184/365 | a quiet moment with her ba ba
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185/365 | headed to one of my favorite places for a shoot, st. joseph, michigan
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186/365 | hanging around the old barber shop on round lake
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187/365 | happy 4th!
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188/365 | nate
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189/365 | waiting for dinner at captain jack’s
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190/365 | the boys coming in from their last wakeboard run
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177/365 | ring around the rosy, playing in the yard at Gigi and Pop Pop’s new house with cousins
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178/365 | blue moon
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179/365 | baptism day for B! With her fabulous godparents, who just happen to be the maid of honor and best man from our wedding nine years ago – at this very same country church. And I’m cheating here and adding another shot, of B and her grandfather. Grandpa also just so happens to be a recently ordained deacon, and he was able to do the honors and perform his very first baptism on his very first granddaughter.
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180/365 | these two weren’t old enough to remember each other from the last time they met – but they had a blast together after their initial 30 minute period of awkwardness. really awesome to have my bff’s oldest son and my oldest have such a great time together!
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181/365 | my mother-in-law brought us some beautiful hydrangeas (my favorite flower!) from her garden
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182/365 | the legacy just ain’t what she used to be…
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183/365 | cousins
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This past spring was a tough one for outdoor photo sessions, it just kept raining on my parade all the time! I had to postpone many sessions multiple times. Luckily my clients are awesome and adaptable and willing to roll with just about anything!
I lucked out when I met this sweet little family and we were able to squeeze in their mini session in between the rain. Finally some great weather! Aren’t they crazy photogenic too? Thanks, C family!
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Last weekend, my brother and I went to Gregory Beach to visit the cottage we lived in as kids, Happyour. My dad grew up in that same cottage, one of a string of family-owned and operated cottages that are still owned by that same family, happy to say! Each cottage was given a name by Catherine, the daughter of the owners when she was a child. The same name signs are still on the front and back of every cottage: Sameyet, Chirup, Happyhere, Catherine M., Bayview, Idlewild…the list goes on and then there is our favorite – Happyour.
The path that leads down to the lake is the exact same – railroad ties kind of stick out here and there as makeshift steps. We used to spend hours making “rivers” pouring buckets of water down those steps and that hill.
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Pretty sure this view is the same one my grandparents would have seen looking up from the lake. I love that about these cottages, so many great memories!
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July is probably my favorite month, I love summer, I love spending time in Michigan and out on the water, and the 4th of July has always been my favorite holiday. The weather has continued to be kind of strange, we haven’t always able to get out on the water because of the rain storms…but we are out there as much as possible!
Even though I’ve got pictures of all of these wonderful outdoor scenes, activities, and sunsets, I’m choosing this one for the month. An indoor night shot, of my littlest guy asleep, with his camping lantern ablaze right above him. My boys are so excited about their first camping trip of the season (happening tonight, actually, as this blog post gets published, in the sand dunes on the shores of lake Michigan)…they’re so excited that they have rigged their lanterns on their bunkbeds, and inexplicably fall asleep with these things blaring right in their faces. And so I sneak in to shut them off a couple hours after they fall asleep. And I couldn’t resist taking a few shots of this scene with Sully taking watch over my sweet baby.
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Please follow me to NYC to see what my dear friend Stacey has been up to in July! She’s been on some pretty amazing trips lately, maybe we’ll see some of her gorgeous shots from out west…
I love that time in the hospital, the first 24 hours with your new baby. It’s fast and slow, it’s a blur. You’re in tons of pain, but you really don’t feel it. You don’t care. Because you get to fall in love again.
I had the pleasure of photographing my beautiful friend Nancy and her new sweet boy in the hospital, when he was just 22 hours new on this earth. He is her fourth (fourth!!) baby! And she was kind enough to let me in to that personal time and space to capture some of their sweet, fleeting, first moments together.
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