This family's session always ends up being one of favorites year after year...after year. ;) I've been photographing this beautiful couple since their engagement session and wedding, newborn photos, and annual family photos. It's such a joy to watch their sweet and beautiful family grow, and those two adorable girls are just the cutest. I love thinking back to before it all began, and realizing that none of us know what life has in store for us, that this was the beautiful life that was meant for them all those years ago.

This was my first time working with this adorable family, and they were one of the SWEETEST families I've ever met. So kind to me and loving to each other. Little Miss was super cute and did a great job considering she had never met me before, and she even did a few poses on her own. They were a great family to kick off the Fall Mini Sessions!

I am real tree girl through and through. I have always grown up with real Christmas trees, usually something like a Douglas Fir. The smells and the tradition of cutting down a fir tree have a special place in my heart and in my childhood memories.

Last year, we had a tough time finding a tree, it was expensive, the u-cut trees were sold out early, and our tree lost a lot of needles early on. My husband has been begging me to get an artificial tree for years, and so after Christmas last year, I caved. We bought a beautiful artificial tree, and this year we used it for the first time. And I don't hate it. In fact, I bought a second one for the family room. And some pine scented spray to make it seem somewhat real. 

I still wanted the tree farm experience (and photos ;) ), so we loaded up the kids the weekend after we had our third baby and headed to the tree farm. We had the whole tree farm to ourselves, and the owners were gracious enough to just let us play among the trees. It's one of my favorite Christmas memories we've made with the kids. We played hide-and-seek, my oldest made me take a photo of her with every tree that was her height,  and we started the tradition of buying a potted pine tree to put outside and to plant in our yard after Christmas. 

I'm a stickler for traditions, but sometimes when old traditions are broken, beautiful new traditions are made.