a birthday sunday

what a wonderful sunday!

i got to sleep in with ray, listen to an awesome message at church, take pictures of cute birthday kids, take pictures of our friends from our lifegroup, and get to know some of our neighbors better. aand, the weather was fabulous. the only thing i didn't do was post this blog yesterday. and yesterday was important, because the oldest of my texan siblings turned 16 yesterday! now here's where i could go into the 'he's getting so old! boy i remember when i used to change his diapers, wipe his nose, and watch him play with his cars while only wearing his underwear!' i could, but i won't. #1 it might embarrass him. #2 it might make me sound old. so we won't go there. instead, i'll let you see what a handsome young man he is

speaking of birthdays, one of our neighbors/friends called to see if i could take some pics of their 2 kids for an invite for their joint bday party at the end of the month. i said of course! (this is the man who resurrected my computer, so i owe him more than a few pics!)

here's their little girl, avery

and their son, mason

what a better way to say birthday than with icecream!

now i have a clarification from my last post. i guess you can't me married and have a surprise with out it being a baby. it's not a baby! or at least not ray and i's baby. it may be the baby of my and my photography (clue #1). so don't worry darla, you will not find out your a grandma by looking at your computer screen. :c)

an update, prayer request, and one cute kid

meet austin. he is my next door neighbor, and one super cute kid.

i was able to babysit autsin yesterday while his mom took his younger sister to a doctors appointment.

this is where the prayer request comes play.

austin's younger sister, kate, is a cute little girl who's about to turn 1. the problem is, developmentally, she's not like most almost-one-year-olds. although she's been seen by specialist after specialist (GI, nuero, and even a geneticist), no one knows whats wrong, yet. so i'm asking for prayer. prayer for healing, a diagnosis, trust, comfort, rest, knowledge, and a miracle. i know sarah and chris will appreciate it. and i will too, so thank you in advance! i'll keep you posted on any updates.

in other news, i've got several big things about to happen. one's a secret, but will hopefully get to be revealed very soon :c) another is that i will be starting my 3rd semester of teaching next week. i'll be teaching the same clinicals i did last semester (senior nursing students at mercy, then st. anthony). my schedule is quite full for the next 2 months, with deaconess every mon/tues. teaching every wed/thurs. the next 3 saturday's i'll be shooting weddings. then the 3 friday's after that, i'll shoot 1 wedding and attend 2. whew! my anniversary is also at the end of next month, with a possible camping trip to celebrate.

i'm looking forward to most of it, hesitant about some of it, but grateful for every last bit :c)

michelle&boz- expecting

michelle & boz are one of the couples in our lifegroup.

they drank the water.

ray and i are vetoing the water, for now.

while 2 of the 5 women in our group were pregnant this summer, michelle and boz found themselves expecting as well! they are a super sweet, caring, and very cute couple, so i can't wait to see the kid they produce! michelle and boz definitely have their own style (something i wish ray and i had..), so for their pics, they wanted to shoot in the paseo district of okc. i loved the idea.. here's some of what we got~

isn't she a cute mom-to-be?

the paseo is full of color and fun!

michelle spotted this wall.. i'm a fan!

and she told me not to post this pose.. but i love it!

thanks guys for a great evening! i can't wait to see the little man :c)

joia's 6 month

hey there! sorry for the pause.. i've been to tulsa, a kickball tournament, 2 wedding showers, and 2 days at deaconess! but i wanted to finish showing the last session from the family pics i took in guthrie. here's the gardners, with their 2 daughters, jaisa and joia. joia follows right behind her cousin isaac in age, and i really enjoyed getting to see how both of them have grown.

here's the gardners

a happy family, huh?

i love both of the girls expressions here

too precious (and totally unprompted)

joia wasn't happy unless she was on the move..

but i don't know what this face is for?!

a happy profile

isn't she a doll?

to me, this says comfort and security

just a couple more family sessions after this to catch you up!

isaac's 6 month

did i mention in my last post that i love guthrie?

i do, and i love this couple. mindy and ryland are a great couple who deserve every bit of the cute little bundle the were blessed with. but now this bundle is growing! i'm amazed that within 6 months, all these newborn baby boys turn into such cute little men! isaac is no exception :c)

our first stop of the day (which turned out to be my fav)

way to work it mindy!
can we color?!

i'm trying to work with lines more..

a nice family portrait

ha.. love it!

okay, hear this.. i told isaac that since his dad is such a great guitarist, he should make his best guitar pick face.. not bad! :c)

and here's his cute 'non-guitar' face

some family time in the alley

look at those baby blues!

too cute

isaac may have suffered injury from this shot (i hope not, mindy?) but he does look stellar..

this kid can work it for the camera!

haha, he doesn't look to happy to have some of momma's lovin' left on his face!

mindy and ryland, it was great to see you guys again! you've got a sweet little boy.

and for the rest of you, one more session from this same shoot to come!

a family session

you've already seen the russell's on several different occasions, mindy & rylands maternity and newborn shoot, and the gardner's christmas shoot, but on the 8th, we combined and added to get what i call a big-'ol family pic! these were all shot in downtown guthrie, where mindy and ryland live. guthrie used to be the capitol of oklahoma, and still has a ton of character and color.. i love it!

i know it's not 'pretty', but i really like this pic.

see.. i can make them smile (sometimes..)

stunning

the whole clan

mindy wanted pics by this old railroad car ( i love my clients cool ideas :c)

surprise surprise when a real train flew by us..

ma and pa

some oldness, some color, and some flair!
good lookin' family!
can you tell i liked the train?
another solid family portrait
also at mindy's request, we had a little frame fun..

thanks for stopping by! more to come from this same shoot..