I wish they would sing and dance with reckless abandon forever! Carefree. Confident. Rockstars!

Yes! We rocked it didn’t we?!

Elia – 10 Months

See those fingers?  She can SNAP like a grownup!!

She gives the BEST stinkeye on the planet!  We get it all the time.

Lael – 4 and 3/4 as she likes to say

We had an awesome weekend in Anchorage with our cousins! It was my cousin Justine and her husband Ryan’s son Beck’s baptism and we had the wonderful honor of being his Godparents. The service was a beautiful, private ceremony with close family and friends and were were so happy we got to be a part of his special holy day! I can’t wait to see photos! The other exciting reason we headed down was for my cousin, Nicholas’ first art show which was held at an adorable coffee shop called Coffee Cats. Nicholas’ work is incredible and it was so great to see his collection hanging. What a treat!

The weather was amazing and I had so much fun photographing all the cousins playing together at the BBQ celebrating Beck’s baptism. I’ll post some images here, but to see the full gallery of 60 images click here.

Our drive down and back was beautiful…the mountains were spectacular, the budding leaves were just showing their pretty green faces and the 12 moose, two porcupine and lots of rabbits stayed out of our way.

What a great trip!

Enjoy!

These guys are the best of buddies and it’s a blast watching them grow up together!

I’ve been craving some outside shooting and when I came across this shoot from last winter and it reminded me that with all our beautiful sunlight returning and the incredible sunrises and sunsets we’ve been having that some snowy fun is in order. So if you’re up for some snowy family fun give me a shout and we can gear up and head outside! Have a great weekend.  

…And even at twelve below they were so delightful…we were freezing and many breaks were needed, but these guys were troopers through it all and the outcome was perfect! They were my models for my second official photo shoot when they were preparing for the arrival of their oldest son and I was testing the waters to see if this photo stuff was going to work out for me and I’ve been capturing their adorable family ever since. It helps that she’s one of my best girlfriends and my neighbor. Thanks for believing in me and loving my work since the day this journey began. Love you guys!  

It was an amazing treat to photograph and be photographed by the talented Miss Moxie herself! I have been looking for another cool photog chick to collaborate with and was thrilled to discover one of my childhood basketball buddies is also here making a name for herself in the photography world. After admiring her work and spunk on her blog I knew she would do an incredible job shooting our family photos and was honored when she asked me to do the same for her (peek at her blog for a sneak peek at our family). It’s been a blast reconnecting and we’re looking forward to cooking up some fun, creative, projects to meld our styles on so you’ll just have to stay tuned.

My favorite of the day…

A close second…

A little more fun…

You know when you meet a family and you just feel like you’ve known them forever – that’s how we felt from the day we met these guys. We bought land from them in Cantwell and after a little back and forth on price we got the deal sealed by throwing in a photo shoot! They are a young, fun, down to earth, Alaskan family who feel genuine to the core. They have a great life in Cantwell – they live in a beautiful cabin on the river, they hunt, grow their veggies, bake their bread, enjoy the land and teach the kids how to appreciate the little things. He’s a pilot and owns a guide business. After working super hard in the summer and fall they head for warmer weather in the winter. We admire the simplicity of their life and feel we could all use a lesson in getting back to the basics and appreciating the little blessings life has to offer.

The kids were a little cranky about being cold so the shoot wasn’t quite the vision they had in mind, but as a result there are a TON of awesome images. Enjoy the teaser! 

…of boys in the Milles house that is! Wiley was busy trying to take off, Kaiden was busy egging Wiley on and through it all Brady was content. I even took shots of him on the wet grass with the rain sprinkling on him and he didn’t make a peep – hands down easiest baby I have ever worked with! Kaiden and Wiley on the other hand kept me moving and cracked me up the entire shoot which made getting photos of the sweet big brothers calmly holding their new baby brother next to impossible. So I figure with a new baby, two busy boys on the run, tonsil surgery and a broken hand in the house these guys deserve a little something to make them smile.  Enjoy!

These shots were taken during my first photography play-date. Throughout my photography journey I have been inspired and mentored by the incredibly talented Kathy Carlisle of Heavens Eye Photography and I was honored to be asked to get together with our kids for a photography play-date this summer. My cousin and I were getting set up for The Pretzel Chef so I thought the kids would enjoy exploring the fair from behind the scenes before the crowds hit. The bull pens, rodeo arena, rides, barn and the ever so interesting carnie folks we encountered on the way were a hoot! Capturing Jalena as she looked into the eyes of a reindeer for the first time was priceless. Watching Tre and Jamison tenderly play with Lael melted my heart. Belly laughing as the kids gave their best pirate faces was too much…until we got kicked out! But, Jamie takes the cake on the best memory of the day…we had to leave his undies in the bull pen and that’s all I’m going to say about that. We had a great time and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to shoot together. 

To see our full takes on the day you can view the featured section of both of our websites. Enjoy!

…that’s why the Manke’s visit Creamer’s Field. The first photo will be hung in the Manke’s new home in South Dakoka as a great memory piece for the time they spent in Fairbanks. Jake LOVED to come see the geese at Creamer’s so it made perfect sense to shoot their family photos there. Thanks for a great shoot guys, I wish you well on your journey!