Emailing: Jackson John

I loved how this turned out. Notice the ducks on the pond. Jackson thought
they were hilarious!

Beach...

I just love this picture of these three beautiful girls on the beach.
Timeless.

Still some wheat standing

Well, the fields are starting to clear off around Oakville, but there is
still some wheat standing around my place. I love this time of year...

Jackson....yet again!

Someday when my boys get married, their wives are going to think their
mother was nuts to have taken so many pictures of them! It really is
insane. Jackson and I are home all day while his older two brothers are in
school. Once the beds are made, laundry done, house tidied and so on; I
usually start thinking about photography...which usually leads me to an urge
to take pictures....and the only little subject around is Jackson! Poor
kid....I think he gets tired of constantly having his picture taken. I've
given up trying to make him look at the camera and simply just try to
capture in the moment stuff with him. It's great practice for me and he
will someday have a "pictoral history" of every day of his childhood life!
LOL! Thanks Jackson for putting up with your Mom's addiction to photography.
I love you. XOXO Mom.

Days Gone By

I took a drive around rural Oakville and re-visited one of my favourite
places. There are two rainbow bridges not far from my home (both within a
couple miles) and I just love them. They are both located on dirt roads and
that is likely why they are still standing. Had they been on main roads,
they likely would have to be torn down due to farmer's equipment, codes,
etc. I hope there never comes a day where they find a reason to tear down
these beautiful old bridges!

Fall

I went to Island Park yesterday and I forgot how completely beautiful that
place is. Kudos to the Dave Green & his staff at the City of Portage la
Prairie - they have done an awesome job of keeping the Island beautiful.
Here are just a couple pictures I took....Fall has definitely arrived!

Gitzel Family

Super family - thanks for the opportunity Gitzel family!

Sweet Dawson!

Little Dawson was so much fun to take pictures of. One funny face and the
mention of "playmobile" toys had him smiling so sweetly. Thank you for
being such an awesome little guy on Sunday Dawson! I know it's not easy
getting your picture taken when you just want to run and play!

Adorable Hunter!

I loved Hunter's hair and his sweet smile. He was just an awesome, smiley
kid! Thanks Hunter.

Kids!

These three kids were so much fun to take pictures of on Sunday. They were
so well-behaved and polite....my favourite kind of children! LOL! Thanks
Bailey, Dawson & Hunter! You guys did awesome....

Beautiful Bailey!

Such a sweet girl, with a gorgeous smile. I could have taken pictures of you
for hours!

Prairie Sunset

I took this while driving home with my oldest son from a birthday party. It
pays to take your camera everywhere....you never know what you might see!

Reese!

My sweet, adorable nephew Reese.....who dislikes getting his picture taken!
I finally captured a couple cute ones of him. He is the most adorable
child, who totally looks away when Aunty Jodi comes along with her camera.
Thanks Reese for giving me a couple adorable grins! Love U!

Maddox

I am looking after Maddox & Reese (My nephews) today so I dressed up Maddox
and took him out for some Fall Photos. Reese absolutely hates getting his
picture taken so unfortunately I didn't get any of him - YET! The day is
still young!

Prairie Sunrise

I was getting the kids things ready to head off to school today when I
looked out the window and saw this great sunrise. I had to drop what I was
doing and go take a few pictures. These are almost completely unedited -I
simply captured what the lens saw. Manitoba has the best sunsets &
sunrises!

September

It is very hard to believe that September is just flying by. We've enjoyed such beautiful weather the last few weeks that it feels like it should be late-August! I'm hoping the nice weather lasts into October as I have so many photo shoots booked and all my clients really are hoping for outdoor pictures (as am I).

I'm still away at my cabin; helping a friend through a loss and celebrating my Mom's birthday all at the same time. I will be heading back to Oakville tomorrow and then it's time to get back to the day-to-day grind of regular life.

Get out your cameras everyone and take advantage of the beautiful fall colours....and great weather!

Jodi

Harvest Memories

I stalked my Dad on Friday afternoon. He was checking one of his wheat
fields to see if it was ready to combine. He wasn't aware of me taking the
ones of him checking his field and I love them! My Dad would NEVER pose for
pictures so I had to be sneaky with my zoom and just take them when he
didn't think I was looking. I love how these turned out and I will treasure
these pictures forever!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Life

So, my Mom turned 60 yesterday - yes 60! If you knew my Mom you'd know why this doesn't seem possible. She is a beautiful, fun and "young at heart" woman. I'm always amazed by her! She is an amazing Grandma, a wonderful Mom and an awesome Registered Nurse. I really do find it hard to believe she's 60....looking at her makes me think that age is simply a number, it has nothing to do with how you are supposed to "act", "look" or "be". I am back up at my cabin for the weekend. I have a photo shoot today in Grandview, but then took the following two days off to spend time with my Mom & sisters. We're heading to Clear Lake to the Spa - cannot wait!!! I will also take some pictures while I'm in Clear Lake as it's beautiful this time of year.....see, I'm still "working". I could have booked up this weekend with family portaits, but it was more important to spend time with my family, and be here for my friend.

