Seriously the cutest family ever!! It was a chilly day in the Logan Canyon but little Ella was a trooper! We made it quick, painless, but still getting all the shots her momma wanted! Elizabeth contacted me after seeing my Winter Mini Session Special and I couldn't wait to do their session! This was their first time having family pictures with their new little addition with adorable Ella being two and a half months old.
Elizabeth and Colton met going to school down in Price at USU Eastern while he was going to school and she was finishing hair school. I wasn't going to go to school because I was just finishing with hair school. It was not your typical 'love at first sight' but Colton was persistent and their relationship started to grow. They became best friends and Elizabeth said it was so easy to talk with him. Elizabeth and Colton started dating in April of 2012 and both served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Before they left, Colton asked Elizabeth if she would wait for him and if she would marry him when they got back home and she said it was a no brainier to say yes of course!! From 2013-2015 Elizabeth and served in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission and he served in the Jamaica Kingston Mission. They kept their promises and got married one month after Colton got back in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in October of 2015. When I asked Elizabeth what their life is like now and what the future holds for them she said- "I am a licensed cosmetologist but am a stay at home mama and I absolutely love it! Colton works hard going to school and works full time. I'm grateful for his hard work! He is going to school for Agriculture Business. We don't know where we'll end up in the future, but would love to have a few acres to fulfill Colton's dream of having horses. Being married to Colton has been the best decision I have ever made! I love him so much we've been married for a little over a year and have a beautiful almost 3 month old daughter, Ella. She brings so much light into our lives and we are so thankful she is a part of our family!" So grateful I was able to meet and take pictures of this adorable little family and meet precious Ella! I forget how tiny and sweet babies can bet!
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It has been WAY too long since I did a maternity session! This one just made me want to do more- it was that amazing!! The lovely Carly Jensen of Carly J Photography invited me to come along on her session and I was so thrilled! I was so grateful she gave me a ride to the location because it was in a place in Logan Canyon I was not familiar with and knowing me I would have gotten lost with no service in the canyon. When the gorgeous couple walked out followed by their two dogs, I knew this session would be a blast. It was my first session with dogs and it made it all the more fun! Paige's little baby bump looked adorable in her cute outfits and I could not stop taking pictures of her! She makes being pregnant look good my friends! Tia Celise did her makeup and if you have not seen her work, go check her out she is amazing!! It sounds weird but Paige made me a little baby hungry and made me miss my little baby bump. It is so exciting because they are first time parents and having their first little one, a little baby boy! It is so fun because Carly just had her first baby too, a beautiful little baby girl a couple of months ago. We swapped baby stories on the way up the canyon to the location and it totally took me back! I do not miss those exhausting days of no sleep from waking up multiple times in the night. Carly's little one is barely two months and sleeps super good though! Since Boston was so little when we brought him home (4 lbs 3 oz), he needed to be feed every two hours. THANK goodness for my amazing husband who took shifts with me and would take the night shift from 11pm-3am and I would do 3am-7am. Honestly thought it turned into most night being like 11pm-5am that Sean would take and let me sleep because he is amazing like that.
Thanks again to both Carly and Paige for letting me be a part of this! I had so much fun!! I promise I have not gone MIA, things have just been crazy busy lately!
