Merry Christmas!

I can't believe 2009 is almost over. Wow, what a year....my photography business tripled in the amount of session I did compared to 2008 and I have met so many nice people through my business. I was so touched by the amount of Christmas cards I received from my clients proudly displaying the images I created for them.....it is a bit surreal to me.

I have so much to be thankful for and this is the perfect time of year to sit back and reflect on all our blessings. I am the most thankful for my wonderful husband and 3 healthy little girls. Not a day goes by that I don't stop and think how blessed I am to have them in my life and to get up and hug them every single day. Thank you God!

Count your blessing during this special time of year and hug your loved ones extra tight. Merry Christmas to your family from mine.
xoxo
Lisa

Thanking my lucky stars for The Foundry

I am so thrilled with how this session turned out. We originally planned to meet at The Jewel Box in Forest Park. Well, that was short lived...we showed up to find it closed for a wedding. Lesson learned for me.....but thankfully I was with a very laid back group and we decided to relocate to The Foundry in St. Charles. The little guy in the middle is Hudson and I was lucky enough to photograph him as a newborn. His mom is one of the sweetest people and so gorgeous too....so I wasn't surprised that when she showed up with her sibs and niece and nephew that they would all be a good looking group. They were so fun and the kids were as good a gold. Once we got to The Foundry it was all up hill.....very fun place, lots of color...and beautiful natural light. I stumbled upon The Foundry a few weeks back with another family when we were in St. Charles and got hit with rain. I will be back again and again.....loved it!

How cute are they!


And the whole gorgeous group. LOVE the Christmas tree.

The Foundry has this wide open center area and between the pops of orange and cool cement floors...I was in heaven. It was the perfect spot for this hip group.

Gah! How great is Hudson's smile in this one.

Jennifer and her bro and sis....love this orange wall.

A favorite!

Such a handsome guy and he was so funny too.

Ok, she is the spitting image of her Daddy and she is such a sweet heart.

Favorite! Loved the series I got of Hudson crawling around.

Look at those sparkly eyes :)

Jennifer, Lisa and David....thank you for letting me capture you guys at this special time of year. You guys are the cutest and thanks for being so easy and fun to work with. It was one of my favorite sessions!

Merry Christmas!

Awesome family!

I am blessed by all of the awesome families I have met and created friendships with that came to me through my girls Elementary School. We are an extremely tight knit group and really look out for each other. Our school has been hit with many tragedies this year, some involve deaths of parents. The community of our school has stepped up and embraced these families like they are their own. I am so proud to be a part of it. This beautiful family is part of that group. The Dad Jim is our PTO President. Adriana, their youngest is one of my daughter Abby's best friends. I have gotten to know this family very well and I just adore them. Some of the nicest most genuine people I have ever met. Not only are the beautiful on the outside but their beauty from the inside is shining bright.

I got to photograph them on the same rainy day that I was with the last two posts. But lucky for us the rain stopped and I was able to get some awesome pics!

Juliana who is the oldest is amazing, she is so talented in so many things. She is a Pom at our area High School, accomplished dancer...the list goes on and on. And she is amazing at the guitar. This next few pics of her playing are some of my favorites EVER. Juliana...when your ready to cut an album, be sure to put these on the cover :)

And Abby's BFF....Adriana. This girl is a spit fire....she has the confidence of 10 kids her age. She is also very funny. And has many many talents herself. I told you this family was amazing!

And here they are....super duper CUTE!

A quick wardrobe change. I LOVE these colors. I have seen grey this year and I have seen turquoise but the combo of them together is my all time favorite. I just love it!

LOVE this one!

Sisters....you all know I love sisters. I had to wait 35 years to get one myself (hi Jess)...but I can say it is one of my favorite relationships out there.

Thank you guys for spending the afternoon with me, for freezing and playing guitar and laughing and just being your adorable selves!

Making the best of a rainy day

I was hit with rain on Saturday, which also happened to be my busiest day of the Fall/Winter. I had plans to photograph these beautiful blond/blue eyed gals at a park near my home. Then the rain started. Luckily the park is right next door to one of the most beautiful Churches in West St. Louis County. So we worked with what we had. I shot this entire session in front of the two main Church entrances. I was really pleased with how they turned out.

Ryleigh the oldest of the group is in Abby's grade and Girl Scout Troop. She is a total ham, every single Girl Scout meeting she says something that totally cracks me up. The best part is she doesn't know how funny she is...it is just natural to her. Her sister Kendall (all the way to the right) is so sweet and has the prettiest hair. I want her hair...perfect color, perfect thickness...so jealous. The other two cuties Emily and Abby are their cousins. Ok, here is the crazy thing...3 of the 4 of these girls have the same name as my daughters. We have an Abby, Emily and Ryleigh (mine is spelled Riley)...isn't that crazy. I just need to have another baby girl and name her Kendall...then we would be a perfect pair. Great taste in names moms!


Such pretty girls!

I "Heart" sisters!

Little miss Emily was a dancing queen. She totally cracked me up...and then she wiped out...face plant flat on the concrete. She scraped up her little mouth (thank GOD for Photoshop) but she barely cried...tough as nails this one.

Seriously all these girls have the prettiest blond hair and the biggest blue eyes.

I know you girls were freezing and wet, but you were GREAT sports! Thank you! Hope we can do it again in the Spring...when it is dry and warm :)

Merry Christmas!

Some days don't go as planned......

I had planned to meet this super cute family in historic St Charles and get some great pics amongst the beautifully decorated shops. But after fighting major crowds for parking we were hit with rain within the first 10 minutes. I was with the BEST family for this type of situation, they were so relaxed and laid back. We went to plan B....and headed to the Foundry for some indoor action.

I got to grab a few outdoors before the rain hit....

Then we headed in doors and the Foundry was full of neat spots...a big Christmas Tree and some brightly painted walls.

LOVE this one....best part, is she was camera shy all day and I got to sneak up and capture this one when she was least expecting it....I am so sneaky :)

LOVE the orange wall.

Warming up to me a bit.....such a cutie pie!

Thanks guys for being so "go with the flow" and being open to doing what we needed to do to get some good shots. Your family is so sweet! I hope your Christmas is wonderful.

Another Favorite Family is back.....

Last time I got the pleasure of photographing this great little family.....little Mr Oliver was just a few weeks old. Look at him all grown up now :)

How cute are they...and don't they look so festive!

Little Miss Emily gives the best expressions....she is so quick to laugh and I love catching her giggles with my camera :)

And with Daddy.....

LOVE this one!

Oliver is such a happy baby....I don't think he cried at all except at the very end when he bumped heads with his big sister.

SOOOO BIG! Love that he is holding himself up and in a blink of an eye he is going to be crawling.

Favorite! Just is.

The next two were near this big window with the light streaming through....perfect lighting.

Yes....definitely perfect lighting!

Neil and Yolanda are great parents and they have such a happy little family.

Thank you guys for calling on me again. It was wonderful to see how big Oliver has gotten...and Emily is as adorable as ever. May your travels be safe and your Holiday merry!!