Happy Holidays!

I uploaded my last order last night so I'm closing up shop for the holidays (with the exception of a newborn session on Saturday I am so excited about!). It has been a great and rewarding year. Thanks to everyone who shared their families with me. And here's a little peek at our 2008 holiday card.

Best,
Jen

Cookie making time!

After many readings of Gingerbread Friends this year, we made some gingerbread cookies (the recipe is included in the book!). So fun.

Happy Holidays, big guy!

A quick sneak peek for this little guy's mom and dad. I had a great time with him - he is just 3 days younger than my son! Enjoy!

The weather outside is frightful!

So I got out the seamless paper and had some fun (for me, anyway) indoors with my kids this weekend.


Love this new winter coat on our daughter:

Our son wasn't crazy about trick or treating this year - just eating the candy! So I took a photo of his costume just for the memory.

Stay warm!

World's worst blogger

Seriously. I have been so busy with life + work that I've totally fallen off the blogging thing. I'm going to make an effort to catch up this week.I had a great session with this family - I had never been to this park before and I was just wowed when we got there. Thanks so much for the idea!

Fall Colors

We rented a cabin in Wild River State Park last weekend. Our daughter couldn't believe how beautiful the colors were - she just kept saying, "It's like a dream!".

Thrilled!

My friend V and I met on a message board a few years ago. As it turns out, our husbands knew each other from a previous job. Small world, isn't it? I was thrilled that V and her husband asked me for a session to capture a quiet moment before their new arrival enters the world. I am so excited to meet their little one, too!

Apple Orchard

We visited Afton Apple Orchard last weekend. It's become a family tradition. The kids love to run and play in the giant hay bale and we all love to ride the tractor wagon out to the apple fields. This year, a family friend joined us. She's expecting a wee one quite soon and she graciously allowed me to snap a few photos to remember the moment. Doesn't she have a beautiful belly?

Beautiful Girls

Have you ever seen the movie Beautiful Girls? It's set in Minnesota and stars Matt Damon and a bunch of other great names from the late 90s. That's neither here nor there, but if there ever were the quintesential Minnesota beautiful girls - it's these ladies. They were a referral (I LOVE referrals - contact me to see how everyone benefits!) from my friend Jen.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

My friend Vivienne invited me out to take photos of her dear son for his 3rd birthday. Isn't he beyond adorable? Happy birthday!

New baby brother

And baby makes four! My friend Aimee was so great to have me over to work with her kids. They were so sweet and baby brother was a peach. Don't these kids have the most amazing brown eyes?

Another family of boys!

I just adore these guys. Not only are they handsome, they are so polite and well behaved. I really had a great time with them down by the Mississippi River at Hidden Falls Park. I'm so glad their mom suggested the location.

Minnesota State Fair

We made a day of the Minnesota State Fair recently. What's not to love? Pronto Pups (corndogs), bacon on a stick, butter sculptures, animals of all sorts?

Family Reunion

We had a great family reunion in Atwater, MN recently. Lots of horseback riding, campfire time, potlucks, haywagon rides - it was just great.

Garden Update

We have eggplant!

You really have to have a passion for eggplant to grow it in Minnesota.

The first summer we had a garden, I didn't really put much thought into it. If you've ever planted vegetable seeds before, you know that on the back of the package there's handy information about the germination time and length of growing season. Yeah, I didn't bother to read it. I just plunked the seeds in the ground around Memorial Day and hoped for the best.

By the time the first frost was looming in early October, our eggplants were about 1" long. It took us all summer to grow miniature eggplants - eggplants started from seed need waaaay more time than Minnesota's growing season allows.

Last year I was ambitious and started eggplant seeds indoors around March. Carefully transplanted the baby plants around Memorial Day. Then our son arrived almost two months early in mid-July and our entire garden was a bust. I wasn't around to water, my husband had his hands full already and our neighbor did her best but it just wasn't meant to be.

This year I finally got smart and just bought some starter plants at the nursery. It's mid-August and I already have some awesome sized eggplants ready to pick. YAY! It just took me three years to get here.

Volunteering

I recently began volunteering my services to a great Twin Cities organization - Family & Children's Service. I had a blast last week with some kids in their School Success program. Thanks for being so welcoming and all the great smiles!

Little Princesses

I had the pleasure of a session with my friend Jen's girls this weekend. We explored St. Kate's campus together. Aren't the doors a gorgeous backdrop for these lovely little princesses?

How does my garden grow?

Quite well this year, despite how much I ignored it, forgot to weed and water. Bumper crop of tomatoes, too. This is also the first year we tried to grow broccolli and it was really tasty. I almost hated to pick it.