Thalles {Anytime}

Thalles is an actor and a model. But here's the kicker...he's actually talented!!! He's not just a pretty face. Thalles recently graduated from Hardin Simmons University, so he's got brains too! To boot, he's a great person with a great heart. I think you can see it in his smile. He's a real genuine person...and that's something I think we can all appreciate!

Thalles just relocated to Los Angeles to continue pursuing his dream of a career in film. Somehow, I have a feeling we may be seeing more of Thalles in the future!!! Good luck, Thalles...we are all rooting for you (just don't forget about us "little" people when you make it BIG)!!

Lavynder Family {Anytime}

I love unique names...and this family is chalk full of them! Let's start with Betty, who is also know as "Big Momma". Betty is the matriarch of the family. She's fun, she's blunt, she's fierce and she loves her family - period. Then there's Lavynder, who is the mother of a sweeter than sweet 4 month old, Echo. Lavynder's brother, Fathom, and their two sisters, Journey and Carousel were also at this shoot along with Betty's husband, Mike and Betty's parents. What a session!

Big group sessions are usually hard to coordinate...and outside of weddings, I don't do a lot of group shots. You have to snap, snap, snap and KEEP snapping that shutter to make sure you get a shot that is good of everybody. It's awful when you have the perfect photo sitting in front of you, but somebody's eyes are shut. So I snapped away on this session and I am happy with the results. We had a great time, aside from a sticker fiasco, and we shot until the sun went down!

Avery {Anytime}

Warning: This will be a long post!

Avery is Freddy's Goddaughter and, let me tell you, she is one awesome girl! She's become like a little sister to me and we had SO MUCH FUN on our shoot. Avery recently graduated from 5th grade and turned 11 on the same day! So now, she's moving on to bigger and better things in middle school...and after looking at some of these pictures, Mom and Dad better watch out! Little Miss Avery is growing up!

While Freddy and his parents were in Miami...(BOO!)..for his brother's graduation...(YAY!), Avery and I spent a little QT together. Before Avery's and my session in Austin, I stopped by the Tropical Smoothie Cafe and picked up a couple of Sunrise Sunset smoothies. They were so yummy! After talking a bit about Avery's different outfits, we started off our session at a white fence. After having fun and playing with scarves for awhile, we ended up at a nearby lake. It began to cool off and it started getting windy. And windier...and WINDIER. We looked up and the sky was BLACK. I said, "Okay, Avery! We will pick this up tomorrow...time to go home!" As we were walking to the car, Avery's dad called and told us about the TORNADO only 15 miles away from us! EEeeeeekkkkk!

We rushed to Freddy's parents' house and we ended up in the bath tub with flashlights, candles, the dogs and Bob Marley (Freddy's mom's bird). It ended up hailing cats and dogs and the tornado came right over the house. The power went out and we held each other's hands so tight! Thankfully, the tornado flew over without touching in our area.

Needless to say, Avery felt like she needed to stay the night...so we had a sleepover! How fun! I haven't had one of those in a VERY long time! By the next day, the darkness had lifted, the sun came out and we had a perfect day to resume our shoot! After a long day, we wrapped up at a neighborhood park. We set up the tripod a snapped a few goofy pictures of the both of us. I even taught Avery how to focus the camera and she did a pretty great job taking a few shots of me! As we drove home, my heart melted as Avery told me that I was the big sister she always wanted...sniff, sniff! It couldn't have ended on a better note.

Avery, I know you follow my blog...I love you and you are a beautiful gal!

Now, here is the tornado that flew over the house (this was taken with a point and shoot as the local news warned that the tornado shown was directly over our subdivision):



Without further adieu, AVERY!!!







































Avery even snapped a couple of me after I taught her how to focus the camera!







We set up a tripod and took a few to document the occasion!

Abby {Anytime}

Abby is my newest, youngest cousin. Her mother recently married my uncle and I am so ecstatic to have such a sweet, young and vibrant little girl in the family. Kids are funny, the way they have the ability to take you back to when you didn't have bills to pay, work to do or a lawn to mow! It seems like when you are young, you are in such a rush to grow up, but once you are a full-fledged adult, you miss the simplicity of being a kid!! What a Catch-22!

I took these pictures of Abby on Easter Sunday after dinner. She is such a doll...she even offered to help me decorate my studio out back! Uh-oh, here comes another design star!