The Coleman Family

Moving to Las Vegas was a little scary for me in the beginning. It’s a bigger city, and I only knew one family here. It felt a little like a dream and that pretty soon I’d wake back up in Lovelock. My good friend, Sarah (from Lovelock!), was visiting her sister in Vegas last year, and we wanted to meet up! When Sarah introduced me to Kayla and RaDell Coleman, Las Vegas felt a little more “homey.” Kayla and RaDell are just that kind of family, who make you feel at home. So when Kayla reached out to do family pictures this summer, I was more than excited!

We talked about doing pictures last year, when their sweet baby was so little. Now he is so big, walking all over the place, exploring and smiling. He has THE cutest curls! So when you scroll down and see the picture of the back of his head, you’ll know it’s because I’m in love with his curls! I just wish these pictures could capture his adorable walk!

I loved watching Kayla and RaDell play with Kairo, getting him to laugh and smile. He is so loved and adored by them. They are incredible parents, and I really enjoyed taking a peak into their family.

Dear Kayla and RaDell,

Thank you so much for trusting me with your family pictures. I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know you both more. You really do make me feel at home when I’m around you! You all were such a joy to be with. RaDell, your smile is infectious! You had me smiling behind the camera the whole time! Kayla, you are so beautiful and an amazing mom. I loved watching you with Kairo. Thank you for letting me share this evening with you, and for picking such a beautiful place!

The Emerick family is a very special family to me. This is my sister’s family, and these people who have my whole heart! My sister, Emily, and her husband, Jared, have raised these four beautiful ladies. They have taught them to be selfless, kind, thoughtful and loving. Like to the core, these four girls exude all good qualities. I was beyond excited to have them come visit us in Las Vegas!!

When I told my nieces that I wasn’t really sure when my Christmas decorations would get put up because life is insanely busy right now, they immediately offered to do the giant chore. Em and her girls all swooped in, assembled the Christmas tree, lit it up, and decorated it so beautifully. They found perfect places for my other meager Christmas decorations, and within a very short time, my home was ready for Christmas.

“What else can I help you with?” was constantly asked. “Christmas cards? You bet!” So they stuffed, labeled, and stamped all my cards. Em said, “Neighbor gifts? I’ll start right away.” And boom, she finished my neighbor gifts. Every time they even walked past the kitchen, one of them would say, “Can I help with anything?” Because my love language is acts of service (because my to-do list is always a mile long), my bucket was seriously overflowing when they left. These beautiful girls are destined for greatness!

Dear Emerick Family,

I cannot fully express my love for each of you. You all make my heart bursting with joy! The way you instantly pull my kids in to play, and the way you constantly are thinking of others is inspiring. Em, thank you for being my best friend, my confidant, and my role model of an incredible mom. I truly want to be just like you. You push me to always be better. Thank you for everything you did this Thanksgiving weekend, and for making my bucket overflow completely! Jared, thank you for hanging my shelves in my office! They bring me such happiness every day! Thank you for always passing on your good deals to us and for keeping us laughing! Come back soon, Emerick Family, and I promise I won’t make you work so hard! I love you all!

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Over Thanksgiving break, I had the pleasure of meeting up with my sweet friend, Mindi Dagerman. It is hard to believe it has been a year since we did their family session in Reno! Mindi and I have been friends for 12 years now! Mindi has been one of my biggest cheerleaders in photography since the beginning. She has sent more people my way for pictures than anyone! I couldn’t be more grateful for her support and encouragement with my photography. I knew when we left Lovelock, I would be too far to be able to do Mindi’s family pictures. And then I remembered she and her husband, Bryan, are from Las Vegas! All her family is down here, so at least I would be able to see her once in a while!

I was really excited when she contacted me about doing an extended family photoshoot. Her parents, in-laws, and brother and his girlfriend, are ALL incredible people. Truly, they are the kindest people. I kind of feel like they are my family when I am around them because of how they make you feel. It was really fun to watch their playfulness with the boys, Cameron and Henry. These boys bring the best energy to sessions! They are always full of ideas, like where to take pictures, how to grab sticks and turn them into swords for a quick sword photoshoot, and “gone fishin'” pictures. Really, I could photograph them all day!

