Cheryl & Nathan

I was so fortunate to be a part of Cheryl and Nathan's wedding. I helped Cheryl and her mom with a lot of the planning over the past few months and it was so fun to see it all come together. Cheryl had a vision of what she wanted her wedding to be and it all came together perfectly. It was such a fun wedding - from the colors, to the people involved, to the decorations, to the laid back feeling of the whole day. I've spent so much time with both Cheryl and her family over the past year so it was extra easy to photograph this wedding - everything just clicked!

Congratulations Cheryl and Nathan! I'll miss you lots!!

Back to reality....

As we were leaving the beach on Saturday morning, I saw a sign that said "Leaving Topsail Island....Resume normal behavior". That pretty much said it all for me. We had a great week with the Chiles' at Topsail Island....but now we are back to reality in Van Wert. Our house was right on the beach and we squeezed in every minute of beach time we could. I know I have said this before, but I was meant to live on the beach. I love the sounds, the smells, the ocean breeze, the sand, and most of all the laid back pace. I even feel better health-wise when I'm at the beach (well....except for all the stairs leading to the beach house). I managed to spend lots of time in my beach chair reading 5 books, watching the kids play, soaking up the sun, and even sneaking in some naps.

Of course I have lots of fun beach photos to share...but I also have to start working on all the photos I took BEFORE we even left (Cheryl's wedding, Brenda and Jill's visit, and 2 photo sessions). I'll be updating the blog lots, so keep checking for photo sharing!!

So many photos....so little time....

In the past week and a half I managed to take around 2100 photos. Shocking, isn't it?

Photos of....

• Cheryl and Nathan's wedding
• fairy dress up in the woods
• a trip to Grandma L's
• Jenna's tumbling birthday party
• a trip to Lake Erie and the beach
• a photo session with Jackson, Zachary, and Benjamin
• a photo session with Becca and Gabby
• the kids and cousins swimming
• the kids and cousins hanging out at Grandpa and Grandma's
• a trip to the cupcake store
• and probably lots more things I'm forgetting!

It's killing me that I don't have time right now to sit down and start editting them, but packing for the beach and getting our house cleaned up are my top priorities right now. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a super boost of energy tomorrow and get everything done and still have time to sit down and do a little editting. Just be sure to check back in a week for LOTS of photo sharing.

Miss Jenna

Just sharing more photos from Jenna's eight year old photos. She is always willing to be my little model - even in the hot, hot sun! Sorry for the photo overload....I just happen to think she is extra cute and extra photogenic!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo....

We spent the morning of Jenna's birthday at the Fort Wayne zoo with my cousin Kara and her two girls - Rylee and Kinley. It was extra chilly for a July day, but the cool weather was perfect for the animals. Most of them were really active, except for the lions - they were content just lying on their hill. The main reason for our visit was to see the giraffes. Rylee LOVES giraffes and was so excited to go see them. She even had a fabulous giraffe skirt she wore! We went to the observation area of the giraffe exhibit where Rylee was able to feed a giraffe lettuce. We even got to pet a giraffe - amazing!

Kara - THANKS so much for making the trip and inviting us along. We had a great time!

WARNING....zoo photo overload! I had lots of fun taking photos of all the animals!


Kinley (in the stroller), Rylee, Jacob and Jenna....


Jacob, Rylee, and Jenna in a tent in the African section of the zoo....

Miss Kinley(who also had a giraffe print outfit to wear!)....

Jenna and Rylee playing the African drums....

Rylee admiring the giraffes....

The birthday girl!

Miss Kinley....looking for more snacks!

Up close and personal with one of the giraffes....

Kinley - still smiling....

Jenna watching the sea lions....

Turning 8....

• Star shaped donuts for breakfast
• A trip to the zoo with your cousins, your mom, and your brother
• McDonald's for lunch
• a quick trip to Children's Place for a fun new birthday shirt
• playing baseball
• DQ ice cream cake (with purple sprinkles and flowers)
• celebrating with your family
• lots of fun presents

Turning 8 just doesn't get much better than that!

EIGHT!!!

Someone turns EIGHT today....and she is pretty excited about it! We are headed to the Ft Wayne Zoo this morning with my couisn Kara and her two girls. Later Jenna has a baseball game and then we will celebrate with DQ ice cream cake and gifts!

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY JENNA!!!

PS Lots more photos from a very fun photo session with Jenna will be coming in the next few days.