Our Magical Disney Vacation

Soon after moving here to Arizona, we began to notice that every time there is a school vacation or long weekend this place becomes a ghost town. Everyone seems to go somewhere fun and exciting, and the only place we ever went was back to San Antonio (four times in one year-it got old!). I finally had enough and decided that we were taking a real family vacation to a fun place for Fall Break-and the most fun place I could think of was Disneyland!

This was the first Disney trip ever for the Littles (in case you don't know, that's what I call my three little ones). Devon wanted to go back to Texas with her friend Paige, and so they headed in the opposite direction for some Big Kid fun.

I have been beyond excited for this trip. Morgan's 6th birthday happened to be on Friday while we were there, and it was the perfect time to capture her facination of all things girly with a trip to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. Garrett and TJ loved the rides and swimming at the resort's pool. Knowing how much fun there were having made it even more fun for me.

I used our little point-and-shoot camera for most of the images because I didn't want to carry around my heavy DSLR, and so the pictures are really pixilated! I did, however, manage to lug the big one around on Friday so that I could get some good ones of Morgan on her special day.

So, here we are at Disney! I only took one picture the entire week with all of us in it:



We began on Wednesday at the main park, and somehow managed to arrive at the gates before they opened for the day. We paused for a quick pic at the entrance:



Our very first ride of the day was on Buzz Lightyear and we couldn't have picked a better one for the boys:



Next up, Dumbo! Morgan LOVED this ride:




Morgan was facinated by all of the characters, and we made it a priority to get an autograph and and a picture each time we saw one:









One of my favorite shows was "Bugs Life" 3D, here we are with our bug eyes. It totally looks like the boys are creepy little bugs stuck to the wall:



It took Garrett an entire day to work up the nerve to ride the BIG roller coaster, and this is his worried little face just minutes before we boarded for the first time:



By the end of the day, he rode it 3 times:


Yes, that's the one, the California Scream:



I think I'll have to finish this up tomorrow-this is already a long post and I haven't even gotten to the good part yet!

Stay tuned!

$150 Christmas Card Mini-Sessions!

Horray! It is time to start thinking about Christmas Cards, and I would love to help you with it. I am doing Family Portrait Mini-Sessions on Sunday, November 7th. Each session will last approximately 20 minutes, and as always include a disc of images that you can use to get prints or cards at the lab of your choice, as well as the opportunity to order custom designed cards.

We'll have plenty of time to get a group shot of the whole clan plus individuals of each kiddo, giving you several selections for a great card.

For those of you that would prefer a full-length session, I'll be doing those during October and November. A full session is $300 and includes a much longer private session at the location of your choice, a CD of images, a print credit of $100 to order professionally retouched prints and gifts. I recommend this session for those who have larger families or want a custom

These sessions always go quickly, so contact me soon to book your slot.

Email: Leah@EverAfterbyLeah.com
phone: 210-602-1490

Three down, three to go...

We are smack in the middle of birthday season here at the Godfredson house-every month from July-December we have one per month. It starts with the boys-Chip, then Garrett, then TJ-and ends with the girls-Morgan, then me, then Dev.

TJ turns 8 this month, and we celebrated at our house with a backyard BBQ, swimming, fishing and friends. It was awesome.

Unfortunately, I can't take decent pictures and do mommy duties at the same time, so my pictures are all very snap-shotty, but that's OK. I'm definitely not a multi-tasker and prefer to concentrate on one thing at a time, so yes I put the camera on AUTO and used my on-camera flash for these shots. Shoot me.







I am very lucky that I managed to take these few shots, but I wish I had a few of the kids at Jump Street, some of them fishing, and a picture of me with Trevor on his birthday. Maybe next year I can hire someone else to help me out, I just can't decide if I'd rather have them be the photographer or the mom!

Shari & Patton : Scottsdale Wedding Reception

Good things come to those who pray.

As Shari sat at her weekly women's prayer group with her head bowed, she prayed to the Lord for a husband. She wanted someone strong, someone that made her laugh, and most importantly, someone with whom she could share her faith.

She looked up to see Patton walk into the room, and quickly added to her prayer. "Someone like that, please, would be just fine. Amen."

What Shari didn't know was that she had caught Patton's eye as well, and that Patton had been praying for someone just like her.

As Shari puts it, "Conversation led to laughter, laughter led to charm, charm led to joy, joy lead to the Lord and the Lord led us to love."

Patton and Shari were married this summer in Colorado, in a sunlit field surrounded by family and friends and graced with the presence of God. Shari's stunning daughter Tatum was the maid of honor. Patton's daughters Annalise and Maci Lynn were the adorable flower girls. Coleen Takemoto, Shari's friend, did the food and flowers and her husband Arnold walked Shari down the aisle. The wedding was just as it should have been-intimate, touching, joyous and full of worship for the Lord.

It was everything that Shari had prayed for, and Patton was more than she had hoped for.

Coleen and Arnold had one more gift for the newlyweds-a candlelit reception at their beautuful Scottsdale home so that those who couldn't make it to the ceremony in Colorado could still share in the joy.

Shari and Patton once again dressed in their wedding attire and spent the evening laughing, eating fabulous food, and thanking their closest friends for holding them up in prayer until the day came that the Lord brought them together.

The evening wasn't just about Shari and Patton, that much was clear. It was about the faith, friendship and love of everyone present. And as each guest left, they took home with them the knowledge that they had touched the lives of Shari and Patton in a powerful way.









To view a slideshow of the evening, click the play button:

Introducing my Senior Rep for Mesquite High School

The last few weeks have been busy for me and for my gorgeous, sweet Mesquite High School Senior Portrait Rep for 2011-Brittlyn Miller!

As you will soon see, Brittlyn pulled off many different looks fabulously, each showcasing a different side of her glowing personality.

Check her out!














If you are a Mesquite High School Senior who is interested in an Ever After Photography experience for your Senior Portraits, and if you want to get a discount while you're at it, then find Brittlyn and snag a Rep Card from her. She will have plenty of them on hand, starting next week.

Baby Cooper: Lifestyle Session

The Krause family has grown by two feet!

This is the 3rd time in as many months that I've had the pleasure of photographing this gorgeous family. Suzette knew when she first contacted me that she wanted both a maternity session and a new baby session, and somehow we managed to squeeze a photography lession/photo session in the middle.

Our session took place on Sunday morning at Suzette and Christian's home. They have several areas of their house with amazing light, and we managed to take advantage of every one of them.

Suzette looks amazing:



I love this tender moment:






Here is the adorable big brother, Brody:



Suzette had the cutest big brother/little brother shirts for the boys, but it was very difficult to get them to sit together for a picture. I did, however, succeed in getting the following two precious moments, so I'm hoping Suzette can forgive me for not capturing the shirts:




This is Christian's mom, who has been visiting since Cooper was born:



I know that she helps out with the baby, but where she really shines is when helping out with Brody! I think every kid should have a grandma like this:







Cooper, it turns out, looks exactly like Brody did when he was a newborn, so Suzette asked if I could try to duplicate a photo that Brody took with his dad. I think it turned out lovely, although I'm not perfectly sure that the two images will look exactly the same:






I just love this last image. One of my all-time favs:



Suzette and Christian, thank you so much for letting me document your growing family these last few months. I've had a wonderful time getting to know all of you and can't wait to see your two boys grow!

xoxo,
Leah