Dear Extended Dagerman Family,

Thank you so much for trusting me with these pictures. You have such a special family with strong relationships. I love getting a tiny glimpse of how much fun you have when you are together. Chad and Katie, thanks for bringing your cute dogs to the session! They are both very sweet dogs, and maybe next time we can get more pictures with them. Jim and Jana, Allen and Trudy, you both are excellent role models to me of how to be good grandparents. Bryan and Mindi, I look forward to the next time we can meet up! Thank you all for such a great morning!

 

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It was our second time at church here in Las Vegas when Brandon told me about the Higbee Family. “Where were you? This family was so fun to meet! They even have two girls who babysit!” He had the best things to say about them.

Yes, where was I when he met them? Trying to gather all our kiddos out to the car! But I was super excited he met a cool family, and it was shortly after that that I had the pleasure of meeting them all.

It wasn’t long and we called up Makenna and Laney to babysit. Our kids absolutely love these beautiful girls. It’s just about every Sunday that Ryder whispers in my ear, “I want to wave to Laney!” Both girls have such fun personalities, and they are great examples of kindness to my kids. I couldn’t ask for better role models.

My first grader, Leila, is lucky enough to be in the same class as Ryland, the Higbee Family’s little guy. I’m positive they laugh a lot. They are great friends!

Crystal and Wayne have been so welcoming to us since we’ve moved. They know all the ins and outs of the good restaurants here, and they are always up for hanging out with us nerds. When Brandon and I had tickets to Lady Antebellum for our anniversary (thanks to Crystal helping me figure out how to get good tickets), she offered to take all four of my kids…overnight. What kind of friend does that? Wayne and Crystal Higbee. This family is just so amazingly selfless. They are always loving and serving those around them. I just can’t believe how blessed I am to know them.

Dear Higbee Family,

I cannot thank you enough for all your help with my kids, your kindness, and all our little adventures together. I consider myself incredibly blessed to have moved here and got to know you. Thank you for sharing recipes and mustard with me, and teaching me how to can jars! I watch how you teach your children, and I want to emulate that in my own parenting. You are a close-knit family whom I adore! I hope to have many more adventures with you all, and make many more memories!

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It is hard to believe it has been 2 years since my last session with Nick & Lisa! They let me do a mini session with just the two of them, and it feels like just yesterday! For those of you who don’t know, Nick is my husband’s (Brandon), brother. They look a lot alike, right? That year, we met up in Kalamath Falls, Oregon for a little getaway with our families. Our kids are about the same ages, or at least close enough that they play really well together. Our kids just crave that time with cousins!

This year, they came and visited us in Las Vegas and I am so glad they did! Because we are so new to the area, I was nervous about finding a good location with good light. I think we picked a pretty great spot!

It was so much fun having Nick and Lisa come stay with us. We got to go hiking at Red Rock Canyon, hit a few places on the strip, explored some new parks, went shopping, ate good food, and had some great relaxation time. Plus, they were really helpful with fixing all the broken things in the house! That really helped us to get unboxed and moved in. Getting cousin time was just what we needed, and it was a huge highlight to be able to simply hang out together!

Nick and Lisa,

Thank you so much for coming to visit! I know its a sacrifice to take unpaid time off work, and we are so grateful for the time we had with you. Thank you for all your help with broken cribs, cabinets, and bikes, and for all your help with  moving fridges and in the garage! I always look forward to our visits together, and we hope you guys come back soon! Maybe we will have some cooler activities up our sleeves by then! Who knows, maybe we could do our next session at Red Rock Canyon! Love you guys!

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I was really excited when Nick and Susan Katsaris asked me to do pictures one last time before we moved. I absolutely loved our last session with the entire family! Nick and Susan have done an amazing job being parents to kids of all ages. They are go-with-the-flow kind of parents, and I have loved being able to capture a few moments of their love for their kids.

This session was really fun to have just Levi as the star of the show. He is such a fun, sweet, kind little boy. I have LOVED watching him grow, even since our last session! He has the best smile, and it is super contagious. He really brought the best energy to this session! Levi’s connection with his mom and dad is beautiful to see, and their love for him is indisputable. Plus, he has a ton of siblings, aunts and cousins that go crazy over him, and its so easy to see why when I’ve spent just a tiny bit of time with him.

