I might be a little biased because she’s my sister and I know what an awesome person she is and how beautiful she is on the inside, but I really think my little sister is one of the most gorgeous people I know. On top of being super hot, she’s also a wonderful person, she just came back from a year over in Iraq, and came home to some circumstances almost as stressful, but throughout it all she’s remained strong and caring. I’ll stop gushing, but I’ve been really blessed with wonderful family. Anyways, when I got the chance to spend Sunday shooting bridal pictures of her, needless to say, I was pretty excited.

It almost didn’t happen though, we were supposed to shoot last weekend, but we got rain on Sunday, and then this week, it still looked a bit cloudy in the morning, and then she couldn’t get her hair done. I wound up doing her hair for her (I’m surprised it turned out, I’m a bit of a wash & go kind of girl, and unfortunately for my daughter, hairstyling isn’t where my talent lies), and we had my husband make the bouquet, look out for our new wedding package including hair and flowers, maybe I’ll get into cakes too. Kidding, lol.

I’m off for the rest of the week on vacation, one of my best friends is staying in town with us for the week so I doubt I’ll be getting much work done.

These are a few of my favorites from the session. Expect more to come soon.

In case you didn’t know, April is Autism Awareness month. This is a cause that is very important to me. My son Anakin was diagnosed with Autism when he was 2. Dealing with the disorder has been both challenging and rewarding. He is 6 now and in kindergarten, he is still non-verbal, but he is making progress with sign language. We are blessed that he has had some wonderful teachers working with him and he’s making a lot of progress.

If you’ve never met any one with Autism, odds are that you will soon, about 1 in 150 American children are diagnosed with it every year.

“Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today.” (From the Autism Society of America Website)

“Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:

• Lack of or delay in spoken language Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms
• (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
• Little or no eye contact
• Lack of interest in peer relationships
• Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
• Persistent fixation on parts of objects “

(From the Autism Society of America Website)

More information on autism

To help the cause for every wedding package booked in April I’m donating $150 to the Autism Society of America.

I’m also giving away 3 free portrait sessions to Quad-City area children with autism. The winners will receive a portrait session in a location the child is comfortable in, a disk with High resolution digital files from the session and a free 8×10. To enter just send an e-mail to tiffanie@tiffanieimages.com with the following.

• Name
• Phone Number
• E-mail address
• Age of the child

A drawing will be held May 14th to select the winners. If you have any questions e-mail them to Tiffanie@tiffanieimages.com.

If you would like to make a personal donation to the ASA you can do so here.

These are some other helpful links if you want to learn more about Autism or know someone with autism and are looking for help.

http://www.autism-society.org/
http://www.autismspeaks.org/
http://www.autismlink.com/
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm

Quad-cities Support groups
http://www.autismqc.org/calendar.htm
http://www.qcautismcenter.org/page/page/2959054.htm
QC yahoo group – http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/quadcityautism/
Iowa Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/16
Illinois Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/14

Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet information
Recipes, menu planning & info – http://gfcf-diet.tacanow.org/
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/

I love the way they’re looking at each other here.

Shannon, who will be assisting me with weddings came along to help out. I love this image she captured. (Above)

When my mother-in-law Jean asked me to take Easter pictures of the kids(my two and my niece Autumn) this year I was a bit stumped on what to do. Last year we just did a white backdrop with flowers, so I wanted something different this year, so we headed out to the Pioneer Village out by Scott County Park. Unfortunately nothing wanted to go right, Easter was super early this year and so the grass was still mostly dead and even though it looked nice out, it was pretty cold. The poor girls didn’t want to take off their coats, so most of the pictures they’re doing more shivering than smiling, lol. Anyways it was at least a nice drive out there, and we had some fun playing. I did manage to get a few decent shots out of the whole thing too. The one at the top was my favorite.

My favorite shot of Crystal, she looks a bit grown-up in it. 🙁

My adorable niece

Anakin wasn’t going to have anything to do with looking at the camera, but he’s a cutie anyhow.

My beautiful daughter

Proper little ladies. 🙂

After sticking a camera in their face the whole trip I thought it was only fair to let the girls throw eggs at me. 🙂