Once upon the fall of 1990, I had the great fortune to become best 5th grade buddies with the zany new kid in school, a gal named Juli Butler.  Now, this wasn’t just any gal.  Juli was the loud and proud wild child daughter of my social studies teacher, Mrs. Butler.  And Mrs. Butler wasn’t just any teacher.  This was the kind of teacher that let us write on her overhead projector and gave us special treat graham crackers and (joy of joys!) GUMBALLS that we could chew during class as long as we spit them out in the trash can that she held by the door as we exited her classroom.  The best.  My 10-year-old self was enchanted by Juli’s bold antics and unbridled sass.  Sadly, devastatingly, Juli and I only shared one precious year as Beneke Bears together before she transferred to another district.

I’ve had over 20 Juli-less years since then…but by the power of the almighty Facebook, there has been a Juli/Janica reunion!  There is something to be said about a person whose joyful, fun-loving spirit remains virtually unchanged after so many years.  To know this girl is to adore her – just ask any one of her bazillion friends and loved ones.  Juli, together with her strapping husband Anthony, have created an undeniably awesome family with their kiddos, Ella, Gibson, and the most recent addition, baby Coen.  Courageous Coen has had a lot of struggles in his little man life, as he was diagnosed with Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus before he was born.  He is a total champion, and is surrounded by incredible amounts of love and support.

I’m so lucky to know you, Juli.  I am inspired by your selfless heart and delighted by your filterless humor.  I insist that there be no more 20 year gaps in our friendship.

jbo and jdo 4 eva

(where’s one of those whistling wolves when you need it?)

And this particular Day fellow here is my baby brother, Brandon.  And the gorgeous gal he married is my amazing friend, Keri.  And the two perfect little baby girls that they have created are my nieces, Karli and Adleigh.

Folks, there just aren’t enough adjectives in the world for me to describe my love for these people.  I adore my family.

Can I love this picture any more?  Unlikely.

It’s my blog.  It’s my niece.  I can show off her ridiculously cute belly if I want to.

♥♥♥

The twins grew up.

Their cuteness exploded.

I love the Oelze Family.

Happy birthday, Jacob and Ainsley!

Lindsay and Jarrod are gorgeous people.  Nothing has changed here.

Sweet babies.  They tolerated so much paparazzi time…but enough is enough, am I right??

(have you ever seen more adorable simultaneous sadness?)

Want more Oeleze?

Maternity pics

Newborn pics

This blue-eyed fellow is 9 months old and just as pleasant as can be.

I loved watching his little brow furrow from time to time…deep thoughts were obviously happening.

Thanks for the grins, big guy!

Kinda fond of this giraffe.Do you mind?Pensive posture.

Grass.  Not a fan.

Cute couples create cute kids.

Fascinating.

(and my complete privilege to photograph.)

This is Annabel, but you can call her AB.  And what’s cuter than that??

Krista and Jeff, you couldn’t hide these good looks if you tried.

Oh, hello. ♥

You gettin’ this?

I just adore the amount of grandmother-pride in these pictures.

There’s a lot of love here!

They are truly such kind, lovely, and joy-filled people.  Matt and I have shared so many special, scandalous, and downright FUN times with Jesse and Annie.

(And that little man Sam is the perfect little collaborative nugget of his folks.)

We are proud to call them our best Boles family buddies!

BONUS:  vintage Matt/Jan/Jesse/Annie.

 Yeah, it was kind of a big deal.

I photographed Luke’s big-ol’ fun family quite recently…but somehow, this handsome face just didn’t get enough one-on-one time with the camera.  I find it 100% unacceptable for this much cuteness to go unseen, so a quick morning meet-up at the park allowed us to remedy the situation.  Sweet Luke, I am delighted that we got to hang out a bit in a more intimate setting.

Big brother Reagan is allllmost 3, and his twin baby bros, Lincoln and Jackson, aren’t far behind him.  These handsome little balls of energy were a delight to chase around.  We danced, we candy-ed, we cheered on a passing train…   It was a non-stop game of “catch me if you can!”  I’m not saying who won.  (I’m still trying to catch my breath)

Enjoy your happy holidays, Juarez family.  I can only imagine the wonder and excitement your cute little clan has in store!

But really, none of that matters.

When you get these Barnes and Little clans together, the bottom line is always FUN.  I love these sweet/crazy kids,  their fantastic folks, and their super-special folk’s folks.  I already can’t wait for the next time.

I don’t know about you, but this is what I call picture perfect.