Just a quick note to wish you a wonderful Memorial Weekend.  And more importantly to thank all of the men & women, families, children, spouses, friends, & parents who support those who serve our country.  We owe you & your armed services loved ones a debt more than we can ever repay.

Well, I’ve been a busy little bee lately.  And very happy about it, too!  A smile always comes to my face when I get an e-mail from Kelly about taking Clara’s next set of photos.  I just love love love seeing her grow & change each time I visit…and she’s not even mine!  This is why I love my job:  I get to meet new people, invest in their lives, capture meaningful moments for them, & in the end, come out with friends!

You might remember Clara from her Halloween/6-month photos.  Well, she’s gotten even bigger & cuter!  It’s almost Christmas & Clara is as well dressed as ever, plus she is crawling, babbling, saying “uh-oh”, and she smiles at me! (a little)  Besides Clara’s uber cute & stylish outfits, what I really enjoyed this visit was a book she had.  It’s “T’was the Night Before Christmas” and upon turning each page Clara is read the story by her grandpa on a recording!  How cool is that?  So whenever she wants to hear his voice she just opens this book & he’s there, reading to her!  I want one for my girls when I’m away this coming March in Ethiopia.

Thank you again, Kelly, for inviting me in to your home.  And it was good to see you again “Grammy” and wonderful to meet Clara’s daddy too.  The smiles she gave when you came ’round were priceless!  Enjoy Clara’s first Christmas…

Okay, so have you ever felt really really super busy that you can’t seem to figure out what to do first?  Well, that’s about how I’m feeling now.  My poor wedding clients don’t have their photos yet, I have 3 mini sessions & about 4 family sessions in my queue, and at least one more family session in the wings.  Don’t get me wrong here.  I LOVE being busy.  I LOVE being blessed with so much business.  And I LOVE LOVE LOVE meeting & reconnecting with all my clients (aka friends).  I just had to let out one hefty scream over the internet, take a deep breath, & hunker down.  I’m okay now!  (Oh, yeah, and we went on vacation to Disney World about 2 weeks ago, so I’m getting pressure from a 4-yr-old to process her photos with the princesses!).  Here’s a little of what I’ve been working on…..

What is a holiday mini-session?  Well, for me, it’s a way to meet new & fun clients, and provide them with a quick, cost-effective holiday photo.  For you?  It’s 20 minutes out of your Saturday to get dressed up, visit the beautiful grounds of St. John’s College, & have fun with me getting a few professional pictures.

What do you get?  You get 20 minutes of personal shooting time with me.  It’s much less than the traditional 2 hour photo session, but it’s just enough time to get a few poses for your holiday card or photo gifts.  In addition, after your session, you will receive a link to your own personal on-line gallery of about 5 to 10 proofs from your session.  From these proofs, you will be able to choose one for a high-resolution digital image for your own personal use.  Now you can take this digital image & use in it in your family’s Christmas card at places like Shutterfly, Snapfish, etc.  Or you can get it printed & have ready-made holiday gifts!  The only thing you’re not allowed to do is sell it!  Along with your high-resolution digital image, you will be given a smaller, web-sized image for use in e-mailing, Facebook, MySpace, etc.  (These smaller size images are not suitable for printing)

So, it’s that simple!  All you have to do is sign up.  There’s no need to be a previous client, and no need to purchase more than what I’ve laid out above.  Eighty bucks, 5 to 10 images to view, one digital image for you to use…the end!  Here are the times available…and keep checking back.  As slots get filled, I’ll let you know on here!  Thanks, and invite your friends!  I love meeting new people!

9:30 am

10 am

10:30 am

11 am

11:30 am

12 pm – Dapper Family

12:30 pm – Dapper Family

1 pm

1:30 pm – Saunders Family

2 pm – Klassen Family

I was “given” as a Christmas gift to Calvin & Joyce by their daughter Carrie. Five of Calvin & Joyce’s six grandchildren live in Kentucky and they came up this Christmas season to visit. So Carrie asked me if I’d be available to surprise her parents with a gift of photos of all six grandchildren together. Of course I would! We had probably one of the better days so far in December with clear skies and beautiful lighting. It was a little nippy, but thankfully my subjects were kind and let me make then shiver a bit. Now when I was a teacher, I used to remember names in a snap, but not so with these 5 kids. I know they are referred to as CASHE by their aunts as kind of an acronym. I won’t try to remember their names individually and embarass myself, though. Without further ado, here they are…all of the Vain/Emery grandchildren!