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When Nina told me she wanted either downtown or WMU’s campus for her engagement session, I was thrilled. In the middle of winter, the buildings and textures around such a wonderful college can add a lot to the potential for pictures.

I had corresponded with Nina a few times via email and finally met the super wonderful couple at a bridal show. I knew I their engagement session would be special.

We met on campus on a sunny winter day and quickly got started. The sun was nice, but there was a bone-chilling, hair blowing, wind for us to work around.

Luckily there are plenty of places to hide from the weather around campus.

Nina and Glenn brought along with them a very beautiful young lady to include in a few of the pictures.

Though chilled, we walked around in good spirits.

Glenn has an eye for art and found a few great places for pictures which added to the fun.

It was an absolute pleasure to spend an afternoon getting to know Nina and Glenn. It was easy to see how much they love each other.

Nina and Glenn — Congratulations on your engagement and longtime love for one another! Please view the rest of your engagement session here.

My little boy turned 7 last week. 7 is such a big number. He’s growing up. Fast!

I wanted to make it special. So, I told him we could invite a few friends… 7 to be exact. We decided on a winter theme and called it a “Snowflake Party”.

Invitations were created and distributed.

To keep 7 boys entertained for two hours, I believed we needed to keep them focused on games. So, a list of wintery, snow-flakey games were thought up (with help from the internet).

My first clue that I was crazy should have been my list of supplies needed for said games. The supplies included these:

But, I sometimes live in a fairy-tale world where 7 boys in one closed up house in mid-winter without the supervision of their own parents will be easy and perhaps even fun.

So, I decorated. Blue, silver and white balloons were placed around.

The whole family pitched in and made snowflakes to hang.

The table was set.

Boys began arriving.

Games started. “Ice Fishing” went off without problems.

The boys caught “fish” and the occasional boot.

It was during the Snowman game when things started things to go awry. The idea was to wrap up a teammate in toilet paper so they would look like snowmen…

Before long, this was happening…

So, in an effort to regain control, I moved the boys toward the crafting game. In my fairy-tale world, they would sit quietly and construct igloos…. out of sugar cubes and frosting. Which they did.

It was when the igloos started getting eaten that things got a little crazy.

After two hours, they left and an eerie quiet (and several thousand squares of 2-ply toilet paper) settled in our home.

We finally got snow after a December with very few flakes.

I love taking pictures in the snow. The white makes a perfect backdrop.

The snow brought excitement and play followed by a lot of lounging in the afternoon.

The barn kitty had never seen snow before. He was very apprehensive and only strayed out for some food then went back to bed.

The dogs played for a little while…

…then spent the rest of the day snoozing

and sleeping

and lounging.

One out of two kids played in it (the other one said his hands were too cold).

As the year 2011 comes to an end, I found myself looking through pictures taken during the year. I try to have them all organized every year by the time January 1 hits and it gives me an opportunity to recap the moments that made the previous 12 months special.

I have had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people in 2011. I am humbled by the love I have experienced as I worked alongside families and couples during their special days.

As I went through my days in pictures, I saw that there were many moments to remember. More than I could possibly post here. So, I picked out a few images from my time with family that hadn’t been used in other posts on this site as a recap of some of the many moments that were memorable to me. Please enjoy and know that I am looking forward to capturing your special moments in the upcoming new year.

Ice fishing with Grandpa…

I think this one is my favorite. It’s my little boy who was three years old at the time. He is leading a pony out to ride all by himself. He was so very brave to do that when you consider the pony is so much bigger than him. I love that he takes the world (and the pony) by the reins. This one will probably end up on my wall one day.

I am wishing you a happy new year and a 2012 filled with love, great health and wonderful memories.

The big guy in red is on his way. It’s true and I will never stop believing it. And we have all been extra super good this year. So, everyone in my house is buzzing around — partially due to excitement and mostly due to sugar intake.

Today was our annual sugar cookie decorating.

Each year we decorate special cookies to leave behind for Santa. Eggs are dropped and flour is flung and most of the time there’s more frosting and sprinkles on each cookie than it can possibly hold.

It’s a completely fun mess.

My boys work very hard on their cookies — making them little peices of art.

They put their hearts into designing them and making them just right.

I have a feeling Santa will absolutely love them.

Tomorrow night on Christmas Eve, they will each set a special cookie out on a Christmas plate just for the big guy in red. There will be a frothy glass of milk and some veggies left for the reindeer.

