Gretchen Fawn Photo - part of the Snoqualmie Moms Support Collective

Today my 8 yo daughter went out to the yard to jump on the trampoline. When she came back in she told me something she noticed. "The daddy bird scolds me and his voice is lower. When the mommy bird scolds me, it sounds higher." I thought that was an amazing observation! We are blessed today to have another sunny day. This makes three in a row I think! It's something we have been waiting for as this has been a gray drizzly spring here at the base of the Cascade Mountains. When I went out to take pictures of the baby juncos, my daughter found a lady bug too! First one of the year. She gathered it up and brought it inside and is putting it in a jar for a "pet" right now! AH Spring, almost summer, how we love thee! Enjoy~ Gretchen It's so amazing to see their little beaks. You can even see their tongues. I hope you aren't grossed out. Baby birds have huge, closed eyes and only the tiniest bit of feather down. They open up when they get the light on t...

Here's our little back yard surprise you have been waiting for! Baby junkos. They always nest on the ground in tall grass. Aren't their little yellow beaks so precious? The whole nest could fit in the palm of my hand. These are only ONE day old! "Have any worms?" they peeped at me! I felt bad the momma bird was all up in arms about me being near the nest. I promise to let you be with your babies momma bird. I just needed a few pictures to share. "Chit, chit, chiiiiiit!" She cried. Snuggled back in, right under those chamomile stalks. Good thing I didn't clean out the "weeds" last year! Can you see the dog hairs in the nest? They gathered them from the yard and trampoline from our golden retriever, Bacca. The mom and dad bird looked like they had mustaches with the hairs and grass in their beaks! So sweet! Enjoy~ Gretchen

This lilac plant was given to me from my Step Mom, Debbi when I first moved to Snoqualmie. I stuck it in this pot and in the last 6 years, It took off and grew into a beautiful bush! This momma junko has a surprise she's keeping! She's been flitting around in my yard for the last two or three weeks. She's been gathering dry grass and dog hairs. The Daddy has been right there by her side gathering and building. It's been so sweet to watch them both from our dining room window. If we go outside, they "chit, chit, chiit!" their warning that we better stay away from their special project. I had not gotten to planting or weeding my lovely mother's day pots this year. And it's a good thing....this one is holding some special treasures! Check back on the blog in a day or two and I'll reveal the surprise. Promise! Enjoy~ Gretchen

The cherry tree I planted last year is LOADED with blossoms! I can't wait to see how many cherries we get. My littlest will go out and gather them in a bowl so we can all divvy them up. This tree has 4 different kinds of cherries grafted in. Rainier are our favorite kind, but we will eat any of them! This is my lilac bush. I had to wait three years before I got a blossom! This is a pale lilac color and I also have a pale pink. They bring such a wonderful fragrance to the yard. I hope it doesn't rain when they open, then they last a lot longer. Any guesses what this tropical like plant will produce? It's a yellow lily! These also make the yard smell amazing! I have five or six of these and they never fail to make the most majestic, tall, fragrant flowers. They smell so good, I almost forget the weeds I need to get at below them, almost! This rhubarb was a gift from my Grandmas yard. She had been growing it ever since I could remember. I got a shovelful of th...

Teri and Cyrus with me on the "Brow" in Chattanooga, Tennessee Last week was my friend Teri's birthday...I won't tell you her age and I'm sure that she would be OK with that. I came across this photo this morning as I was looking back on a trip we took a few years ago. I met Teri in Snoqualmie where we live. She had 3 daughters and so did I. We are both stay home moms, homeschooling, Christians, into natural health.....we were pretty much instant friends. Our girls would get together and play most days. Sadly, Teri moved away to Tennessee about 4 years ago due to her husbands job switching. I was able to visit her there twice. I was really sad when she moved away and it helped me a lot to be able to see where she lived so I could imagine her daily life in my mind. Since she moved there, she had two boys! I was so excited when she invited me to come be with her for her first home birth. She was willing to allow my whole family to come and visit as well. We wer...

When considering what to blog about, I thought I'd share what speaks to me...and I hope you'll post what speaks to you. Wondering what that means? To me, it means, what inspires me, makes me feel connected, allows me to hear from the Spirit, encourages me....For me, the very first thing I need usually, is enough sleep. I find if I stay up too late, there's just no inspiration in me for the coming day. This is hard sometimes as I'm also a person who loves the quiet of the late night to get inspired and have some quiet hours. I have come to realize that the actual sleep I get is almost the most valuable thing to me. My body and brain don't work well with each other and with anyone else after a sleepless night. However, sometimes this is totally out of my control because of pain, specifically, neck and shoulder pain. This is something I have dealt with most of my adult life because of the car accidents I have been in. I am glad to report I have found a few t...

