Baby Maria Grace

The holidays have passed, the long winter is almost done and I am concentrating again on my photography.

I do however, need to post Baby Marias arrival. Last summer I took pictures of the Ricks family and Dianne was expecting.

 In October they were blessed with a third beautiful daughter, Maria Grace.

New little Maria was for the most part pretty patient with us moving her this way and that but this is one of those moments where daddy was trying to calm her down.

As you can see, Marias big sisters, Anna & Elizabeth, are very proud of their new baby sister.

Welcome to the world Maria Grace!

May your days be blessed with happiness and may you remember the good times your family will share.

A Long Winter Passing

Its been a long winter.

Colder & snowier than years in recent memory.

Spring is just around the corner, I can almost smell it!

I cant wait for the longer days, the fresh air flowing through my home and the warm sunshine on my face.

Long, dreary, cloudy winters can bring down the spirit, get you in a funk.  

 We're too busy worrying about things we have to do,

about the daily dramas that waste our time.

We worry about the economy, the bills, everything.

When we aren't worrying,

we're answering our cell phones as we pass by the world outside.

'Busy-ness' has filled our lives and invaded our quiet.

There are times when we need to let that cell phone ring.

We need to push the worries aside, what good are they doing us anyway?

Over the next few weeks as winter blows her last brisk winds before the next season starts, remember...

there is beauty in even the cold dreary days,

quiet is ok,

 if only for a moment, turn off the radio,

ignore that text or that call,

Sit and look at the beauty in the simple scenes.

And give thanks.

Ricks Family

This past May I had the chance to take some family photos of the Ricks family.

It can be difficult to get kids this age to smile & look at the camera, both at the same time, but Anna & Lizzie did great!

"What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories." ~George Eliott

And back in May, Dianne was expecting their 3rd child. Stay tuned to see the photos of their new arrival!

Please also visit:
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Schneider Family

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of photographing this awesome family, the Schneiders.

I had a lot of fun and the children were not only adorable but a delight!

The day we shot these, the ground was wet from recent rains. At the very end, they allowed me a few shots of their adorable 9 month old daughter sitting in the wet garden. She did great!

She was such a ham! But in the end, she got a bit tired of sitting for the camera, this was when we knew she'd had enough.

The Road Trip home...

Christy Goes to college (kind of) (St. Charles Photographer)

Ok, so I wasn’t going to college, I was taking my oldest back to move her in for her 2nd year. She attends college in rural, northern Missouri and the country is beautiful up there. Rolling farm fields of green and gold, the fresh, clean air, the feeling that you have “elbow room”… it would be a dream come true for me to live in a place like that.

Just like her freshman year, move in morning was a bit dreary weather wise.

We arrived at campus early in the morning to start moving her up to her second floor dorm. Both of our cars were packed with her belongings and supplies. There was no elevator in this dorm building, but as another 2nd floor mom said, as she looked on the bright side, “Thank God they’re not on the 3rd floor!” Great way to be positive!
We definitely got our exercise!

We trudged all of her things up to the dorm, arranged her room and unpacked. The dorm she had last year shared a community bathroom, this year she and her roomie are moving up in the college world and have a bathroom to their self, YAY!


(Administration Building)

After her room was mostly in order, we went for a walk around campus with my camera in hand. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the sun had come out, it was another perfect day.
Although I had been there before, she was the campus expert and guided me to the good places for the shots.

The campus and the buildings are all as beautiful as the landscape that surrounds it.





The architecture around campus was a mix of the old and the new, and bustling with the youthful energy that inhabits it. I couldn’t help but think of all of these young adults walking around campus and how they are just starting out their adult lives. I never had the “go away to college experience” so it is fun to live it, if only a little, through my children.

The Bell tower in the center of the campus:

To the right: From under the bell tower you can view the flags that represent the home countries of the various students who attend.

The Bearcat is their Mascot. Evidently named by an opposing team years ago because the bearcat is an animal that is hard to catch & difficult to hold on to. (And let me tell you, it’s not an attractive animal!)

After lunch, she walked me to my car so I could begin the four and half hour drive home. I gave her a huge mamma hug and kissed her on top of her head. I didn’t get all choked up this year like I did last year, although I did get that familiar lump in my throat. I guess I'm getting used to the idea that my oldest baby is growing up, although I don’t think it was just that thought alone that caused that lump, I think it can also be contributed to pride.

GO BEARCATS!!!

My Walk through a fantastic Garden

Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.

I am an area native and have never been there.

Shameful I know, or at least, that’s what people tell me.
You know what? They’re right. Ok, I love flowers, but to walk through a big garden just didn’t seem like something I was itching to do! Well, how could I when I didn’t know what I was missing?

This past Saturday was a day straight from heaven! The temperature was in the 70’s in the morning and the sun was shining bright. A local photography club was meeting there and I decided to join them. It was nice to finally be able to “talk shop” with a few people who understood my constant desire to capture our world one photo at a time and hope that, at least now & then, someone will look at my work & it will stir an emotion within them.

I spoke with a few other people too, one was an older woman who was a member. She too, couldn’t believe I had never been there but she congratulated me for finally coming.

That’s when I realized that for some people gardening is to them, like photography is to me, a passion.
It’s the wonder of the delicate beauty that a gentle, fleeting life can hold. Usually the flowers only last a few weeks, but in that short “lifetime” they shine.....


It is also about the mutual appreciation for the little things most of us usually just walk swiftly by.
If you are one of these people, and have no interest in slowing down, then this might not be the place for you. But then again, to just walk through, breathe in the air, the overall beauty & the quiet may be worth it.

And if you do, may I just suggest you try to slow down for just a bit?

Look at these delicate works of art given to us by God.

I don’t think it would be something you will regret.

The sculptures throughout the park are also quite beautiful.

The glass sculptures are donations from Dale Chihuly. The way the light shines on and through them is quite stunning.

Lastly, I'm a people watcher. When I notice a particular person, or group of persons, my mind usually wanders into a story of its own of what those particular people are like. You can usually pick up a few things just from observing, my senses and imagination take over from there.
Let me give you an example....

There are benches throughout the garden to sit and take in the beauty. I recall seeing one such couple doing just that. The story in my minds eye was that they looked like a middle aged intellecual couple who probably lived in the city. As they sat quietly on this bench in a grove of trees, his arm resting on her shoulders, they just soaked in the beauty. You could see it on their faces, relaxation, happiness.... peace. No words had to be spoken. I imagined that this was probably a favorite place of theirs, more than likely a place they frequent as they looked so at home.

So remember, as that age old saying goes "Take the time to smell the roses". You dont have to visit a garden to do that (although it may be just what your soul needs) but do take the time to quiet your mind and see the beauty around you.

Stay tuned in for upcoming blogs like....

-Christy goes to college (kinda)

and

-Road trip!

as well as....

-a few peeks at a family photo session I've recently done

and much, much more!