Wildflowers Photography » gracie

the nativity session.

Joy — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:47:33 +0000

“our story began long ago, far away. when an angel appeared to mary one day. she’d been chosen to have a special son, and he was going to save everyone! but when the time came, mary was told to travel to bethlehem in the cold. donkey carried mary on the long ride as joseph walked at their side. when they arrived at the end of the day, they looked for somewhere warm to stay. the ox shared his stable with them all, he was proud of his home, so warm but small. there was no room at the inn that night, so the dry straw bed was a welcome sight. the lamb was the first to see the bright light, he showed the shepherds the wondrous sight. the angel told where Jesus would be born and said they must hurry before the morn. their journey ended under the starry sky when they heard the angels singing on high. in the stable below lying in the hay, was the baby Jesus to show the way!!!! it was the first Christmas day!”

merry Christmas!

(be sure to scroll all the way to the end for a very special video of this session!)

(written version of the story as told in the children’s book, ‘the nativity’.)

the children: my three little ones… gracie (mary), brandon (the smaller shepherd) & clementine (baby Jesus). and their sweet buddies: jacob (joseph), tyler (the bigger shepherd) & ella (angel).

a big, huge thank you my amazing friend shauna reed for her genius and the incredibly beautiful wardrobe & prop creations!

we were also incredibly blessed to have the very talented videographer marianne bach create a video of the making of the nativity session. it is just beautiful. i ADORE it and i know you are going to love it too. the lovely song in the video is “come ye angels” by grace laxson & tom monson. (tip: if the video does not show up at first, try reloading the page!)

the nativity. from Marianne Bach on Vimeo.

My Gracie in her happy place.

Joy — Tue, 17 May 2011 04:04:37 +0000

my gracie girl… dancing in all her splendor in a field full of cotton-like blossoms blowing in the warm texas wind. being in the midst of it all genuinely felt like it was out of a dream. and she was completely and wonderfully in her happy place. these photos make my heart a little bit giddy.

(gracie’s dress – handmade by sprinkle baby vintage.)

photographed at rachel ashwell’s the prairie in round top, texas.

A little time in the country…

Joy — Tue, 10 May 2011 23:26:34 +0000

we are at the tail end of our trip here in texas and it is oh, so bittersweet to head back home. our three week family/work trip began with spending easter down in corpus christi with family at one of the most special places to me, my grandparents’ ranch, then heading north after that staying in new braunfels, bastrop, austin and ending up at our final destination of round top (the tiniest town in texas, population 90!) where i held my first ever workshop for professional photographers (“a wildflowers workshop!” – stay tuned to the blog for a full wrap up later this week!). it was a trip out of dreams, really (aside from the pure exhaustion of preparing a workshop in the texas humidity and heat being 6 months pregnant with two little monkeys in tow, lol!). somehow, as a family, we always feel more at peace in texas. we spent many evenings on the porch just breathing in the sweet air, watching gracie and brandon run wild chasing butterflies through the fields, eating buttermilk pie and drinking dr. pepper out of glass bottles, singing along to good country music, stargazing, laughing and just plain soaking in the goodness of life. i took thousands of photos and these are just a scattering of random ones of the countryside and the kids to give you a taste of our time here. there will probably be five or more additional blog entries coming later this week and next about the workshop (which surpassed my expectations and was so very humbling and fantastic), the wonderful places we stayed, a family session i did while we were here and one very special shoot i did of my gracie girl.

i have this wonderful piece of art on my fridge called the “daydream list” by katie daisy and i would say that we, for this short time, thoroughly did experience the life that we had only thought up in our most lovely dreams… “hello, daydream: a clawfoot tub, a sunny yellow kitchen, a belly up kitty in the late sun, a painted wooden porch swing, slow dance in the backyard, a cheerful goldfinch song, fireflies in the grass, banana bread & chamomile tea, a sleeping puppy, an old barn for a studio, the baby in a wash tub, the prairie’s morning dew.”

Apple picking with Gracie & Brandon!