I had to giggle as it looked like Sarah was going to get all this food! Katie, the eyes, oh my! Kim, that face, I love it! Bobbi got initiated into the girls giggle club. I hope she will still like us. LOL! Michele and Carrie, the chocolate team Feeling a little crazy at our 4th stop. Kathy, Sarah, Katie and I. Let the voting begin! Time to tally! Katie's the brains behind this operation! And the winner? Carrie has the news to share with the peeps in the van! We girls from Calvary Chapel North Bend love to get together and celebrate living our blessed lives. We have a close and dear friend, Katie, whose been going through breast cancer for several years and is fighting for her life. It brings home to us the brevity of life and the realization that everyday is a blessing. We have gone roller skating, made movies fighting the " cancer ninja " and last Wednesday went around the east side looking for the BEST milkshake plac...

Living near Seattle and being outdoor photographers primarily, has it's challenges. For one, I get jealous of my photographer friends posts in California in April. They are all like, "I had so much fun at our shoot today. It was sunny and 70! Perfect weather!" I groan, out loud...."Come on sunshine!!" Then I start bargaining, "OK, I'll take just misting rather than pouring rain...Please God! Send some wind." In fact, I always let my clients know that we will schedule their sessions, but it's possible rain will cancel. It's OK, in the end, we really end up with a break in the weather most of the time and some really cool clouds and really amazing sunbeams. So, today, I had a family session scheduled. I was literally looking at the weather forecast of rain rain and more rain. I kept hoping it would pass. I called Geni this morning an hour before and consulted with her...."What do you think Geni?" When we talked an hour ...

This is what I usually look like when I get my picture taken. I have to admit, I spend VERY little time getting my pictures taken. So little, in fact, that it makes me nervous and I do not know how to make myself look good at all. Last week, I was able to get my portrait taken by several other photographers. I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "these are gonna look so bad. Your smile is weird and you look fat." I know, it's sad. It's bad self talk. But I think we all tell ourselves things like this in our minds, so I wanted to fess up. The truth is, your portrait photographer IS thinking of the things that may bother you and IS posing you to show your strengths! So, when I took a look at Rebecca's blog today and saw my portraits, guess what? I loved my smile, my outfit and I didn't think I looked fat! Thank you Rebecca! I really appreciate you taking the time to share these with me. Click HERE to see the lovely images. Next time YOU hesitate to get ...

I just read the most valuable information and I would feel terrible if I didn't share this list with all of you brides and grooms out there! Please take 5 minutes to read through and make notes for your planning. Each item is really simple (from making sure your friends put their clothes in the closet so your images look really good)  and helpful (plan to clean your house and store all your portraits props in one place 3-5 days before the wedding!)  CLICK HERE to read the rest of the story! Enjoy~Gretchen

In case you haven't read much about me, I just have to tell you I am TOTALLY in LOVE with Cherry blossoms. I am not sure why, but every time I see a beautiful tree, I just cannot stop thinking how lovely it is! My favorite are the "popcorn" bright pink cherry blossom trees. I was so happy that I got to do such a cool and varied photo shoot at UW at the QUAD with their amazing cherry blossom trees. I have even made my logo based on my love for cherry blossom trees. The original was pink cherry blossoms, but as I thought about putting it on every image, I realized guys may not like such a "girlie" look. My designer came up with the idea to make it white blossoms. I don't love them as much as the pink ones, but with the teal and brown, I think it turned out just right! The recent heat wave we had over Easter Weekend really amped up the cherry blossom trees. They are the most beautiful, lacy, pink trees I have seen in a long time. There is one by Sterlin...

Being a photographer in Snoqualmie, WA has it's ups and downs.  If you have not been here, let me tell you what it's like. First of all, the bad news. It rains here, a lot! You  might think you were in a rain forest most of the year. The mountain we live near is called Mt. Si. I renamed it "cloud mountain." It holds all the clouds so they dump all the rain right here in my back yard. BUT wait! Why would I live here? Well, first of all, most of my family lives less than an hour from me. We are amidst some of the best hiking in the WORLD! Rattlesnake Ledge and Mt. Si are two hikes that are 15 minutes or less from my front door. Thirdly, Snoqualmie is a quaint old town. It has charm, kind people, the Snoqualmie Falls, lots of restaurants and more. Not to mention, when I lived in Seattle, I drove in traffic for at least 1 hour total to and from anywhere. Now if I stop at a red light for more than 30 seconds, I am seriously annoyed! Being just a little bit away from a maj...