Emily & David {wedding}

Emily & David were married in the Lenexa Convention Center on January 23rd and were my first wedding of the new year! The convention center is such a cool looking old/new building (you'll see what I mean when you see the picture) and was a really great venue for a wedding ceremony and reception. Poor Emily got sick with the stomach flu the night before and was still pretty weak and slightly nauseous on her wedding day but she came through like a champ! Just looking at her you wouldn't know she was sick! Here are my favorites from their day!

Of course the ring photos.




The dress!!! So gorgeous!


I love this picture of Emily and her eldest sister finishing getting her ready. It reminds me of me and my sister.


I'm so glad I caught this moment between Emily and her dad before they got to the top of the stairs.


See! Such a cool building!


After the ceremony we headed outside to take some photos of the bride & groom around the building.














Congratulations Emily and David! Good luck in the future!

Hope & Corey {engagement}

Hope & Corey drove all the way from McPherson to Topeka for their engagement session on a really cold and windy January afternoon. They were troopers and we managed to take some great photos despite our chattering teeth! Here are my favorites and be sure to check back in April for their wedding photos!













I love this one!






Thanks Hope and Corey! See you soon for the big day!

Are you all counting these posts?? That's like 4 in 3 days... whoa!!!

Valentine's Day - Arnesen Family Style

I know this post is late, but don't give me any grief, I've been sick. Ha! So Valentine's Day in the Arnesen household is a big deal. For as long as I can remember we treated it as a family holiday. We have a special dinner with fun decorations and everyone gets everybody else a card or something little just to say "hey I really do love ya even though sometimes you drive me crazy." I think this is why I've always loved Valentine's Day. We never put a huge emphasis on having a significant other and getting something extravagant, it was just a fun day for everyone to be together! This year is was at my sister's and we had our family favorite... ham balls! Sounds funny I know, but they're amazing. It's pretty much ham loaf shaped into balls with an amazing brown sugar sauce... oh man. It was fun to get Marcus things this year because he was so excited. The kid is going to grow up thinking there are like 5 Christmases. I got a really neat watch from my mom that you can buy different bands for and change them out depending on what you're wearing. Nifty! Of course, I'm going to try to make them, or have my friend Katie make them. Haha! Here are some pictures from the day!

Marcus got an M&M man "M's!!!" and I got him a "Car Car" book. He loves Car Cars!




Watching Grammy open his M man. Oh the anticipation!


The little man is getting so big! Sad.


Cheese!!!!!




Marcus got a kite from his other grandparents. Which, of course, he wanted to take out right away and fly in the snow!


And probably my favorite picture of the day. My brother, Jeremy, who you don't see on here often because usually my photos of him showcase a certain finger, bought Marcus the movie "Up" and they went to watch it together. It's so cute.


And not to downplay Luke and I's Valentine's Day, he got me a gift certificate for a massage... the best gift EVER! And then we gave each other colds. Which he got over in about 2 days and I still can't hear or taste anything... delightful.

Next year do something special for Valentine's Day with your family. It's really a fun tradition!

An Afternoon with Lily

Last weekend after taking pictures of Ben, it was Lily's turn! She's turning 3 this Friday and we always try to get her pictures done before her birthday, so these were her 3 year photos. She decided that we should play in her room for her pictures, so she led me back to her room where we proceeded to cook in her kitchen, jump on the bed, hide under the covers, play with her stuffed animals and read her books. I was pooped! We had a lot of fun though and she did really well. She's a very photogenic little girl! Here are some of my favorites!

These first 2 were taken during Ben's part of the morning. But I had put him in a laundry basket and so Lily wanted in one too! They're probably my favorite pictures I've ever taken of her!






Every self respecting 3 year old girl has to play cook in crazy glasses!




She was making me breakfast. It was amazing to watch Lily work in her "kitchen", it's obvious she pays a lot of attention when she watches her mommy cook.




Chatting with her animals.








Such a sweetie!


Oh, by the way, I painted the flowers on her walls. Hehe!

Ben Pictures!

Last weekend I got to hang out with Luke's sister, Amy, and of course, Lily and Ben! Lily is going to be 3 years old next weekend (I cannot believe she's 3!) and Ben will be 1 in June, so we decided it was high time to plan a photo shoot! We had a lot of fun and the kiddos really did so great! And Amy and I got to talk wedding, which is always fun! Here are some of my favorites of Ben's and a post of Lily's will follow! Enjoy!







Love love love this picture!







Ben is definitely our Michelin Man baby! He's a big guy but he's pretty dang adorable!









Here's a couple of Ben & Lily together. I think they have their Uncle Luke's big blue eyes and looong eyelashes.