Churchill came to us from my sister, Kris.  It was her dream to get a NewFoundland puppy and she searched high and low to find a breeder that she trusted and that others with dogs from them trusted also.  She traveled to Ohio to get him and bring him home to West Virginia.

We first met Churchill as a roly-poly ball of fur that attacked stuffed animals and people alike with love and kisses.  I remember that he would flop down in front of a full water bowl and lay his head in it as he splashed water all over the floor and whatever and whoever was close enough.  Kris tells a story about coming home after work one day to see all the couch cushions arrayed around the back yard.  Churchill had pulled all of them out through his doggie door without damaging any of them!  I guess the ground was hard out there...

Not long after, Kris divorced and moved to Alabama and we adopted Churchill as an 18 month old lovable doll.  It wasn't long after that that he blew out both knees while chasing birds around the back yard on wet grass.  Those swallows turn so fast!

After his surgery to repair the ligaments he had torn I had to carry him - all 120 punds of him - up and down the stairs to go outside.  We had to support his rear end with a towel so that he could walk.  Still, we loved him and we couldn't do anything different.  We went so far as to build him a ramp so that he wouldn't have to climb the stairs.  Funny, the ramp scared him, even with railings, and he never would use it.  But it still stands there 8 years later...

As time went by and he got older, arthritis and hip displatia set into his joints.  There were times when we wondered that he made it through another winter.  It was painful to see him get up from his normal spot near the fireplace.  But you never heard even a whimper from him.  

He insisted on sleeping in our bedroom upstairs at night.  13 steps up.  We had to lift and carry his rear end and he would walk up on just his front legs.  We've been doing that for years now every night.  I'll miss that, too.

He loved winter.  With all that fur it got too hot in the house and he would be wanting to go outside and sleep in the snow.  Then he wanted in and we would have to get the snowballs off his fur and then let the rest just melt off.

Somewhere along the line he developed a talent for training my wife, Anne.  His special, high pitched, nerve shattering bark told her that it was time for a little milk. Or water.  Or food.  Or just a petting.  

A few years ago we thought that he was on his last legs and decided to get another dog to keep him company.  We ended up with two lab puppies, Jake and Murphy.  They loved him from the first, maybe too much!  But they got him up and moving and active.  I'm convinced that they extended his time with us.  Jake took it upon himself to keep Churchill clean after every feeding.  We thought for a while that he was just bugging Churchill until our vet told Anne that it was classic pack behavior.  The young cub taking care of the oldster.  

Churchill was a gentle giant.  The cats love him.  The dogs love him.  Little kids just think that he's a big bear to hug.  We love him.  We'll miss him terribly.

Joshua, Hunter, and Abigail are 7 month old triplets and, thankfully, aren't quite active enough to get away from us - yet.  With the help of Mom and Dad and their other two daughters, Hannah and Emily, we were able to get some great shots of all the children!

I can remember when my girls were this age and how much work just one child was.  I can't imagine how much work three are!  Three diaper changes, three baths, three feedings... three of everything.  Eric and Kim are holding up wonderfully though!

So, without further ado, here are the Peters' children in their Christmas best!

Scott and I sincerely wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Scott S

It's always difficult to get images of groups.  Whether it's a wedding party, a sports team, or just a bunch of friends.  SEAS had 68 kids ranging from 6 to 18 and 4 coaches!  The best you can do is shoot a bunch of images and then move heads from image to image in Photoshop - pick the best one and pull in the active kids.

We are so grateful when parents and coaches chip in to help get the kids in line and seated in some sort of order for the team portrait!  Without their help it would take us twice as long to get these shots!

On another note, our advertisement came out in the Rochester Wedding Magazine!  We are looking forward to hearing from many new brides for the coming season!  Help us out and tell your friends!

Have a great weekend!

I've been working with Candie to create composites of her two adorables, Zach and Lily.  I took some shots of the two of them in conjunction with Abigail's first session.  Great kids!  Zach was so patient with us!  Here's a couple shots...

This week is a little busy too as Shannon has sectionals for swimming on Wednesday.  We are hoping that she makes finals and swims again on Friday.  As a freshman she has a few years left in her high school career but she is already doing wonderfully!  We are so proud of how hard she has worked!  Good luck Shannon!

Also, Scott and I have a Rochester Wedding Network meet and greet on Tuesday and a Greater Rochester Professional Photographers meeting on Wednesday.  

Look for our ad in the newest Rochester Wedding Magazine that should be hitting the newstands this week!  It's our first advertisement and we are hoping to see a large return...

On another note... Katie Lauricella and Brian Ebben have hired us to photograph their wedding next October 17th!  Welcome to the club guys!  I have been going through lots of images from this years weddings and I can't wait to try some new things next season!

Next week is Team Portraits for SEAS and IRON and then the following week we get to shoot the Peters' 7 month old triplets!  Cross your fingers for us!

Now, Pooja is one of my daughter Wendy's best buddies.  I've known her since they were in high school together.  This was the first time that I met Greg.  What a great guy!  Pooja picked a good one!  The only problem we had is that Greg is living in California right now and has been there long enough for his body to be acclimated to warmth.  For me, yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny fall day.  A little nippy - high 40's or low 50's.  To Greg is was downright cold!  He was a great sport though and only started to shiver badly after about an hour of walking about!  I tried to keep the two of them in sheltered areas and out of the little bit of wind there was but even I was getting a little chilled.

Then out of the freezer and into the frying pan...  We went up onto Monroe Ave to a coffee shop and it was like a furnace in there - 85 degrees!  A nice little place with just a few tables - one taken by a guy on a laptop and ipod; one taken by a couple of mom's with a gaggle of cute little kids with them; a young couple sitting on the couch.  Not much room for what I was thinking of but we all needed something warm to drink so we ordered and walked outside for a bit to take a bad picture with one of the ROchester Horses.  We returned after a few minutes and the guy with the laptop was on his way out so we stole his table.  

The kids thought that it was cool having pictures being taken and I snapped a few of them just for fun before getting a few more of Greg and Pooja.  All in all a really great afternoon of shooting with a fun couple!  Enjoy!

This Sunday I get to go shoot Pooja and Greg's engagement session at Shoen Place in Pittsford!  Can't wait!  The weather should be good and hopefully it's warm enough that we don't totally freeze.  I haven't met Greg yet as he lives in California so it will be nice to finally meet him!  

On another note our first advertisement is coming out in the next issue of Rochester Wedding Magazine so look for it coming in November - tomorrow that is!  Have a great weekend!