Happy 6th Birthday, Lexi!

Where, oh where, does the time go??  I cannot believe that it is already early December and Lexi's birthday has come and gone once again.  I probably say it every year, but it feels like I just adopted my sweet pups a year or two ago.  I don't know how it can be almost 6 years since I brought little Lexi home!

Just like always, the dogs got to open a bag full of toys for Lexi's birthday.  They love opening their gifts, and we love watching them.  It is such a riot seeing them tear into the bag.  Of course, every time they see a gift bag they think it is for them, so it does make it a bit challenging to exchange gifts on human holidays without the dogs trying to help us open them.

Waiting for Kevin to give them their bag...

Hmmm.  Is there anything good in there?...

A new rope to play tug with!...

Zoe's favorite part is tearing the bags up...

A little game of tug with one of their new toys...

It probably seems like our dogs get a ton of toys every year, and you might be wondering how we aren't drowning in dog toys.  But the thing is our dogs are rough on toys, and they don't last long around our house.  That's why most of them come from the dollar store!  The toy pictured above lasted about 15 minutes, and then it had a gaping hole in it so Lexi proceeded to pull all of the stuffing out of it...

Just a little cuteness...

Another game of tug over the string from the handle of the bag...

Success!...

Until Zoe stole it!...

I just love that face!...

She had the tennis ball on this one destroyed in about 10 minutes, too!...

Gatsby and Daisy decided to get in on the action a bit, too!  The kittens have fit themselves into our household better than I ever could have dreamed.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that they are BFFs with the dogs, but our four fur babies do all get along really well.  The dogs accepted the kittens into the house with barely a glance and the kittens haven't been scared of the dogs, either.

Gatsby was being pretty brave and was right in the middle of all the commotion.  She did have to make a run for it and dive under the entertainment stand at one point to avoid being stepped on when the dogs got a little wild, though.

Here she is checking things out...

Gatsby has really unique eyes, and I am just in love with them!  They are green around the pupil and orange around the outside of her iris.  Here she is peeking at me...

Daisy is the wild child between the two kittens.  She's the one we are more likely to find climbing up on the top of someplace where she shouldn't be, but she was a little intimidated by the dogs being all crazy.  So, she did a bit more watching from afar...

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog!

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
Visit Michele's Website | Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter © 2013 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Arizona Summit Law School | Student Head Shots

A few weeks ago I returned to Arizona Summit Law School (previously Phoenix School of Law) to take more student head shot photos.  I really enjoy getting to meet and chat with all of these students while I take their photos.  Each of them has such diverse backgrounds and grand dreams for their future law careers, and it's such fun hearing about them all.

Please allow me to once again introduce you to more awesome future attorneys.

Meet Rebecca...

Myrna...

Patricia...

Erin...

Addison...

and Shannon...

As always, I want to say a huge thank you to each of these students for allowing me to take these photos for them.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
Visit Michele's Website | Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2013 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Kourtney + Eric's Sneak Peek {Engagement Session}

There is only one word to describe these photos from Kourtney and Eric's engagement session: PERFECTION.  Complete, absolute, utter, total perfection.  I am in love with every single one of these images and I am so excited to be sharing them with this amazing couple and all of my blog readers.

I work with Kourtney at my day job and she is an absolute doll.  I knew that this session was going to be a ton of fun, but it turned out even better than I could have imagined.  I'd been looking forward to shooting it from the time it was booked, especially when she and Eric settled on one of my favorite locations for their photos. What I hadn't counted on was how much fun Eric was going to be or how much these two love to laugh together.  I adore how you can really see their joy at being together come through in their photos.

We started our session off at the insane hour of 6:00 AM, so we could get in position and get set up to catch the sunrise. Unfortunately, it didn't end up being as spectacular as we'd hoped, but these images are still awesome and totally worth the early hour and freezing cold we endured to create them!...

Is this photo not to die for?  It is definitely one of my favorites...

Is this not just the sweetest?...

Kourtney, you. are. GORGEOUS!...

Adorable...

Love, love, love...

Having a little dance off.  Did I mention how much fun these two were?...

Hands down…. Favorite!  This belongs on a huge canvas, doesn't it?...

This one is another fav.  I just love that water behind them!...

And now the fun really begins!  Kourtney and Eric ended their session with a chalk war! These photos do a perfect job of telling the story, without any help:

Kourtney and Eric, You guys rock!  I had an absolute blast spending my Sunday morning with you two.  It was an honor and a pleasure capturing these images.  I hope you love them as much as I do.  May the love and laughter you share today continue to grow and expand with each year of your marriage, and may it continue to inspire those around you.  I wish you both a lifetime of happiness!  Thank you for trusting me to capture this once in a lifetime moment for you.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
Visit Michele's Website | Like Michele on Facebook | Follow Michele on Instagram | Follow Michele on Twitter

© 2013 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC