When planning a wedding, most people want the same basic things: a fun time, good company, and beautiful photos. Jayson & Jordyn achieved that wedding trifecta, with the help of Mother Nature sending a warm glow over the Black Hills from wildfires near and far. It was both erie and super gorgeous!

Side note: any other wedding photographers out there want to re-do their own wedding all the time? THIS DRESS made me feel that way – that blush layer under the lace was soooo lovely!

Of course, that lovely dress was even more jaw-dropping when it was on Jordyn. ;-)

The ‘group hug’ is my favorite silly/fun/somewhat candid photo for the wedding party – I love Jayson’s brother and Jordyn’s sister creeping behind them!! Hahaha!!

Jayson’s expression as they are pronounced husband and wife – priceless!!

More and more couples are opting to sneak away for a few minutes after the ceremony for some ‘just married’ portraits and I LOVE it! Who wouldn’t want to spend some quiet time together, walking, holding hands, dancing, and soaking in all those feelings together!

Jayson + Jordyn – I’m still feeling the love from this photo!! It’s couples like you who make this job so bittersweet – I LOVE spending time with you during your engagement session and on your wedding day, but I wish our time together didn’t go so fast! Thanks for being so fun and loving and for taking a selfie with my so I can remember how sweet and wonderful you both are. :-)

This might be a little premature, but this will probably be one of my favorite photos of them ever!!

Milo has officially started eating baby food, and he has eaten everything we’ve given him. If there are bananas in the mixture, we can’t feed him fast enough! He loves to be close to us, and his sister is still his endless source of entertainment. He even makes squeaks that sound just like her! Any chance he gets, he rolls to his tummy and spins around to find the closest toy to put in his mouth.

Elodie is two and a half!! She is saying more letters and spelling S-T-O-P at every stop sign she sees. She can also say the numbers 1-5 (in her own way). She loves helping (fill and empty the dishwasher & ice cube trays, getting clean diapers and throwing dirty ones away, giving Milo a toy or his pacifier when he’s sad) which is so cute and convenient! Her favorite spot in the house right now is the blanket fort we have set up behind the couch. When Lance walks in the door, she either run towards him with her arms wide open, or says ‘hide, hide’ and waits in her fort for him to find her. Outside of the house, her favorite place to be is the playground – she could swing and slide all day if we let her!

Both kids enjoy being outside – Milo watches cars drive by and also keeps an eye on Elodie, Elodie likes coloring with chalk and watering the flowers/weeds/sidewalk.

John and Natalie were visiting their ceremony site and decided it would be a perfect occasion to take engagement photos – I couldn’t have agreed more!! It was a beautiful evening, and hanging out with John and Natalie and their mega-watt smiles was absolute perfection. :-)

The Game Lodge at Custer State Park is a favorite of mine for so many reasons – the lighting is fantastic anytime in the afternoon, my husband and I got engaged at the top of the trail that begins near Lovers Leap deck, and now it’s practically my back yard since we moved to the park! Weston + Ashlee getting married at this location made it that much sweeter with their gorgeousness and easygoing personalities.

Weston + Ashlee – Thanks so much for having me take pictures of you on your wedding day! We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day! :-)

June! Peony season!! Awesome weddings and engagement sessions!!! Milo’s surgery!!!!

June was busy busy busy – two amazing weddings and two gorgeous sessions, plus all the editing that goes with it, AND I wanted to get it all done before we left for Denver so that I could focus all my attention on to these two cuties:

Elodie is becoming even more expressive. When a blackbird comes to our feeders she shouts “oh, no!” When something surprises her, she says “wow!” When counting our family members, she counts on her fingers “ma, da, me, bee.” “Bye” is now “bye bye” and when she ‘goes to work’ (goes in to my office and closes the door) she says “bye bye” and peeks through the crack of the door to wave and blow kisses before shutting the door completely. She grabs kisses and hangs on to them to save for bedtime. Her snuggle bunny holds on to said kisses for safe keeping during the night. When she listens for something, she puts her hand up behind her ear, and she is officially big enough to open the fridge door all by herself. Her favorite phrase is still “no, me!” so she can do it herself. She got her first scraped knee (enough to need a bandaid) and now she thinks every ‘owie’ needs a ‘woof’ (Scooby Doo bandaid).

Milo rocked his craniosynostosis surgery. It was so hard to see him so groggy and in pain after the surgery, but after a week of being home he is his happy, giggly, chatty self! He says “ayayayadadada” and smacks his lips as if blowing kisses. As soon as he sees his bottle, he spits out his pacifier, kicks his legs, reaches his hands out, and hangs on for dear life. Since coming home, he has started eating baby food which has greatly improved his nap times! I’m hoping this means I can actually get things done during his naps! Either that or take a good nap myself. ;-)