For well over a week now, I’ve been trying to come up with a snappy title for this family’s blog post. First of all, they’re Irish, and I love the Irish -- that lovely lilting brogue, that sharp wit . . . what’s not to love? (I am a Murphy, after all.) The other thing is, this family is just straight up adorable. Especially the little guy.

And we had such fun on our shoot! It was a cold, sunny morning. The family -- including Pumpkin the stuffed puppy, who is absolutely a member of the family -- picked me up in a cab and we headed to the Bund. We played there for a while and then headed to Jing’an Park, where the dancing ladies know this little guy and, boy, do they love him! After a couple of hours of running around we were all pretty tired, but this family was photogenic to the very end. The last shot I took turned out to be one of my very favorites: can’t you just feel the love in that fabulous family hug?!

So back to that title . . . “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”? Overdone. How about “Merry Crimbo!” (apparently “crimbo” is Irish slang for Christmas . . . but whoops, Christmas is over! Hope you had yourself a merry little one!) Oh well, I’m so eager to share these photos that I’m just going to give up on clever and call it like I see it: Straight Up Adorable Irish Family. Can’t argue with that.