Praise God from whom all blessings flow! James is here to be in this family photo! Our son, James, was deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months. He was going to miss the birth of his and Isabella's second daughter. On October 20th James surprised Isabella and Amari by arriving home early - about 1 month early! When James arrived home, Isabella was in the beginning stages of labor. At 5am on October 21st Isabella texted me to let me know they were on their way and she was in labor. I thought her mother was with her. However, when James walked in the door ahead of her I stood there in shock for a second and then wrapped my arms around him and cried. We had a great reunion! Isabella labored at our home until around 3pm and then we went to the hospital. Mila Anae made her arrival into this world at 4:58pm, within 24 hours of James arriving at the airport. Mila was born on her due date, and James arrived in time to welcome her. To say that we are blessed by this event God arranged is an understatement! God moved on the hearts of the military men who made this possible, and I am grateful to them for all that they did to get James home in time! I am also grateful to all those who were praying. 

At 6-months old our grand daughter Amari is doing very well at sitting up. She is very inquisitive as well as quiet and cooperative.  She seems to enjoy being a baby and is very content with enjoying life. Her variety of facial expressions are adorable! These are a few of the many pictures of Amari that were taken when she was between 6 and 8 months old. 

Towards the end of the fall season it gets harder and harder to find locations with beautiful fall colored leaves to include in portraits. However, all is not lost if you don't mind modifying via Photoshop. The top photo is the before photo, followed by the edited version. I did a few other edits in addition to the "fall" edit. This is our oldest daughter, Alina, with two of our grand daughters, Keturah & Sonia. Beautiful ladies!

What a pleasure it is to be able to photograph our oldest daughter, Alina, and her family! Maynard was very patient and helpful, as usual! Their children, our grand children, are just too wonderful to describe! We had to gather the children a few times because they just wanted to climb mountains and play. Rushing to capture the setting sun before we lost light, we were able to get a few great images! Of course, with family, I can always ask for a re-shoot! Maynard & Alina have been married for 15 years now! Congratulations to all of you! You are a wonderful family, part of our family! Love you all!