Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish everybody a warm and happy Christmas this year. May Santa bring you all that you wish for!


Our Christmas tree this year.

Christmas Cookie Craziness

Four children, four bowls of frosting, a dozen different types of sprinkles and four dozen cookies. If you add all of those together the results are the pictures below. Many bottles of sprinkles surrendered to the hands of small children, with much of the sprinkles ending up on the floor, but we had a lot of fun. Next year I am cutting out all circle cookies. Why? Because the cookies had so much frosting and sprinkles on them that by the time the kids were done, the shapes were unrecognizable! So next year, all circles. :o)

Care for some cookie with your sprinkles?


This blue thing was a candy cane shaped cookie. LOL




The finished product. Yum, right?


The cookie artists.


I'm quite certain that even though I cleaned for 45 minutes after they finished, I will still be finding sprinkles on the floor around Valentine's Day.

Brotherly Love

Last week I had the pleasure of going out to the home of these two adorable brothers. We ended up taking an untraditional route to a portrait of them together, but I love how it turned out. I think it is more emotional and touching then the regular studio style shot. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Baby's First Christmas

This little guy is so much fun! I have been photographing him since he was three months old. He is super sweet and has the best personality. He is a very happy baby and smiles constantly.


Here he is for his nine month session. I can't believe how big he is getting!


Just check out his eyes! I could just play with him all day long!

Holiday Portrait Time

Mom and dad brought their trio in for the annual Christmas picture. The kids did a great job! By the end the littlest was really showing how silly and fun she can be! We got a lot of beautiful shots of them together and I wanted to share my favorite.

Personality

Tonight I fell in love. I came home tonight exhausted yet full of energy. And it hit me. I am totally in love with what I get to do. I love that I can meet all of these wonderful children with so many different personalities. I love that I am allowed to capture these children exactly how they are, being exactly who they are. Capturing memories for their parents so that, in the future, they can remember who these children are, right now. Today. I love how real children are. I love that they are not afraid to be who they are. I love how they openly show their emotions. Children aren't afraid to show somebody that they love them. Nor do they hide when they are upset. They are real. And I love that. I am not in the business of capturing Hallmark pictures. I am here to capture children being children. I feel that tonight, I did just that.

I want to thank this family for welcoming me into their home tonight and sharing their children with me. I had a complete blast and I hope you did too! We caught some beautiful moments and a lot of personality. Here is a sneak peak! Enjoy!!!

Attacked at the Crayola factory

Sometimes you just have to laugh at what kids will do. My littlest, affectionately known as Chicken does the funniest, most unexpected things. Yesterday she came up to me looking like she was attacked at a Crayola factory. It started with her using a blue marker for lip gloss and then, well, I am pretty sure the picture explains it all.

Aren't kids fun! Luckily it was washable and just ran off her face after I dumped a bucket of water over her head in the bath. Otherwise she would of had an interesting day at school today I am sure.

Merry Christmas!

Well there. I said it! It's officially December! To get this month rolling, I'm sharing my children's Christmas card with you. If you are interested in booking a session and having personalized Christmas cards designed to share with family and friends there is still time! But hurry! The deadline for Christmas sittings is December 7th! I still have a few sessions left so call or email me today to reserve yours!

Family Portrait Time

For a lot of families Christmas means that it is time for the annual family portrait. I had this beautiful family ask me to help them get what mom referred to as "the money shot". I think we nailed it! They were so much fun to work with! There was a lot of laughing going on in the studio with threats of baby talk and tutus flying around. But those threats won a lot of natural smiles and we got the money shot for mom......

Merry Christmas guys and great job giving your mom her Christmas wish!

Christmas Sparkle

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT week?! I can't! And I am no where near ready for the holidays. But I have been working on some new looks for Christmas pictures. I have a few spots left so drop me an email or give me a call to book an appointment. If your appointment is before the first weekend of December you can have your print in time for Christmas!


Here is the new set up. Now, don't mind my goofy daughter. I was happy that she let me practice with her, so what do I care that she had jammies on? ;o) She decided where to sit too, so never mind that she placed herself in a way so that she looks like a giant next to the little tree.

Fall Color Explosion

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to photography my friend Trisha and her family. Aren't the cutest family! My seven year old daughter came along and second shot for me. I still need to pull those from her card, but in the mean time, here are a couple of my favorites. The colors behind them are just explosive!

Enjoy, Trisha and be sure to check out your gallery. It's up a running now.

The three kiddos. Little Princess wasn't too into having her picture taken, but she was a lot of fun anyway.
The whole group of them. Very photogenic family! I was so happy she finally agreed to let me do this!

Trick or Treat!!!

I just love fall! Something about the crisp air, the leaves changing color, and apple orchards makes me want to get outside and absorb as much of it as I can. Halloween is the official kick off to the holidays at our house. Each year the kids start thinking about their costumes months in advance with a final decision done in early September. Then we go to the fabric store together and pick out what we need to make their costumes one of a kind. They are so proud of their homemade costumes! So here they are showing off this year's candy winning outfits.



My youngest dreamed of meeting the munchkins and skipping along the yellow brick road to meet the great and powerful wizard.



My oldest daughter wanted to sail the seven seas in search of buried treasure.



My son had adventure on his mind when deciding who to be this year.



Three impatient trick or treaters. They were frustrated that they had to stop for a group shot. They had candy on the brain! You know those houses would get up and walk away if they didn't get there in the next 30 seconds! LOL

Welcome to Simonsen Photography

Well, I finally decided to enter the world of blogging!
Here you will find bits and pieces of me, my photography, my family and my life. I hope you enjoy reading about the craziness that happens around me and stop by often!