This past winter, I donated a family portrait package to Greenwood Elementary School's silent auction. The mom of the girls I babysit for helps put it on every year, and I always love an opportunity to support a good cause. All of the money earned went directly to the school, which as a teacher myself, I am in HUGE support of that no matter what! I am looking forward to continuing to do this for years to come, especially because it allows me to meet families I may never have otherwise gotten to meet! It was SO much fun photographing the darling Brown family! Aren't these boys just as cute as can be?! They were SUCH troopers, and made my job a piece of cake! I was so impressed with their incredible attitudes, fun personalities, and charming smiles! Not to mention, how awesome is their yard?! Yes, you got that right ... we did these photos at their house! Can you say BEAUTIFUL!? It was such a pleasure to meet this family ... Thank you SO much for buying my auction item! 
Featured Wedding // Chelsie & Chase - Blackstone Country Club
Chelsie's and Chase's gorgeous fall wedding is today's Wedding Wednesday candidate! Enjoy!
Michael & Erin - Engagement - Cheeseman Park
Say hello to the soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Clayton! Congrats to Michael and Erin who got engaged this holiday season! Michael and Erin met in college at Western State and they are getting married this July on top of the Red Lady ski lift on Mt. Crested Butte. I am so excited and honored to be the one who gets to capture so many memories for this couple! Even on a freezing cold, snowy day, it warms your heart to be around two people who are so obviously in love and perfect for each other! Thank you Erin and Michael for braving the 12 degree weather with me ... I hope your fingers have finally warmed up!
The Matthews & Reilly Family - A Beautiful Afternoon at Wash Park!
The Proposal - My Sister is Engaged!
Yesterday was a very special day for our family ... My big sister and best friend in the whole world got engaged!!! Can you tell I'm excited? After having to keep such a HUGE secret for so long, I am SO glad that it has finally happened and that I can share the good news with everyone! Here's how it happened. Thank you, Cameron, for letting me be such a big part of your special day! A few weeks ago Cameron and I went out for coffee while Kayla was at work. He told me his plan and how he wanted to propose on Saturday December 21st. Cameron was going to pretend that he was going to work like he would on any other Saturday evening, and my job was to get Kayla out of the house for a couple of hours so that he could decorate the house instead of actually going to work. He had already got his shift covered and everything when we found out that Kayla had already committed to babysitting on Saturday night. So ... quickly we changed our plan to Monday, which ended up working out better anyways! Our new plan consisted of Cameron telling Kayla that he picked up a shift for the night, and my job was to still get Kayla out of the house. So, a few days ahead of time I asked Kayla what she was doing on Monday evening. Her response was, "I don't know. Maybe the four of us (meaning Brandon, me, her, and Cameron) could do something." So, I gathered that Cameron hadn't told her that he "picked up a shift" yet, and replied, "Yea, that sounds great!". I waited until Sunday to bring it up again, and everything fell into place. I asked her if we were going to all doing something tomorrow night still, and she told me that Cameron picked up a shift, but that we could still do something if I wanted. Since I just recently got my tonsils removed, I suggested that we go to a movie since I can't really eat anything anyway ... that way her and Cameron could still go out to dinner after he proposed. I told Kayla that I didn't want to be out late so that an earlier movie would be best. I tried to get her to go to a 4:30 movie, but she said that was too early so we settled on the 5:00 show.
Monday arrived, and Kayla just so happened to be getting her hair cut in the morning, and my Mom had offered to take us to get manicures and pedicures after that so Kayla was all pampered and ready for her engagement that she had no idea about. Kayla thought that we were just getting our nails done for the Holidays!
