Ella turns 1!

Ahhhh, fall.

It is my all-time favorite season.

I love the smells, of course -- the crisp morning air, the fires burning outside, the pumpkin EVERYTHING {is it just me or do these sound like Bath & Body Works scents??}.

I love the sights, too -- the changing leaves on the trees, the beautiful blue skies with bright sunshine, the fires burning outside.  :)

I even love the clothes.

Wait, what?

Yes, I said the clothes.  SWEATER WEATHER!  And jeans, and boots, and scarves!  I'm kind of obsessed with scarves.

Okay, enough about fall.  Suffice it to say, fall is a GREAT season, and especially to have a birthday in.  And our friends, Jon and Nicole, just celebrated their baby girl's 1st birthday this past weekend.  They hired me to take photos but we wouldn't have missed it!  Nicole celebrates a birthday like I do -- with LOTS of details!

It was so much fun celebrating Ella.  Here are some of my faves from the day:

Happy 1st birthday, Ella!  And congrats to you, Jon & Nicole, for making it through your first year of parenting!  We are so grateful to have y'all in our lives, and look forward to seeing that sweet girl grow in the years to come!

Leary Family {photoshoot}

One of my friends from high school came to Carolina Beach with her family last weekend, and she wanted me to take some family photos for her on the beach.  I was happy to oblige -- it had been at least 10 or 15 years since I'd seen her!  And I was excited to get to meet her husband and 2 adorable kiddos.

Here are some of my favorites from our evening at Surf City:

Surprise!

A couple of weeks ago, one of my favorite friends surprised her dad with a party to celebrate his 65th birthday.  She asked me to take photos to capture this special time when a lot of his family would all be together -- and he had NO IDEA what was coming!

It was a lot of fun to be a part of and I think Amy's dad was very pleasantly surprised.  You could tell that he relished seeing so many friends and family all together in one place.  I think Amy's mom was definitely relieved to have the secret finally revealed, but she really enjoyed being in the moment with him and all the family, too.

Here are some of my faves from the day:

{surprise!}

{Happy birthday, Jeff!}

Taylor turns 3!

Last weekend, Taylor celebrated her 3rd birthday at Old McFaye's Farm in true cowgirl fashion!  What a fun party for her and her friends -- so much to do on the farm, from feeding the animals to tractor-pulled hayrides.

Here are some of my fave photos from the day:

Happy birthday, Taylor!  So much fun to capture this special day for you and your family!