I have been dying to share these pictures and what a better time than the day before Thanksgiving?! This is a very personal post and one that covers something I never talk about. I have been wanting family pictures for a while but just kept pushing it out of my mind for certain insecurity reasons until another photographer said something. She said don't wait for precious moments to pass you by that could be captured and documented over a weight loss issue. I HATE being behind a camera and being insecure about my body has always effected my life. I'm so glad I got up the courage to ask my fellow photographer and childhood friend Kalee Udall to take our family pictures. The day before the shoot we all got in the car and went in search of the hardest task- OUTFITS! Moms, doesn't this just stress you out to your wits end trying to coordinate looks?? It was at the beginning when we started looking for colors and patterns and started to get overwhelmed. *Stay tuned for next month when I will have a blog post JUST dedicated to helping you dress for success for your family pictures ;)* We went to Old Navy and they just happened to be doing an early Black Friday deal of 40% your entire purchase. I love to shop deals and got super excited! I was also brave and bought three things I have never worn before- ankle boots with a heel, a hat, and lipstick. When it was all put together I felt something I haven't felt in years- confidence!! I was able to be confident during our pictures and it gave my more motivation when I looked as some pics I really didn't love, to start to make changes so I feel and look even MORE confident during our next family pictures. It also gave me the confidence to dress nice more often ( yoga pants and hair in a messy bun is my go to everyday #thatmomlife) and so I can get that an even smaller size next time for pictures. I was hoping for some snow in our pictures because that is a rare thing in Arizona but it was already melted from the week before. Still hopeful, we headed up Logan Canyon and were able to find a little patch of it where we quickly pulled off of the road next to. Of course Boston smiles 24 hours a day at home but the second a camera is put into his view, he refused to crack even a smirk. He was SO fascinated by the cars whizzing back and forth and it gave Kalee only a one second window to when a car drove right behind her to get him even looking remotely at the camera. He did pretty good though, and it could always be worse ;) Now I am going to get a little sappy, but bare with me. Social media will be blown up with thankful posts tomorrow so I want to get in my two cents now ;) Because of the circumstances of how and when Boston arrived into our lives, it has always been a daily reminder to have a thankful heart. It is the best time of year to be thankful during November and Christmas, but why not make it a daily occurrence? I encourage you to say 'I love you' more often, be on your knees daily thanking God more than asking for things, and be thankful for the little things in your daily life. I would not be the person I am without these two boys in my life. They have forever changed me and I cannot wait to grow our little family in the future. My husband Sean does SO much for us and I couldn't have asked for a better companion to spend my life and eternity with. He works a 70+ hour week at a temporary job he dreads going to every morning at 5am. He does it without compliant (usually ;) so that we can have the things we need and so he can make my photography business a reality and not just a dream. Boston Boston Boston...where do I start with that boy? As much of a stinker he is, there is an indescribable feeling of blissful happiness I get each time he smiles at me, puts his arms up because he wants me, and rest his head on me while falling asleep. I could go on and on about these two but I will leave it at that and wish you ALL safe travels and the most wonderful Thanksgiving that is spent with people you love and care about you :) Photos by: YouDoll Photography Edited by: Me :) I am so lucky and privileged to have met this couple! Jorri and Carlos won a gift certificate at a community event where they lived that I had donated to and it is only by luck that we met! We met at a park in Logan and got started and had some great fun along the way. They were the sweetest couple and their personalities shinned during the session.
I ADORE the moment when clients are able to come out of their shell and you can see their true self and how much they love one another. I also love getting to know my clients a little before the session and in between walking to the next location and these two have an amazing story how they met! To make sure I got it perfect, Jorri was more than happy to share their story with me :) - "Carlos and I met way back when I had the chance to go on a humanitarian trip to Guatemala in high school and he was helping our group out with translation. I liked him a lot right away and was pretty pleased when he kept talking to me after I got home! We stayed in touch over the next few years as he served a mission and I went through my first year of college. The best birthday present I ever got was when he and my mom coordinated a surprise visit for my 20th birthday. He showed up at the Christmas lights at Temple Square and the rest is history! We went through a lot of struggles together figuring out how to make things work when we were countries apart, but in March of 2015 we finally got married in the Brigham City Temple. We currently live in Aggie Village on the campus of Utah State University and we love it! I'm working as a social worker for the state and Carlos is finishing his degree in computer science while working as a programmer. We aren't really sure where life will take us next but we're excited to figure it out together!" How adorable is that?! That would be so hard to have a long distance relationship THAT far away! Even