It was that first moment… that first look and his heart was stolen away by a daughter. He will never be the same. His love for her will grow as he never thought it could. Carlie Grace…you are one lucky little girl.

He truly is my Father’s Grandson. Looking at the photos are all you need as evidence. The hair, hairlines, noses, chins - all similar and familiar. No words need to be said other than- He is his Grandpa’s Grandson.

As a little boy, he would share in my father’s joy of cooking. He wanted to cook “like Grandpa”. He would call his Grandpa on the phone and ask him for his crepe recipe. His little hands wrote as his Grandpa gave him the steps. I remember many a time helping him make the crepes for us. A special treat that to this day is a special memory for a grown man. Grandpa’s crepes…the effort of creating the batter the night before because that is what “Grandpa says we have to do to make it”. I can see us in our San Diego kitchen making that batter the night before so we could have that special breakfast the next morning.

Last year my mother passed that pan on to her grandson. She wanted him to have that pan knowing full well that it held a lot of heartfelt memories for her grandson. On a warm summer morning as we all sat around the kitchen, the grandson took us all back to that special memory as we watched him make those crepes. He is his Grandfather’s Grandson.

My father passed away almost 5 years ago. I think that he would be thrilled to know that his special crepe pan is in the hands of his grandson who to this day shares his love and the challenge of recreating his grandfather’s crepes. As his grandson gets ready to welcome his own child into this world, I cannot help but wonder if he will pass on this tradition and pan to his own children. Somehow, I think he will.

My Father as a young man

His Grandson

A Grandson and his Grandpa’s Crepe pan

Remember these tiny little precious bundles of joy from just a year ago?  What a difference. Talk about two bundles of action. Their mom and dad have their hands full to say the least. I had such a great time visiting with this family. What a challenge is was to photograph two ONE year olds. They were always in motion so capturing their moments were challenging.

There are times I forget my mom is more than a mother.  She is a sister, an aunt, a grandmother and even a great grandmother. She was part of a family before she became my mother. I forget that she shared her life with others before she had her own children. She has memories that her children don’t know about. This a photo is of her and her little brother, Ralph. He was the teaser in the family. He teased my mom and her sister, Deanne, as all good little brothers do everywhere. I love when they get together because we get to hear stories of their childhood that she never shared with her own children.

For the past three summers my mother has come to Chicago to spend her birthday with Vicki and I. We have our routines, places we must go and, of course, restaurants to visit. We have laughed and shared secrets sitting at my kitchen island. These times have allowed me to learn about my mom more than ever. I have learned that she is a woman who still, at 79, has dreams. I want to have dreams at my age but I am caught up in trying to figure out my life in that moment. I am a planner and she is a dreamer. What a thing to discover in a parent.

Several months ago, her high school sweetheart contacted her. It had been sixty years since their last contact. This summer she shared their phone conversations. She was curious what he was like after all their years apart. They made plans to meet again. He came to her town and stayed at her home. Before he arrived, she was nervous and questioned if she was doing the right thing. He arrived and some how they both figured their way through it. He told her she was beautiful and she smiled inside at the thought that, at her age, someone saw her as beautiful even if his memory of her was when she was a teenager. She showed him her life and when he left, she realized something. She realized that she was lonely. She found what she had been missing since my father passed away. She has been alone and just going through the motions of her daily life. She kept herself busy working and volunteering. Things that filled her life with moments not memories. She worked hard for most of her life taking care of others. From owning a resort to to taking care of a husband that was ill. She was up early each day as a resort owner. She was on the front lines of the business. It wasn’t her dream, it was someone else’s.

So as the story goes, she and her high school sweetheart have reconnected and have found that they are both lonely yet still have dreams to fulfill. Her house is on the market and they have are making plans together. A trip to Paris in the spring, a cruise to somewhere. I have heard my mother’s voice have a lilt of joy and laughter that hasn’t been there for a long time. She loves that someone finds her beautiful and tells her so. Someone who cares enough to open a door for her, to hold her hand, to simply love her for who she is. Someone to spend, what years they have left on this earth, together.

As her daughter, I love that she is going to live her dreams. It gives me hope.

I am loving my little Nikon Point and Shoot. My shoulder loves it as well. It was nice to have it on a recent visit out to see Mike. Just another scene from a small community on our way to Tanner’s. I was surprised to see that Rexall Drug stores are still in existence. (Not that I remember EVER going to one)

Lr Preset: Silvery Toned BW and Vignette: Dark

Rick and I have been riding bikes since last summer and we have passed on Gretzky many a ride. Every time we pass him, he is just laying there in the driveway watching the world go by. He never barks at the passing rider. Whenever I have had my camera with me, Gretzky isn’t out. Tonight I was lucky. Gretzky was there. I have had big dogs for many years and I think I miss having a nice big dog around. Norton, the pug and Brutus, the half pug are good boys but their combined weight might be 40 pounds. So until there comes a time where I could have a bigger dog, Gretzky will take care of that fix. Next question-which do you like- color or black & white?

I had the privilege ( ok I begged ) of taking photos of Rich and Allaina’s twins. WOW- it was a lot of work. I studied other photographers to see what they were doing with poses. I looked at tips for keeping the babies warm. I kept a heating pad on low and those little girls slept most of the time. They were born 8 weeks premature. They spent 3 weeks in the hospital. They had been home just a week when these photos were taken. Everyone was adjusting to have not one but TWO newborns in the house. After spending several hours with them- I have no idea how they do it. I was exhausted by the time we were done. 

Two sets of tiny feet

A sweet sleepy smile

Sisterly love

The sweetest hug. They had to be touching each other.

Remember this beautiful mama? The twins have arrived and Sarah is a big sister! Her sisters, Allison and Megan were born about 5 weeks ago. I went out to visit her family last weekend and take some photos. She loves her sisters but they sure are taking up her Mommy and Daddy time. I wanted to make sure she had her own little photo shoot while I was there. She is quite the little poser and knows exactly how she would like her picture to be taken. We took turns requesting how the photo should be taken! Here a few from the session. Oh and I haven’t mentioned it lately but I LOVE LIGHTROOM!  I think I need to look for a new blog layout. I would like to be able to post bigger photos. Any suggestions out there?

Did I mention the twins were identical? By the end of day none of us knew who was who!

This past weekend I had an opportunity to photograph this beautiful Mama. I have known Allaina for almost 9 years. I met her when she was dating one of my instructors. They were married and along came their beautiful daughter, Sara. Allaina is pregnant again and this time she is expecting twins. We were all shocked to hear the news and her husband Rich found out while he was working with me. His eyes had a state of shock look for the rest of that day. They are an incredible family and the twins are going to an amazing addition. It was a blast photographing them because Allaina was up for anything. We laughed a lot and her husband just tuned us out at one point. Due to Allaina’s situation and because she is having twins, she has been on bedrest for the last three weeks. Their friends are all counting with them, as the weeks tick by, for the safe arrival of the twins. She is 29 weeks along and hopefully has a few more weeks to go. Thanks Allaina, Rich and Sara for a great afternoon! Without further ado..Here is one hot mama!

For the Sepia toned photographs I used preset that I developed. It seems to work really well on a lot of the photos I take. If you are interested in the preset, feel free to email and I will send it to you. In case I haven’t said it lately- I LOVE LIGHTROOM!

What a serious face for a little boy. He is really one of the most photogenic little boys I know. His mom says he flirted with all the photographers when he was a baby. Work that camera Ethan.