My best friend lost her Dad yesterday to cancer. I spent the afternoon with her and her wonderful family and it reinforced even more to me that we need to appreciate our health and our loved ones NOW while we can. Life can change in a moment's notice. I heard a line from a song yesterday while I was driving away from my friend, it said "each day's a gift and not a given right". That is so true. To the Silewich Family - I will never forget the many years I spent as a part of your family. Wally was an incredible man and he will live in our hearts forever. Thank you Kim, Curtis & Gladys for sharing him with me for so many years.

So, as you can see....yesterday was mixture of happiness & sadness; of mourning & celebration for me. Milestone birthdays and death have an extraordinary way of putting everything in perspective. Life is short - live each day to the fullest.

Happy Birthday Mom. Rest in Peace Wally.

Love U both.....Jodi

Fall Bookings

Well, I’m pretty much “booked up” for the Fall Season. I’m looking forward to meeting some new clients and getting together with old clients again from last Fall. Thank you to my clients for trusting me with capturing these memories of your families. I do consider it an honour to be behind the lens. I don’t have anything left on weekends in September or October, and have already started booking into mid-November. I do have some options open for week-days for those of you with kids who are not in school. Once again, thanks to all of you who follow my blog, or follow me on Facebook – I’m truly grateful for all the encouragement I receive. I put a quote on my Facebook page that I will re-quote here:

“Find a job that you love and you will never work a day for the rest of your life”.

I truly have found that – thanks to the trust of my clients!

Back Online!

Yay, I received my "healthy" laptop last night. I'm back online and happy to be so! :)

Sisters.....

These girls are adorable!

Morgan

Isn't she lovely? She's a firecracker this one!! Cracks me up
everytime....

Shae

Simple, beautiful!

Kammi!

She is just too cute for words!

Still no laptop. :(

So, I'm stealing a few minutes on my husband's laptop this morning before he takes it into work. I still do not have my laptop back and am literally going through withdrawel. It's killing me that I have a camera full of beautiful images to edit and I can't! On a positive note, you should see what I got accomplished around home yesterday. Wow! It's like a maid came and went through my home....never realized how much "time" I spent on my laptop.

If you are wanting to book family pictures, I would suggest you contact me asap. I am booking up very quickly and have photo shoot(s) booked every weekend through September & October. I usually try to do one a day, but I have been booking two or three a day to accommodate requests. I have difficulty saying "NO"!

Anyhow, my husband is sitting in a chair beside me anxiously waiting to pack up his laptop and go....so, I will sign off. I hope to get my computer back today or tomorrow...PLEASE!!!!
JL

Offline - hopefully not for long!

So, my son and I were on my laptop on this lovely Sunday afternoon looking for "Free Willy" colouring pages, when all of a sudden - poof - up popped this incredibly scary message saying I had a virus on my computer. all these scary messages started appearing and my husband and I figured it was way over our head and will be taking it in for repairs. My entire business is on my laptop, thankfully I had the forsight to back up all my client photos. Unfortunately, I have not backed up my own personal ones for quite a while because I was concentrating on updating clients. :( Lesson learned. From what I can see though, all my pictures seem to be intact on my system.

My computer is going into the "hospital" tomorrow (aka - Mega Computers) and I am hoping that they can fix it. Right now I'm on my husband's laptop trying to make sure clients know that I am not ignoring their emails...I just won't have access to them for a day or two.

Hopefully see you all back online VERY soon!!
JL

My Family

So, I decided I better take my annual family picture with my kids. You think it would get easier as they get a bit older; but it doesn't! Now they have little "attitudes" and are not as quick to cooperate. They did pretty good though....they just don't seem to have the patience that I wish they had. This photo shoot lasted a grand total of about 15 minutes! I did capture a few that I love though.....

Fall has arrived!

Jackson and I were outside playing and waiting for the boys to come home
from school. Well, he was waiting for the boys to come home....I knew it
was going to be a couple hours. I grabbed my camera and took some pictures
of him in the leaves....Fall has certainly arrived in my yard!

He Really Got A Turn!

Well, I wasn't going to put Jackson into Nursery School - selfish reasons
only - I wanted to keep him "home" with me! However, I decided to take him
to the Nursery School Open House and he LOVED IT! He did so well and had so
much fun that I decided I could not deny him the opportunity just to serve
my selfish needs. So, he actually had a "real" first day of school and was
as proud as could be to pose for his own picture. Wow Jackson....you're
growing up too. Hmmmm, time to think about that big plane ride over to
China to adopt a baby! Likely won't happen.....but I can dream can't I?!

Jack's turn!

So, I got my boys off on the bus and then Jack woke up! I figured he might
be upset, but he wasn't. He basically packed his little "pack pack" when we
got dressed and headed up the road. Not sure where he thought he was going,
but he said he was going to go find Danny & Dylan. He got over it once I
told him we were going to McDonald's for lunch! Cute!!

First Day of School

Well, today summer is officially over in our house. I sent my two oldest
off to school. This is Dylan's first "full-day" of school as last year
Kindergarten as half-days. I am going to miss him and his brother Danny so
much. I have always dreaded the first day, and I cry every year. You would
think it would get easier to send them off to school, but it doesn't. Each
year just makes me realize how quickly time goes by. I think that's why I
take so many pictures of my children - I need to capture all the moments I
have with them as soon they will be gone. I still have my little Jackson at
home (Thankfully!). Here are just a few of the many pictures I took this
morning on Danny & Dylan's first day. Good luck boys....I'll be anxiously
awaiting that big yellow school bus, camera in hand (of course!). JL