Happy Thanksgiving!

I often reflect on life and realize how precious the gifts that we are given are. Thanksgiving is upon us and there are so many reasons to be thankful this year.

I am thankful for all of the people that are in my life. Whether it is a 5 minute conversation with someone new to me or catching up with a friend or family member, I cherish each moment.
I am thankful that my family is healthy. I am thankful that Sarah (married in August) completed her last scheduled round of chemo on Tuesday. I am thankful that my old co-worker Mitch is in remission after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer last winter. I am thankful that my Aunt Vicki is healthy enough to enjoy Thanksgiving with her family. I am thankful that my little family is growing (we are having a baby in March). I am thankful for my warm house and the ability to buy food. I am thankful for each little laugh that I hear or smile that I see from Ethan and Noah. I am thankful for the progress that Noah has made in the last year. I am thankful that Ethan knows exactly how to answer all of the questions during the children's portion of church. I am thankful for being trusted to document people's lives. I am thankful for every solider that is protecting our country.

The Winterfield Family

The Winterfield's have two little kids, Tate and Taylor. Tate cracks me up because he has trademark moves. I personally think that he is practicing to scare the boys away from his beautiful little sister.

After all of the fun we were having playing, Tate didn't really want to sit still for a family photo. He tried, but he could only make it for about 3 seconds before trying to run. Again, he cracks me up.

His little sister Taylor seemed to be fascinated by the big black camera that was starring at her.

After about 50 minutes of photo fun, Tate had enough. :)

A whole lotta fun!

My Sunday afternoon was a complete blast! I was asked to photograph 4 families at a home in Annandale, 2 of which have small children. Ya' it was a slice of heaven. I am not sure where to start since the afternoon was busy with trying to get Mallory and Anders to look at the camera. I did learn a new preschool song that did the trick though. After that, it was smooth sailing.

I adore Ander's expression in this image. It is so him. He laughs so hard that he leans back a little. Then we have Ms. Mallory who is so sweet and caring. They are just too cute!


The newest member of family is little Ethan. He was so attentive to his parents. Every time one of them spoke, his head turned towards them. I could tell that he thought the world of them.

These two graciously allowed me to turn their front room into a studio for the entire afternoon (thanks again). They are proud grandparents and everything that they did that afternoon showed it. At one point in the afternoon I over heard Carole explaining the story about Thanksgiving to Mallory. It was really sweet.

It was all smiles with these two. I honestly don't remember seeing them not smile all afternoon long.

Here is a picture of the grandchildren.

This one is my favorite. It was such a sweet, innocent, memorable moment. Anders was trying to get close to his new cousin, while Mallory was trying to get close to him to give a kiss.

My Family

Last night the Raivala family decided to have a little fun so I set up lighting , a backdrop and figured out how to use myself timer on the camera. That took me like 5 minutes because I couldn't remember how to do it. You can ask me about aperture settings, dragging the shutter and lots of other things that I know how to do with my camera, but the self timer was a challenge.

Anyways, we had a blast taking the pictures. Jon was the focal point so he pretty much sat in the same place while the kids and I moved around. After each image the kids and I ran back to the camera to see how the picture looked and then we would race back to Jon for another picture.


I was still trying to figure out the self timer when this image was taken. Hence, the absence of me.


Ethan wanted to do something scary. Noah on the other hand, was not thrilled with the idea. Do you like my peace signs? I couldn't bring myself to do full on scary. It just isn't me.

Yup, this is a typical night at the Raivala household. We flip the kids around all of the time. It will be a sad day when they are too big to do it.

I think it is really funny how Jon and I are looking at the camera in every image. Both of us watched the little red light and then suprised the kids with differnt our moves.

Another true to life image. We love cuddling too.

Ethan and Noah want to do another photo shoot tonight. I don't know what has gotten into them. Usually they run away from the camera when they see me take it out.

The Sturgis Family

I go way back with the Sturgis Family. So far back that I cannot even remember the I first met Jim and Katerina. I do know that we had a blast working together back in the day at Sax Food and Drug in Elk River. Ahhh, the memories. I can smell the Jo-Jo potatoes right now. I would also like to take partial credit for these two. I was the one that walked up to Jim and asked him what he thought of Katerina after she had mentioned that she liked him. Can you tell that we were in High School?

Many years have past and I am still lucky enough to have these two in my life. I have witnessed their marriage, helped celebrate Ayden's birth and birthdays with them and have watched them become a dynamic duo with all sorts of projects.

Last Saturday the Raivala fam and the Sturgis fam had a date. It consisted of me bringing my boys over (that includes Jon), taking pictures of the Sturgi and then grabbing a bite to eat afterwards. All was well until Ayden decided that he wanted to play with the boys (yes, that includes Jon again) instead of reading a book that his Grandpa read to Katerina when she was little. I eventually moved them into another room-away from Ayden. It was smooth sailing from there.

Check out a few of the images from my date with the Sturgis Family:

Ayden giving his Arthur Fonzarelli impersonation.Hugs and Kisses from Mom.
Fooling around with Dad.

Oh no, it's an Ayden sandwich! Complete with tomato, cheese and bun.

Pam and Grant- The Newlyweds

Where do I start with Pam and Grant?! Every time I have seen these two, they have illuminated their love to each other with every inch of their being. They are constantly looking out for what is best for each other and tuned into how each other are feeling. It is really remarkable to watch. It makes my heart go "awww" constantly.

Pam and Grant were married on November 1, 2008 at the Earle Brown Center. The day was picture perfect (no pun intended). Pam was radiant in her wedding gown and I could tell that Grant was trying to absorb every moment of the day.

When I first arrived at Earle Brown Center, I drove around the back area to see if there were any leaves on the trees. In the courtyard, I spotted Grant sitting on bench by himself looking around. I thought about saying hello to him, but I decided that I didn't want to interrupt that moment for him. I just wanted him to soak it all in.

There were lots of special moments like this throughout the whole day. Pam and Grant saw each other for the first time in the courtyard. They had huge smiles on their faces and couldn't wait to give each other a warm embrace.

Their meeting set the tone for the entire rest of the day. It was sweet, filled with love and constantly gave my heart the flutters.

Pam and Grant- Thank you so much for inviting me to photograph your beautiful wedding day. The two of you hold a special place in my heart.

Westberg Family

You probably remember Pete and Jessica from their wedding in June. Yup, Pete is the groom that held the "Need Money" sign. Well, I got to hang out with them again!!!! This time we met at Elm Creek in Maple Grove. As you can see, we had a whole lot of fun again! I love hanging out with these guys!

This picture was taken after Jessica and Peter told me about a snake they saw on their Honeymoon. Jessica isn't a fan of snakes so she jumped on Peter's back when they came across one. They were re-inacting the event for me. :)


Ahhh, the whole fam.

Pick-a- boo

I see you

We found a swing dangling from the tree. It was perfect for some photo fun.

Here is an image from the Big Man on Campus. He blushes a little bit when I say things like that to him. Poor guy.

This one is too cute!!! I love this image!