You might remember our friends Grant and Allison from their birth announcement last fall. Since then, the family of two has become four with the addition of two healthy and darling baby boys, Benjamin and Theodore. We got to spend part of last weekend with the boys on their first fishing trip (but I don’t think they’ll remember).
To take you back a few months, here are some shots of Grant and Allison earlier this year, full of anticipation and joy :)
We’ve been gearing up for wedding season to arrive after several chilly winter months. In the meantime, we also get to have fun celebrating birthdays.
Last week was one of those monumental birthdays for a friend of mine. She had been dropping hints to me that her grandmother used to bake her a strawberry cake every year to celebrate. This year was my turn to provide the cake, and I was happy to start thinking spring. I pulled out a warmer weather recipe for her surprise cake, the Strawberry Cream cake. Pardon my picture quality guys… I only had my iPhone around to quickly snap these photos before heading off to the party.
Yum. This is a pure strawberry cake, topped with a strawberry buttercream. I also couldn’t help but add a little fun to the cake. I used the party napkins as my inspiration and created a quick cake bunting.
The cake was definitely a surprise to my friend; we might have even seen a tear or two. I love that I get to be a part of special events like this, but honing in on special family memories and traditions is my favorite.
Leslie
Hi guys, Leslie here!
I realize this post is well overdue, but my mind is spinning with new ideas for my lovely mini bundt cake pan. Over the holidays I tried out this newly gifted pan. When peering in the fridge for ingredients, I realized I had some eggnog that needed to be used up — eggnog bundt cake it was! I’m sharing the recipe with you today despite eggnog season being well over.
Pin the recipe to try once eggnog is back on the shelf at the grocery store or even make your own. Who says we can only drink eggnog during the holidays anyway? This is a simple recipe I’ll make several times a year and enjoy eating any time of the day (even for breakfast). Cake for breakfast? YES!!
Lately I had been thinking about how fun mini bundt cakes would be for wedding desserts. They are simple, classic, and elegant, and you can do so many yummy flavors. Mariah and I were talking about how we would enjoy the look of several different cake flavors drizzled in pastel colored glaze, making a type of ombre effect. How pretty and fun would that be?! Bundt cakes are also a great cake for all of you who are not buttercream fans or prefer a cake with less frosting. Even a simple dusting of confectioner’s sugar will do for this subtlety sweet dessert.
In the meantime, I am starting to dream up light, spring-time desserts.
Leslie
I got to spend a Saturday afternoon with Sebastian and MacKenzie exploring downtown Des Moines and taking some great engagement photos. I loved getting to hang out inside their downtown loft and shooting photos at some of their favorite nearby spots. These two are clearly in love and made my job easy, capturing candid moments that beautifully express their great bond with each other. I am excited to also be shooting their wedding later this year!
Joey
For those who know me very well know, red isn’t really my color. I wear red, but it isn’t in my house anywhere. My childhood church had immensely saturated, red carpet, and all of the weddings I remember attending there used this red in their color palette. My assumption is that it was unavoidable. So I’ve had this thing about red. At our wedding, I didn’t choose colors, I chose “not red”. I remember telling people when they would ask me about colors, “ah, all sorts of colors, just no red.” Well, folks, this wedding has made me a believer. You could do a Christmas-themed wedding wrong in so many ways, but this DIY, Christmas-y wedding is beautiful. Ellen is glamorous in her red cardigan amongst all the blowing snow, the varying red bridesmaids’ dresses all work for me, and make sure you notice Zack’s red plaid tie. I actually think that the Christmas element makes it feel quite romantic and fills me with all of the goodness and warmth of the holidays. I hope it does you too.
Mariah
Leslie is at it again! Having Leslie around has been so fun and filled with afternoons sipping coffee and dreaming up things together. One of those days we plotted to make a cake so Dave could film it for something he’s working on. While we were out, we snapped a few photos. Who else trudges into the woods toting a two-layer cake with camera gear in tow? We Poyzers, I guess :)
This cake is awesome. The chocolate cake is decadent and moist. Leslie filled it with chocolate ganache, whipped with mascarpone cheese, and topped it with fresh, organic blueberries and raspberries. Delicious. The wood stand (along with some friends) is available for rent. Contact us if you’re interested!
As promised, here is one of the maternity/family sessions I mentioned. We’ve been enjoying photographing the Erickson clan since their daughter Adelaide was born. With a new baby on the way, we decided to get out for one last family-of-3 photo shoot. (Since these photos were taken, we’ve met baby Elsie. I love her so much!) Jay and Christina are some of our favorite people. They tend to be quiet mannered but with the fullest hearts. Dave would agree that we have been blessed to know them.
I was digging through our archives ;) and realized with the website update last summer, there were some photos that never got added to the new site. I decided some of them were too good to keep for ourselves so I have a few oldies for you.
First up, Neil and Jodi’s engagement session. Neil and Jodi approached us to take their engagement photos, and we became fast friends. We started at Mullets, their favorite breakfast joint where you’ll still see them sipping coffee every Saturday morning. Later, we took a walk alongside the Des Moines Riverwalk where Neil and Jodi spent part of their first date — pretty romantic stuff. After we were done freezing our pants off, we ventured inside at the Botanical Center. Heading to the Botan’ wasn’t in our original plans, but we all thought it was a good idea since it was so cold. I’m glad we ended up there; some of those photos are my absolute favorite.
Dave got to photograph our friends Wayde and Erin and their little lady, Ruby, this fall. We also filmed their wedding a handful of years ago, and it has been beautiful to watch as their family grows. Today I’m extra sentimental thinking about the blessings they’ve recently enjoyed. They used to live one street over from us; we could see each other’s apartments through the tree line during winter. About two months ago they purchased and moved into their first house, and we heard Stover baby #2 is debuting this summer! :) Ruby is darling and has such a fun personality; I think she will be a great big sister.
Its been pretty neat to experience long-time friends becoming parents. Dave told you before about how awesome we think Wayde and Erin are, so its pretty sweet to see fellow creatives having kids. It gives us some confidence that when the time is right, we might be able to balance it all in a similar grace.
We’ve been getting to watch many of our friends’ little families grow as of late, which means I have a few maternity sessions for you guys coming up!
