Jennifer + Scott's Wedding!

Scott and Jenn’s wedding marked the beginning of our much anticipated wedding season. I always feel a bit nervous for the first wedding (can you believe it?), but I was immediately at ease when I met up with Jenn and her MVP’s at her parents’ home in Essex Junction. Jenn was incredibly relaxed and so full of enthusiasm for her big day. I knew it was going to be spectacular! And of course it was!!


I love this moment as Jenn arrives at the church!
I was wishing for a tissue when I turned my camera from Jenn and her father walking down the aisle and saw Scott's eyes.

The ring bearer was the perfect little gentleman.
A fish-eye view of the ceremony.
Happy guests wait their turn to greet the newlyweds.

Scott's uncle owns a collection of very cool cars, so the wedding party traveled to the reception at The Ponds, in style!
The next 2 images illustrate the beauty of having 2 photographers. Same fun moment...2 perspectives.

Jenn was the most fun-loving and adventurous bride! It was almost cold enough to snow and she was all smiles and laughter through the photo session. Scott is a big nordic skier so he digs the chilly weather too. Of course, guys are lucky because they get to wear jackets. :-)
The wedding party were very good sports as they smiled through chattering teeth!
The happy couple!!

These rings capture Jenn + Scott's love for the outdoors perfectly! Can you see the mountains?
How cute is this moment? I love the big belt and shoes!
Heading in for the evening of festivities.
A beautiful moment between Jenn and her father.
Only in Vermont...
The receiving end of the garter toss. This character had me cracking up all evening.
Jenn and Scott had this fun illustration drawn up at a local fair. I just love originality!


xo

Katie + Adam's E-session

I met up with the super adorable Katie and Adam recently at Shelburne Farms. I was immediately smitten with them! They were so much fun to work with and didn't complain once...even as I had them sitting in a soggy field and smooching in a flower bush. Added to the fact that it was chilly out Katie was running around in a sleeveless top. Fortunately, she had Adam to keep her warm!

Here are a few of my very favorites from our session...





















Shelburne Farms

Playing in the Garden

Last evening after dinner and a fun family soccer match, I tried out our new 100mm macro lens around the garden and I am totally in love!
There was a breeze, which made photographing flowers a little tricky, but it was fun to play a bit.

Tell me if you have a favorite...

lily-of-the-valleybleeding hearts

prairie flower crabapple
lilac
epimedium
bridal wreath spirea
perennial bachelor button
i'm pretty sure this is a trollius or globe flower...

sweet woodruff
forget-me-nots



This week I'll be posting up our first e-session and wedding of the season...so stay tuned!

xo

NYC---the final chapter

On Saturday morning we were rushing to grab breakfast in D.C. and bumped into Vermont's own Howard Dean. Such a small world!
Then we sped off to NYC for Summer's super secret birthday surprise.
We snoozed at the very stylish Le Parker Meridien and after recovering from the trauma of losing Summer somewhere in the hotel the next morning, we played tourist for the afternoon.

Guess where we went first...

While other tourists waited in the never-ending line to get up in the Lady Liberty...we had fun in the gift shop!

silly kids!

How sweet are these moments of Baxter playing with Andy on the ferry? You've gotta love the 70-200mm zoom lens!!



Sweetheart Summer
My beautiful boy
My handsome hubby
Our CELEBRITY sighting at The Coffee Shop in Union Square.
Our last, and the kid's favorite stop of the day was to Dylan's Candy Bar. Nothing like a good candy fix before a long car ride!

stairway to heaven...
All you need is...

D.C. and Beyond---chapter 2

We had a terrific visit with Andy's Uncle Martin and Aunt JoAnn at their new home in Richmond, VA.
Later that day we traveled a few miles down the road to Cousin Hope's house and hung out with her beautiful family. We had a great visit and a memorable meal of Uncle Martin's famous fried chicken.
Mason
Ryan
Ryan with his Grandpa Martin
Our little wiseguy by the neighbor's mailbox.
Thursday morning we headed for George Washington's estate, Mount Vernon. My mom said the restaurant was not to be missed, so we had lunch there. Summer was thrilled to have sparkling cider and Baxter shows off his "beer".
The line to get into George's home was a mile long, so we opted to run around the grounds instead. There were too many photo ops!
Our naughty monkey at work...