Knowing that Kayla has always wanted pictures of her engagement, I brought my camera into her house when I got there to pick her up before the movie. So that Kayla wouldn't suspect anything I told her that I didn't realize my camera was in my car, and didn't want to leave it in the car while we went to the movies. Since her neighborhood is prone to car break-ins, she didn't think anything of it. (Haha .. I am so sneaky!). Kayla and I said goodbye to Cameron (I even said to him, "Have a good night at work, I'll see you tomorrow evening for our Christmas Eve dinner!") , and Kayla and I headed to the movies. We saw American Hustle, which was SO good but ended up being SO long. I told Cameron that we would probably be home around 7:30, which was actually when the movie got over. (Can you imagine the anxiety he must have been feeling while waiting for us?!) As soon as the movie got over (FINALLY!), I went to the bathroom and texted Cameron that we would be there in 15 minutes, and made sure that he was ready. We pulled up to the house, and I followed Kayla up the walk way. She unlocked the door, and stepped inside. Immediately she began freaking out. Candles were lit everywhere and Cameron was standing there with a bouquet of beautiful white roses. Somehow, I pushed my way past her, grabbed my camera and was still able to capture her shocked face! The rest was a blur. Cameron got down on his knee, opened the ring box, and asked Kayla to marry him. Meanwhile, I was shaking, crying, and trying my hardest to take some pictures of the whole thing. I couldn't even tell you what Cameron said to her because I was so focused on trying to take a decent picture. All I know is that after lots of hugging, kissing, screaming, and a "Yes!" Cameron put the ring on Kayla's finger, and then we all celebrated together! We let the puppies out of their kennels, and they joined in on the celebration! River even peed from his excitement (ha-ha!) ... or from his lack of bladder control, the little rascal! Lots of group hugs and tears and happiness! Cameron then told Kayla that they had reservations at her favorite restaurant down town, and after taking a few more pictures, they headed to dinner!
The day was perfect, and we couldn't have asked for it to go more smoothly! Here are the photos! I am so, so happy for you KK and Cam! Love you both so much!
Holiday Mini Sessions!
About a month ago I spent the day taking Holiday photos! I always wait to post about my holiday sessions until all Christmas cards have been sent out so that everyone can enjoy the cards without having already seen the pictures. So, here you go! Previews from my Holiday Minis that were oh so fun!
Up first, the O'Donnell family! I have been watching these girls since the oldest, Anna, was 3, and Emily, the middle one, was just a baby. And now the youngest, Caroline, is already 4! I can not believe it! I like to think that I'm part of the family :) This 30 minute session was filled with lots of goofiness and laughs ... oh how I love them!
Up next, the beautiful Lang family! I met Angela about a year ago when I started observing in classrooms for my Masters degree, and now I'm going to be student teaching with Angela come January! Not only is she a fabulous teacher who I'm so blessed to get to learn and grow from but she's an amazing woman who always brightens everyones' day! Thank you for letting me take your family photos ... aren't her kiddos, Sydney and Cayden, so sweet?
And last but not least, the Yovich family! I grew up doing gymnastics with Elizabeth, and we have stayed good friends through all these years! I was so happy that they came to me to take their family photos! I think they turned out great!
Congratulations to Chad & Cortney!
Well this post is a little late, but better late than never, right? As I lay around after just getting my tonsils removed, I am finally finding some time to catch up on my blog posts! I have a lot to catch up on including my fun Holiday mini sessions that happened a few weeks ago as well as some fun adventures I have been on recently, which I will blog about come later today or sometime this week so be sure to check back later! Anyways, in the beginning of November, Brandon and I went to California to celebrate his grandparents 65th anniversary! How awesome is that?! While we were there, Brandon's cousin, Chad, and cousin in-law, Cortney, announced that they were pregnant with their first baby, and asked if I would take a few pictures of them for their announcement. The photos turned out super cute, and the announcement turned out even more cute! After a lot of communication, editing, and revising, Cortney and I finally finished the movie poster announcement that you see below. Super cute, right?! Congratulations to Chad and Cortney ... I am so, so happy for you! Thank you so much for letting me be apart of all this!
And here is the fun movie poster announcement we created! I especially love how the puppies were included in it :) So cute!
The Graden Family & Crimson's First Birthday!
