four christmas’s

Shaun & I celebrated Christmas this year, not just once but on FIVE separate occasions.I brought my camera to capture some of the Christmas glee and (in no particular order) here they are.  (by the way, this post includes only 4 of the 5…the 5th is a week long celebration…in Hawaii…its okay to feel bad for us, we are “pretty miserable” here in the sun.)

SOOOO, I want to hear about what you got for Christmas, I obviously got the good looks in the family, Carly got the good hair and mom the best smile.

Shaun got a new head-shot.  HOT HOT HOT.

Aunt Kathleen & Aunt Kim hard at work on Christmas day…hmmm Turkey. unfortunately they got to do dishes.  how did that happen?

besides getting great hair, Carly was also given a great ring (notice her hand…) from her fabulously good looking sister.

so glad Grandma Mower could be with us this Christmas!  Life is always better when buns Grandma is around.

much, much better.

Grandpa Turner made sure dad and uncle Mike were entertained.  which we all appreciated.

Toby got pretty tired after winning the “ugly christmas sweater” contest at the mall.

Dad gets another shout out for making Shaun & I this KILLER coffee table.

Carly (good hair) celebrating with Jessica as she got to GRADUATE from Western Washington University two weeks ago.

Jocelyn got her good looks from her mother Chantel and her flair for theatrics from her father Garrett.

brandon got a new facebook picture…

Shaun & Garrett catching up…the only reason I put this photo in here

is so you knew who these legs belong to.

my dad got a new hat (which makes him look like Chuck Norris) but which my Grandma Mower promptly stole.  Sometimes you really have to keep an eye on her.

What an amazing and blessed Christmas we had…I couldn’t have asked for anything more amazing that time with my family and friends!!  Coming up soon…the STINK EYE post.

The Rehms Family | Tacoma

Well, its official now…two years in a row for the Rehms family!!  Check out last years pictures here

but you can check out this years photos right below…

Cari & Greg wanted to get some family photos done to send out for Christmas Cards this year.

so we gathered all the kids together (which was quite the process, let me tell you)

let them be a little sneaky

and mysterious

and REALLY goofy

so we could get to the serious

and the hopelessly-cute-perfect-Christmas-card-photo!!

Happy Holidays Danny, Greg, Kelley, Cari and Jason!!  Thanks for braving a cold Saturday afternoon with

Shaun &I so we could capture the perfect photo moments!!

The Lipscomb Family | Puyallup

I’d like to introduce you to the Lipscomb Kids…they came looking for an adventure.

this is Grant, the oldest of the bunch.  I was so impressed with his gentle heart…

his younger cousins all look up to him.

but he doesn’t let it go to his head.

Skylar is the one with the mischievous eyes.

i didn’t need to ask him twice to be goofy.  he’s pretty gifted at that.

sigh.  laci.  the most pensive eyes.  EVER.

she informed me that she “just liked being herself” in photographs.  my kind of girl.

logan.  oh logan.  he never stops smiling.

ever.

except for this photo.  with his brother hugging him.

we only shot for an hour.  it was 37 degrees out..so we had to keep them moving

and over all, this family did not disappoint.

all energy and smiles (except for that one photo of logan) all the time.

Merry Christmas Lipscomb family!!  Thanks for braving the cold with me ~~

Please comment below if you had as much fun as I did reading this post!!!

Waltz Family | Tacoma

This is the Waltz family, Garrett & Chantel.  Chantel is my cousin and, well Garrett married into the family.

even though he is a little goofy, we love him.

and Chantel REALLY loves him…

They have a daughter, her name is Jocelyn.

and she is only mildly ADORABLE.

full of sugar & spice and everything nice.

she is, without a doubt

the center of their world.

but i’m pretty sure they are the center of her world too…

but i think their world is about to get a little bigger…

thanks for kickin’ it on a cold Tuesday afternoon.  LOVE you guys!!!

The Nolte Family | Tacoma

Meet Kurt & Michelle Nolte.  They have been friends & mentors for Shaun & I since we got married 18 months ago.  We were honored to spend the afternoon with them and their daughters, their son-in-law AND Charlie (the grand-dog).  Since they have been so amazing to know, we would like to introduce them to you as well.

This is Kurt & Michelle.  As you can see they don’t have much of a sense of humor (!!!!) 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE each one of the Nolte girls!

Meet Michal, she will be a famous journalist one day.  You heard it here first.

and this is Becky.  she loves middle schoolers and has the BEST laugh!!

When I first met Bethany she was training to become a firefighter.  This girl is one walking muscle.

and finally, meet Amber.  She is all giggles and full of joy.  if she could she would live in a pool (Go Stadium High School Swim Team!!)

oh yes, and Brian.

who is married to Bethany. and they really don’t have a sense of humor either.

and they have a dog named charlie.

they really are lovely girls and they made our job of taking photos of them look way to easy. because they just ooze beauty & charm.

and creativity and humor.

really, who wouldn’t want to be a part of the Nolte family!

thank you Kurt & Michelle for having such a LOVELY family so we could take your photos!