a moment of peace
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Our little photographer tinkers with the camera settings...
Romping in The President's backyard.
Later on we had a super fun visit with Andy's cousin Jimmy and his wife, Kimmy, in Chantilly, VA. Here are his darling girls: Nina and Tery.
Jimmy and his beauties.
That evening we shared some great times with Andy's cousin Susan and her husband, Tom, in Annandale, VA.
Early Friday morning we were back in D.C. for a tour of The Capitol.
The plaster model of The Statue of Freedom is in the basement of the Russell Senate building. The bronzed version graces the top of The Capitol.
Our wonderful tour guide was an intern from Senator Leahy's office, Patrick, from South Burlington, Vermont.
We rejoined the Pasley family for our tour. The rotunda was amazing!!
One little segment of the rotunda ceiling.
A tasty tour tidbit.
The office of Ted Kennedy.
Segways: cool or dorky? you decide.
A brief visit to the National Air + Space Museum. One small step for man...one small tickle for Baxter's neck!
Then it was off to the National Zoo for the afternoon.
I adore this photo Andy took of the flamingo feet.
One cool looking bird.
This peacock did a very impressive dance to score a cute peahen. He just called to ask if we could photograph their wedding in 2009.
My baby panda, what big teeth you have...
These animals should be caged!
This is kind of sad...
But this is kind of funny...
After dinner, we decided to take a walking tour of the monuments. It was one of our very favorite memories of the whole trip! Here is the Washington Memorial. (These are all hand-held because there was no way I was lugging around a tripod!)
Playing with the lights.
The World War II Memorial.
And finally...the Lincoln Memorial. We watched a fireworks show from the steps and it was quite memorable.

Happy Mother's Day!

We wish all you mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day!

I had a great day. The kids started off by making me delicious blueberry pancakes and a fantastic fruit salad with mango, papaya, pineapple, peaches, and strawberries! Yum! Then we took a wonderfully sunny but epic five hour hike up Camel's Hump...encountering SNOW (on the ground, not falling) about two/thirds of the way up!

Here is a tulip from George Washington's gardens for you to enjoy!

D.C.--- chapter 1

Wedding season officially started for us yesterday, so the blog is going to get tons of love again....hooray!
So I'd better get a start on our vacation photos right away...

We started off our vacation with a coffee social with the fantastic Senator Patrick Leahy and his super-star staff at his office in the Russell Senate building. It was social indeed as many Vermont families on spring break were invited. We met up with our favorite pals, the Pasleys, and spent the remainder of the day visiting the sites with them.

Enjoy!...

we stopped for a couple of snapshots on our way to the senator's office at the US Capitol Building...

Senator Leahy greeted the group and told us some great stories. I especially enjoyed hearing about his role in the upcoming Bat Man movie, The Dark Knight.
Andy captured some moments of my visit with the senator. He gave me a tour of some of his photographs, as he is a very accomplished photographer. He also shared about his family and friendship with Bono. I learned that Bono likes to sit at his desk and stare at a photograph that the senator took of a refugee. Bono says the man is pleading with his eyes...don't forget about me. Out of respect, I didn't take a photo of the photo, so you will have to drop by the senator's office to see it.
The senator arranged for each of the families who visited to have a photo taken with him. Here the kids chat with one of Senator Leahy's awesome staff members, Jennifer, while waiting their turn.

Senator Leahy at his desk.
This is my favorite.
Stop number two was the U.S. Supreme Court. The line was longer than a fun new Disney World ride and there was not a "fast pass" to be found.

The kids kept themselves entertained, and I stayed entertained by taking photos of their silliness. After an epic wait, we were able to sit in on an actual session for a grand total of 5 minutes. Andy saw Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg speak and I only heard them because I was sitting behind tall people. I'm a big fan of stadium seating!


A view of The Capitol Building from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Our next stop was the National Museum of the American Indian. The building was one of the most interesting I've seen. I loved the exhibits inside too. And the unexpected perk was the lunch from their cafe. Andy and I shared a sample platter of Native American cuisine and it was one of the yummiest things ever!
A colorful piece from the Day of the Dead exhibit.
Gold!
This is a Native American wedding dress. CLICK HERE to see the online exhibition!
Max in fine form...
The kids found this sweet family just outside the museum...
Following the urban wild kingdom sighting, it was on to the U.S. Botanic Garden.
St. Patty...

Our final tourist stop for the day was Summer's favorite...The Library of Congress. Summer told us that the library houses over 30 million books. Funny because the only books I remember seeing were from Thomas Jefferson's collection. Where do they hide all of those books?!
Andy was admiring the amazing ceilings!! Do you see any books?

lovely dogwood blossoms



more to come....