Meet the Shields family! They are the type of people who are kind to the core, and it was my absolute pleasure to be their photographer for the night!

I know I say this all the time, but I truly have the BEST clients! I knew they’d dress fabulously and show up for a good time! Often I hear from people that they aren’t excited about having their picture taken. There’s probably a million other things they’d rather do, but my clients always end up having a great evening and really enjoy the session. The truth is, I’m kind of a doofus behind the camera, so it’s definitely entertainment for the evening!

I love this Shields family! They were such great sports for all my crazy ideas and they just went with the flow. I really enjoyed following the kids as they played. They smelled the flowers, ate “breakfast” at the bistro table, and opened the gates for the show that we were inevitably always late to, haha!!! Roman, their son, was awesome and showed me his best macho moves followed by the best laugh! I love that the Shields family had ice cream and played Minecraft after pictures. It’s always such a great way to get kids excited about pictures through a great bribe!

Dear Shields Family,

Thank you for being so easy-going at our session! Bryce and Melissa, you guys are amazing parents. It shows in how great your kids are. Your love for them just oozes from every word and action, and I loved capturing that.  You are both patient parents, a quality that is hard to develop. Thank you for your kindness throughout the time we’ve been here. I will never take your kindness for granted. Thank you for finding this incredible oasis in Lovelock, and inviting me to be a part of it. I am truly grateful for your family and for trusting me to take your family pictures!

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Every 4th of July, my siblings and parents get together, and this year I had the privilege and honor of taking my brother’s family pictures, the Hill Family. I am so incredibly excited to share these with you! I adore this family more than my words can explain, but I’m going to do my best today.

My brother Spencer and his beautiful wife, Sara, were high school sweethearts. Both of them a little shy, but both of them determined to make the very best of anything and everything. They are the kind of people that work tremendously hard each day to get to where they want to be.

Sara

Sara is one of the most amazing mom’s I’ve ever known. She is keenly aware of each child’s needs and then meets those needs far above par. Her whole life revolves around teaching, loving, and raising independent children. If there’s a book that may help one of her kids with a problem they are struggling with, Sara is on it. If there’s a resource out there that will help her child, she will find it. She wants the absolute best for her kids. She is such a great example to me on how to be an incredible mom. I just wish we lived closer so I could be more like her!

Spencer

Spencer is an incredible father and husband. He works long hours to give his family the best. He has created very successful online businesses. His entrepreneurial heart is so fun to watch. I love cheering him on from Nevada and hearing about new developments in the business. He continues to employ more and more people, and each person loves Spencer as much as I do. His businesses haven’t come without deep struggles, and I know he would do it all over again just for his love of his family and the concern for his employees.

Spencer is always making me laugh and doing something funny. Just this last reunion in Boise, he pulled me on his boat (that he made!!!) with me “skiing” on a kayak. Boy that must have been a funny sight! After a few crashes, I finally figured out how to ski a kayak. Spencer is always thinking of something new.

The Kids

These Hill kids have a maturity level that you won’t find in most families. They help with household chores without pay. They respect each other and play with each other because they are best friends. These kids are the kinds of kids you desperately want your kids to be around so that their goodness might rub off on your kids. I LOVE hearing about funny stories from Spence and Sara about my nieces and nephews. They are always on adventures and making everyone laugh!

Dear Hill Family,

Can you guys get any better than you already are? I don’t think so. I think you are like Mary Poppins. Practically perfect in every way. My heart is so full of love for each of you. I love learning from your quiet examples. I love when we chat until late in the evening. You all amaze me and I love you, Hill Family, very much!

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Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by the blog! I want you to meet the kindergarten grad, Giana Williams! She is the most adorable, kind, and sweet kindergartener. My kids just love Giana and her younger brother! She is a fantastic older sister and a caring friend.

Giana loves all things girly and that fits right in with my girls. She is very smart, and she is reading so well! I got to see her reading skills in action at our session as she flipped through her chart of sight words. She loves her teacher and learning new things.

Her parents have raised this complete sweetheart, teaching her values and principles that make her outstanding. I have so much respect for Giana and her wonderful parents.

Giana was so much fun to work with! She knew exactly where to put her hands and she fell right into poses that were darling! I didn’t have to give her too many instructions before she just fell into the perfect pose. Model status! Her smile is super infectious too! My cheeks hurt after we were done because she made me smile so much! She had a ton of good ideas for spots for pictures too. She would say, “Let’s try this spot,” and it was always a perfect idea. I am pretty sure I’m hiring her as my new assistant!

Dear Giana Williams,

Thank you for being such a kind friend to my kids. I couldn’t ask for anyone sweeter! You have an incredible talent to include everyone and that is so admirable. Your parents have raised you to be respectful and responsible. Lovelock is blessed to have you in the community. You are an example to your friends on how you should treat people. I am so grateful to know you and call you my friend! Thank you for trusting me to take these pictures! You are simply wonderful, Giana!

