Baby ShaeLynn (and Taetem!)

Our new niece ShaeLynn was born on 8-8-08 in Minnesota. We were finally able to go see her last week and attend her baby shower. The hardest thing about living away from family is missing these little miracles. Every time we go home, I'm amazed at how quickly time passes. Babies are born, friends are married, and kids grow. We are fortunate to be able to go home as often as we do, but it never seems like enough.

Here is baby ShaeLynn, already at 6 weeks! She is full of expression. She has long limbs and the daintiest features. At first look, she looks just like her daddy. Then she starts smiling and looking around, and her beautiful mom's features start coming out. She's already an adorable baby, and I just know she's going to be a beautiful girl.
















Proud Grandma


...and Great-Grandma


...and Mom of course! Four generations :)



New Auntie


And Uncle


When mom (Lisa - Jamie's sister) smiles and coo's at her, she repeats it. SO cute!!




Taetem is another new baby in the family, just a few days old here. What a cutie!




Taetem with her lovely mom, Casidy


Cousins!!


Two very proud happy Grandmas :)

Flying!

I'm back in Michigan! I was supposed to take the train back home from Minneapolis again, but a couple days before I was supposed to leave, Jamie's co-worker called and asked if I wanted to hop on the company plane from Duluth instead.... um... YES! :D Woohoo!!

We got up early, watched the sun come up from the condo on Lake Superior.
(LOVE! Can I stay here, please?)







* * * * * * * * *

Then off to the hangar... time to fly!!!
Look at the control panel.... holy schnikies!



Todd (Pilot Extraordinaire) was a little sleepy after his first flight.... (Lol!)



It's okay, I'll drive.
Oops, I mean pilot. Fly. Whatever... you trust me, right?



It's cool, Todd. Enjoy your coffee. I've got this ;)





Flying over Lake Michigan!







Approaching the runway at GRR



Back on land!











Thanks again, Todd! I had an absolute blast! Can't wait for the next trip!!


* * * * * * * * *


Jamie, love and miss you baby :)
~ xoxoxoxoxox ~

On the Tracks

I'm blogging tonight from a hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm here to see our new niece, shoot a wedding, shoot a couple's anniversary session, and visit with family. Rather than flying or driving, I rode the train for my very first time. I spent the entire day in rail cars - no seriously, the entire day: from 7:30am Eastern time to 10:30pm Central time. It was such an experience! I'm so used to going-going-going, it was actually a unique sensation to be forced to simply sit and gaze out a window.

For the first few hours, I did just that. I watched the world float by from a completely different vantage point. To see everything from the back: the rail yards, junk yards and the backs of buildings was just so different from the blacktop and billboards that we're so used to seeing, I couldn't stop staring. The ever-changing landscape of exposed and peeling brick walls, boarded up windows, piles of scrap metal, rusting pieces of junked automobiles and rail cars...to the fields of wildflowers, wide open plains, and swollen rivers was enough to make me actually physically ache inside. I wanted to yell to the conductor to Stop the Train! I wanted to photograph everything, all of it, every bit, every rock, every flower, every rusted nail. I wanted to capture it, collect it in my small hands, in this little black storage container, to be exposed, relished, savored later. My head is abuzz with inspiration tonight (and admittedly a bit dizzy from 16 hours on swaying railcars...)

I can't wait for the rest of this trip.
In fact, I better get to sleep....
It's well into tomorrow already, and I don't want to miss anything ;)



*** I will have limited access to email and phone calls for the rest of the trip. ***
I'll be back in Michigan on Tuesday, September 23rd, but will be checking emails and voicemails when I can. Thank you for your patience and understanding if I don't answer your call or email right away :)

Baby Reese ~ Newborn

I had the pleasure of visiting baby Reese and his wonderful parents on Saturday. He's just a few weeks old, and so precious! He didn't want to miss a minute of the action; he was wide awake throughout his session. We did get a few of those wonderful sleepy newborn shots though :) Here are a few of my personal favorites.









Sara is such a great mom, her presence is so calming to little Reese.




Reese's dad, Terry, races cars here in West Michigan. In fact, he won this cup the day after Reese was born! Talk about a couple of great days! :) (Congrats again, Terry!!)