Senior Portraits: Cameron

     I recently had the opportunity to take my young cousin's Senior pictures. Since we live in separate states, and there's a fairly big age difference, I've not been able to get to know Cameron as well as I might like. So, I was glad for the chance to chat with him during our session and learn a bit about him & his plans. He plays basketball & baseball (and perhaps more?) but particularly likes baseball.  He is hoping to play in college as a pitcher.
     I've always thought of Cameron as a pretty quiet guy - and I think that shines through in these pictures. However, I somehow got the impression during our shoot that he isn't that way all the time. :) I was so pleased with the way these pictures turned out - I couldn't have asked for a better subject. Many blessings Cameron as you pursue your hopes & dreams. Here's hoping you make the big leagues. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portraits: Pethoud Family

     The Pethouds are good friends of our family. We met them maybe 6-7 years ago when Gwen happened across my siblings playing quartet at the mall & asked for a violin teacher for her daughter Lin. My sister gave her lessons for the next little while. I don't remember all the details, but we either met Doug's sister through them, or just found out that we knew them already - something! At any rate, gatherings over the years at his sister's house (we would see them there) and then my brother (who owns his own carpentry business) remodeled their kitchen. And then Gwen offered to help us with our concert one year - and has been doing it ever since. Then Doug introduced us to Mark who helped us record a CD.  And even though we don't see them all that often, we have a great time when we do.
     Gwen called me and scheduled these pictures right after we returned from Ohio last fall. We had a fairly warm day - and even though I was hoping for sun, (which didn't happen) we did manage to just miss a big cold front/messy week.  I loved working with all of them - little John is so funny, Lin so pretty. This family is priceless together. Thanks friends, for making my job look easy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Review 2013

     Happy New Year everyone! I am with great anticipation looking forward to 2014. So many opportunities, so much to do! I thank the Lord that I have Him as a guide and that He always has my best at heart. I love following Him.
     Before we move too much into the coming year, I did want to take a look back at what interested YOU on my blog this past year. I found the results interesting. See what you think - and if you missed any of these posts, take a look now. :)

Top 7 Blog Posts in 2013

1.) Justin & Caitlan's Wedding Day
     ~ a beautiful wedding held at the Round Barn - so enjoyed working with Justin, Caitlan and their families.

2.) We've Been Busy
     ~ my first post on our house remodel job. We are now moved in and loving our new house - and yes, I plan a post with pictures of the finished product very soon. :)

3.) Our Trip: Day 2 @ P4C
     ~ the one post out of 9 from our trip that appears on the top seven list.






4.) Goodbye Summer
     ~ a look back at Summer, and some pictures that we took years ago.

5.) Portraits: Abby
     ~ a portrait session for a young friend - love these!





 




6.) Portraits: Sarah
     ~ portrait session with another young friend: Abby's cousin.










7.) Portraits: Friends Together
     ~ wrapped up our session with Abby, Sarah & Jaunita with "together" pictures. So cute.

Our Trip: St. Louis Arch and more

     Our final day was perhaps the best. We had so many good days, it's really hard to say. But definitely this ranks among the best days of the whole trip. We headed out first thing for the Arch and fell in love with St. Louis on the way there. :)  The bridges, the buildings, everything. (It doesn't hurt that one of my favorite movies is "Meet Me in St. Louis".) We had high expectations for the day and were not disappointed.

 

Aaron, Caroline & I look waaaaay up at the Arch

 

     For anyone who's been there before, you know that the Arch has a large underground museum and visitor center. It's really quite amazing. We were some of the first to arrive, so had no problem collecting tickets and making our way to take our "egg" to the top. We were all gung-ho except for Caroline, who does not like heights.

 

The inside of the egg doesn't have much room (and we had it full to capacity with the 5 of us), but you don't have to be in it for long. It also does this sickening kind of a rocking back-and-forth motion that's a little unnerving. But it was worth it - at least to most of us. Caroline ended up feeling sick long after we came back down. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 



Inside the egg 

     The view from the top was amazing. I love seeing so far into the distance from high places - it makes you feel as though you can do almost anything. ;)

We would've loved to tour the Old Courthouse (slightly left of center), but time did not allow

 

St. Louis stretches on for miles

 

If you look closely you will see a man lying on his back taking a picture (over the word "back" in this sentence)

 

 

 

 

Outside the door (#8) for our ride back down

 

     When we'd arrived, we had been informed that this was the "birthday" of the Arch and that the builders would be on site for two hours. Once we came back down, Aaron & Laura decided to stand in line & talk to them. We'd bought postcards, books, & posters that they took with them through the line to get autographs. This picture shows them chatting with the photographer - he carried that big old camera up the outside of the arch to the top. Wow.

 

 

 (not the greatest pic due to low lighting)

 

     Caroline, Samuel & I toured the museum, did some shopping, and just sat there for a while as we waited for them to get through the line. (It took a while.) When they finally got done, we headed outside to see if we could get some pictures with the Arch.

 

Laura took this of us while getting the camera settings where she wanted them

 

Laura then asked a man to take one with all of us. He had a British accent and lay on the ground to get everything in. Before he snapped it, he says "just pretend you're laughing at a crazy Englishman lying on the ground". Well, we didn't have to pretend - and he set us all to laughing!

 

Walking through the grounds

 

Beautiful bridge in the background (learned an interesting story about that bridge while waiting for our egg).

 

Laura's shot of the Arch

 

We set this up using our jackets & bags to balance the camera - then set the timer.

We loved the results!

 

 

St. Louis

My shot of the Arch

 

     Once we'd seen all we wanted to see, we set about finding a mall where we could do a little shopping. We got to see a lot more of St. Louis along the way and couldn't help singing "Meet Me In St. Louis, Louis". :)  We found some gifts at the mall, along with food for lunch and cheesecake (from Cheesecake Factory - yum) for dessert. Then it was time to make tracks for home.

     We took a slight detour through Arkansas to see my cousin Danielle, husband Brad, and their new baby. She is such a cutie! My uncle & cousin Jordan came over too & brought pizza with them (thank-you Uncle Richard). We only had a little time to stay, but were glad we could make it. Olivia Jo (named for my grandma) is so adorable.
     

With Olivia Jo and cousin Jordan

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Once we were back on the road we had four hours yet to travel before reaching home. We made it safely (of course) and arrived home around midnight. And that finally wraps up my posts on our trip which ended over two months ago! But what an ending. We've already talked about going back to St. Louis - wouldn't that be fun?