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This past Friday I had the pleasure of photographing another little boy…this one much younger than one earlier in the week. Jack, is eight weeks old and although he arrived awake and alert. as soon as we got him settled down, wouldn’t you know, he yawned for the first photo! It wasn’t long before he was asleep…I guess the warm room just was too cozy to not take a nap! An interesting part of this session is that Jack’s mom went to school with my son and son in-law…so to see another generation starting is very exciting! His big brother and aunt were also there for a few photos…though big brother was more interested in playing in our back yard. Jack…I’ll forgive you for sleeping through most of the session…and next time I expect you to be awake!!

Boy, was I ever lucky today with some good weather! This afternoon I had a session with Roman who will be one in a few weeks. His mom and I had been communicating about the weather the past couple of days…it’s been kind of “iffy” and we weren’t sure it would work out today, but I don’t think it could have been much better given the storms and rain we’ve had the past couple of days!

We met at Ruston Way at Jack Hyden Park and I must say that I think little Roman was probably the most easy going little one I’ve photographed. He was happy, fun and patient with the outfit and prop changes! I think the only time he was unhappy was when his parents stopped him from eating sand…gee can you imagine why they wouldn’t want him to do that!?! Roman had not experienced sand before and he was quite intrigued with it…and not happy when he couldn’t continue his afternoon snack of sand! There are so many great photos and I’m posting a couple more usual because there are so many adorable ones! This was a GREAT afternoon and so much fun…thank you, Roman, for an AWESOME session!!!

Well, what a week it was in the Pacific Northwest…record high temperatures and lots of sunshine. It’s hard to believe we have had so many beautiful days around here and although it was a bit warm towards the end of this past week, you won’t get any complaints from me…I enjoyed the sunshine and warmth…but must admit when it began to cool down, it did feel nice and made sleeping at night much easier.

Two days a week I watch my granddaughter, Jayden, who is 3 1/2 years old. She’s SO much fun and never ceases to amaze me…and as you can imagine (and have seen on my blog and website) I photograph her OFTEN! She can be a ham, a little model or just irritated with me for photographing her. This week, with the nice weather, I of course took the opportunity to take some photos of her outside…and some of her friends when we got together with them and enjoyed the outdoors. I must admit, I love photographing people, but am especially drawn to children and maybe it’s because they are a bit more of a challenge, but also I think because they do what THEY want most of the time and you get to see just who they truly are…I love that about kids…they don’t pretend to be someone else…they are who they are!

It’s much cooler now and the week ahead looks to be more normal for this time of year…I do hope though that this wasn’t our summer…and that we get more days (weeks, month!) of some warmer days…

Enjoy the photos…and I hope everyone has a great week!

Ahhh…popicles, the perfect after treat…to help stay cool…and of course, you must “toast” with them!

Exhausted from the heat and playing hard…Jayden curls up with our dog, Aussie, to rest a while!

Today was another beautiful day of a perfect weekend…my husband and I enjoyed the sunshine and took advantage of the chance to work in the yard with this rare warm weather around here in May! This is more like July or August weather…and the nice thing is the forecast shows it to continue for a while! I’m loving it!! With all the yard work, I didn’t get much of a chance to photograph, but last night while we were enjoying dinner on the back deck, I did bring the camera out to try and photograph some birds in the yard…some were bathing in our rock fountain and others were just flying around from fence post to fence post. I did get a few that were not bad, but it was about 8 pm and the light was fairly low, so most weren’t quite as sharp as I would have liked. I also took a couple other random photos…a couple of our first clematis bloom of the year and some of a branch on our Japanese maple tree. It has been since I’ve gotten out to photograph the beauty that surrounds us and that felt good…I need more of that time!!

Tonight, after our work, we enjoyed another great dinner on the back deck. We found this recipe in the latest issue of Costco’s Connection magazine and it sounded good. Well, we LOVED it and it has been added to our collection and will definitely be made again during the summer. So, I thought I’d share the recipe with you…and if it sounds like something you might enjoy…I highly recommend it!

BLACK BEAN TACO SALAD

2 limes, juiced 6 cups shredded
romaine lettuce
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil 1 tomato, diced
2 tsp. cumin 20 whole-grain
2 cloves garlic, minced tortilla chips, crushed
Dash or two of salt ½ avocado
1 ¼ cup black beans, drained & rinsed
(or 6 ounces cooked, diced chicken breast)

Whisk together lime juice, oil, cumin, garlic and salt. Toss all ingredients together. Makes 2 servings.

**We used ¾ black beans and 1/3 diced chicken breast and combined the two. And instead of the whole grain tortilla chips, we made a tostada shell with a whole grain tortilla and served the salad in the bowl.

Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine…but remember your sunscreen!!

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of shooting an darling four year old (almost 5 year old!) at a near by park. To start out, the weather was SO nice, it’s almost hard to believe for this time of year around the Pacific Northwest! It was sunny, clear and in the mid 70’s – almost unheard of for here at the end of May. The joke, but truth is that summer starts on July 5th…and most years that is the case, but so far, we’ve had a few nice weeks and I’m crossing my fingers that this perfect weather holds! Alanna, is quite the charmer with a smile that lights up her face…we had a great time at the park as we wandered around the pond and even were lucky enough to see some baby ducks with their mom…they are so darned cute! Alanna was quite the little model and seemed to enjoy our outing as much as I did. I also took some photos of she and her baby sister, Erica, at the end. I had the pleasure of doing some baby pictures of Erica earlier this year…my how she has grown! What a fun afternoon…on a perfect day! Thank you, Alanna!

Not sure about everyone else, but I have been ready for some nicer weather and finally we have some sunshine (for more than an hour at a time!) and some warmer temperatures….and it’s WONDERFUL! Of course, this makes it easier to plan outdoor photography sessions and not have to worry about rescheduling. It’s the perfect time to think about family photos…or maybe it’s time for get new pictures of the kiddos! With Father’s day quickly approaching…wouldn’t it make a great gift for dads or grandfather’s…or just a nice addition to your family photos! Call or email to book something for the next few months, before the summer gets busy and while there are times available.

Here are a few photos of one of my very favorite subjects…my granddaughter, Jayden, who is about 3 1/2 and needless to say, she is pretty familiar with the camera…since I’m always photographing her!

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and are able to get outdoors and spend time with family and friends…and enjoy the great weather (I hope you all have it!).