| A Thanksgiving Tradition from my momma | Pumpkin Cake Recipe |

The first year I made this solo was hard. It was quietly hard. I’m not sure if I cried (I was making it a good memory for my own baby after all) but I can still remember the feeling of being right on the edge. Of it being all wrong, making my momma’s dessert without my momma. I could steal a corner out of the fresh batch without a playful scold of ‘heeeeyyyyyy don’t do that!’ (which we both knew she never meant as it would be followed by, “well then give me a taste”).

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This is the dish I associate with my momma and Thanksgiving, one of her favorite holidays. A holiday for family and food (her two favorite things). I continue to make this because it IS her now. It brings her as close to our holiday tradition as I’ll ever be able to. We talk about Grandma Patty as I make the dish with my girls. This year B, our oldest, will actually be able to do a lot, if not most, of the work while I likely just try to reign in the chaos that is O, our youngest, who I’m sure will just be trying to stick her hands in all the things!

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I shared this recipe once before on our blog, that first year I made it without my momma (you can see that here) because it is no secret family recipe and it would bring me (and my momma) great joy to know it warmed another home this holiday season. Pro “Grandma Patty” changes to this recipe which I recommend 100% (and didn’t do this year just as a test to see if her version really was better … spoiler alert IT IS!). Up the sugar by 1/2 cup (1.5 cup total) & quarter or leave out the nutmeg entirely for a pumpkin base that’s a bit sweeter with more subtle spice.

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Oh btw, I’m never not going to eat this FRESH and warm from the oven so if I’m bringing this to your gathering it’s coming with a slice (or three) gone… just deal.

| Kerper Family | Decatur IL Family Portraits Fall 2019 |

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I got to meet Joanne and her absolutely lovely family this fall for their family Limited Edition session. How perfectly did they coordinate their outfits. Joanne took our few tips to ‘coordinate, not match’ and ‘mix in 1-2 colors throughout everyone’s looks’ and ran with it!

They were a joy to photograph and I’m so excited to see how the images Joanne selected for her walls look in their space.

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Do you know about our Limited Edition sessions?!?! We now do most of our family sessions each year as part of our Limited Edition line. These work so well for immediate family sessions. They are short… your choice of 15 or 30 minutes which keeps both dad & the kids happy!

We suggest the longer session for families with little ones but for families with older kids like the Kerper’s 15 minutes is perfect. These sessions are (as the name suggests) Limited! We only offer these 4 times a year and we’ll open up booking for 2020 sessions after the first of the year. To get first dibs on these sessions dates DM us on social (www.instagram.com/sjanephotography or https://www.facebook.com/sjanephotog/), text 573.590.7427, call 217.330.7012 or email mail@sjanephotography.com! We’d love to create for your family in 2020 whether it’s been a year or 10 since your last family portrait.

| Mahala | Class of 2020 Senior Portraits |

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I’m excited to share Mahala’s senior session with you all today! I met her family a few years ago when her sister Kayle was one of our senior models. And then I got to photograph her for the first time at their family session that year. This beautiful family moved to sunny Florida (#jealous) so getting the chance to create again for them wasn’t on my radar making Alicia’s message about planning Mahala’s session such a wonderful surprise.

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We had a small window of time to work with while they were in the state, but that was no problem (thank goodness weather worked out for us!). It was so much fun to hang out with Mahala AND her sis and momma joined us on session too so I got to hang with them all for a bit! Now, her canvases and album are all being carefully printed and will be in the mail on their way to Florida in the next few days so it’s time to share the whole thing with you guys too!

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My vote for their next family session is a destination session for me in Florida 😉 #soundslikeaplantome !!!

| Beckman Family Portraits & Graduation/Going Away Party | Forsyth IL |

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Today, I get to share the Beckman family with you. Though I hadn’t had a chance to meet them more than a couple times in passing over our almost decade here I can tell you that these folks (Chris in particular) are a huge part of our story and life/business trajectory. How/why?!? Well, Chris is the man who hired my husband right out of college. That job brought him (and my extension, myself and SJP) to Decatur and we are both so thankful for that. We’ve found so much here including a wonderful community, friends, success in both our careers and it’s amazing to think about how much that one little yes that Chris gave my husband (who was not the first or last person he’s hired over the years I’m sure) effected the story we’ve written so far. But, this post is NOT about us or our story (just had to give the appreciation we feel while we had the chance!), instead today’s post is really about them and their family and their journey here in Decatur and their next chapter as well.

I was honored when Donna called me to be a part of creating their last family portraits in their home. The home where they’ve raised their children, celebrated milestones and invited friends to share in them for years. This last milestone was both a graduation and a going away part and the place was packed with their friends and family here to celebrate them! 

With our busy schedules it makes sense to combine occasions like these when everyone’s coming together already with a family portrait session to create images for everyone too. We not only did a session for the Beckman’s but also were there for their guests and extended family to get portraits too, plus to photograph candids of the guests enjoying themselves and it was an absolute blast. 

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| Marie + Ernie | Decatur IL Wedding Photographer |

Guys, I get to share with you a simply GORGEOUS wedding today! I hadn’t photographed at the beautiful Holy Family Church since Marie’s cousins wedding so it was a treat to be back. Every wedding I’ve done there has been so elegant.

Though Marie & Ernie selected a mostly digital collection, I decided the style of their wedding was perfect to showcase a brand new album style we’ve created that is a throwback to more classic albums. Fully customizable, of course, with beautiful cover materials these albums combine 2-3 images per page to tell the story of the most important moments of your wedding day.

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For this sample album we selected a combo of a wood grain as a nod to the floral and natural vibe but in contrasting light/dark tones on the album/box to pull in the modern and elegant edge.

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