I was really excited when Susan wanted to do two locations. Both the farm and the desert rocks just feel like Lovelock Home. That desert glow just makes my heart happy just like this Katsaris family makes me happy!

Dear Nick and Susan,

Thank you for trusting me again to do your pictures. It really does mean the world to me, and I am so incredibly grateful for the time I had to get to know you. I think you both are fabulous and inspiring parents to all your children. The closeness and love between all of you is easily seen and fun to watch, and I hope to have those same qualities in my family and children.  You have raised wonderful kids, and you are continuing to raise a great kid in Levi. I wish you the very best in all your future endeavors!

 

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Taking pictures of the Wilkerson Family was really one of the most wonderful sessions I’ve ever had! And its really hard to put into words exactly why this was so amazing. It wasn’t because the kids were perfectly smiling the whole time, because that’s not how family sessions go. There’s always someone who won’t crack a smile with my lame jokes, haha! It wasn’t even the dreamy light or amazing outfit choices by Jessica (which we had been swooning over for a few weeks). Yes, the light was perfect, the outfits were beyond extraordinary, but I am positive this session was so wonderful because I love this family so very much.

Jessica is someone who I’ve always admired. She is the most hard-working mom I’ve ever known. She went back to school to finish her bachelor’s while she was having her 4th baby. The Wilkerson’s decided to move about the time her newborn was 3 weeks old. That’s kind of insane! Moving is so hard and adding a newborn on top of that! Then! She decided she was going to pursue a career as a life coach which involves hundreds of hours of practice and training before being able to serve clients.

Did I mention that she homeschools her kids somewhere in there? Actually, that is her main priority. Her kids and their learning and growth spiritually and secularly is her main priority. So every morning, she sneaks in a little exercise before starting the school day off with devotional. Then its hit the books until the afternoon when she switches her mom hat for working mom and coaches peers until late in the evening most nights. Add in dinner, cleaning house, serving in the community, kids sports, and quality family time, she really is the most hard-working mom I know.

Frank is one of the sweetest husbands. I have loved seeing him support Jessica in her endeavors and also work hard to provide for his family. He comes home and is in full dad-mode, leaving all work problems aside. He tackles, tickles, and plays with his kids. They all get so excited when he walks in the door! He is the best story-time reader at night adding in all sorts of fun voices to really make the book come alive. Frank has an incredibly kind soul, always putting his beautiful wife and kids first.

My kids are really good friends with the Wilkerson’s. We’ve had so many adventures together, like traveling to Boise, cutting wood in the mountains, and just quality hang-out time. I can’t describe what amazing friends the Wilkerson Family has been to our family, and how much I’ve learned from them. They truly bring me so much joy. So even though moving away has been difficult, I know there will always be more adventures with them!

Dear Wilkerson Family,

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being the most amazing, wonderful people. Your friendship is one in a million. My heart is overflowing with gratitude for your kindness to me and my family. I know moving to Lovelock wasn’t entirely on your top 10 places to move, but I am so happy you did. It’s always an adventure with you guys, and I’ve loved every minute. I love you Wilkerson Family to the moon and back!

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It is hard to say who was more excited for this photoshoot, Sherry or me. We have been talking about these family pictures for months now! And of course, the weather was really stressful leading up to this day because it was going to snow, and then rain. We both bought cute umbrellas just in case this Nevada spring weather held true to the forecast. Luckily (or maybe unluckily because our umbrellas were super cute) it didn’t rain or snow on us! It just decided to be ridiculously freezing and windy! I’m pretty sure it was 10 degrees outside. At least that is the way it felt! I really can’t believe how awesome everyone was throughout the whole session; they were really amazing.

Haley is the oldest, working, writing, and traveling all over the place. As I talked with her, I quickly realized what a kind soul she is and how selfless she is. Her smile is infectious and she is full of joy. Ada is next with all the spunk and entertainment that comes with a 12, almost 13 year old. She’s right in the middle of being picked on by the oldest and loving on the youngest, Christian. Christian is this super sweet one year old. I’m still in shock that he wasn’t sobbing the entire time with how cold it was. He is so lovable and handsome!!