Joy — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 01:00:31 +0000

we took the kids down for a little trip to one of our favorite towns, julian, california (julian is also the location of my june workshop for photographers)! it is this adorable and quaint tiny farm town up in the mountains just outside san diego. it is like a hidden gem with salvage shops all along the road, caramel apples and apple pie on every corner and just a feeling of small town simple comfort! it’s not often we take off on a whim with our two little monkeys for endless hours in the car but we are trying to take more adventures and stop putting off the good stuff. :) we stayed in an old historical house that made us feel like we were in a hideaway 100 years ago out in the woods! on our last night there, we sat down in an old wooden rockers in front of the furnace with homemade cinnamon rolls from the corner pie shop and just listened as brandon and gracie chased each other around the house barefoot on the old wooden floor. it’s these simple things that make the most beautiful memories, the ones that i so often overlook in all the busyness, but on this trip i soaked it all in. looking forward to a lot more of this kind of good stuff.

and a few with the self timer of the whole fam…

hope your day is happy!

Joy — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 23:55:11 +0000

i have lots of sneak peeks to blog and some exciting photographers’ workshop updates to come later this week! but for now, just one of my kids all painted up and enjoying the final days of summer. hope you are happy, wherever you are today.

daddy’s girl.

Joy — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:23:27 +0000

it’s monday. the house is a disaster, the dishes are about to overflow onto the counters, i haven’t washed my hair in longer than you want to know, my eyes are tired from editing until the wee hours of the morning, my head is pounding from the mickey mouse clubhouse blaring from somewhere in the house, the only thing to eat in the fridge is leftover chinese from last thursday and it isn’t even noon yet. BUT, walking out into the livingroom to see my little gracie girl step onto her daddy’s feet for an improptu dance made cleaning up the mess seem not so important anymore. i have been a crazy busy working lunatic lately and my sweet husband has been having to pick up the slack. all i have to say is, i sure married a good one. i know i have been behind on blogging but this week is catch up week so stay tuned. xoxo

Gracie & Zeke in LOVE (part 2)… and the “GRACIE” dress!

Joy — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:19:57 +0000

i am excited to share with you all… the GRACIE dress! i worked alongside the very talented katie dixon of lullaby birds boutique to create this sweet little frock. i told her that i had a very special shoot in mind (with gracie & her little boyfriend, zeke) and was looking for her to create a dress for me based on a vintage child’s pattern but with a more modern anthropologie twist. and it turned out beautiful. i almost wish it were one of a kind… but i will settle for having the original. katie is offering a limited edition run of this dress in her etsy store (only $38!)… get one quick before she is overloaded with all the orders i am sure she is going to get. i can’t rave enough about her… great quality, a truly lovely product and she’s a mom to three kids under the age of five (i love to support creative working mamas)! see the dress itself below… and then scroll down for the very special shoot of GRACIE & ZEKE (part 2 of their love series)…

and here is the cute little couple. zeke’s mommy and i have already arranged their future marriage, so we can only hope that these photos are just the beginning of their beautiful life together…

Gracie & her dolly.

Joy — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:42:36 +0000

it is rare that my daughter ever asks for me to take her picture… instead, it is usually me, armed with bribes, begging for her to let me take one. but today, she (and her dolly) asked. i love that she insisted i take a picture of her mismatched shoes – this is how i know she is my child. :) and i love that when i took off her shoes after we were done, i had known that they were different colors but i then realized that they were both lefty’s. we were having a rough morning, the phone was ringing, brandon was eating crayons on the floor, and my patience was running very thin… but in that little gem of a moment with my gracie girl, i was reminded of what all the work is for.

one of my lovely “I’m Snap Happy!” workshop attendees, shauna reed, brought this darling skirt & kerchief set for gracie from her own line of children’s clothing, tidbit. you can contact shauna for custom items by email at ilovetidbit@live.com!

The adventures of gracie & zeke continue…

Joy — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:52:43 +0000

just a sneak peek for now. more to come soon!

* gracie’s adorable vintage-inspired dress was made by the ultra talented katie at lullaby birds children’s boutique! can’t rave about her enough. :)

Vote for my photo in the 2010 Professional Photographer Magazine Cover Contest!

Joy — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:22:15 +0000

my entry (the image below) is from one of my most favorite shoots, gracie & zeke in love… see the shoot HERE. pretty please will you vote for my photo?? click on the following link to place your vote… and thank you bunches!!! xoxo

http://www.ppmag.com/cover-contest-2010/vote/16686/