I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought it was perfect for fall.  I used granny smith apples and changed it up just a little.  Instead of a round cake pan, I used a square one.  I also did not put the nuts inside the batter, I sprinkled them over the apples underneath.  We ate this hot out of the oven with a cup of coffee for dessert and it was wonderful!  I also had a piece the next day, but it wasn’t quite as good.  I probably should have zapped it in the microwave to melt the caramel just a little.   To see the recipe, click here.  Enjoy!

Brandon and Sam met on the co-ed bowling team at Grand Valley. Some of you will remember the engagement pictures we did at the bowling alley last fall, so much fun! Their wedding day turned out to be a beautiful fall day, a great day for their outdoor wedding at Centennial Country Club in Grand Rapids. Thank you both so much for including me in your special day. Hopefully you’ve made it down to Jamaica and are enjoying some fun in the sun! Many blessings!

Ceremony & Reception:  Centennial Country Club

DJ:  DJ A-Dubs

Hair & Makeup:  The Hair Studio

Wedding Photography & Slideshow:  Tomorrow’s Memories by Beca

I have a lot of people ask me what my “style” is for wedding photography.  I always hate to answer this question, because I don’t know that I have a particular “style”.  But when I pulled pictures for this post, I noticed a lot of similarities in my shooting style.  I often tell people that I’m not an old fashioned traditional photographer.  I like to try new poses and step out of the box as often as I can, but living in West Michigan I find that most of my brides and grooms want a mix of fun, new and traditional.  I don’t have a lot of requests for a complete photojournalism look, but I do like to document the day.  And almost all of my family shots are very traditional.  Following are what I would call traditional wedding portraits.  I love the clean, crisp look to these pictures.  Enjoy!

Here are my choices for the family picture wall at my mom’s house.  We last did family pictures about two years ago, so it was time to update.  My mom has a wall where she showcases our coordinating family pictures.  The last time we did this, we did one big family picture with all of us.  This year, because of the ages of our kids, it was easier to do each family separately and do more of a collage look.  Sometime, when we get all our kids together, they act up and get wild, not allowing for a very productive photo session.  I did my own family pics last week and I was able to do my sister’s family yesterday.  We were hoping to get a picture of my sister’s two kids together, but it just did not happen.  The baby is a little too new, and we were a little nervous having big sister hold him on the cement.  Now, I just have to get my mom and dad out to this location and update their shots.  But here are my picks for mom’s wall.

I borrowed this cute little owl hat from a photographer friend of mine intending to use it on my nephew, Henry.  It fits his little head perfectly right now, so I ran to my sister’s house this week and borrowed baby Henry.  Unfortunately, he was not into my planned photo shoot and boy did he let me know it.  I don’t think he liked me taking off his clothes, laying him down or putting the hat on him.  He was awake for the entire shoot, this shot was a just a lucky shot when his eyes were closed.  I thought I’d post a couple pictures so you could all see the adorable hat and my beautiful nephew.  Enjoy!

In honor of it being a wedding Friday for me today, thought I would throw up a wedding themes post.  Today I chose red, one of my favorite colors!  Enjoy!

Every year I dread doing my own family pictures.  Especially trying to get a picture of the boys for the Christmas card.  But this morning I woke up with nothing planned for the entire day.  And for those of you that know me, that is really saying something.  Heaven forbid we just stay home and relax.  So I dug through everyone’s closets and came up with somewhat matching clothes, we all got dressed and were out the door before 9:30am for family pics.  We headed downtown Grand Rapids to one of my favorite little spots.  I also grabbed my tripod.  Everyone was so well behaved (I’m sure the bribe of a trip to Target for toys afterward helped some) and I feel like I got a ton of fun shots.  I already have my Christmas card designed and waiting to be printed at the lab 🙂

Click HERE to see a slideshow of the complete shoot!

I’m a day late, but happy anniversary to my mom and dad.  It would also have been my grandparents anniversary, September 1.  My parents have been married for 39 years already, where does the time go?  To celebrate their 39 years, I thought I’d throw up a few great pics from their wedding, because we all know I’m into vintage 🙂  And I’ll put a few of my grandparents up too, for fun.  Because not only did they get married on the same day, my mom wore the same dress that my grandmother wore.  I wanted to wear it for mine, but I’m about seven inches taller than either one of them and let’s be honest, the dress hasn’t fit me since I was ten.  Anyway, happy happy day to both of you.  Love you both and I thank God that He blessed me with such a Godly marriage to strive towards.

Ok, to say I had a hard time narrowing this sneak peek down would be an understatement. Jake is the son of a good friend of mine and I’ve been waiting excitedly to take his pics for some time. Thanks for hanging with me downtown for the evening, it was fun. And thanks for the lesson on the difference between a mural and graffiti 🙂 For the record, he is as sweet as he is handsome. Have a great senior year!

I was so excited to take pictures of baby Owen on his one week birthday. I was blessed to be able to photograph his parents wedding a couple years ago, and one week ago little Owen was born. Thanks Jessica and Aaron for having me over this weekend to meet your new gift from God. Congrats!