the Roberts family

a lovely summer day on Western Michigan's campus with the lovely Roberts clan....




ah yes, so picturesque in every moment.....



because the lens only has to show what it wants to show...but really, with that many people and three of them being children three and under, I think we did pretty well.....

little gwennie and her cousin protectors...

proud grandparents ready for number four....which will be arriving next year! (yea for the towne family!)



dads....

and moms...







the best.

there's just something about those little fingers grasping with such trust, love, and complete happiness....









and what better way to end an afternoon of shooting with some bubble fun...









no matter how your day may go, the best way to end it is with laughter. unrestricted and pure joyful laughter.

and I thought I was a poser....

my Zoolander trademark pose apparently had nothing on the zoo animals one dreary, rain-smeared, late Wednesday morning.....

what IS that thing you are pointing at me??

Audrey suddenly having flashbacks to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as bird on the left slowly inches closer....

Presley in complete concentration, oblivious to the goat lurking behind him with ideas of his own.....

the coziest place to be...

I can't tell if he was just really relaxed or wanted to jump the rocks that separated us and eat me...

many zoo creatures seemed like angerballs towards me that day and I just can't understand why...

apparently Presley wasn't as excited about all of the animal portrait opportunities as I was...

yes monkey, I feel exactly the same way many, many days.

baby eddie's six day old rock star debut

seriously. I mean, he already has his rock steady, air fist pounding down...

and he brings a whole new coolness to the misunderstood "onesie" with his rocking black onesie...

yes, edward steven is finally here and I couldn't have felt more priviledged to be a part of his six day old shoot where he rocked some adorable faces, along with a few other behind the scenes rock star moments that shall remain, well....just that.

okay, it is near impossible to choose a favorite image of such a sweet little honey bear but these following two moments rank at the very top to say the least....not only because he couldn't get any more adorable in them but because the whole family took the stage in one form or another for both.

he even graced us with open eyes for a few quick shots....

and some serious newborn determination.....

hello most squishiest lips and chin ever....love it.

dreams of the womb still linger....

wrinkly little fingers....

wrinkly little toes....

eddie makes being absolutely adorable seem effortless....because for him, it absolutely is.

Sluiter family, party of three! I couldn't be more estatic for your beautiful, little family. you are ALL rock stars in my eyes....especially since we all really learned the meaning of "the show must go on" that afternoon.....enough said.

in the good old days...

my whole family might have had to rely on horses as our sole means for getting around (think Little House on the Prarie with Jeff as the manly Pa...) and after seeing them all interact with the family horses this past weekend, I think we just might have done okay....alright, so they would have had to pull me behind on a cart with all the hand-picked garden food but still, we might just have given the Ingalls family some serious competition.

seriously, could they be any cuter riding? and if I let them, they would stay on their horses all day....literally. they were born to ride.

this boy can pretty much get away with anything at this point...but don't tell him that.

this might just be one of my most favorite images ever...

all I can say is Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy in the Sundance Kid.....perfection.