In the middle of last December, my niece contacts me and says, “I have a great new outfit, totally inspired by Free People - we need to do a photoshoot!”  This girl knows how to speak my language.  She even had a beautiful location picked out – all I had to do was show up with my gear and start clicking

 Caleb is an award-winning journalist, a writing instructor at conferences across the nation and he’s on the verge of getting his first book published.  This boy is determined to reach his goals and at the rate he’s succeeding, he’ll be there soon – and then he’ll have to create newer, bigger, loftier goals (which I’m certain he’ll tackle with full force.) Go Caleb!

Many of our friends can’t eat gluten or dairy foods… which can be a challenge when we come together to enjoy a meal.  I found a cookbook called “Cooking for Isaiah” which is filled with gluten-free and dairy-free recipes. Score!

My girls picked out this doughnut recipe for a potluck and we mixed together tapioca flour, coconut flour, potato starch, xanthum gum and other unusual ingredients.  The results were surprisingly delicious and worth creating again.

As my thoughts turn to my Uncle Jerry, who recently passed away, I realize he will not easily be forgotten.  His gentle spirit, kindness and generosity blessed all who were fortunate enough to know him.  And the bond he shared with my aunt was truly amazing.  He not only treasured her, he delighted in her.  She says it’s because they were ‘soul mates’, destined to be together, having a passionate, enduring love that is rarely found.

I’ll miss you, dear uncle.

A good friend and fellow photographer, Tara, was going through a hard time last summer.  So photographers united across the nation to cheer her up with fun self-portraits to post on Facebook in her honor.

For my image, my daughter helped me glue Nerds candies to the tips of false eyelashes.  This was my first experience using false eyelashes and they are harder to use than I anticipated.  In the end, I was pleased with the funky results and my friend LOVED it!

When my niece came over to model for illustrative art, I asked her if she’d be willing to do a “Mary Poppins” shoot as well, since she is an amazing nanny.  She agreed, but added her own modern style and fabulous ‘attitude’ to make for a fun montage!

I was given permission to utilize a large piece of property near Silverton for photoshoots… and they said if I’m willing to go ‘hunting’ I would find antiques like old gas pumps, an ice cream truck and more.  So my kids joined me in the ‘treasure hunt’, traversing across dirt roads, exploring woods and fields – and then we hit the jack pot.

This old Ford truck has been sitting here for quite some time.  An animal made a nest in the cab and the tires are deeply embedded into the earth.  We grabbed a nearby, antique oil can for my youngest son to sit on and snapped photos until I could convince the boys to LOOK at the camera.