Her first date.

Grace came home from school one day and told me she had to ask her Dad out on a date.  I knew right away what that was......the Daddy Daughter Dance! 

I think I remember the first time with my Dad, but the most important thing I remember with my Dad was feeling like a princess and then totally dancing our butts off!

She bites her nails, but I thought we would paint them anyway!

My hope is that Grace feels those same things, but she will have photographic evidence of her magical evening :)

While I wanted to make her hair into an up-do or beautiful curls, she just wanted her hair to be simply straightened.  I guess you always want the opposite of what you already have ;)

So we fixed up her hair and I added just a touch of eye shadow.

Jenni was not left out of the process!  While she is not old enough to attend (you have to be in kindergarten) we got her glamed up for a night in with me :)

Grace wanted to pick out some jewelry to wear, I let her pick out what she wanted.  She ended up choosing a small purple flower on a chain.

I just see her growing up so quickly!

She asked if she could get a new dress, this is what she picked out :)

Getting ready to head out to dinner before the dancing.

Jenni wanted to get in one too ;)

I asked Ryan to channel his inner photographer and take a few photos from the dance for me.  After laughing at me like I was joking, he said all I have is my phone for a camera, all I said was PERFECT!   It's not about a fancy camera its about the memories!  :) 

It was a candy land themed dance.

He did a great job capturing a really fun night!  They look cute too :)

Grace is in that mess somewhere dancing with a few friends, she had a blast!

Have an AMAZING day and don't forget to take photos of things that are fun for you!   Even telephone cameras work :)

A Snow Day.

Friday our phone rang at 6am to say no school for my Kindergartner.

WOOHOO, what kid doesn't love a snow day!

Then just before 8am another phone call my preschooler has a snow day too.

So, I made a decision to spend the day capturing what they would decide to do.  Mistake? Well, we will have to see!

The view from our front door wreath.

First they decided to watch a few morning cartoons in Mom and Dads room.  We love Disney Junior.

1. Yes my house is a mess, but on snow days, I have better things to do :)  2. This is Grace's view of Sophia the first.

Doesn't everyone have a bullhorn in their house :/   I had to veto that after about 3 minutes!

My cousin set us a GIANT box of paper and some stickers earlier this week (THANK YOU AGAIN KATELYN), so they took a dive into playing and crafting it up.

I told you it was A LOT of paper :)

Jenni only lasted about 6 minutes and then she was done.  Grace was well into her artwork and had to get it done before she could leave.

They decided to watch the new episode of Sophia The First and requested that I join them.

We ate some lunch then it was time for rest time.  Grace usually reads, but I let her watch a movie and we added the tent for a little more fun.

Jenni still takes a nap, but she also requested a tent, thank goodness we have two.

Grace decided she did want to read, so we did a little book and digital reading.....I think I heard a little game playing too though ;)

She LOVES playing pretend, ANYTHING pretend......she was making food with playdough and being a waitress.  *The cakeballs were DE-LISH!

She got into a little bit of trouble not following some rules, so she had to sit in time out and fell asleep.  

All in all it was a great day, the girls really liked picking what to do.  They didn't really like me following them around all day, and would block their face from being photographed.  I think a lot of photographer parents get this, as we probably always have a camera in our hands. 

Engagement: Dan & Jessica

 Jessica and Dan met through a mutual friend while playing Rock Band.
The friendship grew into something more. ;)

 This wedding is going to be so Ah-Mazing!

I should also say that Jessica is my cousin, and I am ecstatic that Dan is joining our family!

 

Jessica is a music teacher so I knew this would be a really fun idea ;)

They invited me to shoot these photos in their home, which is historic and stunning!

This is Dook, he likes to photo bomb when necessary :)

Jessica requested a few photos on the front porch, how could I deny!

My heart is fluttering over these two.

This was Dan's only request :)

A genuinely happy couple.

She is also a fantastic photographer, but she can totally rock the other side of the camera!

Yep! They are so blessed to have each other.

May you always love each other more today than you did yesterday, but not as much as you will tomorrow :)

By far one of my personal favorites!

This is the part where I tell you how funny I am, but they didn't even need my jokes.....they had their own!!!

This is just for good measure; myself and the Bride in the summer of 1990 (I think)