If they weren't family- I'd be in trouble! (2of2)

Well, I thought I'd use the last few minutes of the boys' naptime to make good on my final promise!  Here are some of my favorites from the newlyweds' late-fall shoot.

Meet my beautiful sister (and assistant!), Diana, and her daper husband, Paul!

The Sutton's are currently a family of 3- Diana, Paul and Joleene!

I love Diana's expression in this one

My sister is absolutely beautiful :)


Her hubby isn't too bad either ;)

Here are a few of my favorite black and white shots

All 3 Sutton's were a pleasure to shoot!  A special thank you to my hubby for assisting me in this shoot- he did a GREAT job!


And to close I thought I'd point out how much my beautiful sister looks like our beautiful Mom

PS- I will begin booking outdoor SPRING portraits soon! 
 Please let me know if you're interested!

ADOPTION CONFERENCE March 23-25!

A HUGE THANK YOU! to the beautiful people on the Orphan Care Team at our church for getting the word out about a conference for adoptive moms that is taking place just north of Atlanta the last weekend in March! The organization putting on the conference is:

Here's a little about them from their website:

A time for retreat…

Created for Care is a non-profit ministry designed to encourage, equip and bring rest to adoptive families through yearly retreats. Because leaving little ones can be difficult, we began our ministry with retreats for moms--but we record all of the sessions so both parents can benefit from the time of encouragement and insight shared from counselors and other adoptive moms. Our retreats always fill up quickly, and we truly believe God is in the midst of doing something amazing through them. He loves orphans too much to leave them orphans. And He loves your family too much to not lead you, love you and carry you on the rest of your journey as you raise your sons and daughters for His glory. Come join us at the next retreat...

The first retreat they planned for January filled up in just 9 hours so they decided to have a second retreat in March- and I'm going! According to the website there are still 70-some spots available so if you know of anyone that might be interested in attending please share this link with them.

I can't wait and hope to see some of you there!

If they weren't family- I'd be in trouble! (1 of 2)

So I've been promising to post the pictures I took of my parents and my sister and brother-in-law for MONTHS now!  Guess it's time I made good on it :).  My sister and I had a FANTASTIC time photographing my parents for their first "professional shoot" as they called it.  They wanted to have their picture taken to commemorate their 30th wedding anniversary in December.  These two have been married since they were 18 years old and they are as silly together today as I can only guess they were then.  Lets just say when I told them to "act natural" at the beginning of the shoot my dad started rattling off his Walmart shopping list to my mom, I mean what's more natural for him than that?... the laughs kept coming from that point forward!   

So here they are, Turner, Calvin and Ruth's grandparents:

Willie and Maria

They have great smiles :)

Sweet, right?

I think he likes her...

I think she likes him too.

Good-looking, happy people, right?

Seriously, this was one of my favorites shoots, ever!  I'm so grateful for my parents, for their love and for their unwavering support.  I pray the Lord continues to bless them with many, MANY more years as husband and wife.

To close I'll leave you with a glimpse of the "between takes" moments. 

Cocooning!

Guys! I think it's happening! I think I'm "nesting"!

But since we have been referring to Ruth as our "Mariposa" or "Butterfly" B  I think I should say "I'm officially Cocooning!"

It began with a quick trip to Hobby Lobby (for another project) where I saw a simple art piece that became the inspiration for her room.  It just screamed "buy me!" so of course I did!

Then I got the inspiration to officially put her name in her nursery.  A trip to Hobby Lobby, 4 chipboard letters, a little spray paint, scrapbook paper and a jar of modge podge later her room was officially hers!

And here's Ruth's nursery!
View #1

View #2

The finishing touch will be for my sweet sister to paint Ruthie's verse over the couch:

He will cover you with his feathers.

 He will shelter you with his wings.

 His faithful promises are your armor and protection  -Psalm 91:4

I thank my Heavenly Father for showing up in such a mighty way to excite and prepare my heart to meet my Ruth!  I pray that she comes home to us soon and that through the process His name is high and lifted up!