome in white... perfect together... precious little feet... silly crooked grins... wouldn't trade them for the world!

I Love My Life...

and all the people in it!  My little family of four did our own beach session, which actually didn't go so well due to the harsh sunlight (the last day, so no afternoon was possible) and my childrens' inability to keep their eyes open in said sunlight.  However, we got a very few good ones, so I thought I would include them on here.  I often imagined my "grown up life" as a child, and I don't think even I could ever imagine that it would be as good as it is.  These girls are the most precious things in the world to me and I can't imagine life without them.  Being married to Kraig, my very best friend, is something that I cherish every day.  We have such a great time together, all four of us.  (Though the other three would tell you that those great times typically do not take place when I am taking pictures of them!)

These are Our People

This was not the best one, as far as everyone looking at the camera, but I LOVE the moment captured between the two littlest, Kelsey and Kaleb.  They will probably always have a bond as the two youngest of the clan.  

It's the way we were made, wouldn't have it any other way... These are our people!  

Sing it, Rodney Atkins!  We had our Davis Family Beach Vacation this past week to our typical location, Indian Shores, FL.  This is such a fun week for all of us, to get to spend time relaxing with our West Virginia family on the beach.  The cousins have a ball fighting playing together and we adults like to shop and go to casinos spend quality time on the beach.  I am so blessed to have married into a family like Kraig's that is so much like my own.  I love them all very much and am privileged to be part of them.

A Mom and Her Girl

Just before we left for our vacation (hours before, in fact!), the Varners came over for a mother-daughter session.  They were a lot of fun for me to photograph and had a great bond with each other.  Thankfully, the weather was overcast and not as hot as it had been, so we were pretty comfortable getting our great pictures!  Here they are, ladies.  Hope you love them!