Each year we send out New Year’s cards.  Last year was our first year with 4 kids, and when I saw a cool card that folded accordion style with 4 spaces on each side, I knew it would be great for our family.  This year I contemplated doing a different style card just to change things up, but in the end we figured out that the card style we chose last year was THE BEST, and we better just stick to that.  :)

Brett’s brother came into town from Los Angeles and surprised us on December 24th.  As I was washing dishes from dinner he called and as we were chatting, he asked if I could come open the garage door.  He does this all the time, and yet each time he still manages to completely surprise us.  He stayed in town for a week and a half and we all had fun. (Many more photos coming from the fun we had…)  During his stay we asked him to help us take photos for our New Year’s card, and then we got the oddest day where it was 70 degrees out.  PERFECT!  I did my usual….got the kids up from nap and without any thought to outfits, matching, etc. dressed them in something that was “them” and hoped for the best.  (Works for me, but not really recommended. :)  We headed out to my parents field, and went crazy for about 15 minutes.  Here are of few of the treasures we came up with….some for our card, and some extras.

Love this one of all of us…

The front of our card shot:

Gabriel is just precious.

The boys with their Uncle J.

Adin, caught in a moment of stillness.  I LOVE this.

My sweet girl.  Just recently it is beginning to hit me how big she is getting.

My funny and charming boy Riah. :)  His smile lights up any room he enters.

I seriously want to eat this child.  My baby.

Adin’s new trick he learned.  I almost used this for the card….but didn’t.

Us.

Our three boys.  These cute little hats were made by my sister-in-law!  She makes and sells some ADORABLE stuff….her info will be coming soon.  :)

Uncle Jason with his babies.  I love how much he loves them.  I also love Adin’s face in this.

The front of the card…..

Opened up on one side….

And the other side, featuring all four beautiful babies.  :)

Thanks for viewing!  And once again Happy 2009 from our home to yours.  :)

This beautiful family saw their neighbor’s Senior photos by us and said, ‘We want photos like that!”  When the Mom (Hanna) contacted me, she told me she loved how laid back and natural the photos were.  To make their story even more interesting, they are from Sweden and have been living here in town for a year and a half.  They would soon be returning at the end of 2008, and although I tried to convince Hanna to just pack me in her suitcase so I could do her session in Sweden, we ended up doing it here.  Bummer.  It was FREEZING and snowing, but this family is so fun and warm,  it really made no difference.

It was really important for them to capture their experience here in the states.  They lived near a local high school, so they asked if we could shoot by there.  The Dad (Bengt) has an AWESOME old truck that we fell in love with!!  It was rusty, old, and loaded with character.   We arrived to the scene and they were all geared up in their local attire!  Hanna shared with me that this was their first family photo session they have ever had.  What an honor for us!

Here they all are….The kids from left to right are, Johanna, Jonatan, and Maja.  :)

I don’t know what Brett was saying, but it must have been funny….

This car is Bengt’s pride and joy.

One of my favorites.  I love Maja’s sweet little face!  :)

I loved that they brought the American Flag.

Seriously, this family is STUNNING!

LOVE this.   It makes me smile.  I hope this is such a great memory for these kids throughout their lives.

A Daddy ATTACK!!!

This track and field area is important to them.   Hanna is a runner and would come to run here all the time.

We decided to take a run through the football field!!  I LOVE happy families.

As we arrived at our next location, Bengt was doing some “tricks” for us.  He had us laughing so hard!!!

Love this shot of Johanna in Dad’s truck.

Jonatan is a handsome little guy.

WE WERE COOOLLLLD!!!!!  So we JUMPED!!!

Then Mom and Dad got about 2 minutes alone for shots.   :)

They are adorable!!!!

After we said our goodbyes, Bengt had to make a GRAND exit.  He peeled out and waved goodbye!!!!

Well, since these were taken, this beautiful family has left our country and headed back to their home in Sweden.  I’m sure all who knew them in the U.S. will miss them and we were so happy to hear they made it back safely.

Hanna, Bengt, Johanna, Jonatan, and of course precious Maja  :)  We LOVED meeting you all and spending a bit of time with you.  It was such a pleasure to capture something special for you to remember your “holiday” here in the USA.  I hope you can look back on these photos fondly for years to come!

All the best.

Brett and Jess