Some of you know that I bring my daughter, Kiera, to be my assistant on photoshoots. She holds my reflector and gives me shade when I need it so I don’t get a lens flare. Having a clear picture without the distraction of a lens flare is important, so her job is really important! Often, she fades into the background as I’m talking with clients, posing people and moving from place to place. But Haley made a real effort to talk to her and get to know Kiera. It really touched me and I am forever grateful for Haley’s kindness! It was such a small thing, but made such an impact on me.

Dear Knight Family,

Thank you so much for trusting me to do your family photos. I really loved every minute of it. You guys are the toughest clients I’ve ever had, to brave the wind and cold like you did and still be smiling and happy to be doing photos! I’m so grateful for my time in Lovelock, that I got to know you and your sweet family. These kids are incredible because you, David and Sherry, are incredible. You guys are wonderful parents and I love watching you love your children. Both of you have this amazing mild temperament that I really adore. You both just go with the flow and are up for anything. You are always so positive and continuously looking on the bright side. It is such an admirable quality, one I truly admire. I love you all!

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I had the privilege of doing Kali’s maternity pictures one year ago! She was very beautiful pregnant, and now that sweet baby is so big and walking! Little Ryker is such a happy baby, and he is really easy to hang with! It was pretty chilly for this session, and he was such a tough little guy. The Ball family just adores this precious baby so much!

The three older kids were awesome too! It was fun watching how they all fussed over Ryker, and how they wanted to be the one to hold him. They all love him so much! And he loves his older siblings! It is really cute to see pictures of them playing with Ryker on social media. I know they adore him.

Jon and Kali are really great parents; they make a great team. It is cool for me to watch them encourage and push their kids to do their very best. They have done an amazing job of balancing kids’ activities, school, and the back-and-forth to Reno for Riley and Shamus.

I always love it when I can steal mom and dad away and take pictures of just them. These pictures tend to be really meaningful when daily life is all about meeting the needs of kids and working. When time between husband and wife is so rare because life is crazy busy, these couple pictures are sweet to remember the way they feel about each other.

Dear Ball Family,

Thank you so much for picking this amazing location. The cows, tractor, and fields were really fun! Thank you for braving the cold for these pictures, and for remaining upbeat through chattering teeth. You guys were so patient with me, and I’m so grateful to know you! You have a beautiful family. Thank you for trusting me to take these photos (and for your sweet sister Torrie for setting this up!!! Insert lots of heart emojis here, haha!)! Hopefully, I will have this privilege again someday!

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I was super excited when Shea asked if we could do another family session before we move. I look up to Shea so much, so I feel truly honored that she would trust me to do her family photos. Shea is classy, smart, hard-working, kind, positive, understanding, patient, and the list goes on and on! Dan is such a big teddy bear; he’s one of THE nicest people I know. He’s such a great asset to this community too, being a football coach at the high school, volunteering at the fire department, and working for the school district. Dan is a jack of all trades!

I have been lucky enough to take their pictures before in the desert, but I was really excited for this location they picked! The water and rocks were really beautiful! We weren’t sure if the weather would cooperate, and even though it snowed on us, the Murphy’s took a chance. And I’m so glad they did! They are always willing to do anything I ask of them. The Murphy’s always make sessions really fun by cracking jokes and laughing. The Murphy’s are the people you seek out at a party for sure, because they are such fun people! I love their passion for sports, family, and just life in general.

Dear Murphy Family,

Thank you for trusting me with your family pictures! You guys are always so much fun and make me laugh behind the camera. You bring the best energy to the session! I am so grateful for my time here in Lovelock and getting to know you all. All you Murphy’s have been so so kind to my family, and I am grateful for the things I have learned from you. You have taught me to get out of my little shell and be a little bolder. I’ve learned to “grab the bull by the horns” a little better because of you.

Shea, I’m especially thankful for the amazing principal you were at the elementary school. Dan, you’re a guy with so many talents and skills! You have the best smile! Logan and Davis, you are both hard working and kind. I can only hope my kids turn out the same way! And good luck Davis at Shasta College next year! You’re going to kill it! Thank you all, for being my friends here in Lovelock!

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