And Baby Makes Six


We met Jeremy and Christy years ago when they were newly married and were instantly drawn to them.  They are gregarious, fun, generous, and just easy to be around.  We took them a meal when their first baby was born and have become more intertwined as our families have grown. When they owned a Christmas tree farm, we bought our […]

Sweet Sixteen


Our daughter Katie celebrated her sweet sixteen birthday this month.  I’d been asking her for weeks what she wanted to do to celebrate, but she never formulated any specific or concrete plan.  On the Saturday before her birthday, my husband and I looked at each other and asked, “Do you think we could pull off a surprise party in two […]

the Fab Five


We moved to Newberg, Oregon, from the greater Chicago area the summer before my son Grant entered second grade.  I signed our kids up for swimming lessons, hoping they would learn to swim and make some new friends.  The local pool was old, but adequate, with giant record boards touting one water polo state championship after another.  I had never […]

the Waldal’s


We met the Waldal’s a few years ago when their son Nathan switched from baseball to our water polo family.  It has been fun to get to know them over the years. When you work together at the scoring table, organize food for tournaments, and cheer each other’s kids on, you can’t help but become friends.  It was my privilege […]

Chehalem Ridge Bed & Breakfast


I have driven by Chehalem Ridge Bed & Breakfast many times and each time I think, “Wow!  What a gorgeous setting!” I was excited to receive an email from the owners inviting me to be the photographer who updated their headshots and photographed their expanding staff. As you can see, the crew at Chehalem Ridge Bed & Breakfast is fun […]

A Summer Storm


The weather forecast the day of the Jacobs’ family portraits was perfect.  Sun and and 70’s.  And it was sun and 70’s all day… until just before their session time.  An unexpected summer storm rolled in just as we got started. We found cover and waited out the rain.  The post-storm lighting was magical as was the remnant of rain […]

Those Wonderful Wilmots


The Wilmot’s have a hashtag for their Instagram posts that describes them perfectly: #thosewonderfulwilmots.  I’m guessing it started as a joke because they are some of the most humble people I know, but it is the absolute best description of their family. Just ask anyone who knows them well…. Ryan and Mandee are some of the kindest, thoughtful, smart, creative, […]

On Toddlers and Babies…


The Buisman family won an Offering I donated to the Visible Grace auction.  It was a blessing to meet them and photograph their darling family.  Life with toddlers and babies is so moment to moment, hands on, snuggles, love, chasing, comforting, protecting, cajoling…  It’s messy and lovely, exhausting and filled with big emotions. I’m removed enough from our Years in […]

Worth Waiting For


My Hood to Coast teammate Larisa is a gem.  She is WICKED fast, intense, funny, feisty, smart, beautiful and successful.  We don’t live close to each other nor do we work similar schedules so unfortunately our face to face interactions are few and far between.  Last summer, at our pre-race team meeting, Larisa and I stood outside talking intently – […]

Love Wins


These Jordans…  they love each other and it radiates from them to the world around them.  Our boys have played water polo together since they were in 6th grade so we’ve spent a lot of time shoulder to shoulder in hot, humid pools all over the Pacific Northwest.  Down to earth, generous, and fun are some of the first words […]