I’ve been photographing this family for a number of years now and when they said they’d be okay with taking family portraits hiking in the mountains, I got so excited for the shoot. It was a perfect spot for them since they are very athletic people anyhow, and they live right by one of my favorite places to go for a summer swim.

So, I’m a sucker when it comes to chunky, breast-fed babies and this little guy – oh my goodness. He is just too cute!

The light, the emotion, the snuggles — ah, I love everything about this picture.

And daddy kisses are the best!

There was a time when these two beauties were shy in front of the camera, but they are definitely not anymore! They seem to go nearly everywhere holding hands and smiling. They climbed all the way to the top of this ridge, turned around, held each others’ hands and looked right at me. Photographer heaven!

Mom emailed me ahead of time to tell me that her oldest daughter is growing out her hair and believes that it might be magical, just like the girl in Tangled (the movie). She asked if I could take a picture of her with her hair glowing so that we could carry forward the dream. Look at all of that beautiful glowing hair!

One of the best parts of my job is getting to watch children go from being in their mommy’s belly to growing up and becoming their own unique and beautiful person. I get to do that with this family as they come back every year to update their portraits. It’s such a gift and I am so, so grateful to be part of their lives, if only in this small way.