Earlier this year I did a photoshoot with the Scholes family that featured a Panama-Jack-meets-Oregon-rain theme at Jenkins Estate. We met again before the holidays for a more casual shoot, that included running a few UofO Duck’s better plays.

Bearing witness to the humor and love across three generations of a dedicated family, and the intimacy of a 60+ year marriage, left me with a lump in my throat.  And immense gratitude for my job.

No.  These are not engagement photos.  These are friends of mine.  Whose wedding I attended almost eight years ago.  And I’ve been honored to watch their sweet lovin grow that much stronger in the time since.

We talked cars.  We raced cars.  We walked.  We looked at winter vegetables.  We hit up the playground at the neighborhood school.  And we made googly eyes at dear, sweet baby Logan, who slept like a champ through it all.

Thanks for a great afternoon Kamp family!  And the deelicious, um, celebratory beverage when we finished.

Looking waaay back into my archives of 2011 holiday family photoshoots, that now seem a lifetime ago, I was genuinely touched by the relationships + moments I was invited to document and share in.   I had a marathon of photoshoots the last few weeks before the Holidays, and each presented such a unique story about family, how they’re built and the infinite number of ways that they can operate, I never tired of the process.

So in turn, I wanted to share some of those moments with you…regardless of the fact we are now almost a month into the New Year.

I had the great fortune of starting with none other than Miss Claire to kick off the season.  I will NEVER tire of watching + photographing this sweet, sassy, bright young thing blossom into the amazing human I know she is destined to be.

*I do believe I was being mocked in the photo above…

I am now officially 1+ months behind in my bloggedy blog mcblog… so I pinky swear to follow up in the next few days with some snapshots of work and life over these last several weeks.

In the meantime, I’m over the moon to share with all 2 of my official followers news of my first major publication feature in the Winter 2012 issue of 1859 magazine.  Contributor profile included!  Published out of Bend, Oregon, it’s a beautiful magazine {I would have said this EVEN IF I hadn’t been published} that embraces completely it’s tagline to “live. think. explore” all the things that make Oregon so spectacular.

My feature originally started as a personal project “{Alone} on Belmont” and expanded into a more general profile of the people and places that make SE Belmont St fabulous {in my humble opinion}.  I absolutely loved the opportunity to meet so many interesting people who were so generous with their time and stories.

And now, without further ado…

One year shy of 40, I felt the celebration of the last chapter of my 30’s needed to be spent with people in places that bring me some measure of peace with the journey that has been my life thus far.  Besides being showered with love from friends + family, I spent the weekend with a dear friend + her best friend {of the four legged Bernese Mountain Dog variety} out in Hood River.

And I might have brought my camera.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, it was November.  And I took some photos of Miss Addison + her beautiful mom on a spectacularly colorful + blue sky fall day.  And she just happened to have her most favorite princess dress on hand.  And in a flashback to the 80s… My Little Pony.