Fun Times 13

You might remember this fun mom and her kiddos from a photo shoot I did in September.

Well, a few weeks ago Kerry asked if I would do a photo shoot for her extended family. As in 13 of them. Whoa Nellie. That's a lot of people, but always up for something new I emailed, "YES!" Bring it!

And it was SO much fun. The ladies were all for it. Ready to 'work it, own it' for the camera {not sure what I mean by that other than I love that line from the movie Pretty Woman} and get the kids involved.

But I have to say, I forgot how much guys really don't like to get their pictures taken. They really would have preferred to sit on the couch, eat delicious food and watch football. But we coaxed them outside, perhaps did a little 'guilting' and we got some really great shots. I pulled the whole "Joey, do this for your mom. She really, really wants these family pictures. Come on, just a couple more and we're done! Think of it as her Christmas present!" And overall, he was a good sport and only rolled his eyes a few times in my general direction!

I'm not gonna lie; I was totally nervous the hour before the shoot. I mean, it's one thing to photograph 4 people {which isn't easy, either}. But a grandma, 4 adult children and spouses and young grand-children - emphasis on young - that's a photographer's challenge. I did the whole doubt myself thing, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Thinking, I can't do this. You know, all the negative talk you do when you're scared to fail. When you don't want to disappoint. When you're doing a swan dive from the cliff with your dreams.

But it all worked out. Whew.

So without further adieu, here they are. Um, hello gorgeous family.

Here's Chris, the grandma. {To which I'll add, Maddie saw the picture and said, "She can't be a grandma! She's too young.}
I'll leave you with a few of my personal favorites. There were so many to choose from and if you know me at all, the word favorite, singular, is a very hard concept for me to embrace. I just can't do one or two. Of anything. So, here are a dozen or so. I went a little overboard with the amount of pictures I gave them but I just couldn't decide, so I gave them all. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to keep that practice up in my new business, but for this fun family, I just had to go the extra mile!

Here's Kerry, Matt and their three cuties. Shane, Ryan and Phoebe.

Okay, if I had to pick a favorite, as in just HAD to pick a favorite, it would be between this one

and this one --

I absolutely love Shane's expression in the first one. Just love it. And the second one, of Sally and Kate. The love a mother has for her child. I mean, that picture could have been taken at the turn of the century, or last week. It's timeless. I love it.

Here's sweet Phoebe. You just wanna squeeze her chubby cheeks. And those blue eyes. Oh mercy.

Christy and Simon just moved to this home and off the back of their property is this amazing huge field, sledding hill and wooded area with streams and fields. It is AMAZING.

Okay, this next one is perhaps one of my favorite fun ones from the shoot. Uncle Joey with the nieces and nephews. Notice how he's holding Phoebe. She slowly kept slipping down, down, down. And how Kate is crying. He picked her up and she just started bawling. Full on. Bless his heart, he was trying. What a great uncle. Look at those teefers. Four front and center.

Leaves were a big hit of the day.


Little Miss Kate was hard to keep up with. She was a girl on the move. And the sweet thing wasn't feeling good at all that day.

Christy's expecting next spring and is just the cutest pregnant gal you'll ever see. And I've gotta hand it to Simon; he was a willing participant in the picture thing. We'd say, "How about another one here?" And he'd nod and follow along. Well done, Simon. Well done. Auntie and niece. Precious.

Mike, Sally, Rory and Kate.

As I handed Kerry the disks this morning I mentioned that there were a lot of pictures because I just wanted to take the opportunity to work on my editing skills and she was so cute. She laughed and said, while snapping her fingers, "When are you just gonna say I'm all done practicing because I'm a professional!" I'm so blessed to have clients that believe in me.

Thanks Kerry - your family was a blast. Next time I'll take you up on joining the party and hanging out eating some of that scrumptious food! What a fun day!