Seniors {2013}

Here are some great seniors!

Christmas {Mini Sessions}

A belated Merry Christmas to you all!  With the busyness of the season I have gotten behind with my posts.

Here are a few pictures from the Christmas Mini Sessions that I offered early in December.  Thanks to The Wood Cycle and Smokey Hollow Farm, LLC for providing wonderful backdrops for these sessions.

I've been blessed to have taken a variety of pictures for both these families over the years (wedding, senior pictures, family pictures, and more family pictures).  It was wonderful to be able to catch up with them.  It's so fun to watch families grow! 

 

Aly's Story { #BiebsMeetAly }

UPDATE:  It has been confirmed that Aly is going to get to meet Justin Bieber on Saturday!!!  Happy, Happy Birthday Aly!

Dear Photography Friends, 

I would like to take a couple of moments to share with you a little about a former student I know.  Aly was a middle school student when I first started teaching in McFarland.  I was also blessed to work with her mom during my first couple of years there.  

Last May, Aly was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.  At age 19 she was too old to qualify for Make a Wish.  =(  Would you take a couple of minutes to help a dream come true for her?  

Her friends have started a twitter campaign that has blown up in the past week.  It's amazing to see the outpouring of support.  In the week since they started their facebook page, they have gained 11,000 friends!  They are hoping to get Aly to meet Justin Bieber at his concert on December 15th.  Time is of the essence.  Please share her story with your friends.  Tweet #BiebsMeetAly and help support them however else you can. 

Today (Tuesday December 11th) is Aly 20th birthday.  Happy Birthday Aly!



This video shares more of Aly's story.

Watch their interview on WKOW 27.

Read their interview on NBC 15.

Follow them on facebook.

Follow them on Twitter.

Check out more pictures.

Show your support for Aly to The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Kimberly, Brent, and Kashton {Big News}

It's so much fun getting to meet people from my hometown that I've never met before.  And it's even more fun when I get to be in on their big news before it goes public.  We had a spectacular fall day for pictures that was filled with lots homecoming kids and parents trying to get pictures at the same location as us.  Thanks for being so patient guys!   

 

Congratulations!  I'm looking forward to meeting your new little one. 

Christmas {Mini Sessions}

Contact me for additional information.

Elsa and Ella {Adoption Love}

After living and teaching at an orphanage, I have a huge heart for adoption.  Early this past summer, I was thrilled to find out one of my co-workers was in the process of adopting a little girl from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  (I once unexpectedly found myself in the DRC, but that's a story for another time.)

Here's a little bit about Elsa's adoption journey as share by The McFarland Thistle. 
Elsa started her adoption paperwork in the winter of 2011, and had an approved international dossier in hand by mid-summer of 2012.  Approximately five months after submitting her application to the agency, Banks received a referral for a seven-month old baby girl.
  
“The e-mail came in from my agency on Thursday, Dec. 29, sometime in the afternoon. I had just returned home from a short holiday trip to visit my stepfather in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when I saw the e-mail.   Adoptive parents are advised to remain level headed, carefully consider, and consult with a doctor before making a decision, but the minute I saw Ella’s face I knew that she was my girl. Have you seen that face? Could you possibly say no to her? I sure couldn’t!”


Elsa and Ella arrived home earlier this fall after a month together in Kinshasa, DRC.  I had a great time getting to know them both better during their photo shoot at McDanel's Park.  Ella Rose is a beautiful little girl who is full of smiles and laughter.   She is transitioning wonderfully well and has clearly stolen her mommy's heart.

Welcome home Ella Rose!  I'm so glad you found your forever home.

MOPS Portage

I met these sweet ladies a couple of weeks ago at their MOPS meeting.  MOPS is a place for moms of children birth to kindergarten to find support, friendships, and encouragement from other moms on the journey.  

I got to share with them about one of my favorite subjects, photography and encourage them in their own picture taking ventures. 

Thanks for having me.  I enjoyed getting to meet all of you!

Heather, Aronn, & Alexis {Plus 1}

My sister and her family are expecting a little one around Christmas.  I'm very excited to be an aunt again.  I spent a beautiful fall afternoon with them capturing this special time in their lives.  Many baby pictures to come as soon as he or she arrives. =)  

Michelle, Ric, Spencer, Luke, Bekken, and Gabe

It's been a lot of years since this family had their pictures taken together, but thanks to a gift certificate from a friend we were able to change that a few weeks ago.  We met on one of many beautiful falls days that we've had at Memorial Union.  It was fun for me to get to know this family better.  It's clear they enjoy their time together.  

 

 

Happy Halloween!

I got to meet this cute little pumpkin a little while ago.  I'm looking forward to sharing more of her story with you in a couple of weeks, but for today simply enjoy her beautiful smile.  Happy Halloween!

Kirs, Scott, Noah, Will, and Weston {Family Fun}

Noah, Will, and Weston are adorable little boys with tons of energy.  They keep Kris and Scott on their toes.  The boys were super excited to show me around the property for their new house.  It's an amazing place to raise a family!

 

The Labrador Connection {Fall Frolic}

I recently got to work with The Labrador Connection rescue group for their Fall Frolic fundraiser. TLC is an all volunteer network dedicated to the re-homing of unwanted and  abandoned Labrador retrievers into loving, forever permanent homes.  I had a great day getting to know a few of their foster dogs, alumni, and friends.

Here are a few of their dogs who are currently looking for their forever homes.

Max

Luna

 

Sasha

Enzo

Billy

Drake

Follow TLC on facebook so you can keep up with dogs needing forever homes.

Liv {3 years old}

I love photo shoots on beautiful fall days!  I was lucky enough to spend a gorgeous morning with this great family.  Liv was absolutely adorable at Olbrich Botanical Garden.  She had fun exploring the wonderful gardens and playing in the fountains and ponds.

Apple-Azing Race {Amazing}

 Meet a few of the Apple-Azing Race teams.  

Some of the others were so fast I couldn't catch them on camera, 

including the winning team.

 At Sassy Cow Creamery, teams ate a scoop of 

delicious vanilla ice cream, without using their hands.

 Teams dashed through the corn maze at Creek Bed Country Farmacy 

to find the hidden clue box.  Then they dug through the corn sensory table

and slide down a 40 foot slide.

 On your marks, get set, go! Teams decorated 6 yummy apple cider donuts according 

to the samples and then had to eat all 6 as fast as possible.

 For this task teams had to build a scarecrow.  These cute guys are for sale. 

Contact Kim if you're interested.

 Because the race was a fundraiser for the Poynette Public Library, 

it was only fitting that teams had to demonstrate their alphabetizing skills by 

putting 30 books in the correct order.

This task was awesome!  Teams had to climb through the tractor tire jungle gym, 
run across the balance beam, tiptoe through the tires, climb across the bars,
 go up and down the ladders, and lastly balance an egg on a spoon while 
they raced their way across the finish line.

 Yummy!  Teams used a 150 year old apple press to make fresh cider.  

It was amazingly delicious, but a lot of work!

Lastly, teams had to assemble a wine press 

so they could pop a few water balloons in the bottom.

This task was courtesy of Rock N' Wool Winery (opening summer 2013).

If you thought about signing up this year but didn't, you missed out!  

'Like' Lapacek's Orchard so you can be a part of this next year.