I was lucky enough to meet little red-headed Jessie when I became her pre-school teacher while her original teacher was out on Maternity leave.  I LOVE this little girl's personality.  She wears tu-tu skirts because she loves them, and flowered ear muffs, because they are princess-like.  She's a little reserved, but with a streak of "spunk" that you can see a mile away.  Her mom would bring her to class, strolling in her little brother Joel, who would smile and laugh at me.  Sometimes Jessie would give me a big "hi", sometimes, she would hide behind her mom!

   Joel is a little cutie.  Since my own "little boy" is now almost 6 feet tall, I loved having a little one that I could pick up, snuggle, and laugh with.  He's "all boy", active, curious and with a mind of his own.  Within a few minutes of our first session, he had found the sand, the rocks and the water! (All things easily removed in photoshop! lol!)

   It was my extreme pleasure to have not one, but two sittings with them.  The first was at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  A beautiful dream-like garden location.  900 acres full of wonder, beautiful gardens and loads of places to explore. If you are in the Twin Cities area, I want to encouraged you to spend a day out there.  There's a new sculpture garden that went in this Spring on the 3-mile drive, and this summer they are featuring almost a dozen "Golden Gophers" (the University of Minnesota's mascot) painted in various themes.

   The second sitting was at their home, a remodeled farmhouse that was original to the area. It was SO much fun to hang out with one of my former students in their "own space".  Their mom, Jackie, is also red-headed and I can tell full of spirit. It was fun to hear about her quests to become a US citizen, and see pictures of earlier family times (Jeff, her husband, is one of a set of triplet boys!). They have a big shaded yard with lots of space.  It's a great place to have a portrait session. One of the best parts of spending time in someone's home is that I really get to know them.  There isn't a rush to get somewhere (and Joel actually went down for a nap while I was there!) and we can take our time. 

   I LOVE my job and can't wait to spend time with this family in the future.  Maybe we can even get Jeff into a few of these!