We love all of you and hope that you are blessed this Holiday Season!!

weird choir kids.

tonight i did what middle school youth leaders all over the globe do to support their kids,  i went to a choir concert.

i laughed, i cried, i sat in an overcrowded theater with 600 other parents, friends and teachers to cheer our kids on in support.  i was reminded of my days in school.  when we wore the horrible band uniforms and waited anxiously to shuffle out onto the stage.

tonight the kids did amazing.

but what hit me was with every choir that took the stage there was, at least, ONE kid that you knew was enjoying this far beyond any of the other nervous kids that surrounded him.  you know the one.  eyes closed.  swaying.  just a little too into the music. the kind of kids wan to laugh at, but know it would be too mean.

i can’t laugh though.  because those kids have something i can only hope to have.   passion for their craft.

that passion set them apart.  i could easily identify them among their peers because they were sincerely enjoying what they were doing and didn’t care who saw it.  there they are, in those matching, ill fitting choir uniforms singing their hearts out just because they like it.  man if i could just bottle that up and bring it home with me!

what if i were the strange choir kid in the photography business?  what if my passion for my craft set me apart from those around me?  how cool would that be…

can i stay in bed today?

i’m in bed writing this.  i usually have big dreams of getting up early, working out, walking my dog…but i have to face it.  i’m not perfect.  so i remain in my PJ’s with my lazy dog, listening to the morning news on NPR spilling out of my radio.  its raining, but i expect that.  its november here in washington state.  i’m just glad i have a macbook…a desktop computer might be a little cumbersome to have in bed with me.

i saw a movie with my friends last night after a long day at work…and as i walked to my car i was thinking about the changes that i’ve gone through in the last couple months.  about how i am looking to freeze moments in time for people, figuring out which moments to hold.  trying to discern the beautiful from the ordinary and knowing that i cannot re-create anything i’ve ever seen before on the photoblogs of all the very well known and amazing photographers that i stalk follow.

i was also thinking about how some photographers get bigger than life and i wanted to make a commitment that i would never, ever let that happen to me.  not that it would ~ there are a lot of photographers out there.  i just want to take pictures.  i don’t necessarily care about what is going on out there…i mean i do, but i don’t.  does this make sense?  there is this community of photographers out there who are amazing, and i want to learn from them and be challenged and have community.  i enjoy how each photographer has their own unique perspective, its beautiful and encouraging and challenging.  what i don’t enjoy is the competition that i feel….

i wasn’t built to really claw my way to the top.  i was built for community.  genuine, sincere community. is that possible in a small (but getting bigger) circle of people who all want their work to get noticed?

in the meantime.  my dog is still asleep and i’m still in my PJ’s. lazy us.

The Olsen Family | Tumwater

Once upon I worked as a Drug & Alcohol Counselor, which is where I met my friend Sarah.  Sarah is a kind & thoughtful friend to those who know her and she wanted to do something special for her friend Heidi, a mother of two. Heidi had mentioned to Sarah that she wished she had more photos of her kids up around her house, this caught Sarah’s attention.   She decided to talk to me…which led to me calling Heidi..which led to arranging a time for me, Heidi, Max and Maggie to meet at Tumwater Falls Park.  This led to a fun morning walk to a place I’d never been before!  Oh & Sarah got to join us ~ which made it even more better ~ wait, can I say “more better” in a blog…?

I had a wonderful time and I was so blessed to meet Heidi & the kids!!

Holy Cow!! Can you say C-UTE!!!!

Doesn’t Heidi have the most AMAZING eyes!!!

Although it looks like he is jumping, he is actually flying!!!  Nice work Max!

Meet Heidi & Sarah!!  Two amazing women ~

THANK YOU for a fun morning Olsen family, Sarah, Moo & Max!!!  Hope you enjoy your pictures!!!

Why i love it here

So I take my dog for a walk at least once a day…he needs his excersize so he doesn’t, you know, get fat. No one likes a fat dog, right? So Toby & I are walking around and he needs to sniff and proceed to unrinate on EVERYTHING. and I mean everything…which doubles the time of our liesurely walk. It drives me crazy.

To combat this annoying little habit of tobys I’ve started bringing my iPhone Along so I can take photos of the leaves around tacoma. Because in a couple weeks they are outa here. All that will be left is the skeleton of trees. Let’s face it after Christmas in the northwest things get pretty depressing…I gotta enjoy the plants while we got them around.

Back to my walk with toby. I’m snapping away and getting some fun shots. Now I have a problem. Since I started getting more serious about photography no photo goes untouched. I’ve spent literally hours searching high and low on iTunes for the perfect iPhone photo editing programs for this phone. You would think I would be happy to have an iPhone at all and leave my photography dreams to my d300, but nope, I have to get all strange and obsessive about the pictures I take WITH MY PHONE. two years ago I was just happy to have a phone that could take pixely crappy images…now I can edit them? Sheesh. Don’t I have better things to do with my time?

After that I’m sure everyone is just iching to see the photos from my walk with Toby…

Arizona Families

SO i got back from arizona about two weeks ago and i can’t believe its taken me this long to get these photos up!! i had so much fun in arizona and hope that i can one day go back and visit some of the AMAZING folks that i met there!!

Meet the Andersons…David, Heidi & little Dave!!  My new friends ~

sigh.  its raining and 45 degrees here in washington.  arizona, can i come back soon?