Thursday, May 30, 2013

Wings of Iris

cousins
every little girl wants a pony and our lucky little one actually gets to have one!  well, she is part owner of a sweet horse with her youngest cousin Evan.  the horse is a great granddaughter of Secretariat and is named for Justin's grandmother Iris, a wonderful soul who passed earlier this year.

Justin's brother Tony is the head trainer for the thoroughbreds at Flag is Up Farms.  last week we had the opportunity to attend an open house at the farm and meet owner Monty Roberts as they showed off their program.  in the past, race training for horses has been notably cruel and ill-handled.  Monty's philosophy, and ultimately everyone's who works for him, shows that abusive training is completely unnecessary.  it was amazing to watch a live demonstration of his join-up and hallway gate methods.  and of course Saraya just loved watching, petting and feeding some new friends.


up the long, beautiful driveway

just a cowboy taking his little goat for a walk
 
meeting Wings of Iris for the first time...
what do you mean i can't take her home?


our little babe, taking the bull by the horns (with a little help from grandma d)

feeding the mini horse!

i got to love on some horses too!  this grulla is the most gorgeous grey (even though he looked a little brown in this pic)

checking out where the horses shower

hallway gate training

Monty demonstrating his join up method of training

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

june 2013 photo a day challenge

well folks, i've been doing this photo challenge business for over a year now and i absolutely love the way it's become a daily ritual.  however, i feel as if i'd be remiss if i didn't mention the distinct possibility that it may fall to the wayside sometime at the end of June and more likely July.  that whole giving birth thing tends to take up free time, energy and creative brain cells.  but you never know, i may still squeeze it in.  in the meantime, here's Chantelle's list for June.  i do hope to see some of you play along!   and for those of you that have been playing this May, it's been great seeing your photos!

June photo a day challenge list

Monday, May 27, 2013

20 questions - 3rd birthday




last year we asked Saraya these same questions (check out her answers here) and it's really fun to see how her responses have changed over the past year...

1. what is your favorite color? pink
2. what is your favorite toy? ipo
3. what is your favorite fruit? watermelon
4. what is your favorite tv show? umi zoomi
5. what is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? a sandwich
6. what is your favorite outfit? a fish one
7. what is your favorite game? hungry, hungry hippos
8. what is your favorite snack? a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
9. what is your favorite animal? a cheetah
10. what is your favorite song? twinkle twinkle little star
11. what is your favorite book? goodnight moon
12. who is your best friend? raelynn 
13. what is your favorite cereal? honey bunches of oats
14. what is your favorite thing to do outside? play with ipo
15. what is your favorite drink? sparkly juice
16. what is your favorite holiday? tuesday
17. what do you like to take to bed with you at night? puppy
18. what is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? eggs
19. what do you want for dinner on your birthday? lemon
20. what do you want to be when you grow up? a big sister!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

maternity/family photos

last pregnancy i didn't get maternity photos taken, mostly because i was slightly scarred from all of the awkward pregnancy photos floating around out there.  but after working with the very talented Kate Mills of Chasing Daylight Photography on multiple occasions now (Saraya's newborn photos and Valentine mini sessions), I knew that this time around it was something i wanted to do.

we took the opportunity to shoot at a location that both of us had been interested in using but had yet to take advantage of.  grape day park has colorful buildings, interesting backgrounds and lots of space but one of the other perks is the playground that a little person could play on once her photos were done.

there were so many wonderful shots!  take a look at a few favorites below and the whole slideshow here...  it's going to be great when we complete our package with baby brother's newborn photos so stay tuned!  and if you're local and looking for a great wedding and natural light photographer, be sure to check out Kate.