I love doing senior portraits. It’s such an amazing time in your life when you’re jumping into adult life, and everything is ahead of you.

The O family braved the chilly water with me for these photos. The tide was up further than I’ve ever seen it at the beach, and they were willing to risk being drenched to get these photos. Every time I do a session on the beach someone gets wet. It’s usually the kids who are dying to get in the water the whole time, but this time it was me. I was soaked and covered in sand by the end of this session, but it was worth it. You might notice on the first picture that the girls got wet right along with me.

I love this shot that Chris set up on his own of his family.

The second year I taught Kindergarten this fine young man was in the classroom next door.  That means all those little guys I still picture as being 5 years old are all grown up like this.  I feel old.

Tomorrow I’ll have more senior pictures of Miss K from this session.

Are you Halloweened out for this year?  I have to admit Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday.  I’m not one for spooky, scary, or creepy things.  I don’t like to dress up, but I love seeing all the kids in their costumes so excited about all that Halloween has to offer.  This year my kids insisted on being characters from Harry Potter.  Last year I began reading the series aloud to them before bedtime, and we finished the first one right before Halloween.  That night after trick-or-treating we came back and watched the movie.  They began to love all things Harry Potter.  They acted out scenes from the books, and made up their own Harry Potter scenes.  They talked about it non-stop.  My oldest took off and read ahead of me because I was way too slow.  She read the whole series in just a couple of weeks, and has been re-reading them ever since.  So here we have our Hermoine Granger and Harry Potter. 

My 4 year old dressed as a bunny.  This is a costume my mother made when I was a young one.  She actually made 3 bunny outfits, one green for my brother, one pink for me, and one yellow for my sister.  Sophie was really excited to be a bunny even though the head piece wasn’t very practical.

And then there’s the baby, my little pumpkin who refused to smile. He just stuck his tongue out at me.  I tried to tell him he’s not allowed to do that, but he didn’t listen. His first signs of rebellion.  I’m in for it.

We went trick-or-treating with my sisters and their children.  There were 9 kids in all (one baby stayed home).  They were quite the crew walking down the streets of our city that night.  Halloween 2009 was a great success.

She’s got her hands full with these 3 boys.  Not only are they stunningly handsome, but they have a great sense of humor, and are polite and fun.  I’m pretty sure all the girls will be hounding them if they aren’t already. We enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon at the Paramount Ranch on Halloween.

He said he didn’t purposely match his shirt to his eyes, but I have my doubts.  Those eyes are drop dead gorgeous.  Why wouldn’t you show them off?

This guy couldn’t stop smiling no matter how much he tried.

With 3 boys you have to have a little fun.

This past August I signed up to be one of 150 photographers around the country who volunteer to offer free family portraits to military family members who have a soldier deployed overseas. The goal of Portraits of Love is to send 10,000 free family portraits to overseas soldiers this fall.  I am looking forward to my donated session in a couple of weeks. It is my teeny tiny way of giving back to our soldiers for all that they sacrifice for our country.

Not too long after I signed up for this program a friend of mine, and past client, found out her husband was being deployed for up to a year. I was so happy to meet up with them the day he left and take just a few photos of the kids with their dad in uniform. I am still in awe at what a big sacrifice this is for their family. Just like me they have 4 children.  In fact their youngest was born exactly a month before Noah was born.  Being the mother of 4 children is daunting enough with the support of a husband at home. I can’t imagine doing it by myself .  Then of course there are the children who will miss their father dearly.  Here are just a few of my favorites from my brief time with the family. Be sure to check out the slideshow for more. I’m still trying to figure out how to make the slideshow look better.  If you have any hints please let me know. The Music is “How Sweet it Is,” by Michael Buble.