Life Changes

It's been a long time since I posted anything on here.  Mostly because we've had a super busy summer, fall, and Christmas.  But now it's time to tell the news that we're leaving Vilonia and taking on another full time job in ministry.  Brent and I are excited to say that we will be working full time for a church camp that we absolutely love... Camp Caudle.  Before we started our photography business here, Brent and I worked in ministry, leading teens to Christ.  Photography started out as a side job to help make ends meet and soon took off so strong that it became more of a full time job which led us to build our studio and put down roots here in Vilonia, AR.  Over time we have felt God pulling on our hearts to get back into ministry again.  We're taking a leap and joining the crew at Camp Caudle.  It's a Christian church camp that Brent grew up going to.  We've always spent many days there, every year, volunteering or helping run sessions and Brent has served on the board of directors for a little over a year now.
Our photography business will not shut down entirely.  We may shoot a few portrait sessions here and there as time allows, but we will definitely keep shooting our wedding photos.  So please don't forget about us when you are searching for a wedding photographer!
We'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to our many wonderful and faithful portrait clients that have used us over the past 7 years.  Without you we wouldn't have had food on our table.  We have made friends with so many of you... laughed a lot and even cried with some of you, and laughed until we've cried.  We've gotten to know your kids and you've gotten to know ours.  You have been wonderful to us and we appreciate each of you!  We hope that we have made some photos that will hang on your wall forever and give you some blessed memories of your family.
We also hope that you know that God is the center of our lives and we have always tried to run our business with that showing.  We pray that each of you will put God first in whatever you do and live your life for Him!

We will keep posting the few portraits we shoot, weddings, and maybe some personal updates of our life at camp.  So check back in on us sometime!

Thank you again and God Bless!

Brent and April Ruple

For all of our clients, we have tried to get a letter out to you in the mail explaining how to get a hold of us if you need to reprint a photo or if you need graduation announcements this spring.  Here is a pdf of that letter to download if you did not receive one.
LETTER TO CLIENTS

Jesse & Leslie

The Stacy family took their photos at the end of May this year.  I have taken way too long to get them posted on our blog.  We wanted to take their photos before life changed and they had kids one day.  Come to find out, Leslie was pregnant at the shoot!  She told us all at church a few weeks later.  I'm so excited to find out if this Stacy baby is a boy or girl.  I know in either case, he/she will be one blessed child to have them as parents.  I've been blessed to have Leslie teach my children in Bible Class.  We are very thankful for both of them and the work they do at Silver City. 

Leslie is a teacher and Jesse is a youth minister.  They both have several interests and/or hobbies so we showed those off in their photo shoot.  Check out some from their session........

Mullins Family Pictures

It's always a treat to see our friends, the Mullins family.  JB and Brent have been friends since kindergarten.  It's a riot to see all the faces their daughter, Penny, can make.  She's so much like her Daddy as you can see in the family pic below.  They came on the perfect night - right before a big rain moved in and we got some fantastic clouds in the photo.
They have similar hobbies like we do.... camping, hiking, and biking.  They bike way more than we do - but one day I'm determined to get back into it!  We took some photos of them in their backpacking tent.... they turned out really good with the awesome clouds above them and cute little Penny in the middle.

Here are a few from their session....

The Smith Family

We were pumped that Ryan and Sarah drove all the way from Indiana for pictures with us.  Okay, so maybe not "just" photos - but we were in their vacation plans. :)
Too bad our electricity went out at about 5 am and was still not on when they got here at 9 am.  It was one hot day and a hot shoot with no air conditioning.  Wyatt and Ethan were troopers and I know it's hard to be happy when it's blistering hot outside and in! 
I love Sarah and Ryan's style - they're off the wall and fun.  So we tried to make the shoot fun (as fun as you can in 100 degree heat!)  and got some awesome shots!!!  Here are a few of them below...

Jenna at 6 months old

Miss Jenna came to see us again with her cute little chubby cheeks and amazing personality.  She has the ability to make 4 completely different faces with each click of the camera in just a few seconds.  What a model!  We were so happy to see her and her parents again before they moved out of state.  She's such a happy baby and we hope we can photograph her again one day.... maybe on a visit back to the good ol' Natural State.

Micah & Izzy

We've had the privilege to photograph these girls and their parents for three years now.   I feel special everytime I get an e-mail from their momma, Kelly, telling me that they are driving in from Tennessee and want to get some pictures while they are here.   
Well time truly flies and now they are 5 years old and still seriously cute.  Brent and I love taking their pictures because they do whatever you ask with beautiful smiles and added personality.   Maybe one of these years I'll be able to know which one is which by their faces and not have to memorize them by what outfit they are wearing. :)
On this trip in Kelly and Steven informed us about their newest addition coming this November.  We are so very excited for them!  I wish they lived closer so I could do maternity and newborn pics of the little person, but I have a feeling that a new momma isn't going to want to drive 6.5 hours for pictures.  We're praying for a healthy baby and delivery for the Hovater family.  He/She is going to be very loved with two adoring big sisters and fantastic parents. 

6 month old Max

Our little nephew, Max, turned 6 months old this month. Here are a few from his quick session we did when Nick and Alisha came to visit a week ago.  He was born on the same day as Jack (4 years apart) He's pretty stinkin' cute and can make some awesome expressions!

Martinez Family

Alex and Emily are good friends of ours that used to live in Little Rock, but moved away about 3 years ago. During that time they had a baby, Daniel. Last week we had the privilege to photograph his first year pics. And what a good little boy he is! He had to warm up to us quite a bit to get a smile out of him... but he didn't cry or anything in the process. He just stared at the crazy lady behind the camera.
He is the perfect little model with his beautiful big eyes. His daddy loves baseball and I thought the pics with the Alex, Daniel and the baseball turned out great.
Thanks Em and Alex for driving all the way to Arkansas to see us. We miss you guys!

Miss Kynlee

Kynlee is a little Easter cutie. Her mom and entourage were very helpful in getting her to smile. I don't believe it's too hard to get her to light up with grins - but they were wonderful all the same. I wish they were around more often to help me dance like a monkey or make silly noises to get all little children to smile. It would be interesting to see what Brent and I look like when we're behind a camera with a giraffe hat on doing crazy dances and such.

Here are a few pictures from her shoot....

Briley is 2!

Briley is one cute girl that we've been privileged to photograph since she was in her momma's belly. And oh how the time flies and it's hard to believe she is 2! We had a nice windy day and just a tad bit cool but the Thompsons were tough and withstood it for some great outdoor shots.

Thanks Cody and Brittany for always trusting us with photos of your precious family. Here are a few from the session....