Miss Abigail, the darling little angel from THIS post, brought her little sister in to meet me a couple of weeks ago.  Little Evelyn was the perfect model – sleeping the entire session for us. We played with hats and headbands and snuggled in with big sis’, mommy and daddy – all with beautiful results…

Patrick, and his adorable big sister Ellie, are two children out to steal my heart.  They are just too cute – one can only smile and nod at any request they have, or trouble they get into.  They are truly icing on the cake of an beautiful family.

The little guy was all smiles for his 6 month session – even with a final wardrobe change into “take your son to work day” formal wear, he never stopped being happy. Ellie showed some I-am-two-and-proud-of-it sass, but really, it’s hard to take her sass as anything but charming.

I just love this time of year as I look back at the blog and see all the fabulous bellies, new babies and families that I had the opportunity to photograph this past year. I adore what I do and feel so lucky that so many people decide that I am the photographer they want to hire to capture these precious moments in their lives.

So I leave you with this slideshow of all the portraits featured on the blog from 2009. I have a lot of exciting things planned for 2010 and can’t wait to share them with you!

Miss Logan just finished up her babyJacks sessions with a quick session at DC Ranch Market Street. She was a tad unhappy with all the proceedings – I think her new teeth were NOT what she had in mind for a birthday present. Poor girl!

Here are a few favorites:

I was excited to get an email from Miss Kristen’s mom a few months ago saying she needed to schedule a 1 Year session for her newest little girl. I’d photographed her first daughter, Tara, in July 07 and I always LOVE to see how families grow over the years. We set a date just after her first birthday.

Kristen was a true delight – beautiful eyes and a gorgeous smile. 

I really have to admit that my new favorite location to shoot casual, fun family sessions is Saguaro Ranch Park in Glendale. Every time I am there I find new, fun areas to explore and LOVE to watch the kids chase after the chickens when the shoot is all done.

Andy, Matt and Grace (and their Mom & Dad) were such a joy to work with! Here are a few from their session.

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!

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!