Never Before Seen Footage....

A few weeks ago, a status on Facebook from a friend detailing an offer for anyone wanting photo sessions during certain dates for September caught my eye. This woman is a mama of many and I loved the pictures she took of her own children, thus I suspected I found a pretty good match for the creator of our first ever 'formal' family portrait. I was wrong.

She was the PERFECT match.

She did not try to get the children to do anything, but be themselves. She was relaxed, engaging, quick and competant beyond words. Just click on her name and you can "meet" Shar Halverson (pronounced "Share"). {If you are local and would like more information, feel free to email her at benhalvorsen@aol.com}.

This busy mama has four beautiful children, and their family is in the {grueling} process of adopting their fifth child....a precious little girl from Ethiopia. Shar is creatively and resourcefully using the amazing vats of God-given talent to earn the money needed to bring their baby girl into their warm and loving home and family.

I just have to share a few of these with you, because they truly capture the individual little personalities of our children. I also want you to know three things: 1.) gratefully, she gave me a few moments to remove the curlers from my head before she started snapping 2.) I am saving the entire family photographs for Christmas cards and 3.) most importantly, this never-before-seen footage of our family could NOT have happened without the assistance of my younger sister, Kimberly Anne. She came over earlier in the afternoon and helped with baths, hair styling and the putting on (and subsequent meltdown) of tights and shoes. Not only that, but she has the ability to sing all their favorite show theme songs with an animated flair. {She is available for parties, photo shoots and bar mitzvahs for a small monetary donation...or in last night's case, a big hug and heart-felt "THANK YOU!!!!"}.

Please excuse the volume of pictures, but even this number showed restraint on my part.

It's not because I think my children are all so adorable (which I do. Of course I do. I am their mother. It's a requirement.), but because I want to expose the sheer picture-taking genius of my new and talented friend, Shar...

Thank you for spending some time with us at the Coffee Cottage!!