yay for friends and spring!

Happy first day of spring! I feel like it's been spring for awhile here although we've had spurts of winter returning. Today is sunny and beautiful but only in the 50s. Yesterday was warmer and I had a fun afternoon hanging out with my friend Molly and our kiddos. Then we met up with our husbands and had a delish dinner of pupusas and rice and beans and chips. Yum! I think I could eat that meal multiple times a week.

I also got to take pictures yesterday of baby Thea. Last fall Molly let me practice taking photos of her kids Ella and Asher. Molly was pregnant at the time with Thea and I've been wanting to take pictures of her for months! Finally we got around to it. Thea is four months old and such a cutie!

I had to snap a few of big brother Asher...

And big sister Ella, who LOVES to pose for the camera!


Thanks for the fun day, Molly!

easter photos

Last week I took these pictures for my friend Katie so she could do an Easter card of her cute kids. I love the colors she chose for them to wear and the happy daffodils.

I'm so glad that after days of rain the sun is back!





And this one is from yesterday--I snapped it at the playground of Briar after she feasted on sand!

last weekend

Last weekend we were blessed with deliciously warm spring weather. Yesterday and today a cold front came in, but I know the warm weather will be back. I love spring! Saturday we went to check out a new park in the area. Asher had his first ever swing ride.

He was somewhat underwhelmed.

He looks so little in the swing. Whenever I feel like he's growing too fast, I'll look at these and remember he's still a baby...for a little while longer at least.



Finally a smile!


Then we just hung out on a blanket on the grass soaking in the late afternoon sun.

If you haven't gotten enough of Asher (I know I hardly have any here!) you can see more photos on Asher's blog. It is private so if you don't have an invite and want one and you aren't a stalker, email me.

more rasmussens

I did another shoot with the Rasmussens last week now that Joseph is a little bit older and more alert. This time we did the whole family. And of course we got a few more of sweet baby Joseph.

a few more of baby asha

I finished editing my photos of little Asha last week and thought I'd share a few more.

cleveland

Our last stop before heading home was Cleveland. I really wanted to see Suzy and her baby. And I thought it would be fun to drive by my old house and school in Shaker Heights. We lived there for five years--from when I was 4 to 9.

Suzy and Spencer were very gracious hosts and baby Sydney is adorable. Unfortunately, she was still asleep when we left and missed our photo op.


Before leaving town we drove by my old house and took a picture.

I used to think our yard was HUGE!

Then went by my old elementary school.

I have a lot of good memories at that school.

And for Emily, I couldn't resist taking a picture of your old house too when we drove by it.
It looks just the same!


We had a nice drive home through Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia. It was weird not to stop in Zanesville, but we are going to do that when we move. I gotta show Jared the Y-bridge city properly.

And we must give a shout out to our super travelin' baby Asher. He was such a trooper! Here he is taking a turn at the wheel. (We were stopped of course.)




Thanks again to all our hosts! We had a great time!

upstate new york

After Boston, we headed west to visit Jared's family in upstate New York. We had planned to go there last summer, but had to cancel our trip when I went on bedrest, so it was really good to finally visit Jared's hometown. We got to see his brother and grandparents and aunt and uncles and cousins.

Jared and his older brother Steve

Jared and his grandparents


We were really close to Palmyra, so we went to the Sacred Grove, but it was approximately 20 degrees so we didn't last very long. I managed to take a few photos though, including one of the three of us with the self-timer.






I couldn't feel my finger anymore after taking these.




We also stopped by the temple real quick to take some pictures.



It was mostly just nice to relax and hang out for a couple days. We were definitely glad to be in the country after dealing with big cities for days. Big cities are fun, but I really do feel freer out in the country. Give me some wide open spaces!