Devyn had such a terrific first soccer season. We are pretty sure that Devyn ended up scoring 11 or 12 goals this season . . . which is quite a lot in the “Under 6″ league. Here she is scoring her second to last goal for the season:

We are so amazingly prooud of her and her athletic abilities! We can’t wait for next season!

One of the greatest things about my job is that I get to photograph families time after time and watch as their kids grow. Sometimes I get the honor of meeting them when their child is a newborn and then I get to photograph each milestone. It’s so much fun watching babies get older. Nate and Abby are no exception. I’ve only been photographing their family for a little while now, but already Nate has grown so much since I first met him . . . and his family is getting ready to welcome a new little brother. It’s so exciting!

Nate’s mom REALLY wanted photographs of Nate standing up, since that was his new skill when he turned 1. Of course, during the first session we scheduled, Nate was having NOTHING to do with that. Naturally. So, we tried again a second time and with keys and Mustang, he finally showed off for us. He and his sister are so adorable, I could photograph their big blue eyes all day!

Enjoy!

Jodie and Chris decided to tie the knot in Kauai this fall, but came back to San Diego for a fabulous reception to share their love with all of their friends and family. Jodie was just absolutely stunning in her lace gown (I just adore her red hair — isn’t she gorgeous???!!!). And Chris was quite the ham in front of the camera . . . he kept feeding Jodie while she was getting ready, which I thought was so cute. You can tell that he just adores her.

So, here are a few images from their wedding reception.

I thought it was neat that they chose a location that actually looks like it could be Hawaii for their wedding reception! Truth be told, the reception was actually hosted by none other than Mike & Jill — my very own near and dear next door neighbors! (Jill is Chris’s sister). I sure wish OUR backyard looked like Mike and Jill’s!

This is my favorite image from the day. Of course, Chris was not exactly sure why on earth I wanted to photograph him in front of a fence and with my camera facing IN to the sun . . . but I told him to trust me.

The adorable little flower girls, two of Devyn’s best friends in the whole world, also got to go to Hawaii for the actual ceremony. Lucky girls!

This one is just sooooo Chris that I couldn’t resist.

I am getting ready to post my favorite images from Marin and Mike’s wedding, but I realized that I hadn’t blogged their E-session yet! Engagement sessions are a great way for brides and grooms to get some face time with my camera, so when it comes time for their photographs on their wedding day, they are already used to being photographed. Plus, then they get some awesome images to use at their reception. Marin and Mike chose to use some of their images in their signature album/guest book. Totally cute!

Now, I’ve known Marin since 7th grade, I think, so we go way back. We used to play soccer together for Valhalla and a variety of other teams. It’s always nice to photograph friends. And I’m so happy that she and Mike found each other. They were so cute together at their engagement session. After listening to the toasts at the wedding, I hear that Mike was quite the confirmed bachelor . . . emphasis on the WAS! haha! But Marin just swept him off his feet. Aren’t they adorable???

I know that some people don’t celebrate Halloween, so I hope I don’t offend . . . but we look at it as a time that the kids get to wear costumes and get candy. That’s pretty much it. I even try to keep my decor very lighthearted and full of pumpkins and the fun stuff, not the gory gruesome stuff. It’s nice that we live in one of those neighborhoods where carloads of parents from other neighborhoods drop their kids off for very safe and family oriented trick-or-treating.

This year, Miss D went as a 1950s girl in a poodle skirt, and the twins went as pink poodles. They were soooo cute!

Oh, and I just want to give a little shout-out to the people at Annie’s Poodle Skirts. The quality of Devyn’s poodle skirt is really the best I have ever seen, and their customer service was fantastic. If you ever plan on dressing ’50s for a special occasion, be sure to order from them! htpp://www.anniepoodleskirts.com

I carved 5 pumpkins by myself. Here are three of them.

My mom made me these awesome wreaths:

Tyler and Jordyn were totally afraid of Pirate Davey Jones . . . Tyler burst into tears and then kept her eyes on him all night. I thought her cousin looked really cool!

At first the twins were not at all thrilled with Halloween. They did not want to be set down, so I couldn’t get a picture of the 3 girls without us in it. It was kind of sad, actually, how scared they were. But I have to remember that they are not fearless like Devyn was as a baby. They are more clingy. They also don’t get to “go and do” as much as Devyn did because it’s physically impossible for me to take them as many places as I did Devyn. But, they did eventually end up having a good time. Here’s the family:

My other nephew is in LOVE with Chica from the Sprout channel, so he dressed as “Chico” for Halloween. He is turning 1 this week!

Devyn was the epitome of the Seinfeld routine about kids and how their life is about “Get Candy! Get Candy! Get Candy!” She literally RAN from house-to-house. This was HER year for trick or treating.

Finally got a pic of all three of them!

But they REALLY perked up when they discovered that there was CANDY in their pumpkins. Oh boy!

Devyn’s loot:

A pic of Devyn’s trick or treating bag because I thought it was cute:

Enjoy!

Gee, kids . . . . I have NO idea!

While I do have a soft spot in my heart for twins, I have an even bigger soft spot in my heart for TRIPLETS! Being the mom of twins myself, I cannot even imagine adding one more child to the mix (of course, you do get so bleary-eyed and tired when they’re babies, that it becomes like an assembly line — ha! ha!). But I think I have a “yet even bigger” soft spot in my heart for the PARENTS of triplets!!! I didn’t know Molly, Jacob, and Luke as infants, but I have a lot of respect for their parents, Keith and Gina. And not only are they totally amazing people raising these three 5 year-olds, but Molly, Jacob, and Luke are some of the most well-behaved, well-mannered, and HAPPY children that you’ll ever meet. What a gorgeous family!

Our session was like a true playdate: complete with swings AND bubbles. SO much fun!

Enjoy!
shawna K

Everyone knows I have a soft spot in my heart for twins . . . and Noah and Elijah were no exception! Even though it took them a while to warm up to me, they ended up having a grand time at the beach and at the park. Well, Elijah had fun at the beach, but Noah was not too happy about getting wet! Oops! At least he dried off and ended up having a MUCH better time at the park. It was all good!

The boys enjoying the tide pools:

Sweet brothers holding hands . . . their hand holding days won’t last forever . . .

Elijah was fascinated with the beach:

Elijah’s gorgeous eyes:

Noah’s curious glance:

Noah has gorgeous eyes, too!

The park was SO much more fun for Noah! We’re flexible!

You can just tell how much they love each other!

Enjoy!

-shawna K

Last Friday, our Crazy Call-In day was a huge success. Thank you to all of you who called in and scheduled your October sessions! I’m excited to be getting so many Christmas cards done earlier this year so we can all avoid late charges, rush fees, and (in some cases) overnight shipping! Last year, I was practically serving my FedEx guy Christmas dinner because he was here so much so close to Christmas!

A have a TON of gorgeous sessions and even a few weddings and engagement sessions to share with you, so keep checking back. I’m still recovering from ALL the children I photographed last week and the call-in day. More soon!

-shawna K

P.S. It’s still not too late to schedule your October sessions. I have 2 openings the week of the 20th and 3 openings the week after that. Let me know if you are interested in any those weeks.