Wow, It's finally over!

It's the last day of 2008. What a year it's been. The ups and downs, the moments of joy followed by times of pain. Visits from family and friends, play dates, chores and fun. Such a vast array of experiences. Life can be hard sometimes, but God is good. I am so thankful for the wondrous gift of his grace. As we look to 2009, may there be much more of the same, and even more wonderful memories to make. May we all find the peace and serenity we long for. See you all next year.

Favorite of the Kids Together

Charlotte just adores her big brother. It's so sweet.

End of The Year

It's hard to believe that 2008 is almost over. In my desperate attempt to organize and backup my hard drive I stumbled across some images I took throughout the year. I thought I would share some of my favorite images of my children. I have so many images but these ones just jump out at me. I hope to capture many more this upcoming year...many more of mine and other people's children. I just love being a part of documenting history. A big thank you to all of you who trusted me with capturing such a small sliver of such a wonderful life. Check back often as I hope to have all kinds of things going on this coming year. Happy New Year.

Kids in the Ice Storm

A few images of the kids enjoying the ice and snow. It was so hard, they couldn't even sink into it to make snow angels.

Ice Storm

We have Power!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, how miraculous electricity is. I love it! It was a long 60 hours without electricity but we made it. It came on this afternoon while I was out doing a photo shoot. We spent most of this morning at home but went to our friend's house to take baths and hang out while I did my shoot. She was kind enough to cook us a hot meal and let me use her washer and dryer to do some laundry. Poor Peyton was down to his last pair of underwear. Anyway, for now it is over. We have restored energy and things appear to be in working order.

On Friday, I took the older kids out to play in the ice and snow. I also took the camera along to document what has been called the worst ice storm in New England history. While it wasn't incredible amounts of ice in the yard, it was enough to down power lines and create all kinds of issues. We are glad to have our electricity back and to be on the other side of the sub zero temps, at least for now. Here are some images for your viewing pleasure. It really is quite magnificent.

State of Emergency

If anyone is trying to contact me via email, I want to let you know I have no access to it. We lost power in the early hours of Friday morning and the electric company is saying it will not be restored for several days. I don't know what that means exactly. We are all ok. We have a wood burning stove (so we are not freezing and I may test out how to cook on it soon!) and some very good friends with power or limited generated power. Our phone is still working so you can call me. If at first you don't get me please call back. I have one land line and sometimes I am a long way from it. So let it ring at least 5 times before hanging up. And please call back. Life is pretty dull now without the present days luxuries of electrically run things!!!!! Sorry, no pictures with this post. Can't get to my computer! I am typing this on Deb's.

The P Family

We really beat the weather today. Only in New England can you shoot out in the open in the middle of the day. We are blessed (or cursed) with many grey cloudy days and while it isn't the best light around, it works better than bright sunlight. So we all braved the cold and the impending snow storm to get some family portraits in. I was particularly impressed with little B. He was such a trooper and so cute! Thanks guys. I hope you enjoy the images.

And a few More of the L Family

Just a couple more........

The L Family

Had a wonderful time today with a family of 5. They were such troopers. They showed me the street and surrounding areas where they live and boy was it gorgeous. Such a great place for them to grow and explore. Two girls and two boys - this mum is amazing. What a happy bunch they were. It was great spending the afternoon with you guys. Hope you like the images.

Some more favorites

A couple more favorites from today. Got to love the craziness of three kids. Again, these were taken by Chris. Not to shabby!

Family Portraits

I had a cancelation today so I decided I would take my own kiddos and hubby out for a small shoot. It's pretty chilly here in NH this time of year so I knew it would be fast. Little did I know what my 4 year old had in mind as fast. I think he smiled for one shot, well maybe two! Then it was all downhill from there. My littlest one, Charlotte wanted nothing to do with it at all and my oldest one continued to annoy the youngest one by trying to restrain her to keep her in the picture. Wow, what a time. And why you might ask.....well because I have so many images of my children and very few of myself with my kids. I so want some good pictures of me and my family. So here is what we ended up with. Obviously the ones with me in them were taken by my wonderfully good sported husband. Thanks, honey. So sit back and enjoy the laugh! It was all pretty comical.

Barbie Hair Day

The other day I had some friends over for lunch and while the two mums were in the kitchen preparing food the four kids were at various points throughout the house. My 5 year old came bounding up the stairs yelling for me. "Mum, mum look what I did! Barbie got a hair cut. I wanted her to look like me!" As you can imagine I gasped when I saw that Barbie was sporting a new "do." After my initial shock I counted my blessings that it was indeed Barbie's hair that now looked so badly butchered and not any one of my children. The memories of giving Peyton his first hair cut came rushing back....but I had to giggle. I now have an excuse to throw poor old Barbie out - there's just no easy way to store those darn barbie heads anyway! Thought you all needed a giggle today, in preparation for the declining temps that are coming overnight. Stay warm, Barbie won't be.

Miss Charlotte

As noted in my last post, I have been playing around with storyboards lately. I just love the look of them. I need desperately to clear out my hard drive and back up images but can't seem to get motivated to get that done. I have, however, begun to look through and see what images I have in what files. It's a daunting project but little by little I plan to get it done. If, that is, I don't get distracted making stuff out of images that have been hidden away for a while. Here's a storyboard of my littlest girl, Charlotte. She's such a sweetheart. These were taken back in the spring when the weather finally got warm enough to be outside. It takes a long time here in New Hampshire for us to get some warm weather after the winter.

More From the S Family

I have been playing around with Storyboards lately. It's a great way to show off several images especially if wall space is limited or you have trouble deciding on the perfect one. Here's a few from our session this weekend. Thanks again guys!

The S Family

Two horses, two dogs, two kids and two adults.....boy did we have fun!!!!! Thanks so much to the S family. I had such a great time. Never before have I been this close to a dog this size. I expect this degree of beast from a horse, but a dog!!!!! Nobel was amazing. Such a loving family that just oozes kindness. Thanks guys. Hope you like the sneak peak.

The O Girls

These girls are so much fun. I love to shoot for their mum. What an honor it is to be a part of preserving their family history. I just have such a good time taking them out on location. The oldest is always coming up with fun things to do and is such a good sport. And I can always count on some spunk from the youngest. It's a great time. Here's a few of my favorite images.