A couple weeks ago, I dressed the family up and we headed up to the Rocky Mountains to take some family photos. We had waited as long as we could possibly wait to get them done in hopes that the mountains would be covered in snow. Even in December in Colorado, we can’t guarantee snow. Either way the photos turned out better than I had imagined!
I reached out to my friend Missy Long to do the photos for us, letting her know that I wanted magic with all the buffalo plaid and snow! We hit 2 of the 3 and I am still shocked at how great these turned out!
If I could style photo shoots all day, I would. Seriously, I love it and I spend MONTHS working on our outfits for our family photos. It is usually inspired by one single piece that I then design everything around. In this case, our Christmas pajamas this year are buffalo plaid and I love them so much that I decided to put together our outfits with this theme.
Missy knew exactly what I was planning and decided to throw her own flair in. She brought a wagon FULL of vintage Christmas decor and we ran with it! My kids really enjoyed working with Missy and had no problem using the props and working that camera!
I mean, come on. Magic! I don’t care that it was nearly 70 degrees on December 2nd in Colorado and that not a single flake of snow was anywhere to be found. These turned out perfect! The setting was fantastic and Missy let us do our own thing and express our personalities exactly as we are.
A little silly, a lot fun and so much amazing magic that I could not even imagine these anywhere else.
The buffalo plaid was not the only thing that I was having a minor obsession over. Nope, I needed TUTUS! My friend Christina with Star Tutus delivered. I told her that I wanted mommy and me black tutus that were HUGE and ridiculous. She completely delivered and when I was having a hard time finding the perfect buffalo plaid scarf, she made that too! Girl has skills. I made the headbands and my sons vest, the night before photos. They weren’t perfect, but I love them nonetheless.
However, these photos. I cried when I saw them. So much life in them, so much personality and just my family being my snuggly, loving, silly family!
I mean seriously! Eskimo kisses and magic all over the place. This little girl worked that camera, which cracked me up because she was such a mess this day and still Missy captured those moments that I would never have thought to have photographed.
My sweet snuggly boy, as he normally is. Right on my lap in his happy safe place. I literally can’t even with these.
My heart exploded when these photos of my husband and the kids came through. I mean honestly, nothing is sexier than a man with his kids. The adore their daddy and so do I.
This photo is just perfection. Exactly, how her and her daddy are. She is always holding onto his hands, begging for him to throw her in the air or just telling the most dramatic stories while he intently listens. Love it.
We were literally standing on the sharp drop of a mountain here, in between telling our kids to get away from the edge and trying to get a photo in, all while my silly husband was making naughty jokes in my ear.
Of course there had to be a little fun and showing off that amazing tutu! I am always game for some silliness and Miss was too. We did a few headshots and a lot of laughing.
However, the star of these photos was our little girl. Photo after photo just left me awestruck. Like I made that little human and she is just full of spunk and attitude and beauty.
Get out of here sissy! I have no plans of putting her in modeling but I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up there. Girl can pose with a smile and put that pout to work. It is going to be tough choosing the photos to print for our family photo wall this year.
This boy though! Whoa. He grew up, in a second. This year has been a lot of growth and change for him and he just stuns me with his sweet spirit, hardworking attitude and perseverance. I love that Missy was able to capture his soul here. I feel like I can look at this picture and see every ounce of love exuding from him. Gosh, he is stunning.
However, this shoot wasn’t over until there was a truly magical photo and this one is it. Really girl, you made a pinecone look like the most amazing thing ever and the lighting is just perfect!
However, my favorite photo of them all is this one. After an hour of shooting, our kids were wild and running around. They were having the time of their life and just managed to photobomb our little photo in a great way.
I am elated with our photos this year. I am so thankful that Missy agreed to photograph them and I hope that if you are in Colorado, you look her up. She is phenomenal and so fun and easy to work with!