I ♥ Faces: Best Face of 2014

It's hard to choose a favorite face from among a whole year, but I think think I have to pick this one. 

This is my baby when she was 4 months old - crazy to think she's 7 months old now!

Click the camera to see more great faces from 2014

I ♥ Faces: Beautiful Eyes

My beautiful baby girl's 3 month photo shoot last Sunday. 

I love her big alert eyes - I can't wait to see if they stay this dark or if they'll lighten up any more. 

Her Daddy and I both have blue eyes, but mine are pretty gray and his are pretty green, so who knows!

 

I ♥ Faces: Let's Hear it for the Girls

Unless I'm told not to, when we attend weddings, you know I'm going to have my camera. 

Some of the pictures we got from "bonus" cameras at our wedding are wonderful and I especially loved getting them so much sooner than our professional photos, which with MANY more pictures obviously and understandably took longer to process. Our first wedding of the year was Emily and Zach's in March. We were seated as far to the right as possible, so I wasn't able to get any shots of Zach during the ceremony, but had a wonderful view of Emily! 

I love this beautiful bride and was so excited to get to share in their happy day!

Check out more photo submissions of
the lovely ladies in our lives at iheartfaces.com

 

Lincoln Park Zoo

In April, Mike and I went to Chicago for his birthday and a "babymoon". One of the things we always do when we travel is go to the zoo. We both love looking at all the animals and playing Where's Waldo in the multiple animal enclosures. Plus, I get to take lots of pictures - so here's some from this trip.

And finally, Mike's "spirit animal" - the giraffe with its tongue stuck out.

Emily & Zach {Wedding}

Eee! I love these two. We were so excited to get to celebrate the start of their marriage with them in March. 

We sat on the far right side of the ceremony, which leads to great pictures of the bride and none of the groom. Sorry Zach - I'm sure Val and Allie had you covered with your real pictures :)

Mr. and Mrs. Zach Sunderland!

Check out the bow tie - Zach made them for his groomsmen. They're wooden and the backs are engraved with the groomsman's name and a verse.

You guys are precious!! Love you!

I ♥ Faces: Smile

Do it. It makes life better. Not to mention TED says it makes you a super hero.
Now, my beautiful friend Rachel here has an infectious smile, especially when it's brought on by these two sweethearts who were the flower girls at her wedding last summer.

Check out more entries at iheartfaces.com

I ♥ Faces: Best Face of 2013

I struggled to choose this year! I had a couple favorites, but I ultimately decided to go with the most expressive faces. This is my cousin Paige during her wedding ceremony. I have no idea what joke the pastor had just made, but luckily, the other person involved was sitting on my side! You can see more pictures from their wedding here.

If you're interested, the others I debated are this photo, also from their wedding; this one from Rachel and Nick's wedding; or this one of my husband and nephew on our family vacation. Thoughts? Did I choose well?

This is my submission to the I Heart Faces Photo Challenge. 

Join in the fun! Get more details at http://iheartfaces.com/

Paige & Brock {Wedding}

My cousin Paige got married last weekend and I have to say, it sure was beautiful! The wedding was held at Quarters One, at the Rock Island Armory. Quarters One is a gorgeous private residence built during the Civil War. Because of the location though, nothing is provided, hence the plates. My cousin and uncle searched for weeks buying out all the Goodwill's around of plates for dinner and cake.

  

 Paige first brought Brock around in 2007 and we've approved ever since. However, this may be the first time I've seen him in person without sunglasses upside-down on the back of his head.

So these girls could not have been cuter if they tried. 

Gah! You're so beautiful Paigey!! 

One of Paige's bridesmaid's mom made the cake - red velvet and super yummy!

We may have taken this picture for the sole reason of letting my aunt see what her hair looked like :)

 Love the heart that appeared in the lights for this picture -
it's actually two strands that just so happened to line up at this angle!

Rachel & Nick {Wedding}

So, as I was working on editing for my cousin Paige's wedding, I realized I had never posted the pictures of Rachel and Nick's wedding from earlier this summer. Oops. I have know Rachel since I was 15 and was so excited to see her get married to someone so perfect for her :)

About 15 minutes until ceremony time, it down-poured for about 10 minutes on this outdoor wedding, leaving a soggy aisle and chairs. So a quick reception venue rearrangement later, wha-la! Indoor wedding complete with lots of beautiful natural sunlight. 

Their cake smash was pretty impressive :)

By the time dinner was done, the outdoor patio space was dry enough for dancing!