though they were basically worlds apart, their hearts were still with each other. I am SO glad I got to meet and work with this tender couple and I wish them the best for their future! Like I promised, the blog would be filled with this cutie's face! Boston is 9 months today, 16 lbs. wears 0-3 month clothes, and size 2 diapers. He is a crawling machine and gets into everything in reach. If you hold his hands he'll walk across the room and more. He has started pulling himself up on the couch and trying to stand up in his crib. Boston loves mimicking us with sounds with our mouth and shaking his head no. I am so glad we were able to go to the park as a family last Saturday on Sean's day off. River Hollow Park is just down the street from where we live in Logan and is the perfect little park. The light was leaving fast and it was getting chilly but we were still able to snap some pics and this mamma was a happy camper! I was lucky enough to get what was left of the fall color before it snowed yesterday here in Logan. Yes you heard me right- SNOW! We came out of Walmart last night from doing some last minute shopping and I could not believe it. I am not ready for the cold and miserable months yet!! It'll be fun to actually have a white Christmas though :)
Anyways, today being Boston's 9 month "birthday", it is also World Prematurity Day. Every one in ten of all babies worldwide are born premature which makes up the 15 million babies that are born premature every year. Not only was Boston born 10 weeks premature but he was diagnosed with having severe IUGR. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) refers to a condition in which an unborn baby is smaller than it should be because it is not growing at a normal rate inside the womb. Fewer than 200,000 cases per year. Delayed growth puts the baby at risk of certain health problems during pregnancy, delivery, and after birth. With this condition, a baby is born weighing less than 90 percent of other babies at the same gestational age. When I got admitted into the hospital at 27 weeks, Boston's ultrasound showed he was measuring in the less than 1 %tile. I was told by doctors that I am at risk is now tripled for never carrying to full term and even having still born babies. That statistic is not going to make me not want to have any more kids in the future. If we are meant to grow our family, it will happen in the right time. I feel so privileged God trusted me with a miracle. In that time I had to be strong, really strong, stronger than I thought I could be. And when it was over, I knew I could survive anything. Watching Boston's tiny little fragile body fight every day to live was an experience I will never forget. He is my hero and I'm proud to be his mamma! ;) I feared because it was too early, I cried because it was too soon. Yet I underestimated the strength in one as small as you. Yay for fall air and snuggling with blankets! Tanner and Meranda were not hesitant to snuggle and be cuddly during their session and it was the perfect weather to do it! A nice overcast cool day at the Logan River Walk could not have been any better!
I have been dying to do these two cuties photo session for weeks because they are MODELS! Tanner and Miranda are our neighbors and it has been so fun to get to know them! A couple of weeks before their session Tanner asked with a worried if he would have to shave his beard. I laughed and said no and he breathed a sigh of relief. I know how guys can get about their facial hair, my husband definitely being one of them. It is like the equivalent of asking a cowboy to take off his cowboy hat for pictures. Woah there...you just do not do some things and that is one ;) Tanner and Meranda's story starts in high school, yes, high school sweethearts are my favorite! To make sure I got it right I wanted Meranda to tell me word for word so this is what she said, "Tanner had a crush on me for a long time and I had no idea! I always looked at him more as a friend because one of my friends LOVED Tanner. Well Tanner asked me out on a date that was supposed to be a group date and everyone else couldn't find dates so it was just us. We went to a corn maze and got to know each other. It was honestly the best date I have ever been on. Something just felt different. This was our junior year. I ended up asking Tanner to the Sweethearts Dance. After that everything just fell into place. We became best friends before we made anything official and I think that is why we are so close today. Tanner was sooooo scared to hold my hand, kiss me or hug me! It was the cutest thing! Tanner asked me to be his girlfriend with a rose in the high school parking lot on December 7! We didn't have our first kiss tell midnight on New Year's Eve. I went away to college at SUU for my freshman year so we were doing the long distance thing for a while. Valentines came around and I was completely oblivious of everything. Tanner took me up to Mantua Campground to have a picnic, we danced, ate dinner and where he proposed. We got married June 20, 2015 in the Salt Lake Temple. I am now preparing to apply to Dental Hygiene school and Tanner is working towards becoming a pharmacist. We love camping, watching movies, hiking and spending time together. We are those people that set up Christmas at the beginning of November. We plan to eventually have children when we are done with school and start a family!" How cute is that?! I would have left something out so I am so glad she was able to tell me their story in detail. I am so glad I have gotten to know these two and they ROCKED their session! Thanks again guys! Today and tomorrow are two of my little sisters' birthdays and they are becoming not so little! Yes these first pictures are WAY different because one was taken almost a year ago and my techniques have definitely changed. This lets me know I need to take recent pictures of my sisters!! Cambria on the left is 10 years old today!
