She’s gotten even more lovely since then…

And she comes with a pretty sweet little brother now:

We had a little outdoor time for our session…

A little relaxing…

Some dandelion picking…

And a little family time, of course…

They’re pretty great kids, I must say. 

Pretty darn great.

They’ve had a pretty good year. They are settled in. They’re used to us and we’re used to them. We’ve learned their oddities — that they will only drink water out of a tall cup. That one cat refuses to groom himself while the other grooms himself to the point of ridiculousness.That they tolerate being carried around like babies by school-aged children.

And each cat has had one rescue via sheetrock removal.

So there’s that.

They like to cram themselves into this tiny window in the front hall every day and watch the world go by.

So this week, we decided to let them out on the porch to do a little exploring.  Now, the first time we did this with our old cat, he ran off and got lost in a corn field for a while.  So we were a little skittish about what these two would do.

They were nervous at first…

But then they seemed to settle in.

And they seemed to especially enjoy a closer view of all of those flying birds they’ve only seen through the windowpane.

Ahhh, pets.  Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.

So you just learn to lint roll your black pants every time you leave the house.

The event was to support one of the school’s students, Xavier, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  This type of muscular dystrophy affects 1 in 3,600 boys and causes progressive muscle degeneration.  There is currently no cure for Duchenne.

The 5k was organized to help raise funds for both Xavier’s family and the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Organization. But even more-so, it was organized to show Xavier and his family how much the school supported and cared for them.

I’ve shared some images from the morning below, but they really don’t do the day justice.  That school was filled with love and community — teachers who tirelessly organized for months beforehand, students who came out in droves to show support for their fellow classmate, and families who wanted to be there to help however they could.

We should all be so lucky as to have this kind of community and support — a place to lean when it’s too hard to stand alone.  I’m so glad I was there to see it firsthand.

*****

The official race cake!  Baked and decorated by one of the school’s very talented teachers:

Xavier (center) with two of the race organizing teachers:

Xavier graciously greeting some racegoers:

It was a rainy morning and the race start time was delayed an hour due to lightning.

The teachers kept everyone in good spirits during the wait:

Due to the unsafe weather, it was eventually decided that the race be moved inside the school.

But before the event officially started, the teachers gave a few words:

Xavier’s mom spoke, too.

Not a dry eye in the house.

And the man of the hour stood up to talk, as well:

After Xavier gave the go-ahead, the race (now a fun family walk) began:

Xavier cheered on every teacher, student, and friend:

Everyone took 5 laps around the entire school together. 

People were laughing and chatting and simply happy.

Xavier seemed pretty happy, too:

When the race was done, everyone headed for that awesome cake.

I had some, and it was good, I tell you. Goooooooood.

What a great morning.

A great event.

And a great kid.

To learn more about Duchenne or to make a donation to help find a cure, please click here.

Since she needed a head shot for her website bio page, we headed out one evening to get her one.

We only took a handful, but this was our clear winner — this is the image that will be used on the website:

It’s so very her, with her totally natural and relaxed smile.

Now, even though we got our winning image, we still took a couple more, just for fun…

And I have to say: it’s too bad the site only needed a “head” shot and not a “full body” shot, because she was ROCKIN’ that blue dress, people.

Good luck with all of the great things coming your way, friend. 

You will do fantastically.

He just hung his head there while everyone else kept quietly munching.

I’ve been there, buddy.  I’ve been there.

So many cute one-year-olds and handsome families lately…

So we got together to take some pictures of her whole family.

(is it wrong that I think this next picture is hilarious and fantastic and perfect?)

Then we took some pictures to help her celebrate her birthday!

And luckily, her mom brought some awesomely huge balloons.

Because who doesn’t like balloons?

I mean, seriously…?

And her mom also brought CAKE!

Because who doesn’t like cake?

I mean, seriously?

Thank you for letting me spend the afternoon with your lovely family and cutie pie 1-year-old.

P.S. You guys have this whole parenting thing down-pat.

Keep up the good work.

What a wonderful family. And I think this lovely girl knows she’s got it good.

And I have a wonderfully busy month of photos ahead with some great families that I am excited to see again. I’ve been waiting for Spring to go ahead and start doing its Spring Stuff, but it’s just not happening. So I am going to sally forth. Tally-ho!

Here, in the meantime, this is a picture of my daughter turning 7 (that is a cake made of fruit … because she is the only 1st grader on the planet who doesn’t like cake).

And a picture of the cats after the party. They were on Balloon Patrol for days. They bided their time until those birthday balloons lost their helium and eventually sank down to their feline demise.

Happy Spring. We will chat again very shortly…

And it’s always fun to see which image the Savvy editor and designers choose for the cover.  It’s a lovely surprise and I never know which one they’ve chosen until the issue is finally out in print:

It looks great!  The magazine always does such a wonderful job.

Angie rocked her outfits fantastically (which were provided by La Belle Boutique in Savage) and looked stunning after receiving some expert makeup application from Christopher Prather (Extrados Spa Salon in Minneapolis).

Here are a few other shots from the cover session:

It was a really fun afternoon and I’m so happy to see the final product (and lovely Angie) in print.  Thanks so much to Angie, Christopher Prather, La Belle Boutique, and Britt Johnsen (the extremely nice and easy-to-work-with Savvy editor) for letting me be a part of this issue.

Be sure to pick up a copy so you can read the whole article!  You can subscribe here or check the listing of distribution locations at the bottom of the page.