We were so fortunate to have the amazing, the lovely and the talented Corrie Kraft snap our family photos again this year.

Well, ok, you all know I’m totally addicted to her photography.  I love getting my boys dressed up in color-coordinating “Joel” shirts and I love watching them turn into little camera hams.  I love how she captures & helps create these memories for me, and, well, I just love her!

I’m so thrilled with how these turned out that I’m getting larger canvas prints made for the house to decorate a wall I thought I would never put frames on.

That’s how much I love these!!

Here’s the fam (+ 1 little ham):

Drew’s face is priceless.  I wouldn’t have this picture any other way ~ his goof ball, larger than life, open-mouth laugh takes up his whole face!

My almost 6 year old:

Yeah, that’s swagger.  He doesn’t even know he has it.

School pictures won’t even come close to these!

LOVE this smile!

My boys:

They bring out the best in me…

Oh, you noticed the belly, did ya?

Yep, about 5ish/6 weeks to go.  Unless you factor in that Aiden was 4 weeks early…then I only have 2 weeks to go…

…Yikes.

Someone pinch me.

Or help me name baby boy #3…because Joel and I can’t agree on a name yet.

Oh my Joel, my love:

Just shy of 10 years together and it still seems like just yesterday.  What an amazing life I’ve been given.

Thank you, Corrie ~ for preserving this moment in time for my family!  And for capturing the silly, sweet innocence, joy, love and laughter of my sweet little pookies, my handsome husband and my bulging baby belly!

For those of you on the fence about getting professional family photos, get on the bandwagon!  I promise you won’t regret it.  I’m so glad I didn’t skip this year.  Which almost happened since I am so largely pregnant!  I LOVE that we’ve documented this time in our lives.

…now to just find a name for our new little one…T-minus 5 or 6 weeks and counting…

With love,

~p

{these totally awesome images were compressed to optimize web load time ~ they are SO, so amazing in full digital/pixel, trust me!}

I am beyond obsessed with Corrie Kraft and her photography style.  I long to be as talented as she is and practically stalk her blog to keep up with her cool new photos.

We had the good fortune to have my whole family in town for a weekend just after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, thus dubbed “Thanks-Mas”.  And even better luck that Corrie was free that weekend for a family photo shoot.

With her permission, I’m sharing these photos with you!

It was a chilly winter morning, but we bundled up and headed out to CU Boulder’s campus and didn’t totally freeze our tootsies off!

This man.  Seriously.  Enough said.

This face! I could just eat him up!

It was just before Christmas so the candy cane props were perfect!  I’ve seen this all over Pinterest and I’m so glad she had us do this pose.  All her idea, by the way.  See ~ she’s so talented!

There are three things I love about this photo, none of which are my double chin…I love Aiden’s smile, I love the way Joel is looking at me (see, I must be funny!), and I love how regally Drew is sitting.

This little bug-a-roo is turning 5 in a few weeks.  And he’s got me wrapped around his little finger.

My baby.  I hope he never gets too old to give his Momma a kiss…in public.

My beautiful little sister.  I’m not sure how she got to be taller than me ?

My siblings.  Lucky me.  I think we’re getting better with age.

Remember when I told you I couldn’t wait to grow old with this man?  My love.  ~swoon~

Still catching by breath.

My family: Mom before her knee replacement surgery (which is why I’ve been MIA these past few weeks; helping her recover is the least I & my siblings could do given all she’s done for us); isn’t she beautiful!

Cold as we were, we made it through the morning.  And Corrie survived us!  I had a great time, as I always do, during a Corrie Kraft photo shoot.  She’s so wonderful, always a joy!

To see more of Corrie’s photography, check out her blog or her website.  I hear she’s already booking 2013 brides and 2013 Fall Family sessions and filling up fast!  …note to self: schedule our family session for this coming year ASAP!

I love these photos!  I love Corrie Kraft Photography!  And I love family photo shoots!

If you don’t do them regularly, you should!  You won’t regret it.  Take my word for it.

~pw

I love Colorado!  There is nothing (NOTHING) like a weekend drive up the mountain in the fall as the leaves are changing and the air is getting crisper and cooler.  Fall is coming!!

We had the opportunity to spend the weekend in Winter Park with my in-laws recently and took in the beauty of Colorado’s mountain ranges with the gorgeously vibrant yellow changing leaves.  I offered up my amateur photography skills (because the ever so talented Corrie Kraft inspires me!) to snap some family photos to capture the moment and here’s what we got:

My sweet little Drew looking lost in the foliage.  I hope his spiky hair never calms down ~ it’s totally his style, and I love it sticking straight up!  He’s got spunk, that’s for sure.

My beautiful sister-in-law, Joel’s brother and her sweet little peanut (who is getting taller every time we see them!).  This is super cuteness at it’s finest!  I love Kristina’s smile! ~ It’s so infectious and just radiates happiness!

Joel’s folks.  We had to twist this John Wayne’s arm to get him out in the woods, but I’m glad we did!  Aren’t they a lovely couple?!

My little Aiden-Bug.  When do you think I won’t call him “my little” anymore?  NEVER!  Someone please stop his growing up.  It’s too much!  I’ll have to remember to re-do this photo with Drew next year.

My Joel & his brothers.  I love brother pictures.  I love Joel.  And how much he is always thinking about and looking after his brothers even if he’s not vocalizing it.  He loves his brothers.  A lot.  I want my Aiden to be the same kind of big brother.

Someone get me a tissue!

I tried to do the serious face-look with these guys because I think it’s super hot on Joel.  Then I totally forgot to do a smiling snap because it got a little hectic.  Note to self: make these good looking guys smile and throw their arms around each other next time!

And finally, my family.  Thank you, Kristina for snapping this shot!  I know I waved it off to try and get the rest of the family pics snapped, but I love this pic!

The weekend went by waaaaay too fast.  We all had a great time lounging around, hiking, eating, drinking, watching football, exploring the Main St., swimming and playing Scrabble.  It’s the stuff family weekends are made of!  What a great way to usher in the fall.

I promise you, Bald Eagle Shark Tarantula (Joel’s team name) is not a Scrabble cheater!  He’s just that good.  He beats me in ‘Words with Friends’ (almost) every time!

OH ~ and I just had to sneak one more pic in.

Are they kidding me with this cuteness?  Sheesh!

*All of these pictures were taken with my super awesome Canon Rebel T2i.  I’m still learning how to use it for more than just food photography and this was my first adventure in people and poses! 

I will be surfing Pinterest for more photography ideas and inspirations.  I’m feeling a little lonely out in the Pinterest world ~ feel free to follow me and keep me some company!

Love ya!

~pw