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This session with my friend, Torrie Hostman, was incredible! I told her to hop in my car, we will figure it out when we get there, and she totally trusted me! We drove for a bit when we came to what I thought would be a perfect spot. Nevada isn’t very green usually, so I was beyond thrilled to have some green on the mountains after some much needed rain. At first, Torrie wasn’t fully convinced this would be a beautiful spot until I turned the camera around for her to see what the pictures were looking like. She was pretty shocked that such a plain looking location could be so beautiful! And I was just thinking how beautiful my subject was!

I have the best clients. They are always up for anything and they trust me when I see good light. I feel incredibly blessed for that!

I brought Leila, my 5 year old little assistant with me. Torrie was really patient (and mostly laughed at Leila and I working together because it was pretty entertaining). Torrie was completely amazing when at the end of our session, Leila begged to blast “Can’t Stop the Feeling” and dance in the “woods.” Torrie makes everything more fun! She didn’t even laugh at my awkward dance moves!

Torrie was a natural in front of the camera. She has the best smile! She rocked some gorgeous dresses and was absolutely stunning!

Dear Torrie Hostman,

Thank you for being so stalwart and fun! I love laughing and joking around with you! Remember when I saw you walking on your lunch break and I gave the most awkward cat call? Probably can’t forget something like that, haha! You are so beautiful and so easy to be around. I love that you go with the flow. I loved that we didn’t know where we were going for pictures exactly and that you still trusted me! I’m so grateful you don’t hold it against me that I like Coldplay. So glad we can still be friends! In all seriousness, I love you Torr. You radiate goodness and sweetness. When I look at these pictures, my heart fills with gratitude to know you and have you for a friend. You are one marvelous human being! Thank you for trusting me to take your picture!

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Meet Shane and Marci, and their three sweet kids! They love spending time together and making memories. This session was high-energy, that’s for sure! I mean, what else do you expect with a 2 year-old, a 4 year-old, and an 11 year-old! I have a 2 year-old and a 4 year-old also, so I was ready for anything! It also helped having my handy, dandy 8 year-old assistant.

It was really neat for me to see how Justin, their oldest, was with his stepsisters. He was really sweet and really patient. Even when rocks were flying in his hair and eyes, he kept his calm! I was super impressed!

Maelyn, the youngest, was really spunky. She loved the location so much. I think she ended up filling her hair and pockets with rocks and sand to take home with her!

Raeanne, the older sister, was my little model. She pulled out all her best Tyra Banks moves! Plus her and Maelyn’s pigtails with bows were simply adorable.

Shane and Marci were such a sweet couple. I could tell they work well together and really care about each other. It was fun to see their personalities as the session progressed. They are the kind of clients who are up for anything. How do I always get so lucky with such great clients?

Thank you so much, Shane and Marci, for letting me peak into your family. Thank you for letting me capture some pictures that will hopefully be something you cherish forever. You have a very sweet little family. I am really glad you are here in Lovelock!

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Elsie’s birth was really an amazing experience, and if you haven’t had a chance to read the first part of her story, here’s the link. But I wanted to write Elsie’s birth part 2.

I got pretty lucky having three of my closest friends there for Elsie’s grand entrance to the world! I wasn’t sure it was going to work for all three of them to drop everything last minute and come to the hospital for however long it would take! They left their kids and responsibilities just to come help me. (Insert crying emoji and giant heart here!)

It was amazing having my first child, Kiera. The delivery went very well and she was completely healthy. My second child, Leila, was delivered via C-section, so that was a whole new experience. We had waited longer than we wanted for child number 2 to join our family. I was so excited for Kiera to meet Leila. My husband excitedly brought her to the hospital so she could hold her baby sister. But the hospital wouldn’t let Kiera in to hold her. It was flu season. I was more than upset. Isn’t it ALWAYS flu season? Aren’t there always germs around? Besides, this little baby was coming home to her sister anyway, what was the big deal? So we never got that experience of having the older child meet her new baby sibling.

I delivered my third child, Ryder, in a city in California that was 45 minutes away from home, depending on traffic. As badly as I wanted the older kids to meet their brother, I didn’t feel like it would work to bring the kids that far. I settled with them meeting Ryder at home a day or two later.

My Silly Dream

This is probably very silly for many people. But when I was pregnant with Elsie, all I could dream about was having all three kids there after her birth to hold her and love her. I desperately wanted them to come to the hospital to meet her! But this time, the hospital wasn’t 45 minutes away. It was an hour and a half! What was I to do? Beg. Yep. I begged my mom. She’s pretty amazing so it didn’t take more than just asking her to come. So she came before Elsie was born and then she brought the kids to meet Elsie. My mom is the one who made this dream come true. As soon as Elsie was born, she packed up all the kids, snacks, jackets, diapers, dinner, toys and iPads to make the trek to the hospital.

My kids travel fairly well, but this wasn’t an ideal time of day. There was a potty break on the drive and spilled food all over her car. My mom really rocked it, though, and made everything fall into place, just for Brandon and me.

The Hospital

The hospital pictures aren’t going to win any awards. The lighting is terrible. There’s no great posing going on. My kids’ clothes aren’t even clean. But these pictures bring me so much joy!

