OH – she’s had a babe!

One of my absolute dearest friends from college went and had herself a babe.  Sigh.  Such loveliness.  I was fortunate to be invited to be a part of her birth, and a more gorgeous mama I have not yet seen – and I believe all laboring women possess a glowing wonder that pushes them to near-goddess status.  But those pics are not really mine to share – but some of the pics I did at one month…well, here you be:

Oh – I am already so happy to know you little girl.  And isn’t that hair the best thing you’ve ever seen?

An equation I’m figuring out

Good friends with young kids + formal shoot = don’t work (for me).

I laughed my BUTT off trying to get a formal family shot for the Christmas cards with these guys – I’m creating a “outtakes” version for them that I’ll post at some point.

But at least there were a few other worthy shots….

Next year I don’t think we can tell the kids we’re doing a shot for the Christmas cards – it’ll have to be a super secret snuggle on the couch affair methinks.

And the last class….

Seriously – these kids were so flippin’ lovely to be around!  I’m kinda sad not to be going back this next week….

I kinda can’t wait til next year!!

Seriously – what a joy….

Here are some of my favs from the first of two kindergarten classes….

Okay, okay – I gotta stop!  I think I’d post one pic of every kid – I seriously have a “favorite” pic out of each set.  Goodness – beautiful light and great kids = a fantastic day!

Hiking Parfrey’s

Every fall my dear friend Lana has hiked Parfrey’s Glen up near Baraboo – and I mean every fall since she was a youngin’.  My girl and I have been fortunate to be included as a part of the family the last few years and this hike has now become tradition for us as well.

It was a gray and cloudy day – this pic wasn’t converted to b&w:

We saw our first snow at the end of the hike – and what a hike! – with the early summer floods having destroyed the boardwalk.  My almost-7yo just kept saying “now, this is real hiking Mama!”

Since we do it every year at the same time it is a nice chance to get photos of everyone – I believe the first year we took pics in film, I’ll have to scan them at some point….

Here’s Lana, who is nearly impossible to catch looking “real” in a photo – I almost got it here along with Ms. M. who is 4 this year….

And E, who is 6 like my girl….

Ms. M with a cheesy grin…

I hope they are always such good friends….

My girl, who will soon be 7….

Ms B. trying not to get her pic taken….

And the end of the hike, as it was getting dark, and we still had the return hike to do….

The kids were troopers hopping rocks to get over the stream in the absence of bridges and the boardwalk- Ms. M ended up with a wet foot but she was relatively uncomplaining about it.  We ate our picnic huddled in the car, but it was still a really joyful afternoon.

Gratuitous Food Shots

Who can resist taking photos of food when it is this dang well presented?  The only difficulty is resisting diving in long enough to snap a few shots!

Yea – ya’all would be that happy if you were about to dive into dessert at Muramoto after a yummy meal!

Dearheart folk

These are some very close friends of mine, whom I have the privilege of photographing informally whenever we are together, but to have the opportunity to do a more formal shoot was great.  It was a bummer we were working against the clock (sob – what happened to our light til almost 10p days? – fall is here…)

Thanks you guys – and I’m totally taking Huck up on the challenge of doing some shots with the ever-present hat in its rightful place.