This is a time for love and peace. Whatever you do to celebrate the season — whatever traditions you may enjoy — I hope each of you has a magical day and a wonderful end to this amazing year.

Merry Christmas, friends!

I found myself without a traditional Thanksgiving dinner today. When I learned it would just be myself and my boys on Thanksgiving, I spent some time thinking of a way I could make the day meaningful for my kids.

What I came up with was a day of thankful giving. We talked about what we were thankful for and then thought of something we could do to give back those things to other people. We got supplies and made a list. The boys ran out of energy, so our list was cut a little short, but it was a very rewarding and special Thanksgiving.

Our first stop was the animal shelter.

We knew they would be closed, so we left the dogs and cats a little something outside.

Next stop was the senior citizen complex where we dropped of some steamy trashy romance novels…. I figured it would spice things up a little. We also took some lotto tickets to hand out to nice people. An elderly lady held my little boys hands and then asked him to pull her in her wheelchair down the hall. I think he would have if he was bigger. So, we got a nurse to help her out.

Then, we headed off to the hospital. It was cold outside as you can tell by their faces…

We left coloring books and crayons and stickers in the waiting rooms. I thought it would help parents and kids alike to have something to do. On our way out, an intoxicated man collapsed in the doorway and blocked our exit. Another nurse was called.

Next, we headed off to the homeless shelter. We had some stuffed animals for children there. We went inside and couldn’t find anyone. My kids have no fear whatsoever and just walked in and followed the sound of voices down a winding path of hallways.

There, we found a family with two small children. My boys gave them each a teddy bear. As we said “Have a happy Thanksgiving” to them, I turned back and saw the little boy about the same age as my little boy hugging his new bear so tightly. His eyes were closed and his face partially burried in it’s fur. Sweet beautiful little soul. I hope his Thanksgiving was as happy as mine was.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day filled with love. I know I am especially thankful. My list of things I am thankful for is as long as there are seconds in a day.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A quick moment. A few words. A sentimental thought or two…

None of these things seem significant enough to repay the people of this country who left their warm homes and everything they knew behind to protect us. None of it seems to demonstrate the amount of gratitude I feel toward the Veterans who served to protect this place where I live and it’s not enough to show my appreciation toward the husbands, wives, children, parents, siblings, and friends who lived parts of thier lives without these extra-ordinary people near.

I cannot begin to understand the depth of the sacrifices these Veterans have made. Because of them, I live a sheltered life in a country based on freedom with all of the comforts I could ever want for.

To celebrate Veteran’s Day this year, I will be taking some time to tell my children about these heros. I will tell them about their grandfathers and their great-grandfathers, and the many people who came before them to help protect us so that we can believe and be and have and live the way we do.

So, to all of the Veterans who may read these words and to the people who love them (myself included), I utter the words “thank you” and feel somewhat insignificant in the face of what you have done.

Happy Veteran’s Day.

One of the many reasons I love fall in Michigan is the breath-taking color show.

Reds, oranges, yellows, and browns fill area landscapes in their bright brilliance.

In the colors, the trees breathe their last breath of the year in a spectacular farewell as they tuck in for their dormancy during the winter months.

The year has come full-circle and the trees have completed what they set out to do in the springtime.

The colors of the fall are a celebration of the trees before they sleep.

They are a bouquet of color being offered to the sun for her days of cheerful shining…

…an “I love you” from the earth to the sky.

People love to photograph them and be photographed amongst them — the leaves and the colors of the fall trees.

Children like to run through them and jump in them.

I like to watch them float back and forth gently rocking to the ground as they spring off their trees like gentle parachutes. On the ground, the leaves will break down and turn into nutrients to feed the new growth of spring.

Happy fall, beautiful leaves.

I am excited to post that the little fuzzy chicks we purchased in May are all grown up. They follow us around where we go and they cluck and sing their chicken songs, filling our days with a now-familiar sound.

They are now creating eggs of their own.

The boys eagerly head out to open the nest box each day and collect the eggs. Sometimes they don’t all make it into the refrigerator, but it’s ok. Chickens are turnning out to be a wonderful family project.

When we headed out on Sunday morning to start our day, the ground was lightly covered in small white ice crystals — a beautiful frosty morning.

The colors of the day were muted by the shroud of dew frozen where it formed.

Leaves once soft and blowing were temporarily preserved by their cold morning clothing.

Soon it melted away leaving the chill behind to reveal a sunny fall day.