She's a Senior!

Well, here we are again...the first day of Senior Kindergarten for my oldest, Leah. It seems like yesterday that I dropped her off for her first day of Junior Kindergarten...

We've been chatting on and off all summer about when she goes back to school she'll be in Senior Kindergarten (aka..."a Senior" as they call them at school). She's been excited about little things like new shoes and seeing her friends again. But last night when I got her up to go to the washroom she had a bit of a panic attack. Our little girl is SO nervous that she won't know how to "write like the Seniors do". Scott and I reassured her with big hugs and encouraging words, but wow...so difficult to watch our little girl be scared like that.

This morning she was excited to get up and get ready for school. She talked all through breakfast about school and was anxious to get going. We prayed together and got ready to go out the door. Walking to school was a breeze too, but when we got to the school she wasn't so sure. The clinging to my leg began and her face changed again like it had last night. I feel badly for her as I remember feeling like that too, but I know that once she's in there and doing something she's having a lot of fun and learning SO much!

Just about a half hour to go until pick up. Then I'll get the full report from her as well as a TON of homework for me, I'm sure :)

And of course....a few shots from this morning :) Check out how much she's grown! WOW!!!

Sweeeeeet Anniversary Giveaway Winner!

First let me say thank you SO much to all of you that submitted your wedding pictures on my fan page wall! How much fun was that?!? I loved seeing all the different dresses, styles and how much all of you have changed (those of you that I know)!

So...without further delay...the winner (chosen by Random.org) is...
AMANDA DUFOUR!!



Oh and then there's the oh-so-important detail...the prize! :) I've had so much fun during shoots lately with couples that have recently celebrated anniversaries that I would love to do this for our winner!

The prize consists of:
- 1/2 hour session of the winning couple
- 10 digital images of your choice
- FREE 8x10 print of your choice

Congratulations, Amanda! Please contact me at taracollyer@rogers.com ASAP to chat about your shoot! :)

Just Ducky!

Today's shoot was originally scheduled for tomorrow...and then our crazy friend 'Mr. Weather' decided to change his mind and it was showing that there was rain in the forecast. Soooo...we moved the shoot to this morning. And then what happens? It gets all muggy on us and rains this afternoon. Thankfully all the rain came AFTER our shoot. Juuuuuust ducky!

It is so much fun to watch as my friends start their families and such a priveledge to be asked to photograph these special times. You may remember Sarah and Ian's youngest from his newborn pictures in May. Well, he's not so little now so it was the perfect time to do some updated family shots.


Their kids are all so sweet and did a great job getting some awesome shots for their Mommy and Daddy to hang up on the walls.


And of course, the ducks came out to entertain the kids too. :)


If you would like some updated family shots, see my Outdoor Fall Photos Special for a great deal!

Prairie Bound!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11

In 11 days we'll be saying 'see ya later' to my little sister (yes, I'm allowed to call you 'little' even though you're almost 19) again as she heads off to Prairie Bible College for her 2nd year. You'd think that with this being her 2nd year we'd all be used to the whole thing by now, but having her here for the summer kind of made it feel like she was back for good. When she started doing little countdowns on Facebook and talking about how full her schedule was before she went back I went into panic mode. A photo shoot was absolutely necessary!

For those that aren't familiar with where Prairie is located, think small town hick-ness and then make it even more hick and you're not even close. lol! Actually, I can't even really comment on the location because I've never been to Three Hills, Alberta. I just go based on what my sister tells me - 3,000 people, they have crappy internet service (yeah, that DEFINITELY means small town!) and there are literally 3 hills.

Christine, a friend of Rachel's, is a Prairie grad and is also heading out there again this year to work. Since she lives on a pretty sweet little spot in the country and she's pretty special to Rachel I thought this would be the perfect spot to do some of these pics. And because I'm seriously indecisive about which pics to post, be sure to check out my Facebook fan page for more :)








As sad as it is to see her go away again, I am so proud of her for putting her faith in Christ knowing that He knows all that her future holds!

