Carolyn: Senior 2009

Her strawberry golden hair glinting in the sun, Carolyn smiled a bit shyly as she and her mom met me a couple of weeks ago for her senior portrait session. Carolyn didn't have any locations in mind, and was happy with my suggestion of an adventure in Apple Hill; many thanks to her mom, who was an excellent chauffeur! :) Carolyn was a trooper, and put up with my crazy ideas with great patience! Thank you, Carolyn, for choosing me to do your very special senior photos, I had a fun time with you!

A fun little side note... I got to do Carolyn's sister Laura's senior portraits last year, which you can see here. The fun part is that I also have a sister named Carolyn, only she is the older one. Both sets of us are just shy of two years apart too! It was weird to be chatting to Carolyn about her sister Laura! :)

With no further ado... I introduce to you Carolyn, lover of yellow! :) (I was SO excited to find YELLOW for her, since it is her favorite color - and she looks SO good with it too, don't you agree??)







(Okay, I have to give a little background here: Last year when doing Carolyn's sister's portraits we spontaneously did this little funny face thing, which I then put into a collage, that their dad fell in love with... so we thought it would be fun to do something similar with Carolyn... fun!)





I can't help myself, I have to close with a shoe shot... I'm getting addicted to these shots! I love how a person's shoes tell so much about them! :)


~len

Jenny: Senior 2009

Curls bouncing, her deep velvety brown eyes smiled as she skipped over to greet me. Jenny chose to have her senior photos done at her home, a gorgeous place brimming with quiet mountain beauty.

Jenny is hoping to continue her love for barrel racing with her horse in college, but whatever she decides to pursue I know she will do it with a genuine heart and smile!

Thank you, Jenny, for being so fun and easy to photograph! I truly had a blast and greatly enjoyed capturing your loveliness! Thanks also to your mom for the ride down to the river and being your amazing wardrobe assistant. :)
























~len

Riding on a Jet Plane

The buzz of life is at a full blown roar these days... I have so much to share, but lately I have had "writer's block" and this poor blog has suffered because of it. I will attempt to get back on track soon, very soon.

Tomorrow morning William and I are flying across the nation for the weekend. I have been asked to do some product photos and family portraits for some friends who own/run a herb business. Hopefully I'll have some fun outtakes to share in a week or so!

I've been hard at work behind the scenes on various photo projects and post processing. I'll close with a teaser of a session I hope to blog very very soon!


~len

Paperwork and Pony Rides

Bills and paperwork were spread out covering way too much real estate in the Living Room today, my head chock full with number crunching and keeping the kids happy and content at the same time, while my fingers ached from all the exercise. I actually secretly enjoy writing checks, balancing the checkbook, and licking envelopes. I think it might be a kickback to my old pen palling days (not that I ever sent them money though!)

The knock at the door was a welcome break, giving my eyes an appreciated change from the current depth of field they had been stuck in. It was my brother David... I was quite happy to see him, as it has been entirely way too long since our paths have crossed. He is such a busy guy these days, working two jobs. His newest job has been a sort of ranch hand/handyman of sorts at the hobby ranch of the sweetest and spunkiest older lady you've ever laid eyes on. They met through his other job at a local feed store, and he's been over there on his days off and in the evenings ever since.

After telling me all about the place with very apparent joy, he suggested we follow him out there so the girls and I could see it for ourselves. When he mentioned pony rides, the girls' eyes lit up and they jumped up and down when I said yes! :) We were running out for the afternoon anyways, so I just hurried up and left sooner.

We spent over an hour getting the grand tour of the charming little place. Every nook and corner was tidy and beautiful. Chris, the owner/David's boss, has sure whipped that place into shape since moving into an old mobile home amongst bushes 30 years ago! I was so happy to meet Chris, her cheery smile and chipper bounce to her step was so energizing to the air around her. I love it when I get to SEE God work in people's lives, orchestrating paths and lives crossing, like with my brother and this sweet joyful lady.

Elizabeth & Evangeline both got their pony rides, and I have to say I am quite proud of my little half-pint cowgirl Evangeline! She was happy to go first, riding on Sparky. His name should have been a clue... he shied and shimmied and Evangeline tumbled to the ground, getting a huge mouthful of dirt crammed up in her gums. What a trooper, though! After rinsing out her mouth, the girl who exercises the horses (Sarah) saddled up the other little pony, Smokey, and she hopped right back on with a smile! :) Both girls had a blast riding, petting all the horses and hanging out with Uncle David. The day was super gorgeous, windows down in the car weather all day long - it was too lovely.

Knowing I was going to be carrying my 22+ lb. baby on my hip, I opted for the little toy camera. I wish I'd brought my big one though, since the weather was SO pretty. The blue in the sky was such a vibrant hue!




















~*len

Blessings and such

Recently I have been reminded in so many ways of how incredibly blessed I am!

It all started last Monday night when Scott came home from work with his hand tucked behind his back. With a kiss and a flourish, he presented me with the most unique old glass bottle, filled with flowers and a red heart. Years ago I started amassing a little collection of pretty and unique bottles that I found here and there; today the collection just continues to grow, especially with a man like mine! Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday.... the whole week he continued to pop through the door with a beautiful bouquet in another vintage bottle! :) Scott finished the week long love message with a dozen red roses in a beautiful vase on Valentine's Day along with chocolates and sweets for the girls too, pretty much sealing the fact that he is indeed the world's most romantic and thoughtful man out there!

(taken with my little toy camera, so pardon the fuzzies!)

Each time I walk past the bouquets, I smile and am reminded of how truly and incredibly blessed I am. I decided to jot down some of the things that have touched me in some way just this week, as a reminder to myself when I am tempted to have a gloomy day of how rich I am in the things that matter the most!


* A warm and cozy house, with windows that look out on a chilly and blustery day

* A kitchen table covered with vintage glass bottles holding beautiful flowers, each one from my wonderful husband

* So many clothes for my family that they have inundated the couch with temporary residency ;)

* A healthy mind and heart that cultivates creativity

* A healthy happy family

* A devoted and amazing husband who loves me in spite of myself

* A sunshiney day amidst the cold dark days of winter, today at least!

* An occupation for my husband that he loves and is good at, that also provides for our needs

* Good sleep

* Loving relatives that live close by

* In-laws to die for, that also live close by!

* Marshmallows

* Dark chocolate

* Kickboxing

* The ability and joy to be able to go running!

* We get to live in the most charming town in the nation, and believe me - I've been around!

* My baby boy who has completely melted my heart just turned a happy and healthy 7 months

* A God who is merciful and full of kindness towards me, little me!


I'll close with another snapshot from my play camera, a portion of the huge framed print by Robert Doisneau - one of my favorite prints of all time - that I have hanging in our kitchen, right above all the flower lovelies... a sappy way to end a sappy post! :)


~*len

Joanna Rose

Her passion for all things Jesus is inspiring to witness... Her smile and laugh are infectious while her sky blue eyes twinkle and sparkle with a genuine love and zest for life. She calls me up and proposes ice cream and a good movie... or just a good ol' hangout day, complete with corny jokes that would make absolutely no sense any other time. I am so grateful for the Lord putting Joanna in my life, my family!

I was cleaning photos off the laptop and realized that I never shared these photos from a sunny afternoon last September. These were taken the week before my best friend and sister Joanna left for Bible School in Sweden... gone for 9 long months. We had a lovely day spent hanging out and just having fun with my kiddos... William was only 6 weeks old so I strapped him in my Baby Bjorn and we strolled up and down Main Street and had fun getting some fun shots of the girlies and their Auntie Jo.



















~*len