My Gracie Girl. (Yes, I'm quoting Ben Folds again.)

This is a love note to my sister Grace.

Here is Being from a big family has always been important to me. I love ALL ten of us, although and the youngest ones have felt like my "kids" from time to time during my stint as the 2nd eldest child. The babies of the family hold a special place in my heart.

So, stop being so adult and human and grown up all of the sudden.

(That is for ALL OF US, not just Miss Grace.)

Let's just stay little and go make a snowman.

Better yet, let's pull out the kiddie pool and march around the house with beach towels over our shoulders, pretending to be fancy lady cows, yes cows, chanting "We're fresh from the dairy, we're fresh from the dairy, we're fresh, we're fresh, we're fresh from the dairy." 

Yes, this happened.

Though Grace wasn't born yet for this type of childishness.

(Sorry, love.) 

(Whitney, Bonnie, Cousin Jeremy? Anyone remember this?)

There is something so delicate and fragile about this girl in front of a camera. I feel as if she has a way with conveying emotion that is beyond what normal mortals can do. She has such depth and then such beauty in that depth, that your breath catches and you wonder what happened to the little girl you used to chase around the yard in fancy fairy wings (who am I kidding, either of you could have had those one at any time).

 I adore my Grace, and I will always push her to do every thing.

Because I like making her live better than I did and am.

Amen and amen.

So... thank you for letting my push you into photo shoots, time and time again. You are just too good a this to not use time and time and time and time again.

I need more opportunities to quote Ben Folds.

This is a love note to my sister Kate.

Not only does Kate run like a dragon, plays wipe out on the drums, has excellent taste in cake and (occasionally) boys, but she also allows you to drag her onto the top of a mountain in a party dress and bare legs.

Needless to say... I love my sister Kate.

Ben Folds, the wordsmith and my (rather obscure) celebrity crush, said it best:

"I wanna be Kate."

Kate, You are my sister and my friend and I am thankful for both of these things every day. Thank you for always being willing to jump in front of a camera for me. You are beautiful beyond words, inside and out. I look up to you every day (insert sound effects of a rim shot here, plus the laugh track from Seinfeld, though this WAS a terribly veiled attempt at a pun). I promise to NEXT TIME put you in clothes more befitting to the temperature/epic-ness of the environment. You are so damn good at this, I hope you know how much I'm routing for you to DO THIS PROFESSIONALLY. I mean it. 

XOXO.

My family is, like, really pretty: Erin H. (part three)

This girl. She is so lovely. I can't even...

  

"Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!"

My family is, like, really pretty: Erin H. (part two)

Dear Erin,

You are beautiful.

Thanks for letting me drag you through the woods, in knee deep snow, like some sort of ill-prepared pioneers, with good hair. And iPhones. Annnnyways... you are great.

xoxo.

 

My family is, like, really pretty: Erin H. (part one)

Once upon a time I took photos of Erin, and I FINALLY finished editing them.

And so, to honor Miss Erin's angelic patience, I am going to blog a few different posts honoring her and her photogenic mug. Here's to pretty girls, and adorable winter layers (because girls look to cutest in adorable winter layers).

(Photo shoot in the mountains of Draper, UT - December 2013)

Tree girl.

Erin is stunningly youthful and beautiful.

A modern day tree sylph.

I am halfway through editing this shoot, and  just got very excited about this photo.

I am learning some new photoshop skills (that would be skillz, for all the "street youths" out there. Thanks, Schmidt) this evening/very early morning. I am really excited about developing more in that direction... about all the new pathways my life has started down lately. Special thanks to my household photoshop wizard husband, who is turning out to be a most fantastic teacher.

The end.

I forget the plastic frog's name... but it was important.

My friend Avianna is quite the adorable character.

(I took these quick snapshots while she was visiting a photoshoot I was working, and I was so glad I did once I saw how they turned out!)

I hope my future little girls are half as cute as this sweetheart is.

(UPDATE: or at least a GOOD GUESS: The Frog's name was Turman. Which I think was a mix of Herman and Turtle. Which was adorable.)