Man where has the time gone! It seems just like yesterday I was holding her in my arms and could not wait to let my friends see her. She is spunky, imaginative, and very smart. Cambria and my youngest sister Jaiden, who is almost eight, are the best of friends and it is so fun to watch them grow up together. None of me and my other sisters were that close growing up so it is super cute! Alyson is definitely not a little sister anymore, she is going to be 17 tomorrow and I can hardly believe it! She is also a good two inches taller than me, but then again the sister right above her is also taller than me and the one below her is an inch away. Aly has always made me laugh till I almost pee my pants. In the last couple of years we have gotten close as sisters and friends and it has been the best! She is always up for a photo session to be my model when I visit! This last time I visited Thatcher Arizona me and Aly went out to the Safford Golf Course. She always is self conscious when she models for me, but I get her out of her shell by get her to laugh and we have a good time! Being the oldest of 6 girls, yes you read that right-SIX girls, is sometimes a lot of pressure. You have five little, well not so little anymore, people watching your every move, looking up to you and wanting to be just like you. It used to REALLY annoy me when I was younger for example I would start dressing a certain way and they would too or I would be obsessed with a new music artist and they would also listen to them non stop. But as I got older it made me watch what I would do and say because I knew 5 other eyes and ears were on the radar. I love my sisters so much and we are the best of friends. I would do anything for them and protective from anything or anyone, so ya better watch out ;) I get to see my family in two weeks for Thanksgiving and I can hardly wait! I will be counting down the days! Friends come and go but family will always be there for you! SO SO SO tired of all the post election day posts; I have refused to get on the internet and social media all day. Instead I spent the day editing these gorgeous people's faces!! Such a good choice. The goal for this shoot- Cute couple, amazing dress, pine trees! All three were a definite YES and turned out even more amazing that I could picture! I was nervous when a friend from cache valley told me last year the first snow came on November 3rd, but the weather was good to us and it was the PERFECT day! Magic was definitely made with these two. Hannah and Cayden are so in love, it was not hard to tell. I love when couples can't get enough of each other while the smile and giggle non stop as they look at each other. Hannah was born to be a model and Cayden was such a trooper and did whatever we asked of him! For individual shots of him, Cayden's model face was so on point! If he held it too long he would break it and start cracking up; it was the funniest thing! Jessica Nelson did Hannah's makeup and it turned out incredible! She is super talented and I love her work on brides for weddings! Conner Nesbit of Leuca Floral did the bouquet and I could not stop staring at it! He put his own creative spin on it and it was a beautiful arrangement! Last but not least at all was the jaw dropping dress of Petals and Promises! I loved the cream color to it and the pattern of lace was to die for! The second the veil went on Hannah I could not stop firing shots every two seconds. Enjoy as you scroll down below! Swooning is definitely allowed ;) Photographer: Jessica Ajeman Photography | Model: Hannah Feldt | Makeup: Jessica Nelson Makeup Artistry | Bouquet: Leuca Floral | Dress: Petals and Promises
Moniek and I have been planning this session for about six weeks and making this session happen was definitely a challenge! Schedules with work and school are always hard to plan around but mostly the stinking weather was not in our favor with two Saturdays in a row it POURED rain. The outcome of the session was definitely worth the wait though!! Rhett and Moniek were dressed for success and ROCKED their session! We first took a couple of pictures with their adorable dogs Penny and Abbie. They were so cute and waited patiently while Rhett and Moniek finished the rest of their session. Their story starts with city girl meets small town boy; Rhett and Moniek met at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher AZ from their friends Alex and Dalton. Recognize those names?? I was able to take help announce their new addition coming to their family April 2017. If you missed their session on the blog, you can view it here! A