the coughlin-farrell crew

The sun comes up,

Its a new day dawning,

Its time to sing your song again.

Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes.

Bless the lord oh my soul

Oh my soul

Worship his holy name

Sing like never before

Oh my soul

I worship your holy name.

to say my soul was blessed after spending time with this beautiful family is an understatement. a few weeks ago my family spent 3 amazing days in one of our most favorites cities, pittsburgh with all of my husband's siblings and his aunt, uncle, and cousins who were in town visiting from denver. we had a great time exploring the city, taking in a pirates game, checking out the carnegie science center and even had a few minutes to squeeze in a much needed family photo shoot.  

thank you guys so much for inviting us to tag-a-long on your spring break vacation. we left pittsburgh with so many new memories, our spirits renewed, and hearts full. these moments we spent walking through the woods were some of my favorite of the week and i didn't want our time together to end. you both are amazing role models in marriage, in parenting, and in life. it was truly a blessing for us to be able to spend this time with each and every member of your family. here's to many more adventures together!

jack turns one

joy is the realest reality, the fullest life, and joy is always given, never grasped. God gives gifts and i give thanks and i unwrap the gift given; joy.

- ann voskamp

meet sweet little jack! from jack's toothy little grin to watching his parents helping him as he learns how to walk, the joy in this family is obvious and overflowing. God truly does give us so many gifts and I am very thankful simply for joy. 

my amazing and talented friend amy free photographed jack as a newborn and i was so excited and honored that she would pass along my name when his mom meridyth called looking for someone to capture jack on his first birthday. it was so fun meeting meridyth and her adorable little family and we had a lot a great time braving the still very chilly temps here in dc hanging out on the national mall. jack was quite the trooper and didn't seem to let the cold bother him. he immediately started hamming it up for the camera and very quickly became my little buddy. 

thank you guys so much for letting me photograph your family. i hope you enjoy your little preview of our time together... 

the wells family

"if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." ~roald dahl

check out the wells family, another beautiful family that i had the pleasure of hanging out with this past Fall. we had an amazing Fall afternoon complete with beautiful Fall colors and gorgeous glowing sunbeams. this family had so much fun being together and we even talked 'little miss' into smiling for the camera. thank you wells family for letting me join you for such a fun afternoon.

the warkentien family

"joy is the realest reality, the fullest life, and joy is always given, never grasped. God gives gifts and i give thanks and i unwrap the gift given: joy." ann voskamp

one of the hardest parts about being a military family is all of the moving but one of the best parts about being a military family is all the moving. moving means leaving friends but when you are in the military you can almost count on it that your paths will one day cross again. we were blessed to meet the warkentien's when we lived in virginia and were beyond ecstatic to find out we would be neighbors again in dc. shelby and i met at a navy spouses bible study and were instant friends. we connected over our loves for good food, photography, scrapbooking, and most importantly the Lord. we have remained friends as the navy has moved us from place to place and are loving being close enough to each other to enjoy leading a bible study together, MOPS, play dates with our kiddos, and even an occasional family date night. 

this past year was not an easy one for my friend as her husband tyler deployed to afghanistan and she held down the homefront, managing three little ones on her own. i am certain it was not easy but she handled the time with grace and strength and chose joy and as you can see that joy has only grown since tyler returned home. i was beyond excited when shelby invited me into that joy and asked me to photograph her family and over the moon when she said they wanted to venture into the city. we braved the cold and had a great time playing in and around the lincoln memorial. over the years i have watched these little ones grow up and i loved getting to see their personalities in a new light from behind my lens of my camera.   

 

thank you shelby for this little adventure, thank you for trusting me with your memories, thank you for sharing your family and your joy with me and most importantly thank you for being my friend. 

the chacon-marble crew

"sometimes the most ordinary things can be made extraordinary simply by doing them with the right people." ~nicholas sparks

meet the chacon-marble family! they are one of the sweetest, most loving, easy-going families you will ever meet. we enjoyed a beautiful fall day playing by the pond at one of their most favorite parks. they blew bubbles, snuggled, ran around, danced, played in the leaves and really just had a good time being together.  

vanessa and i have become friends through our mops group and she is truly an inspiration to me. she loves her sweet babies so much and is an absolutely amazing mother. no matter what, she always has a smile on her face and kind words to say. she loves the Lord and has an amazing gift for loving and serving others. thank you vanessa for being my friend and for letting me spending this beautiful morning with you and your family. 

The Gallagher Gang

"So, there is this boy... he kinda stole my heart. He calls me Mommy."

~Anonymous

So this is Timmy. He has this amazing smile and an infectious, little laugh. And as you can tell his mommy & daddy are pretty darn smitten with him. We had a great afternoon playing at one of my favorite parks in the City which included checking in on the horse stables, running in the grass, and climbing on, under and through the fence.    

The Stanley Family

This past fall I had the opportunity to photograph some amazing families! Now that the holiday's are long gone and Christmas cards, New Years, and even some Valentines' Day cards have all been sent, I am in the clear to share all of these beautiful images. 

First up is the gorgeous Stanley family!! I mean seriously, aren't they gorgeous? And they have two of the most precious little ones ever.