{Chadron, Nebraska & Mt Rushmore}

May has been a busy month at my house.  We were thrilled to able to travel to the northwestern part of my home state, Nebraska, at the beginning of the month so that we could watch my nephew graduate from college...and take a trip up to Mt. Rushmore (which I have never seen before).  There is no shortage of beautiful country in this area, and you literally can see for MILES.  Definitely worth the 17-hour drive!!

We were on I-80, about halfway across Nebraska here.

One tree.  That's it.

Yes, there is still snow on the ground in May here.

SOOC shot of the road ahead.

another SOOC shot of one of many, many coal trains we saw.

Two of my children.  Like any good tourist, I made my husband stop the car so that we could get pictures of Mt Rushmore as soon as it was visible!!

Chief Crazy Horse Monument, still under construction.

We were amazed at how close the wildlife was to the road.

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I felt like we were on the set of "Dances With Wolves"

Literally less than 10 feet from our car.

{Kidd family}-

We spent a short time with such a beautiful family this afternoon.  I couldn't have asked for more cooperative subjects, nor could I have asked for any more adventurous.  Climb a tree? Check.  Go coatless in arctic temperatures? Not a problem!  Wade in a muddy lake-bed?  If that's what you want!  Seriously, guys, you made this session so easy and so fun!!  Shannon,Dawn, Candace, and Jordan, I hope these exceed your expectations!  Enjoy your sneak peek!! 

{My Family}

I love my family, but they are by far, the most challenging group of individuals to capture on film.  It's a trait my sister and I inherit naturally, but we have added a few in-laws along the way that just make things more interesting. Inevitably, we will have every person smiling at the camera but one, and at some point, someone is going to throw some cross-eyed look into the one group shot  where everyone else looks decent.  What's sad is that the trouble-makers aren't the three or four-year olds, it's the ones that should know better!  Major props to Mal for helping out with this group of characters!  I owe you BIG TIME.  To my sister and mother, the pictures are what they are.  We did our best :)

The whole group...see if you can find the trouble-maker!!

{Matt and Heather}

Another fun family to capture is my good friend/lab partner Heather, her husband Matt, and their daughter Lilyan.  Although we ran out of time around Lilyan's first birthday for pictures (which was also during the horrible heatwave), we thought while everyone was dressed up for family pictures, we could sneak in some late one year pics, too.  Here are some of my favorites from their afternoon session.  Enjoy!!

{Cooper's Newborn, Take II}

You know, in a perfect world photo sessions go perfectly.  Perfect lighting, cooperative subjects, no technical mishaps...but we do not live in a perfect world.  Cooper's first session yielded some adorable shots, but I just didn't feel that we got "THE" shot, so I asked Mom and Dad if we might borrow little Cooper for another round (and thankfully, they agreed).  What follows are some of my favorites from this afternoon. Amanda and Corey, thank you!!!

(finally got this little man to sleep!)

{Tuckerman}

Heading home from Little Rock Thursday evening, I finally took the time to stop and photograph this beautiful barn that I have been aching to shoot for several months now.  The timing couldn't have been better, either, as the afternoon sun gave it such a warm light!

So, since the barn turned out so well, and since my children are always so willing to pose, AND there was still evening sun left, we decided to stop in Tuckerman and take pictures around the old buildings...but first we had to get a couple of shots of their "rebellion" standing up out of my sunroof.