It was a tough decision to make – shoot at beautiful Anthem Park north of town or explore Scottsdale Civic Plaza. I knew I had two gorgeous girls to work with and either location would be fantastic, but the lure of ice cream and arcade games won out as soon as their mom mentioned that they LOVE the Sugar Bowl in Old Town Scottsdale. There is not much of a better treat for after a wonderful portrait session, so we were Civic Plaza bound…

… us and HUNDREDS of white tents. I neglected to check the Civic Plaza calendar to realize that there was a HUGE artfest being held on the Plaza grounds.

Thankfully, after we finally found each other (thank goodness for cell phones!) we had a fabulous session! Still plenty of prime locations for shooting and looking at the final images you’d never guess there were a see of white tents all over the place. Huge thanks to E & L’s parents for having to gorgeous girls who more than deserved their post-session visit to the Sugar Bowl!

For the past 4.5 years we’ve had the awesome opportunity for our children to attend Shadow Rock Preschool which is located near our home in North Central Phoenix.  Kevin absolutely LOVED the teachers and classmates and Sarah is enjoying herself this year as well.

This upcoming Saturday, December 5th, Shadow Rock Preschool will be hosting a holiday shopping boutique as a fundraiser for the preschool. I will be participating in the event along with many other great vendors/business.

I had the pleasure of photographing Mr. Hudson a couple weeks ago. Such a cutie at 6 months of age! While he was born in AZ, I think he’s a TX boy at heart since both his mom and his dad are from the Lone Star State.  I predict cowboy boots, a Stetson and Wranglers in his future… but throw in some wrap around Ray-Bans for an AZ touch.  Give him 16 years or so and he will be making the girls giggle and sigh with a simple wink.

But for now, he’s a little munchkin who likes to cuddle with Mom & Dad and loves his stuffed lion doll…

Did I mention the gorgeous eyes?

I have to start off by saying that  I’ve been a neglectful photographer and haven’t scoped out new locations for a LONG time and thus have missed a GEM of a location on the west side of town. Saguaro Ranch Park in Glendale is truly a delightful place to visit even when you are not having portraits taken! For those who are unfamiliar with the venue, it’s a historic farm and still boasts many of the old buildings, tractors and other rustic accessories that were required to operate a farm during the late 1800s into the early 1900s.

Such a location was the perfect spot for Jackson & Owen – two delightful boys who knew exactly how to charm this photographer. I wanted to pack them both into my car after the session and haul them home with me.  I’ve decided that my Sarah should marry little Owen and that Jackson & my Kevin would delight in bucket after bucket of Legos.

Here are a few from J & Os session.

There are various chickens running around the farm area of the park. If you EVER need to find a way for your young children to burn off loads of energy, I guarantee you that chasing chickens will lead to tired children.

You definitley will recognize these two beauties – Maddie & Melanie were featured on the blog a few months ago when they came in for a studio session to capture Melanie at age two.  Dad, however, couldn’t make the session, so Mom decided that we’d follow up once the weather cooled off for a family session outdoors. And BOY has it cooled off!  With temps in the low to mid-50s, it was a bit chilly for our morning session at DC Ranch Market Street, but the results were worth it. Huge thanks to Mrs. G for the chance again to photograph her gorgeous girls and to Mr. G who just smiled and went along with it all!

Miss Brittan has a birthday this weekend, so I REALLY want to share this sneak peek now so all her family and friends can see what an adorable gal she is.  Big thanks to her Mom and Dad for the privilege to photograph their little girl.

Hunter turned 9 months and to keep in line with the portraits we took for his older brother Carter, we captured some ADORABLE portraits of him in his monkey Halloween costume.  We even prop’d it up a bit with a banana!

What a difference a few months make! In May, for Andrew’s 7 month session, his big ’sis Avery didn’t want much to do with him (must have been that 3-year old “diva” stage!) But she was happy as a clam sitting with her little brother this time around (maybe he was drooling less?) As you can see, hugs and kisses (and smiles!) were abundant as we had a fabulous time up at DC Ranch Market Street.

Miss Avery with Pongo.

I’ve managed to make it onto the Costume Express (www.costumeexpress.com) mailing list. I believe this year the first catalog arrived in June.  My son immediately latched on to the copy of it and proceeded to circle every costume in the book that he wanted. Then, in July, the 2nd copy of it arrived (I am not sure these companies are very eco-conscious!) and he once again circled all the costumes he wanted, but he paid particular attention to the Special Forces costume that featured a bullet proof vest and gas mask (two items he did NOT currently have in his arsenal of dress-up gear.)  Then, with the arrival of the THIRD catalog in August, I decided to actually get ahead of the game this year, and ordered the costume. Then the game of “don’t tell Kevin what is in the box” started. Around September 15th I gave in to the incessant questions (aka – whining!) and opened his costume for him. He did a really great job of playing with it carefully and kept track of all the pieces.

After last year’s disaster of a costume for Sarah (from age two to three she refused to wear dresses) I was a little bit skeptical that she’d go along with being Minnie Mouse. Thankfully she’s seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse enough to really enjoy Minnie and she also gave in to wearing dresses in September so the costume was a hit.

Here are some pictures from two weeks ago when we were visiting my parents in Des Moines. We took the kids to “Night Eyes” at Blank Park Zoo and the kids enjoyed getting dressed up to go trick or treating at the zoo.

I met this little guy the day after I arrived home from my trip to the Midwest. He was SUCH a delight and SO adored by his mom and dad. A couple of my favorite from the session: