And just for a fun, here is a couple pictures I had on my computer from when they were in high school and both on homecoming court. Kind of fun that he carried her into their wedding reception the same way he carried her out on to the stage to be introduced as a queen candidate just a few years before. :)

Congratulations, you guys! I could not be happier for you and feel honored that you chose me to document your day!!! It was perfect!

 

These two have some great role models to look up to when it comes to marriage. 

Congrats again, Kelsey and Ryan! I couldn't be happier for you! 

We met bright and early last weekend in KC for an engagement session. Initially I wanted to meet on the Plaza at 7:30 for lighting purposes. Well, as it turned out it was really overcast so that didn't matter so much, BUT it really still worked out in our favor because the Plaza was so deserted, which allowed for some neat shots! We also ventured over to the Nelson-Atkins museum, Kauffman Gardens, and Loose Park. So many pretty locations!

Enjoy your preview, guys! It may be my biggest engagement preview yet! Can't wait for the November wedding. Jane is already working on her flower girl skills. :)

 

 The dip in this next picture became a theme...as you will see. They dipped everywhere! :)  

 These next two were Alan's ideas...he had a lot of ideas. They were all goofy. :)  

 Swings....Alan's idea. :)

   

 At this point we were going on three hours and all of the picture taking was making some people a little nutty...can you tell who I'm talking about?

   

 Annnddd that is all. Less than six months before wedding pictures will be up on the blog (if I have time to take any...since all three of us are in the wedding I'm thinking a few iPhone pictures may be all I get that day). :)

Alex and I and a couple other girlfriends had a pretty fun  happy hour crew back when we all still lived in KC. It was truly just the MOST fun group, and I looked forward to our regular happy hours more than you can possibly imagine. Always lots of laughter, lots of drinks, and sometimes pieces of cake the size of our faces!!! ;) We love laughing about the happy hour where we stayed so long at Kona, that we were still there for reverse happy hour at 10. So, of course, we ordered more drinks, more sushi rolls, and a HUGE piece of cake. Things may have gotten a little fuzzy, phones may have been lost...whatever. At the next happy hour meeting (after we vowed to be a little more tame), we were talking about that yummy cake and Molly said, "Wait....we had cake?" Ummmm...yes. And Molly had gone after that cake like it was her job. Love love love those memories and those girls.

As for yesterday....I loved celebrating Alex and her HUSBAND, Bret. It was truly one of the most beautiful weddings I've been, too. It took place outside on a golf course and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Add to that an insanely fun and in love couple, an open bar, delicious food, and really amazing guests? You pretty much have the perfect recipe for the perfect wedding. Such a great night! In fact, the entire night I meant to run to my car and grab my camera and take a few pictures of the reception so this blog post wasn't all about the morning...but there was too much fun being had, and too many great people to talk to. Oops! Oh well...enjoy the pictures of the girls getting ready! :)

Look at this beautiful, excited, joy-filled maid of honor. This was a day SHE had been dreaming of for a long time, too. Nothing quite like watching your best friend get married. :)


















This was the part of the day where things started getting real. And Alex started getting a little giddy. I know I posted a lot of close ups of the bride...but she was just GLOWING. I couldn't narrow it down. :)




















The bridesmaids all went in together to give Alex a BEAUTIFUL Kate Spade bracelet. So fun!


























I love this next picture. Alex's mom was kind of hanging back while she was getting her dress on, trying to hold off getting a real look until she was completely in the dress. But the girls parted, and she got a glance before she was ready...and immediately started tearing up. Truly one of my favorite moments of the day.












The boys were over on the other side of the clubhouse waiting for the girls to finish getting ready. In this picture you can see Alex's dad patiently waiting to see his beautiful daughter.






I had full intentions of running out to the car during the reception and bringing my nice camera in, but the reception was just too great to leave for even a couple of minutes! But I did snap a few photos on my phone. Sorry they are blurry...it is hard to get a great picture when you are laughing, drinking wine, and dancing...simultaneously.

Please try and ignore the fact that my "eye brightening" concealer is practically reflective in this photo. Yowzers.

We bundled up Jane, and left her in the garage (with the door open of course) so that she was safe from the wind. When we were out in the yard I would hear her squeak and think "oh no, she is getting ready to lose it." but every time I would run back to check on her she was just sitting there giggling. Love this happy, happy baby girl!!!

I think she could have sat in the snow all day. The cold wind didn't bother her one bit! :)

Thanks for letting me a part of your special day....hope you all enjoy your preview!

All three of Lynae's sisters getting ready together. :)

I love watching parents on their kids' wedding days. I teared up multiple times yesterday thinking about Jane's wedding day someday. :) 

Marcus and his older brother. :) 

Lynae and her youngest sister, Lucy.

The mother of the bride and mother of the groom right after the ceremony. :)

Watching their slideshow from the back of the reception hall. 

Congrats again, Marcus and Lynae!

Hope you guys enjoy your preview! 

Mary called these next one's "Emme in her natural habitat"...I have a quite a few outtakes of Emme trying to eat the dog's toys or her back scooting away from me as fast as possible.

 

Couldn't decide whether to post the color or b/w version of this next one...so you get to see both!

As we were taking this picture I heard Mary go "Wow, Emme...you are flexible!" Then I snapped the next picture :) 

Midway through the session Emme reallllyyy started working it for the camera!

I know you can see my foot, and Emme is blurry from moving so fast...but I had to post this. If you know Mary...then this picture would definitely tell you that Emme is HER daughter. She reminds me so much of her momma in this pic! 

Almost exactly two years ago, Rob and I took a trip to Colorado with our friends Mary and Tony. While we were playing cards one night we had the wonderful idea to set up Mary's younger sister with Alan! We made some calls, sent some texts, but it wasn't really the right time for either of them. Fast forward about eight months, and Alan is now living with Robby and me. One afternoon I brought up how I had heard Ann was going to back over Labor Day weekend and that Alan should call and ask her out. Alan was kind of hesitant, so Robby took his phone, dialed Ann's number, waited two rings, and then threw the phone at him.

And Alan asked her out.

The went on their first date a couple days later and Alan came home and his exact words were "She was really cute. And funny. We actually had a really good time."

Gee, Alan....did you think I was setting you up with somebody who wasn't cute and funny and wonderful? :)

About a month later it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that these two would get married. At least for Robby and I (and Mary and Tony). It was just a matter of WHEN. Well, we figured out the when last weekend.

Alan called Robby (and then called me a few minutes later since I wasn't with Rob) on December 1st and said he had asked Ann's dad to marry her. He didn't know when it would happen, didn't have a ring, didn't really have a plan....but he had taken the first step! A few weeks later Ruthie, Ann (Rob's mom...not Conklin...:)), Alan, and me went and found a ring after taking a peek at some of Ann's pinterest boards.

Alan then told us his plan for the proposal. He was going to take Ann to his grandparents' farm in Hutch, where they went on a few of their first dates (Robby used to take me there, too....those Ramseyer boys sure know how to work it with the ladies.:)). He wanted to propose outside and incorporate a bottle of Ramseyer wine that they had recently been given (there is a Ramseyer Winery that Rob orders a couple boxes of wine from each year). When he first came up with this plan he had no idea it would be snowing. It was absolutely gorgeous. I'm so honored Al asked me to take the pictures. I absolutely love how they turned out and am so glad they will always have these as a reminder of such a wonderful moment!

Congrats Ann and Alan! We can't wait for the wedding!

I wish I would have taken more pictures after the Ramseyers all showed up, but they brought my baby and I got distracted. :) 

What a wonderful day it was! Can't wait for November 29th! Welcome to the family, Ann! :) 

The picture below is a perfect depiction of Sage's favorite pose. :)

But once I got in for the close up, Sage was all about it. 

We decided to snap a few pictures with Madi and her "entourage." Loved these of her and her mom!

Anybody who knows me knows I love a good sibling relationship. How cute are these two?!

We started off taking a few pictures on her front porch, which is fun because later we went and took pictures on the dirt driveway of their house before they left Hutch, too! 

I'm pretty sure the next picture was taken after Mimi told MC to strike a pose. Looking good, MC! :)

 

This next picture was taken in the driveway of the Meredith's old country home. :)

And now a few taken back at the house. 

This next one was just a sweet accident. Ruthie was trying to get Harper to sit in the grass and I was just randomly clicking while I changed my settings since we changed directions. It isn't totally in focus, but considering I wasn't even looking through the view finder when I shot it, I'm ok with that...I still think it is pretty adorable. :)

In an attempt to get Harper to smile more, Ruthie started tossing her up in the air. And that is when we got all these cute pictures. :) 

And my favorites from the whole "session" were these last couple ones I snapped after Ruthie said, "Ok, I think we got at least one that will work." Little did we know the best ones were yet to be taken! :)

Our sweet, happy niece Harper! Those baby blues are so fun to photograph! I'll be posting some more pictures of Harper later this week! :)

These sweet cousins have lots of matching outfits in their future!

How tall this Fall? Not very. Obviously. :)

Jane's first pumpkin! She I was very specific about picking out one with a great stem! :)

Harper LOVED the pumpkins!

Aunt Ruthie and Harper with her choice! :)

After a great trip to the pumpkin patch I couldn't help but be all smiles as we hauled out our pumpkins and our sweet, sleepy Jane. Life is good. 

Look for (back dated) posts coming soon! :) 

Doesn't Laura's hair look awesome? Special shout out to Mary Charlotte for curling it that day...MC's senior pictures will be up on the blog next! :) 

After taking some pictures downtown we headed out to Sand Hills State Park. As soon as we pulled up this little pup decided he wanted to be our friend. Laura tossed a little stick for him to fetch in an attempt to get him out of the pictures and instead he very quickly brought back this HUGE stick! Haha! Eventually Anne was able to distract the dog enough that it lost interest in us and we carried on. 

I had never shot out at Sand Hills before and I loved the setting. It was an absolutely perfect evening for pictures. We ended up getting some of my favorite shots out there. :)