way cool thing about Moniek is her family is from Holland and her and Rhett have since been able to go back and visit there together! Rhett and Moniek dated for almost a year before they sealed the deal. They were married December 20th and will soon be celebrating their three year anniversary! I will always remember that date because it it also MY anniversary with my husband, just a year apart to the exact day. My husband and I met Rhett and Moniek back in Thatcher when we were in the same marriage class in college. I am so glad we got to meet them and have become friends since then. It is the best feeling to have friends from the same hometown when you are fifteen hours away from it. Rhett is going to school and is in Utah State University's Engineering Program and Moniek works at the Perfect 10 salon here in Logan. If you're needing a new hairstyle, color, highlights, or eye lash fills, she is your girl!! I am SO glad this session finally worked out because magic was made. Rhett and Moniek were so relaxed and patient and did whatever I asked, even if it felt a little different at first. Thanks again guys!! First session with a dog=success!! I swear this dog acted better than kids do during family pictures! It was the funniest thing! I was lucky enough to go along with MarLyn Hill on her mini sessions a couple of weeks ago and the color was perfect at Green Canyon. I am so glad I got to meet her and work with her couples because she is the sweetest human being.
I am sad to say the color is not there anymore and winter is around the corner. We can still dream fall is here so I hope you do not mind the pics ;) It was so funny trying to pose Natalie and Ryan and first with their adorable dog Izzy. Jokingly Ryan would hold up Izzy like you would with a baby for a family photo. He and Natalie thought it was the funniest thing and could not stop laughing. Their giggles were definitely contagious and we all could not stop laughing. Like I said, Izzy was so well behaved and waited patiently while Natalie and Ryan were able to take picture together. When it was time for her turn to be in the pictures, she stood still and would "pose" looking straight up at the camera. It could not have been more perfect!The light was starting to fade fast though and me and MarLyn were talking about having to turn up our ISO on our cameras (I will not bore you with what that means haha) and Ryan piped up commenting on it also. Ryan is a videographer and knows all about the settings and functions of a camera which became a little more pressure because he knew exactly what we were doing ;) It was a good challenge though, and it made for good conversation! I had a blast with these happy people and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet them all and be a part of their family pictures! When I hear the names Adam and Mindy, I immediately grin from ear to ear. I cannot help by doing the same while also looking at their pictures. Pose Giggle Laugh Repeat. These two were pros at it ;) This session was special because we went back to where it all started for their session- where Adam proposed! Past Green Canyon there is a medium sized cave up in the canyon we hiked up to get to the exact spot these two cuties got engaged. I definitely got my exercise and did not prepare myself for walking on a tiny rocky trail very high up off the ground. Having no sense of balance and being afraid of heights did not help me at all but I did not look down and hurried up the canyon. The view was breathtaking and made it all worth it though. Adam and Mindy had not been up there since they got engaged so it was way neat to be up there with them.
The cutest part of the story is Adam did not end up proposing with a ring. Weeks before he had asked Mindy if there was anything she would not be able to ever say no to and she said peanut butter M&Ms. True story- Adam proposed with M&Ms and Mindy of course said yes!! They went straight to Wal-Mart that night and picked out a ring to make it official until they ordered the actual ring and waited for it to come in. These love birds have been married a little over a year now and could not be happier! Adam and Mindy are our next door neighbors and we have a lot of fun when we hang out! The craziest thing was when we first met we found out both of our husbands went to the same mission for the LDS church! The SAME day my husband Sean left, Adam came in! They could talk about Lima Peru for hours and they do sometimes ;) These two make our lives happier and I am so glad to know them! |
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