When Leila held Elsie for the first time she said, “Mommy, can we keep her? She’s beautiful!”

Talk about my heart melting! Kiera and Ryder were so gentle. You couldn’t wipe smiles off their faces! It felt like Christmas! Everyone was so excited to meet Elsie. The love in that room was palpable. There was an instant instinct to want to protect their little sister. Each child wanted to hold Elsie again and again.

When it came time for the kids and my mom to leave, they all wanted Elsie to go too.

My dream had come true to have the older siblings come to the hospital, and I locked every moment of it into my heart.

Thank You Mom

So thank you, Mom, for your incredible sacrifice. Thank you for staying with us before Elsie came. Thank you for dropping everything to come help me clean and organize before this baby came. Words cannot express my appreciation for driving three hours that night just so Kiera, Leila, and Ryder could meet Elsie for thirty minutes. It meant the world and more to me. These are memories I will have for forever. I love you Mom!!!

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Have you ever wished family lived a little closer? I’ve wished this on certain occasions. I wish my kids could have more time with their grandparents. Maybe it’s because I’ve been missing my grandparents lately. Well, this family, the Hughes family, is one of the lucky ones! With their grandparents across the street, and a grandmother down the hall, these kids are best friends with their grandparents! In fact, they told their grandmother she could never move, ha ha!

Hughes Family

Ricky and Melissa just had their 5^th baby! And boy is he sweet! It is crazy how fast they grow. I always seem to forget how little they come, even though my own baby is only 4 months old! This baby brother is loved to the fullest by his siblings, parents and grandparents. His oldest brother was pretty excited to finally have a brother after three little sisters!

The three girls in the middle were a total blast to photograph! I coached them in the beginning with knee pops, hands on hips, and twisting at the torso. But by the end, they were reminding me that they were nailing the posing! Their smiles were infectious! They were up for anything that I wanted to try. I have the best clients!

Ricky and Melissa, I have grown to love your family so much! I can see how close you are to each other. I see your love and respect for each other. I love hearing about family dinners with grandparents. You really put family first. I admire that so much. You have taught your kids values and morals. They work hard in school and extracurricular activities. You have set a wonderful example for all parents. Thank you for allowing me to capture this time in your life when your children are little and growing! Congratulations on that sweet, new baby!

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I love when families can be together for Christmas and the Christmas break! In this case, its super rare for this beautiful family to all be together! The kids are spread out, living in Hawaii and California. Kids are working and going to school, busy with life. So it is quite the treat to be together for the holidays!

Family Pictures and Making Memories

A great way to make memories is to have family pictures while everyone is together. Though it can be stressful getting everyone ready and together, putting family pictures on the walls of your home can help kids feel a sense of belonging and love. I feel honored I was able to take pictures of this fun family while they were here for Christmas break.

Boys, Boys, Boys…

Seeing this family reminds me a lot of my own family. There are so many boys! I really love all my brothers and the fun they bring to the family. This is true for this family too! The girls just get to sit back and laugh while the littlest guy gets spoiled and all the attention!

Levi, the littlest boy, brought nothing but excitement and joy to this session. His smile is my favorite! He loves his brothers and sisters so much. I loved capturing that!

Dear Nick and Susan

Nick and Susan, I have so much admiration for you and how you are able to juggle all the demands kids bring into the home! You have children out of the house that still need you. You have children in the house that demand your time and energy.

These are some amazing, talented, and kind kids! I know you play an enormous role in shaping the kind of people they have become. You are wonderful parents. It was great seeing the personalities of each one. I hope your Christmas break was special and full of memories. I hope everyone travels home safely! Thank you for allowing me a peak into your beautiful family!

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I had the pleasure of doing a family session for the Moura family. These are some of the kindest people in Lovelock, not to mention, super easy-going.

As we were walking through the stickers and weeds, they had smiles the whole time! Their two beautiful kids are so smart and talented in academics and sports. You can tell Lisa and Anthony are amazing parents because their kids are such great people.

I first met Anthony and Devin, their son, through a meat purchase. Not at the grocery store though. Anthony and Devin raise cattle to be butchered and sold, and a friend recommended Anthony as a place where we could buy a 1/4 cow.

Anthony has been so patient with me and my meat questions! I’m pretty sure we are his biggest fans as the best place to buy beef. It will be a sad day when we move away and have to get our meat some place else!

It is always a lot of fun for me to get to know people through photography. Although, my excitement to take pictures may have scared Devin just a bit, he totally put up with my craziness. 🙂 Hey, you can’t blame me, the clouds came out and gave us some beautiful light. I was elated! Most guys aren’t thrilled to be in front of the camera, but I had the best time teasing Devin that he should make a career out of modeling.

And, Daralyn and Lisa were total naturals in front of the camera. They are beautiful ladies on the inside and out. I’m pretty sure I could take pictures of them all day long!

Moura family, thank you so much for letting me get to know you! Thanks for trudging through the stickers and weeds, putting up with my crazy excitement for cloud cover, and just being wonderful. I know your family is a big part of this community. I’m so grateful to get to know you!

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