Another RHS senior of 2011!! Sarah came over for her portraits and I was impressed at how easy she was to pose! I kept saying “Sarah, you’re such a natural at this!” And then she told me that she watches ‘America’s Next Top Model.’ :-)

I couldn’t decide which of the next two I liked better. So you get to see both!! :-)

I have known Jill ever since she was born. I have known Aaron since Friday.

He makes her smile. He makes her laugh. He gazes at her adoringly when she’s not looking.

Together, they are genuinely happy. I couldn’t be more proud for my cousin Jill to have such a great husband!

Jill’s sisters laugh a lot. I love them for that! :-) I believe Jess (left) was telling a story about how the alarm clock in their room was so old that they couldn’t even figure out how to set the alarm on it. I know, it doesn’t sound that funny now, but my cousins have a great gift of story-telling! You should subscribe to our family newsletter.

Is it just me, or do first look moments give you warm, fuzzy feelings? :-)

The wedding party loves being on the steps of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo! And the fact that Aaron and Jill are getting married! :-)

Why, yes, those ARE orchids you see scattered in her bouquet!! LOVE it!

This is that loving gaze I was talking about earlier… and them laughing at Fr. James’s homily. :-)

p.s. Did I mention that our uncle is a priest? Aaron + Jill’s wedding was full of family talent!

Mom. Hugs. Are. The. BEST!! Am I right, or am I right? :-)

They also had the best cake EVER!! Mint chocolate. I had two pieces.

Aaron and Jill were given this awesome bean bag/corn hole set for their wedding:

And they even made some time before the reception to toss a few:

I have three favorite parts to every wedding: the first look, the actual getting married part, and the first dance. Me? A sappy romantic? No way!

As for this next photo, don’t ask me why I can’t get three people to be in focus at the same time. I blame my camera. :-)

Aaron + Jillian – I hope you take this next weekend to spend as much time together as you can and pretend it’s a ‘mini honeymoon!’  Jill, I wish you didn’t have to go back to school this week, but I’m so excited for you and Aaron to finally be married! Congrats to you both! I promise to call every time I come to Fargo from now on! :-)

This is actually a double-feature sneak peek!! How exciting, right?! Not only am I going to show you a couple photos of Aaron + Jillian, but also some of my family!!

Jill is my cousin. Not many of us are at the ‘marriage’ stage in our lives right now and weddings seem to be few and far between for the time being. So it only makes sense that most of my mom’s HUGE family (she has 13 brothers and sisters) would get together at Aaron + Jillian’s Fargo wedding!

Mom and I counted. In this photo, there are 46 relatives (47 if you count my sister-in-law’s baby bump). These are my aunts, uncles, cousins, and their families. This is only a little over half of everyone. This is why I’m not intimidated when my clients tell me they have ‘huge families,’ thinking twenty people is ‘huge.’ :-)

And these are the ‘three musketeers.’ Lindsy, Jill and I are very close to the same age. Our family had to choose wisely as to whose first communion, confirmation and high school graduation they would attend because no one could ever see all three of us at any one occasion. So every other time there was a family function, we would all three take a photo together. And here’s the latest for our collection!!

And now for the ones you’ve all been waiting for…… :-)

Aren’t they ADORABLE?! I love doing weddings, but it’s so much fun when it’s my COUSIN getting married!!

More photos to come later this week!

He had the ring in his pocked for three days. In Vegas. Waiting for the perfect moment.

They took a helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon. Landed on the floor of the canyon. Perfect moment presented itself.

Win for Ryan.

:-)

Krystal is a big fan of my blog… she totally knew where I was going with this one when I told them to stand next to each other. :-)

I like to call this next one “how you doin?'”

I did everything I could to persuade Krystal to leave her shoes with me. But then she told me she might wear them at the wedding, and I didn’t want her to go barefoot because of me. So maybe at the wedding dance if she slips into something more comfortable…… ;-)

Ryan + Krystal – it was so great to finally get to meet you!! I had so much fun taking photos of you… and your shoes… I can’t wait for your wedding this fall!!

Nearly twelve years ago, I became buddies with Maggie… through the big buddy/little buddy system at school. Every sixth grader was assigned one or two kids from kindergarten. We would do activities and art projects together. Good times were had by all. :-) A couple years after that, I started babysitting Maggie and her younger brothers (Amanda was old enough to take care of herself, and help me make food and clean dishes).

When I was a senior in high school, I remember thinking how grown-up Maggie was now that she was in the sixth grade and had her own little buddy. Fast forward six MORE years and HER little buddy is now going to get a little buddy this year at school!!!!! CRAZY!!!

Now, Maggie is filling her summer with sports camps and work. And she looks GOOD doing it!! :-) I can’t remember how many times I told her how pretty she looks. Apparently it was too many, because she called me out on it. Sorry Maggie. But you ARE!! And I’m going to SHOW you!!! :-)