Missouri Kids

This year we traveled to Independence for Thanksgiving. We had a great time visiting everyone, but didn't feel like we stayed long enough. We, along with Angela and her family, stayed with Jonathan. We woke up to the cutest red-headed kids. See for yourself...

The many faces of Avery and just as many personalities. She is full of energy and love.

Benjamin is one of the coolest kids. He's willing to do anything and go anywhere. He joined Garrett and Jonathan on a walk, went geocaching at night with them and Andrew, and was always up for whatever was happening.


Daniel was just plain cute. He would sneak out of bed at night after Jay and Angela went to bed and go exploring.

Sara's kids:

Rebecca is definitely a red head through and through. With a fiery personality and full of curiosity. She had broken her wrist just before we arrived, but that didn't slow her down a bit.

Thomas is the squishiest, cuddliest, cutest baby ever. He was born with Downs Syndrome six months ago and he is making strides every day toward being strong and capable. He was accomplishing many new things while we were there. Go Thomas go!!

Jordan's daughter:

Samantha is a tween. She sings and plays the piano beautifully and is also a pretty young lady as you can see. She has an adventurous spirit, joining in with the guys on a nighttime geocaching adventure.

I failed to get pictures of Joshua, Sara's 16 yr old son. It's a shame too, cause he would have rocked the camera. And of course, Andrew would not cooperate a bit, but then again he is probably the most photographed kid in the family anyway. It was so fun to see everyone, but it's always way more fun to see the kids!

**I just learned how to do side by side photo layouts. With more practice I'll find ways to be more creative with them.

Hunter Farms

Every year we take a trip out to Hunter Farms to enjoy the harvest and play in the hay maze. During the month of October the place is so crowded. I think we figured out a way to enjoy it without the big crowds. We visited on November 1 - we were one of two families there. We had the place all to ourselves. It is a lot more fun when it's crowded, but due to illnesses we couldn't go in October. We still had a great time.

The chickens kept us company

The produce looked delicious. Check out the huge head of lettuce!

Garrett loves old equipment like this.

The only thing we missed was the tractor pull ride out to the pumpkin patch.

The piglets made us laugh

The reindeer loved to be pet.

After the pumpkin patch we stopped at Twanoh State Park and watched the salmon run in the creek. They were headed back to open water after laying their eggs so they were pretty exhausted and many died right in front of our eyes.

Halloween

This was Andrew's second time being a magician for Halloween. When I made the cape it hit the ground when he wore it. He has loved it since and enjoys wearing it throughout the year.

Another Great Family

I met Christy (the mom) when she was walking along our road one day. They recently moved in a few houses down from us and happened to be LDS, so we have some things in common. What a beautiful family she has! I've never photographed this large of a family, so it was a definite challenge for me, but I had fun and learned a lot. I'm always grateful that someone trusts me enough to take the time and allow me to photograph them.

A Delightful Family

This is my friend and hairstylist with her family. What a delightful family! It has been such a pleasure to be able to photograph her daughter last month and now her family. Their home is gorgeous - who needs a studio with landscaping like theirs.
After we finished with the photographs they showed me their beautiful gardens and shared their produce with me. The Asian pears are as juicy and delicious as they look.

This was one of the smaller zucchini. Amazing and so good!

The Cutest Little Girl

Riley was in true model form today and changed her wardrobe four times and posed like a pro.

The umbrella wasn't quite useful, but she looked cute!

A Husky fan, through and through. Big sis Caylee and Aunt Mischelle ought to be proud. Sorry Steve and Heidi!

Taming the Cougar...

In her new dance outfit

And finally her Halloween costume

Soccer

Andrew is having fun with soccer this year. His teammates are all great players and his coaches are very encouraging and patient. His first game was last Saturday and we are still talking about how well he played. Can't encourage that boy too much, ever. He laps it up and promises to do even better the next time, because he loved the feeling of playing so well. I've never seen him work so hard at a sport as I did at that game...at least the second half anyway. He got right in there and blocked kicks, stole the ball, and even passed to a teammate for a goal. We are so proud of him.