I had the honor of photographing Kim in anticipation of the publication of her new book! She is a beautiful woman with an amazing story to tell. She needed some pictures for her new website www.breathinginashes.com (soon to go live!) to promote/sell copies of her book. Her story is not a story just of loss - but of hope, strength and courage in the darkest of days that any parent can imagine.

Kim - you are in my prayers and thoughts as your story comes into print. You will never know in this world the many, many lives you have touched.

Thank you!

I love high school athletics and LOVE when I get to be a part of the athletic program’s senior night. It is such a nostalgic evening for the athletes and parents alike. After years of playing (or dancing) a sport, the night that you play (perform) your last home game brings many emotions. It was an honor to be able to photograph the seniors on the varsity basketball team and the pom squad and have their collages that I designed on display for all to see that attended the basketball game and then to know that they will be proudly displayed in their home!

Here are some of the individual pictures and a couple of the collages that were displayed! WAY TO GO SENIORS!

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I had the pleasure of photographing Reagan at 5 weeks of age. She is simple a beautiful, beautiful baby. She was a joy to work with also! She let her mom and me fuss with all things girly - headbands with flowers and bows, frilly diaper covers with bling and all! Of course we had to get some of her big brother, Jacob, who dotes on his little sister. He is the best big brother ever!

I had the opportunity to photograph Ellie, whose mom is a photographer friend of mine! (Child Essence Photography). Ellie was the perfect baby! I don’t think I heard but a wimper out of her the whole time I was there!  Isn’t she beautiful???  Thank you Alexi - enjoy!

I was so blessed to be able to take Brady’s newborn pictures!  He was born on 12/08 weighing in at 9 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 3/4 inches!  He is a great eater and was a wonderful model when he finally went to sleep.  Isn’t he perfect?

And since daddy is a firefighter we had to use his gear.

Ahhh - those cheeks, those lips!  Don’t you just want to kiss them!  Congratulations Kris & Cari!

I hope everyone has a Merry, merry CHRISTmas and a happy & safe New Year! Here is our family Christmas card this year.

I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to blog about my sessions so I am going to blog my last few fall sessions.  This was a 3 sibling family sessions for a Christmas present for their parents.  We had a GORGEOUS day in November for a photo session!  We went to LeRoy Oaks in St. Charles where we had great fall color and the kids had a great time exploring the area.   This was such a fun family because they are so close-knit.  They get together regularly for family dinners and even have a place up north that they all vacation together!  The cousins are all best friends.  Hope your parents LOVE the gallery-wrapped canvas!

It was an honor to finally get to do Aaron’s senior session.  I have been using his parents property (Muirhead’s Farmhouse) for senior and family portraits for over 2 years.  It is my favorite place to use!  So it was a lot of fun to do Aaron’s session because we used his favorite tree that he climbed when he was little, and all the buildings that he knows all the ins and outs of. 

Aaron is heavily involved in the music and arts department at high school.  He is in the marching and concert bands where he plays sax and is a section leader.  He is the lighting designer for the high school musical “West Side Story” which is playing this weekend!  Hope it is going well Aaron!

He is planning on going to college, possibly Illinois Institute of Technology and studying Computer Hardware design and installation.  Best of luck Aaron!

Sometimes PLAN B works better than PLAN A!  That’s what happened for Brent’s session.  We started his session at his home and were planning on going into St. Charles to a local park to finish it.  When we were half way to St. Charles it started raining and his mom suggested turning around and heading north to Sun City in Huntley (where I photographed Brent’s older sister 2 years ago!) because it looked brighter that way.  It was an EXCELLENT suggestion because the colors at Sun City were at their peak and the rain held off for us.

His mom’s favorite shagbark tree in their yard.

Brent climbing his favorite tree.  He used to climb this tree ALL THE TIME when he was younger!

The beautiful colors at Sun City!

Brent is planning on becoming an English teacher so we had to include a teacher’s favorite present - an apple!

I hope you enjoy your sneak peek Brent!  Your full gallery will be online soon.

Kevin’s session was held at Muirhead Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast and at the high school football field.  The football field was locked up but luckily the x-country team had just gotten back from a meet and the coach was able to unlock the gates so we could get some football pictures in the stands and by the field.

Kevin had lots of ideas for pictures and we used his car, his football gear and even his mom in the pictures!  Hope you like your sneak peek Kevin - you full gallery will be up in a day or two!