Jennifer and Roy's engagement

We found a beautiful day last week to hang out near Lincoln Park Zoo for Jennifer and Roy's engagement portraits. Thanks you two!

Ellen and Nathan's wedding

I had such a fantastic time in St. Louis this past weekend for Ellen and Nathan's wedding! I met Ellen through my high school friend Karl while he was in grad school at Washington University, so I got to see many of his friends that I had gotten to know through my visits.

Starting the day at the salon






I loved the light coming through their display case.




A little fun in the church






My favorite shot of the day


The flowers were done by their friends Gretchen and Kristen, and they turned out beautifully!




Thank you to Nathan for helping me hold up the veil :)


I loved the cake placement!


Ellen and her sister are Irish stepdancers, and they had their former school come in for some dinner entertainment. So much fun!


Curly hair at rest...


Curly hair gone wild


little Thalia watching the cake cutting


Another favorite: their first dance

Skye and Seth: Engagement

While in Maine I wanted to do some engagement portraits for my good friend Skye and her fiancé Seth. Skye has been one of my closest friends for almost 12 years now, and I'm so happy that she's found such a great guy. My next trip to Maine will be for her wedding; can't wait!

The beautiful Skye


The adorable Seth


We did a few shots around my parents' barn before heading off to a park.




bling!


There was a bit of hiking (sort of) on our walk.




I asked them to try and dance on the bench without falling off; they succeeded!


And then they danced on a larger dance floor.


We had fun playing on remnants of an old mill (also where I learned that climbing on brick structures with sandals was not the best idea).




The playground!


We had a small friend join us for a few shots.

Family chickens

The final series of the DeWan family pets.... the chickens! The chickens are kept for their eggs only; we don't eat our pets.

This one stays still quite well for portraits.


This one, not so much. I was chasing it around the front yard for a while.


Wandering in front of the car in the driveway




This one cracks me up: just another typical scene at the house. Doesn't everyone have chickens running in the driveway?

Foster kittens and cat

My family has a foster cat and her kittens from the shelter. They're adorable! As cats often are... Janna will be adopting the momma cat and one of the kittens once they're old enough.

Momma cat Maggie




I don't know which one is which, but I think these three are Tangerine, Mango, and Kiwi.


This one is Grapefruit, Janna's future cat.








This cute little thing didn't quite appreciate me holding him above my head.