The Gerke Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

This lovely family has the pleasure of living in Florida year round and while our family vacationed down there a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of photographing them!

Aren't they gorgeous?!

They are just as gorgeous on the inside as they are on the outside!

Sisters, Katelyn and Grace were awesome models...my camera loved them!

Mom and Dad with their girls...

The Gerke Family are dear friends of my sister and brother-in-law...their girls have grown up being friends.  It was awesome to get to photograph the girls together and the 2 families together.  They have such a special friendship!

Becca is Kayla's Godmother...

Such beautiful girls!

We DID have some fun...photographing families is definitely not all work and no play! ;)

Although, Eric realized that being a model does often require some stretching...you know, just so you can assume that perfect pose for your family portrait...

I'd say the stretching worked.  Good work, Eric!

I am so glad I got to photograph your beautiful family!  It was so much fun getting to spend some time with you all as well!  Thank you all for being such troopers!

The Peakin Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

I love that for my sister and brother-in-law's family photographs this year, we waited until our Florida vacation we took a few weeks ago together!  Not only did it make for a beautiful backdrop, but it was also so awesome to be able to capture images from such a special trip!  The kids didn't even know we were going to Florida until we were at the airport the day we left.  It was such a fun surprise and one I know they will remember forever!

I love photographing my nieces!  They are so beautiful!

Kayla is 6 going on 16...

Leah is the same...9 going on 19!

They are such great girls!

There is just nothing like pictures on the beach! <3 p="">

The Peakin's dear friends, The Gerke Family now live in Florida not far from where we were, so they joined us for one of the days of our trip and they got their family pictures done too!  These girls are great friends and have known each other their whole lives.  It was fun to get to photograph them all together.

Such a special friendship these families have!

Mike and Sarah are Katelyn's God Parents...

I just LOVE this shot of Sarah with her girls!!!

Mike with his girls...

What a gorgeous day it was!

Perfect day to photograph this picture perfect family!

Hey guys, let's make this an annual tradition...family portraits in the winter in Florida each ear!

Deal?! :)

Cooper & Emersyn - Quad Cities Newborn Photographer

 You guys, these babies were a dream!

Cooper and Emersyn were 2 1/2 weeks new when I got the opportunity to photograph them!  Typically for newborn sessions, that is not as young as I like...often times they are past that super sleepy phase by that age.  These two did great though!  And aren't they simply gorgeous?!?!

Beautiful and bright eyed Emersyn slept like a dream in the beginning of the session, but by the end, she was ready to show off her bright eyes...and I am glad she did!

Sweet and handsome Cooper was a bit more awake in the beginning of the session, but by the end was out for the count!

I love all of the details of brand new babies.

Baby sneezes...

And baby feet...

And every last detail of these two sweeties was perfect!

It was such a lovely way to spend my Friday morning snuggling up to these dolls!  They kept it real with a healthy dose of baby poop and pee, but nothing that could scare me off! ;)

Thank you, Jen for allowing me into your home to photography your beautiful babies!

The Krueger Family - Quad Cities Family Photographer

One of the families that I feel so blessed to get to continue to photograph despite their move to the Des Moines area is the Krueger Family!  Andrea had such a huge impact on our youngest son's life as his physical therapist that we became quite close while she worked with him.  I am blessed to now call her a friend.  I will never forget how upset I was when she told me that she and her family were moving...though it was such a great move for them, selfishly I was less than thrilled with the impact it would have on our family as I knew that meant she would no longer be working with Cason.

Everything does happen for a reason though and I am so thrilled that they get to be closer to their family and are doing well and more importantly that I still get to see them and photograph them!

It was SO windy and cold this morning and they were troopers!

Bryce and Blake are so stinkin' cute!  They are so different from one another, but one thing about them is the same...they are very photogenic!

Blake was so cold and less of a fan of the weather than his little brother, Bryce was.  He did great though and fought through the misery! :)

On the other hand, after a few family pictures in "normal" clothes, Bryce was THRILLED to put on his favorite type of outfit...SHORTS and mismatched socks!  Hot blooded I'd say!

The park they chose for their session was so fun and such a great spot to do pictures as their boys enjoy this park so much...they call it "Spiderman Park".

Grandma and Grandpa were even there to get some adorable pictures with their grandsons!

These 4 are all super blessed to have each other!  Lots of love in this picture!

Mostly though, the session was fun.

There was some racing happening...

...and more racing...and lots of silliness!

The boys got to play in the leaves...

The whole family got to play on the park...

And then there were lots of snuggles to keep everyone warm!

All the while, I got to hang out with this awesome family and catch up!

Thank you for braving the wind and the cold you guys!  It was so fun to hang out with you and get to photograph you again this fall!