{congratulations julie and garen / fort smith engagement}

I'm excited about the upcoming October wedding of Julie and Garen that will occur at New Life Church in Fort Smith. We will be shooting Julie's full-blown bridal session soon......and of course the hard part will be keeping it under wraps until the big day!

{catching up on new clients!}

I will be posting our newly signed brides and grooms.....

{sweet, sweet babies!}

This precious little one had to be rescheduled a couple weeks go due to our pesky air conditioner going out on us. All three little ones are s adorable and sweet and were more than worth the wait! This is Miss E - she LOVES being held and wasn't too happy when mommy would lay her down, we still managed to get some super-sweet shots.

A little angel....

This is big brother C - little Miss E has twin brothers who are two. This lil' man was standing there just singing away to her....so sweet!

Daddy & Mommy's hands & hearts are full and overflowing in a great way with these little ones! It was so nice to meet all of you {finally!}

Many more to go through and it was difficult

to narrow it down, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek.......

{i.am.so.in.love....}

i've had my eye on this beauty for a long while now. yesterday, after i had lunch with the girls to celebrate {or mourn} the return to school of our little ones, we made a stop at the antique shop. i could not stop thinking about it....so i went and brought it home today.

as i pushed it down our lane to snap a picture of it...it was very difficult not to think of the mother that used this for her baby years ago.

amazing.

{technical difficulties}

continue as I update the website, my apologies......

{thank YOU!!}

I just noticed that I have over 40,000 hits to the website since I added the counter {with NO advertising}....thanks SO much! Word of mouth is amazing!

{pardon the mess}

I've been redecorating the website.....

{i am VERY happy to announce...}

We are about to "resume" construction on my new studio! The concrete has been waiting for months & months as I pulled the last plans because it wasn't quite right. And you cannot see the windows but it will be a complete 'natural light' studio - Rembrandt to be exact. {wink}

This one is perfect for what I need. It definitely does not have a modern look at all, but, will fit right in - very quaint.

CANNOT wait! Full speed ahead!

{a few more from last night}

I just LOVE these! Well, the fun we had was pretty great too!

We definitely wanted a country feel as Michael is from Texas! I am typically dodging our hay bales to keep them out of the shots - but, this just added to what we were looking for.

We had total cloud coverage and then the moment we got to the lake - full sun! But, we still got some sweet shots.....

LOVE this!

{michael + casey}

I had a very fun evening with Casey and Michael {so happy to finally meet you Michael!} These two will be leaving for Dominica next week for medical school. So, we snuck in a very quick "preliminary" engagement session. Although we had a very short amount of time and I was a little disappointed that we had absolutely no sun......I think what the clouds added to the portraits was perfect.

I have a sneak peek set up for you on the website... go to Galleries and scroll down to Michael and Casey.

Love you guys! So many more to come!

{inbox}

I typically do not share these...and just sweetly keep them to myself...but, I think I'll start sharing.

Because this is why I do what I do....

"OH SHANNON!!! Jay and I can't stop looking at the pics!!! We are in LOVE!!! I honestly cannot express to you how talented you are. God certainly gave you a gift and you make Him proud with how you use it! My heart is re-living the whole day and I could not be happier with what I have seen so far! We love you will all of our hearts! Can't wait to see the rest! XOXO!!!! Ashley"

It is funny how I fall in love with these couples myself. I had never met Ashley before the day she called me and not until the day we completed her bridal session. But, I can say without reservation that she will always be a dear friend from here on out.

Now, I just get to wait for babies...

I love you Ashley and Jay!!

{wedding feature}

I soooo loved their wedding! I put a larger than normal sneak peek on the website under the galleries of Jason & Ashley's wedding. They have their full, private gallery to view, but wanted to allow others to see a glimpse of their day. SUCH a sweet day. SUCH a sweeter couple! xoxo!

{summer's end}

We are sadly saying goodbye to summer here. School starts next week and although technically it is still summer, it's pretty much fall from here on out. {despite the 100+ degree days.}

It has been a flurry of activity with vacation, sessions, editing, uploading, family birthdays and new bookings over the last several weeks. I have a lot to catch up here on the blog - especially all of the new wedding couples I have on the calendar. So excited!

My fall calendar is already completely full for family/children sessions {if you contacted me, you are on the list, even if you have not received the date from me. I have several people looking at same dates and such and I am trying to work through that list - but, WILL get you taken care of!}. I do have one or two wedding weekends open for 2010.

So...

*I am a busy bee wrapping up edits and website uploads.

*I have a new website {still} in the works and will be back to work on that as soon as the boys are spending their days at school.

*I have my 2011 Christmas card templates purchased and will be placing sample cards up for your viewing. So fun!

*I have some super-cute new products to offer!

Be back soon! Enjoy these last days of summer!

I'm looking forward to fall........

{our home is without air conditioning today, so I am REALLY looking forward to fall at this very moment!}

{finally!}

The session was not rained out! Bless their hearts, they were rained out 3 times. But, we finally got it taken care of on Monday evening. And, it is just in time as their September wedding is quickly approaching.

Their wedding will take place at the Stone Chapel at Matt Lane Farms. I'm so excited! From what I've seen, the location will be amazing. Here are just a few to give them a sneak peek.....











And, these are compressed and then re-formatted for the blog upload - they are very sharp in "real life" - I just forgot to give you guys that little piece of information.

It was a pleasure! And, I am very much looking forward to your big day!

{such a sweetheart!}

This week has been the absolute hottest! And, this little gal was such a trooper as I drove her from place to place to place. That was as I hobbled around on my ankle {another story for another day}. But this little gal is so beautiful {inside & out}!

The shocking thing is that she is only 12! Of course my E was desperately trying to impress her. After all, she's only 6 years older. ha! He did come to me after she left to tell me "she is sooooooo, sooooooo pretty. "

I definitely have to agree! I had so much fun L & M! Thanks for putting up with my bum ankle?

These are just a random few, many more to come!

{we are back}

As wonderful as it was to get away, it's always even nicer to return home! We took a much needed vacation down south. Despite me being sick a large portion of the time....it was very nice!




I have yet to upload even a portion of our pictures. But, here are a few! And, our resort had no internet services {I didn't even know that was possible} so I was forced to go into a non-work state. ha!

Now to tackle the emails, messages and texts!