Lady Liberty

A few days ago, I posted some pictures from Maddy's photo shoot. I tried to get a few of her little sister Liberty (Libby) that day, too. Libby's attention span was a little on the short side. She was busy doing many things...other than looking at the camera.. but here are some cute shots of her anyway!

Libby was more interested in looking for rocks rather than looking at the camera.



Maddy is trying to coach Libby on her smiling technique!

This is what she liked to do most...run the other way!

Princess Maddy

Sometimes I think it would be great to be 3 years old again.

You can go out in public...and even to have your portrait taken...wearing a crown, jeweled faux metal necklace and plastic high heels. How fun is that?

I can hardly believe Maddy is 3! She is such a cutie and full of personality and oh, so ready to pose.

Even when you're not dressed like one, you're still a princess, Miss Maddy!

Proudly Presenting Parker's Prom Pictures

Oooh. How's that for some awesome alliteration in today's post title? My college professors would be so proud. Or should I say...pleased as punch...

Okay...enough nerdiness from me today...

Hold onto your hats....

Parker went to the prom on Saturday. Let's see now...I swear it was just YESTERDAY that he was 3 years old...and now look at him. Speaking of Parker when he was 3 years old...and I'm sure he will be so happy that I'm sharing this... (But it has to do with alliteration, which we were just discussing...)

One evening, lo, these many years ago...Derek and I were driving in our former car (a Nissan Sentra) with Parker and Nate. We were headed to Derek's parent's house for dinner...a Saturday tradition when we lived in Arizona. I can't remember what Parker did as we were driving, but I scolded him and he talked back, so I said, "Don't you get sassy with me." He replied, "OOOOH...sassy in the Sentra! I'm being sassy in the Sentra!"

Of course, he thought he was hilarious, and I could only keep my angry eyes on for a few seconds until I burst out laughing, too. Of course we've never forgotten it, and now that he's a teenager, I try to bring it up all the time because teenagers just love it when you bring up the cute little things they did when they were 3.

Especially when you bring such things up in front of their friends.

That's Parker for you. A laugh a minute. Always has been. Always will be.

But my sassy son did look rather dashing Saturday night. Here are a few shots. I did photos for his group. They all looked fabulous, and I just have to say I was so impressed that all the girls in his group were wearing modest prom dresses. Way to go, girls! You all looked marvelous!!! (That includes the boys!)

9 Days Old

Food. Friends. Photos. Fun. That pretty much sums up my day today. As you may have seen on my blog last week, my friend Janae had her baby, and I took some pictures of him at the hospital. Today, Janae and Traveller were nice enough to let Julie and I come over for an official newborn, in-home portrait session.

And of course we had to have some yummy fruit, muffins and juice to go along with the photo session.

Traveller was such a good boy as we posed him and moved him all over the place. Hopefully we wore him right out so he'll sleep....like...well...a baby tonight. A good baby, who sleeps a big long stretch of several hours so Mom can get some sleep, too.

You hear that, Traveller?

Book Signing With Brandon Mull

So, if you're not in elementary school, you may not be a fan of the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. But we definitely have some fans around here.

Last night Brandon Mull was signing his books at a nearby bookstore. Let's just say it was a big deal here in Bountiful. We waited in line for over an hour (longer than the Splash Mountain line at Disneyland). But according to my kids and their cousins, their two minutes of face time with the author was well-worth the wait. He was very nice and asked them questions (which of course they were too shy and starstruck to answer) and he asked if they had any questions for him.

Then he was kind enough to pose for a group photo.

Mr. V is 3!

Photographing a 3-year-old is always an adventure..... To borrow a phrase from Forrest Gump.....photography is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get.

With 3-year-olds, you never know if you're going to get shy, wiggly, giggly, silly, serious or all of the above. It usually turns out that there's some of each in any given photo session.

I had lots of fun photographing this young man. Here are a few of my favorites!

In Keeping With our Easter Tradition

For many years...ever since Derek was a little boy...so a REALLY long time ago...(ha ha), it's been a tradition in the Evans family to go the the temple grounds on Easter and take some snapshots of the fam.

We've continued that tradition ever since we've been married. We used to go to the Mesa temple with Derek's family when we lived in Arizona. Since we've lived in Utah, we've either gone to the Salt Lake Temple or Bountiful Temple for the traditional Easter photos.

Today, it was a pretty small group...just Derek, me, Mallory and Alex. Parker is on his way home from a fun-filled spring break visit with his cousin Austin to my brother Lance's house in Atlanta. And of course, Nate is in Canada.

But no Easter would be complete without a few pictures at the temple! So here you go!

Happy Easter!

It's a beautiful day here....perfect weather for Easter. I love Easter. Of course the egg decorating, oodles of chocolate and having the Easter Bunny stop by are great, but most of all I love Easter because it's the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

One of my favorite Easter stories -- (and I'm not sure it's a true story, but still has a nice message) is about a little boy named Philip, who had Down Syndrome. In Sunday School on Easter, Philip's teacher gave all the children a plastic egg and told them to go find and put in it something that reminded them of Easter. As all the children came back and shared what was in their eggs, there were leaves, bird eggs, flowers and grass. When it was Philip's turn, he proudly opened his egg -- it was empty. The other children made fun of him and told him he was wrong...he was supposed to put something in the egg that reminded him of Easter. He responded, "I didn't do it wrong...the tomb was empty!" Philip's simple, but profound proclamation had a great impact on the children in his class. Some time later, little Philip died and at his funeral, the children in his class marched up one by one and placed an empty egg on his casket.

The tomb was empty.

Although this life has moments of sadness and grief as we bid farewell to loved ones who pass to the other side, I am so grateful to know that one day, I will see my loved ones again....my mom, my dad and others whom I love and miss so much.

He is risen. Happy Easter!





And here's a beautiful video about Easter.

Welcome Traveller -- Congrats Janae and Travis!

I'm happy to present some of the first photos of Traveller Scott Cooper, newborn son of my friends Janae and Travis. Janae had asked me to come to the hospital and photograph the birth...but she ended up having to have an unexpected C-section. He arrived yesterday (April 7) and weighed 9 pounds 4 ounces! Big boy!! I went to the hospital this morning to meet him. He's absolutely adorable and has the cutest, squishiest cheeks ever! Janae is doing great, and it was fun to see Travis and their girls Paisley and Regan while I was there, too.

Congrats to this awesome little family! So happy you're here, Traveller!