The One With Georgia's Winter Portraits

So the nice thing about having a gorgeous sister who is a senior in high school is that she offers lots of opportunities to practice senior portraits. When we visited at Christmas it snowed and I love pictures in the snow, so pictures seemed like a great idea. Plus, hanging out with Georgia is pretty much the best. 

Isn't she such a babe? And she's so kind and smart and strong to boot.  It's so good to see her grow into this confident, thoughtful woman. I hope she comes to live in Portland for college so that my daughters can have another wonderful role model. I would be proud for them to grow up to be like her. 

Love you, Georgia. Like, seriously, a lot.

The One With Georgia's Senior Pictures

My gorgeous sister, Georgia, came over to Portland for the weekend to get some senior pictures taken and so we could watch Planes: Fire and Rescue at the Drive-In. She's so beautiful and has that natural model quality, which made it extra fun to take her around to different locations for pictures. Since she's my sister she was a great guinea pig for trying out new photoshoot locations and we went to the Hawthorne District for these ones. (Have you explored much there? It's super cool.)

Isn't she just lovely? Not only is she beautiful, but she has such a strong and steady spirit. She's funny and kind and sincere and I always enjoy her company.  She has all the ambition and optimism of a senior, but she also has dedication and passion and I know she's going to go far. That's cliche to say, but really I mean that she is just such a great person that no matter where she goes, she's going to go there with grace and dignity and tenacity. I really admire and love her. 

The One With Jude Tesla

Sometimes I have no words. No words and only photographs.

I love this new mama like a sister. Seeing her grow into motherhood with grace and thoughtfulness is a great privilege. And her baby boy is a little love bug. I'm so happy I get to be a part of their lives.

(And then dad came home. He's pretty awesome, too.)

Some of these pictures are getting scooted up to the top of my all-time favorites list. Love these three so much.

The One With the Mother's Day Portraits

It's past Father's Day and I'm telling you about the portraits I took of Steve's family for his mom for Mother's Day. It could have been disastrous, but considering these included 8 grandchildren ages 4 and under, I think these turned out pretty well.

The One With A Boy and His Dog

There is nothing quite like the friendship between a boy and his dog.

My brother, Chad, had to say goodbye to his dog, Anni, last week. We were all heartbroken to see her go after a short illness, but I think she had a pretty good life being Chad's sidekick for the last 12 years. They were always on adventures together, constant companions, best friends.

I still remember the day my dad and I picked her up to bring her home to Chad. She was a little furball, just rolly-polly blonde fluff. She kept her furballness her whole life, and had such a loyal and gentle personality. And eventually she grew to love stealing chocolate whenever she could, even though it made her pretty sick afterwards. She was a big part of our family, and we'll all miss her.

Right now I feel like having a dog would be way too much work, but every time I saw Chad and Anni together it made me want to rush out and get a puppy for Henry immediately. Because every little boy needs a dog. They just do.