Down on the Farm

I can't believe it's been a year since we did Andrea's maternity pictures! We had so much fun on the farm that we decided to do it again, but on a different farm.

Isaac (aka my sweet Erika's boyfriend!) is almost a year old and the sweetest little dude. He's not big on the smiles, but he still rocked his shoot! This whole fam is so dear to us and I was so pleased to do these pictures for them. :)

Too many to feature here on the blog, so check out more on the Facebook fan page!

Shooting my Family

You know how it is...a plumber fixes other people's taps, but the one in his house goes on dripping for weeks. While I know this isn't the case with my family's pictures (I still make a point of making sure the camera is out all the time), it gets to be a bit more of a challenge to get big extended family shots.

For Father's Day my Dad asked if I would gift him my photography services and do some family shots of our whole family. I thought that was really nice and of course, I agreed. The initial plan was to do outdoor shots, but the weather today was less than favourable so we moved indoors. After doing a few shots the rain cleared up and we decided to take a chance. I was really pleased with the way these pictures turned out. The first ones show off the dynamic of our crazy bunch and the outdoor shots highlight my parents' mid-life crisis (their motorycles).

Thought I would show these off in good ol' black and white today just for fun :)

Getting Fit....sort of

A few weeks ago my friend Shanna introduced me to a great little app called My Fitness Pal. We've been chatting about how we really want to get rid of the 'baby weight' and change our eating habits. She told me that she had been using this app for a little while and really loved it. I thought "what the heck...can't hurt right?".

I've been pretty good about logging on every day using my phone and keeping within my calorie goal, but yesterday I may or may not have gone slightly over. You see, it was one of those days where I had all 3 kids at home and thought 'how are we going to fill our day?'. I already had Cheeseburger Soup in the crockpot so I felt like I had all the time in the world. Then I remembered it had been a while since I had made some yummy cinnamon buns. Well, that was it. I had to do it now! And when they're as easy as they are to make, how can you not?!? I'll share the recipe below, but for now, have a drool over these pictures...
There may be one missing....
Was snapping this pic of Leah with our completed project as Josh reached up and put his hands on them. haha!
Nothing to do with cinnamon buns....I just can't help but snap shots of my baby girl!

Despite this yummy treat it seems that I'm down 5.5lbs! Don't know how that happened, but I guess I really have been better with my food choices. It's ok to treat yourself once in a while, right? :)

Cinnamon Buns – (Bread maker) - a friend of ours from church gave us this recipe after delivering these sweet treats to us when Erika was born!

1 cup warm water
1 egg (whisk into the water with a fork)
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup oil
1 ½ tsp salt
3 ½ cups white bread flour (or regular works too)
2 tsp yeast

Put bread machine on dough setting.
After the dough is ready in the bread machine – roll it out into a rectangle (about 12 X 18).
Spread softened butter on the dough – ¼ cup or so (whatever you like)
Sprinkle about 1/3 cup of brown sugar over the butter
Shake cinnamon on top of the brown sugar. (you will just get to know how much of all this you like – I never measure it – just put it on depending day)
Roll up dough starting with one of the long ends of the rectangle.
Once it is in a roll – cut into 20 even circles.
Place onto lightly greased cookie sheet(s). I use an 11 X 17 one with a short lip on the edges. Then I can fit 4 across and 5 down and when they rise they fill out to fit the whole pan.
Cover with paper towel.
Let them rise in a warm spot for about an hour. (I turn the oven on to 150 til it is heated then turn it off before putting the buns in to rise.)
Bake at 350 for 12 – 14 minutes.
When they are nearly cool (or whenever you get around to it) drizzle them with 1 cup of icing sugar mixed with about 1 tbsp of milk and a ¼ tsp of vanilla. Just get a good texture for drizzling – not to thick, not to thin.