SweetCheeks had donated a 1-hour family session to the EMK Brain Aneurysm Research Foundation golf play day and Patty and her family were the lucky winners.  I was excited to work with them and their 3 beautiful little girls as headed to the Baltic Mill in Belvidere, IL for an early AM session this past Sunday.

As you can imagine 2 girls under the age of 2 and a 4-month old baby can make these sessions interesting.  However, I was determined to capture as many keeper images as I could for them and I think we managed to get some great shots :) 

The image in the upper left has one of their little ones walking away since she thought she was all done taking pictures...dad came and lassoed her because we were really just getting started!

One of Patty's (and my) favorite pictures from the session is the one above when Thalia discovered daddy's eyes...and pointed them out to us all, literally. 

We finished up with a few tender moments between mom and the littlest one.  They are such a beautiful family, I really hope to work with them again as their 3 beautiful girls grow up to be young women.  Thank you to the Tobins for starting my fall family season on a great note!

I had the honor of photographing Christy and Chad's wedding on September 1st.  I walked into Our Saviors Church and it was one of the most beautiful chapels I had seen in awhile.  It was so bright and beautiful, I was overcome with a sense of peace.

There are not many times when I well up with tears before the ceremony even starts but this day was one of them.  I ran into Christy's mom Jan on my way to the bride's room and she had a half smile with tears about to drip.  I couldn't help but give her a hug and tell her how amazingly gorgeous Christy looked.  I knew they were tears of joy in her eyes.

Christy was stunning and wore nothing but a radiant smile during all the moments of the ceremony.  I love the pic on the bottom right because she is overcome with excitement right after they were announced as husband and wife.

Their families were wonderful and the wedding party was all so supportive of them.  Their wedding party is pictured below...pretty snazzy group of people :)

It was awesome to be snapping away at this couple since I had just done their engagement session in March.  Seeing them all dressed in their wedding attire was such a delight for me.  We were able to evade the rain for most of the day and enjoy some fun shots around Midway Village.  

One of my favorites was this one with the sock monkey.  It was strategically taken for Christy's grandmother who has strong affinity for those long legged, stuffed cuties.

They had an overflowing display of sweets and cupcakes.  Each guest had a cute take home bag by their plates and they could go to the table a scoop up candies of all types to take home with them (everything from Hershey Kisses to Good n' Plentys were up for grabs).  Many guests started in before dinner was served...not that I blame them. 

The day was filled with lots of smiles, tears and of an abundance of cheers. I am so grateful that these two chose me as their photographer.  I know they will have many years of joy ahead of them. Congratulations to the happy married couple, Christy and Chad!