It was so much fun photographing the Graden family! I first met Erin when she was a bridesmaid in a wedding I photographed in October. (If you didn't get a chance to see the beautiful wedding of Chase and Chelsie, you can view it here). I photographed the Graden family a couple of weeks ago, and along with family photos we also took some adorable pictures of her daughter, Crimson, who turned ONE the other day! It is always so much fun for me to get to set up a backdrop and lights, and take some fun studio portraits! Crimson had never had this much cake before, and goodness did she love it! Could Tannen (the 2 year old big brother) and Crimson be any more cute?! Thank you so much to the Graden family not only for a fun shoot, but for being patient with me through the editing process since I had to get my tonsils removed the other day! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Chelsie's & Chase's Wedding : Blackstone Country Club!
It was SO much fun photographing Chelsie and Chase's wedding! I first met this wonderful couple in March of this year when we met to discuss engagement and wedding photography, and boy, am I happy that they chose to go with me! It has been so much fun getting to know them throughout this year, and it was so special to be apart of their big day! Their wedding was beyond beautiful at Blackstone Country Club in Aurora with bright orange and red colors, a short and sweet outdoor ceremony, and lots and lots of dancing! Although it was a bit windy and chilly, the entire family, wedding party, and, of course, the bride and groom, were such troopers! Nothing could ruin their wedding day, and I'm so grateful to all of them who stuck with me through all of the posed pictures that took place in the crisp wind, and for Chelsie and Chase who had to spend even more time outside with me! Luckily, a wonderful dinner and lots of dancing warmed us all up! Thank you again, Chelsie and Chase, for letting me capture your beautiful wedding day! Enjoy :)
Amy & Andrew
A couple of weeks ago I was blessed to photograph this beautiful, beautiful couple! Amy and Andrew got married in September, and decided to have an after-the-wedding shoot because they did not schedule a lot of time on their wedding day to take photos of just the two of them. They wanted to have a fun shoot in a relaxed environment where they weren't rushed and things weren't chaotic ... like they always are on wedding days ... And what a great excuse to put that beautiful wedding dress on again! We decided to wait until the leaves were changing, and I am so glad we did because I could not have asked for a more beautiful setting. We were worried that we might have to reschedule because of the rainy/snowy weather that was expected, but the weather held out, and the afternoon was perfect for a photo shoot! Amy and Andrew were so fun to photograph ... they are naturals in front of the camera (obviously) and their incredible love for each other was so eminent that it beams in every photo we took. Thank you Amy and Andrew for such a fun, gorgeous shoot!
The White Girls - DeKoevend Park
Such a cute Fall sister portrait shoot ... could these girls be any more adorable? Thanks to their Momma who is one of my absolute best clients! It is always a joy to photograph your beautiful girls :)
Happy Wedding Day, Chelsie & Chase!
Happy Wedding day to Chelsie and Chase! You may remember them from this incredibly cute engagement shoot. I am so, so excited to be apart of their special day! Congrats to the happy couple!
Sue & Tim's Gorgeous and Fun Wedding: Evans Memorial Chapel & Denver Beer Company
Let me just say that I am beyond blessed that I got to photograph and be apart of Tim and Sue's special day! I have never had so much fun at a wedding before with this awesomely fun group of people! They were all so laid back, creative, fun, and seriously made my job a piece of cake! I can honestly say that Tim and Sue had a blast on their wedding day, and everyone had a great time!
Chelsie & Chase Engagement!
Last Sunday I photographed this fabulous couple! I am so blessed to have met these two, and am honored that they put their trust in me to take their photos not only for their engagement, but also for their wedding in October! Thank you Chelsie and Chase! Oh, and by the way, aren't they a GORGEOUS couple!?! Even though these photographs do not have the amazing mountain view sun set like we had planned for, I think that these capture the love that Chelsie and Chase have for each other! Their fun, loving, easy-going personalities made my job so easy!
Whitney & David Engagement
Last week I photographed this picture perfect couple. I've known David since I was twelve years old and I'm so glad that I've been able to stay in touch with him all this time. I met Whitney a few years ago, and could not be more happy for the two of them! They got engaged a couple of months ago, and are planning a wedding for the Summer of 2014! I am so happy these two are tying the knot!